IL Congresswoman Honors Aurora Police Chief On Women's Day

AURORA, IL — On March 8, International Women's Day, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL 14) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to honor Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman. Underwood used her one-minute speech to recognize Ziman's "strength, compassion, resolve, and leadership" following the mass shooting on Feb. 15 at Henry Pratt Manufacturing in Aurora.

"I rise today on International Women's Day to honor a woman who has been a pillar of strength in my community during a particularly difficult time," Underwood began. She continued to praise Ziman's work as the chief of the second largest police force in the state and to commend Ziman as an inspiration to young girls in the community:

"Last month, in Aurora, Illinois, we had five neighbors killed in a terrible act of gun violence. If you watched the news following that tragedy, you saw a woman, Chief of Police Kristen Ziman, exuding strength, compassion, resolve, and leadership following an event we never imagined would happen in our community.

Chief Ziman leads the second biggest police department in our state of Illinois. No small feat, considering there are only 219 female chiefs in the more than 14,000 police departments nationwide. Chief Ziman's compassionate leadership and barrier-breaking approach to law enforcement inspires us all across the Fox Valley region. We truly are Aurora Strong.

Her strength and her service to our community makes us so proud and I look forward to watching the little girls in our community grow up knowing they can be anything they want to be, from a police chief to a Congresswoman because they grew up seeing it firsthand. There are women like Chief Ziman lifting all of our communities all over the 14th District and all over our country and I'm so glad to celebrate them today."

Underwood shared the video on her Facebook page Monday and Ziman responded with a post on her own Facebook page. Ziman said she appreciated Underwood's "kind words." She then celebrated the Aurora Police Department for their hard work after the Henry Pratt tragedy.

"The truth is, the men and women of the Aurora Illinois Police Department are the ones doing the good work," Ziman said, adding, "I am blessed to be able to tell their stories."