[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 290 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 290

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                         April 1, 2009.
Whereas, since May 17, 1792, when Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith of the New York 
        City Sheriffs Office was killed, more than 18,270 Federal, State, and 
        local law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty;
Whereas, on Saturday, March 21, 2009, in Oakland, California, Sergeant Mark 
        Dunakin, Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Dan Sakai, and Officer John 
        Hege, all of the Oakland Police Department, were killed by gunfire while 
        serving in the line of duty;
Whereas the senseless slaying of Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai, and 
        Officer Hege represents the first multiple-fatality shooting incident of 
        law enforcement officers in the United States in more than a year, and 
        the first time in more than 15 years that 4 law enforcement officers 
        were killed by gunfire in the line of duty in a single incident;
Whereas the killing of Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai, and Officer Hege 
        represents the deadliest incident involving California public safety 
        officers since the infamous ``Newhall Incident'' occurred nearly 40 
        years ago in Los Angeles County on April 6, 1970, when 4 California 
        highway patrolmen were killed in a gun battle with 2 heavily armed 
        suspects, an incident so traumatic and shocking to the Nation that it 
        galvanized the movement to reform police training procedures, firearms 
        use, and arrest techniques;
Whereas the slaying of Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai, and Officer Hege 
        serve as a reminder that the risks assumed by police officers daily in 
        serving and protecting their communities continue to be enormous, ever 
        present, and lethal, even as the number of law enforcement officers 
        killed by gunfire in the United States has steadily declined over the 
        last 20 years;
Whereas the bravery, devotion to duty, and love of community of these fallen 
        heroes has forever earned them a place in the hearts and memories of the 
        citizens they willingly risked their lives to protect, an honor that 
        comes at enormous cost to the people who knew them best, loved them 
        most, and remember them simply as husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, and 
        friends;
Whereas Sergeant Mark Dunakin of Tracy, California, was an 18-year veteran of 
        the Oakland Police Department, a graduate of Chabot College in Hayward, 
        California, an experienced homicide investigator, and according to his 
        captain, ``a cop's cop,'' who was ``absolutely committed to anything 
        that he leads'' and absolutely devoted to his wife Angela and their 3 
        children;
Whereas Sergeant Ervin ``Erv'' Romans of Danville, California, was a 13-year 
        veteran of the Oakland Police Department, one of the most capable 
        members of the Oakland Police SWAT Team, and highly respected for his 
        work in the Narcotics Division of the Department, where he was 
        responsible for solving several major drug cases;
Whereas Sergeant Daniel Sakai of Castro Valley, California, was considered by 
        his peers and supervisors as a rising star on the Oakland Police SWAT 
        Team, where he served as leader of the entry team and was beloved for 
        his dedication to serving others, as evidenced by his previous work as a 
        community service officer at University of California, Berkeley, 
        escorting students around campus at night, and his tenure as an English 
        teacher in Japan, but most of all by his devotion to his wife Jennifer 
        and their young daughter;
Whereas Officer John Hege of Concord, California, was a 10-year veteran of the 
        Oakland Police Department who graduated from St. Mary's College of 
        California, taught at Tennyson High School in Hayward, California, loved 
        both his dog and umpiring high school baseball games, and knew the 
        incredible joy of realizing his cherished dream of becoming a motorcycle 
        cop, and who could always be counted on by his colleagues to be one of 
        the first to respond to requests for assistance or to cheerfully 
        volunteer to help on departmental projects; and
Whereas in the face of this horrible loss, the people of Oakland, California, 
        have come together and rededicated themselves to making Oakland the safe 
        and peaceful community that Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai, and 
        Officer Hege sacrificed their lives to preserve and defend: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives extends its condolences to the 
families and loved ones of Oakland Police Department Sergeant Mark Dunakin, 
Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and Officer John Hege and stands 
in solidarity with the people of Oakland, California, their neighbors in the 
East Bay, and entire Bay Area community, as they celebrate the lives, and mourn 
the loss, of these 4 remarkable and selfless heroes who represented the best of 
their community and the future the people of Oakland are determined to create 
for their children, grandchildren, and generations to come.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.