[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  A TRIBUTE TO THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN OKLAHOMA 
                                  CITY

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                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 3, 1995
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise to 
honor the dedicated Federal employees who lost their lives in bomb 
blast at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. We 
will long remember these civil servants who paid the highest price for 
their commitment to public service.
  One such dedicated public servant killed in the bomb blast was Secret 
Service agent Alan Whicher. Agent Whicher was a native of Maryland and 
lived in the town of Rockville, MD, until last October when he was 
transferred to Oklahoma City. While he was in Washington, Alan Whicher 
was assigned to protect the President. The transfer to America's 
heartland was viewed as a safer and less hectic assignment.
  Alan Whicher was brought back home to Maryland to be buried. A wake 
was held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Rockville, where he 
stopped each morning before he went to work. Former neighbors, 
relatives, and colleagues poured into the church to pay their last 
respects.
  President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the 
funeral. Alan Whicher was described by his former neighbors and friends 
as a man who cared deeply about his community. He was a loving husband 
to his wife, Pamela, and he was a devoted father to his three children. 
One of his last acts was to call his wife, who was about to give a 
speech at their new church, to offer encouragement and to wish her 
well.
  Alan Whicher was a hero. All of the Federal employees who died in the 
ugly bomb blast in Oklahoma City were heroes. They were Americans who 
worked hard in unglamorous jobs to improve the quality of life for 
others. They were men and women who upheld the virtues of thrift and 
hard work to achieve economic independence. Their lives will not have 
been in vain if we can translate what happened in Oklahoma City into 
something that brings the whole country together.


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