PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA. — Marco Rubio received an award from the Florida Police Chiefs Association Annual Awards Luncheon today in Palm Beach Gardens. He gave remarks about issues that are important to the law enforcement community, including illegal immigration and prosecutors refusing to prosecute dangerous criminals. 

On the Significance of Law Enforcement 
“If something terrible happens at 3:30 in the morning tomorrow, God forbid, you’re going to dial 911 and someone’s going to show up in a uniform and that person has a family, they have loved ones, they have a life… They don’t write enough stories about it…but it happens all over this country, every day, and we’re blessed that we have people that are will to do it.”

On Illegal Immigration
“I can say this to you as someone who is a child of immigrants… I believe immigration is a powerful thing and a good thing for our country. But I also think like every good thing, there has to be rules… And today, we are the only advanced country in the world that doesn’t enforce it’s immigration laws.”

On Activist Prosectors who Fail to Act
“The same extends to criminal justice… If you have prosecutors who decide that entire categories of crime will not be prosecuted, you will have crime… If there are dangerous criminals, and you don’t put them in jail and keep them there, the shorter their prison stay is, the greater your population of criminals is… So it should not be a surprise that some of the greatest cities in America are now unlivable hellscapes where violent crime is running rampant.”

On His HELPER Act
“We have a bill we’ve filed [to enable] law enforcement officials to live in the communities they serve. In many cases that’s impossible because they just can’t afford it.”

On His Commitment to Serving Law Enforcement
“I appreciate this award and I thank you for your kind words… Just know this: you have a lot of things to worry about, a lot of things to think about. The one thing I never want you to worry about is that somehow your senior senator from Florida is someone that will ever be against you on an issue of importance. You can count on that 100%.”

The 1,000+ member FPCA endorsed Marco’s re-election to the United States Senate in April.