[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 69 (Thursday, April 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5749-S5751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            TRIBUTE TO THE VICTIMS OF OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, much has been said and written in the 
last 8 days since the bombing in Oklahoma City. And we have all been 
shocked and angered by the panoply of images dominating our television 
screens and newspapers.
  One hundred and ten dead have so far been recovered from the rubble, 
and there is fear that many more lie beneath slabs of cement and 
twisted girders.
  So many of those killed or injured were public sector employees, and 
I believe we should take a moment to consider their sacrifice.
  All too often, its easy to abuse those who work in Government jobs. 
They are called bureaucrats and accused of 
[[Page S5750]] wasting time around water coolers or with their feet up 
on their desk.
  But the blast offers another image--as survivors huddled on the 
sidewalk waiting amid the smoke and debris, as investigators swarmed to 
the site and rescue workers began probing through the chasm that had 
been the Alfred T. Murrah Federal Building.
  In the faces of that day we see Federal employees devoted to their 
jobs. We see them as people who deserve great respect. They were 
already hard at work that Wednesday morning when the bomb exploded at 
9:04 a.m. They were serving the public in 1 of 15 Federal agencies, 
including Social Security, Secret Service, Veterans Affairs, Customs, 
the Drug Enforcement Agency, housed in that Federal building.
  Among those who gave their lives was a Secret Service agent who 
worked for five Presidents and a Department of Defense special agent 
who happened to stop by the Federal building shortly before 9 a.m.
  In fact, at the Oklahoma Office of Housing and Urban Development, 35 
out of 100 employees in the office at the time of the blast are either 
dead or missing and believed dead.
  Of course, Federal employees were not the only casualties.
  There was the 37-year-old nurse who ran into the building after the 
explosion to save lives only to lose hers.
  There were those in the Social Security office to enroll a 3-month-
old, and, then there were the children in the day care center. Who 
shall ever forget the picture of the infant in the firefighter's arms?
  The men and women who worked in the Murrah Building did not take 
their jobs for the money, for these were not high-paying jobs. They did 
not take these positions because they were glamorous, for these 
positions often meant simply trying to solve everyday problems of 
ordinary Americans.
  I submit to you that the unsung heroes of the public sector--the many 
workers who perished in this terrorist attack--were doing their best to 
serve the public.
  It is their memory I honor today.
                             among the dead

  At least six agents from the Secret Service agency, located on the 
ninth floor of the Federal building:
  Donald Leonard had helped protect seven Presidents in his 25-year 
career. Before joining the service, he was an Army military police 
officer and worked for the Treasury Department.
  Agent Alan Whicher, 40, had protected President Clinton and just 2 
months ago had taken a promotion to assistant special agent in charge 
of the Oklahoma City office.
  Agent Cindy Campbell Brown had married a fellow agent 40 days 
earlier. Her new husband was still working in the Phoenix, AZ office. 
They were waiting for transfers so they could work in the same office.
  Agent Mickey Maroney worked his entire career for the agency and that 
morning he had swapped shifts.
  The Social Security Administration, located on the first floor 
allowing for easy access for constituents, was another agency with 
severe casualties:
  Sharon Louise Wood-Chesnut, 47.
  Julie Welch, 23, worked with Spanish-speaking customers at the Social 
Security Administration. She was engaged to marry an Air Force 
lieutenant who was assigned to Tinker Air Force Base, east of Oklahoma 
City.
  Ethel Griffin, 55, was a service representative for the Social 
Security Administration. She was an avid craftswoman and loved her 
hobby. She is survived by her husband, Bruce, two sons, and three 
grandchildren.
  Other agencies, too, lost valuable workers:
  Drug Enforcement Agency office assistant Carrol J. ``Chip'' Fields 
worked on the ninth floor of the building. She is survived by her 
husband and a 21-year-old son.
  Highway safety inspector Michael Carrillo, 44, had just returned to 
Oklahoma to raise his three children. He was a veteran of the Vietnam 
war.
  Department of Housing and Urban Development's five attorneys, many 
supervisors and support staff.
  Army Recruiter Sgt. Lola Rene Bolden. Her two children, ages 13 and 
11, will now go to Alabama to live with their grandmother.
  Marine Corps recruiter Sgt. Benjamin Davis, 29, was at the recruiting 
station when the bomb exploded. He is survived by his wife and one 
daughter.
  Building inspector Steven Curry, 40, who worked for the General 
Services Administration. He leaves behind his wife and two teen-age 
children.
  Department of Defense special agent, Larry Turner, was heading out of 
town on assignment. He stopped by the Oklahoma City office shortly 
before 9 a.m. He, too, was among those killed.
  Federal Credit Union loan officer Robbin Huff, who was expecting her 
first child in June, was killed.
  Other credit union employees who died included: 32-year-old Christi 
Jenkins and 23-year-old Frankie Merrell.
  Many other Government workers who survived saw their lives shattered:
  Edye Smith works as a secretary at the IRS office located just five 
blocks away from the Federal building. That morning, she took her two 
sons--3-year-old Chase and 2-year-old Colton--to the child care center 
located on the first floor of the Federal building. Her 2-year-old ran 
up to her as they said goodbye and said: ``I love you, Mommy.'' It was 
the last time Edye ever could see her children. Edye's brother, police 
officer Daniel Cross, found the two young boys. Both had been killed.
  Twenty-year-old Aren Almon had just taken a new job at an insurance 
company. On April 18, her daughter, Baylee, had her first birthday. The 
next morning, at 7:45 a.m., Aren took her daughter to the child care 
center. Her daughter was the child wearing yellow booties who was 
carried out by a young firefighter shortly after the bomb exploded. The 
photo of the young victim and the firefighter, Chris Fields, appeared 
on newspapers all across the country and--without words--conveyed the 
horror of this attack.
  Still, too, innocent taxpayers looking to the Federal Government for 
help also saw their lives taken away:
  Mike and Kathleen Turner left their 4-year-old daughter, Ashley, with 
Mike's parents that Wednesday morning. At first, when news of the 
explosion was reported, neither parent worried since their daughter was 
safely tucked under the care of doting grandparents. Mike's parents, 
however, had made a morning appointment at the Social Security office. 
They, of course, would have made sure to take Ashley with them. 
Ashley's name appeared on the list of those killed by the bomb. 
Ashley's grandparents appear to have died as well.
  Thirty-six-year-old Pamela Argo worked hard--during the day as a 
hospital administrator and moonlighting as a caterer. Seven weeks 
before, her husband died. On Wednesday morning, she had gone to apply 
for SSI benefits. She, too, died.
  Cheryl Hammon accompanied her daughters, Felicia and Dana, to the 
Federal building to get a Social Security card for Dana's 3-month-old 
son Gabreon. Cheryl, Gabreon, and Dana's daughter, Peachlyn, were 
presumed dead. Dana survived after having her lower right leg 
amputated.
  Joe Mitchell was about to turn 65, so he and his wife of 30 years, 
Leigh, headed down to the Social Security office in Oklahoma City. 
Shortly after 9 a.m., a Federal worker took Joe to a back office in the 
Social Security office to fill out some paperwork. His wife stayed in 
the lobby. The building was then rocked by the explosion. Joe survived. 
There has been no sign of his wife since then.
  The list, of course, goes on and on. For many, there is no final word 
about a colleague or loved one as the gruesome work continues in 
Oklahoma City.
  One survivor who worked at the HUD office in Oklahoma who has already 
spoken at the funeral of colleague, Susan Ferrell, recently remarked:

       [Susan] was one of our attorneys, a beautiful blonde who 
     twisted her hair when she talked to you; who was so full of 
     energy; who fed the birds with sacks of seed; who named the 
     stray cats; who planted a million plants.
       That's what makes us so mad. We're not faceless 
     bureaucrats. We're people like you and me, with kids and 
     families.

  As mayor and now as Senator, I have seen the hard work of public 
workers--paving our streets, serving in hospitals, fighting fires, 
patrolling our neighborhoods, assuring Social Security checks arrive on 
time, serving in our armed services, assisting our veterans.
  [[Page S5751]] It's fitting that we pay tribute to the dedication of 
those who were busily working in the public's interest at the moment of 
that terrible blast.


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