[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S4497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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 TRIBUTE TO MISSOURI LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN 
                       ORDER TO PROTECT AND SERVE

 Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to those 
law enforcement officers who have given their lives while protecting 
the lives of so many others. When I was the Governor, with command of 
the Highway Patrol of the State of Missouri, the hardest part of my job 
was, without question, dealing with the loss of a law enforcement 
officer. Not only did these men and women faithfully serve their 
communities in life, they imparted the greatest sacrifice of all: they 
gave their lives.
  In 1996, 117 law enforcement officers lost their lives in the line of 
duty, and 13,692 officers in total have been killed while protecting 
their communities. Every year 1 in 9 officers is attacked, 1 in 25 is 
injured, and 1 in 4,000 is killed while trying to preserve the peace 
and safety of the United States.
  My sincerest condolences go out to the families of these men and 
women who have died in the line of duty. I can only be thankful that 
organizations such as Missouri Concerns of Police Survivors [MOCOP] 
exist to help in the aftermath of such tragedy. Every year, this 
nonprofit support group honors those men and women who have laid down 
their lives for Missouri. According to MOCOP any local, State, or 
Federal peace officer serving Missouri as an elected, appointed, 
deputized, temporary, or permanent officer who was killed or died of 
wounds or injuries received while performing an act to enforce the law 
and/or keep the peace from 1820 to the present is eligible to have his 
or her name inscribed on a monument in Jefferson City, MO.
  Two men whose names will be added to the monument this year, 
Detective Willie Neal, Jr.--January 29, 1997--and Deputy Sheriff 
Christopher Lee Castetter--November 28, 1996--sacrificed their lives 
within the past 6 months. It saddens me to hear of these officers in 
the prime of their lives killed needlessly as they attempted to do 
their jobs. I can only hope that it is of some comfort to their 
families that they will forever be remembered as heroes by being etched 
into this historic monument.
  The other six being honored this year include: B.H. Williamson, May 
26, 1867; Horace E. Petts, August 3, 1868; Jasper Mitchell, August 3, 
1868; George C. Walters, March 3, 1873; J. Milton Phillips, September 
20, 1873; Ed Daniels, March 17, 1874; Anderson Coffman, February 14, 
1878; and Hardin Harvey Vickery, March 8, 1879.
  As Abraham Lincoln once said, ``It is rather for us to be here 
dedicated to the great task remaining before us * * * that from these 
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they 
gave their last full measure of devotion; that we were highly resolved 
that these dead shall not have died in vain.'' It is important that we 
remember why these men and women gave their lives and that we work to 
ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain. Law enforcement men and 
women risk their lives every day in order to protect ours. Each day we 
walk down the street safely or get a good night's sleep without fear of 
robbery or assault, we should thank those officers who protect us every 
day and remember the ones who lost their lives in the process.

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