[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING FBI AGENT CHARLES L. REED

                                 ______


                            HON. JON D. FOX

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 29, 1996

  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
a hero in the war on drugs from my home district in Montgomery County, 
PA.
  Recently, FBI special agent Charles L. Reed was laid to rest after 
giving his life to free our community from the yoke of drug abuse. 
Thousands of State troopers, police officers from throughout the 
region, park rangers, and transit police joined the friends, family, 
and colleagues to thank agent Reed, offer condolences from a grateful 
community to his family, and bid farewell to an exemplary public 
servant.
  The outpouring of grief for this fallen hero was tremendous in a 
community which knew the benefit of the good work he did on behalf of 
the people. Hundreds of FBI agents, their badges draped in black, 
filled the parking lot of the church in tribute to their fallen comrade 
who was killed recently in a shootout with a drug dealer.
  Six young pallbearers, all relatives of agent Reed, carried his body 
to its rest with the mournful wail of bagpipes in the background. That 
languished sound of the bagpipes reflected the mood of the entire 
Delaware Valley community over the death of this 45-year-old hero. The 
pain reflected on the faces of agent Reed's wife and three young sons 
was etched in the spirit of our entire community. For a great man died 
in defense of his community, locked in a mortal struggle against the 
specter of drugs which has ravaged this Nation for so long.
  Agent Reed was not just a dedicated law enforcer, he was a devoted, 
loving, and proud husband, father, and friend who loved his community 
so much he was willing to risk his life in its service.
  At the funeral, Gerald Loke who worked with agent Reed for 12 years 
at the FBI office in Lansdale, Montgomery County said: ``The FBI gave 
Chuck the title of special agent. Today, I want to give him the title 
of special husband, special father, and special friend.''
  FBI Director Louis Freeh recounted a story agent Reed often told 
about a Vermont milkman he knew growing up. The milkman's hands were 
deformed by his work, but he continued the job he loved. Agent Reed 
often compared his passion for FBI work to the milkman's. He even named 
his youngest son, Kelley, 17, after the milkman.
  Director Freeh told agent Reed's three sons, Joshua, 21, Todd, 18, 
and Kelley that they should remember their father as a hero. His wife, 
Susan, became a source of strength for his bereaved colleagues, knowing 
the impact this loss would have on them. Her courage matched his own.
  Mr. Speaker, the tragic impact of drugs on this Nation is never made 
more clear than when a community loses one of its own. The children who 
become hooked and die with an overdose in their veins; the innocent 
bystanders who lose their lives as a result of the crime which follows 
this plague. These are the people agent Charles Reed died for. These 
are the tragedies he worked so hard to prevent. In the end, the war on 
drugs would claim another soldier. But despite his death, his message 
lives on in the dedication of his coworkers, in the love of his wife, 
in the future of his children, and in the appreciation of a community 
clothed in grief.
  I rise today to honor agent Charles L. Reed--a hero to his community, 
a role model to his coworkers, and martyr in the war on drugs. May we 
never again lose such a man to this insidious tragedy. Thank you, Mr. 
Speaker.

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