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Senator Fischer’s floor speech on Officer Kerrie Orozco of the Omaha Police Department.

WASHINGTON – This afternoon, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) spoke on the Senate floor to commemorate the life and service of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco, who was killed in the line of duty on May 20, 2015. Kerrie’s colleagues and members of Omaha’s First Responders Foundation were seated in the Senate gallery to view Senator Fischer’s remarks.

Earlier this morning, Senator Fischer and Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) laid a wreath at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. in honor of Officer Orozco.

Below is the full transcript of today’s speech honoring Officer Kerrie Orozco of the Omaha Police Department:

M. President, I rise today to honor the life of Officer Kerrie Orozco of the Omaha Police Department.

This month will mark the one year anniversary of Officer Orozco’s death.

I would like to take a few minutes to remember her life and celebrate the legacy of this brave young woman, who died in the line of duty.

Officer Kerrie Orozco was born on September 19, 1985 in Walnut, Iowa.

Walnut is a small town, about an hour east of Omaha, and the place where Kerrie’s devotion to community and public service began at an early age.

Her mother Ellen Holtz remembers Kerrie as a leader from the start, recalling that “[s]he was my oldest, but had the best sense of humor and kind of took care of her brothers and sisters.”

She was also active in sports, music and volunteer groups. Her high school alumni volleyball team called themselves the “Wolf Pack.”

Leadership and service were in her blood.

Kerrie’s aunt, Laurie McNeil, said Kerrie always wanted to be a cop. 

“She was just a doer,” Laurie remembered in an interview with Omaha’s WOWT last year. “Whether it was church, 4-H, or everything she was involved in, she gave 100 percent.” 

Faith was also deeply ingrained in Kerrie, who Aunt Laurie called a “very strong Catholic girl” and always smiling. Putting it simply, Kerrie “was a saint,” her aunt said.

Kerrie’s natural instinct for leadership and service led her to join the police force in 2007.

This decision had a special place in Kerrie’s heart because of a promise she made to her father.

Earlier that year, her father fell gravely ill and by the fall, it became clear he would not recover.

Kerrie made a promise to him in those final moments of his life that she would make him proud. 

Two months later, in December of 2007, she joined the Academy.

During the next seven years, as an officer with the Omaha Police Department, Kerrie became active in the community she protected.

She volunteered with the Special Olympics and helped raise funds as president of the Police Officers Ball.

She led a Girl Scout troop and took part in area events like "Shop with a Cop."

For years, Officer Orozco was also known as “Coach K” to the baseball team she led through the North Omaha Boys and Girls Club.

This devotion to so many people in the Omaha community earned Kerrie the Police Department's “Outstanding Volunteer Service Award” last year.

But her love of these children was outmatched by the love of her own family, particularly her husband Hector and his two children.

In February of 2015, they welcomed the birth of their first child together: a daughter named Olivia.

Their daughter was born premature and Kerrie postponed her maternity leave while Olivia remained in the prenatal care unit.

Three months later, on May 20, 2015, Officer Orozco was preparing to serve an arrest warrant as a member of the department’s Metro Area Fugitive Task Force.

When her team arrived, the suspect opened fire and Kerrie was hit.

She was rushed to Creighton University Medical Center, where she died shortly thereafter.

Officer Kerrie Orozco was 29 years old and one day away from going on maternity leave to care for her new daughter, just released from the hospital after three months of prenatal care.

She was the first female officer of the Omaha Police Department to die in the line of duty.

Thousands of people from Nebraska, Iowa, and beyond braved the rain to line the streets for her funeral procession and honor the officer who gave her life for her fellow citizens.

This month marks the first anniversary of Kerrie Orozco’s death, but her memory and service to Omaha live on in all of our hearts.

Her mother Ellen said she often comes home to find gifts in honor of Kerrie, sometimes without any idea of who they are from.

The Omaha Police Department considers itself a united family, and in the year since Kerrie’s death, the common refrain of “Kerrie On” has been referenced time and again to honor her spirit, legacy, and memory.

Several of Kerrie’s family members, as well as her colleagues and members of Omaha’s First Responders Foundation, are here this week to honor Officer Orozco in our nation’s capital.

I join them, and all Nebraskans to celebrate the life and legacy of a truly great person, proud police officer, and beloved wife and mother.

Officer Kerrie Orozco represents the best of Nebraska and our nation.

She will forever inspire us to “Kerrie On.”

Thank you, M. President. I yield.

 

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