[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2381-H2382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF TOM ARCHER AND LARRY WALSH, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS FELLED 
                          IN THE LINE OF DUTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two fallen heroes from 
Albert City, Iowa. Tom Archer and Larry Walsh, both volunteer 
firefighters with the Albert City Fire Department, were taken from us 
in the line of duty on April 9. They were fighting a propane tank fire 
when an unexpected and horrific explosion claimed their lives. The 
explosion also injured six other firefighters and a deputy sheriff.
  Both of these men were true heroes in every sense of the word. 
Between them they had served for nearly 30 years as volunteer 
firefighters to protect the lives and the property of their neighbors, 
their families and their communities.
  Larry Walsh and Tom Archer volunteered because they cared. They 
volunteered because they cared enough to risk their lives whenever 
called upon. They volunteered because they cared enough to interrupt 
their jobs, their meals and their precious time with their families. 
They volunteered because they cared about protecting the property, the 
safety and the lives of their neighbors in times of need, a need that 
could have arisen at any time in the day or night or any day of the 
year.
  Tom Archer and Larry Walsh were two of the Nation's finest volunteer 
firefighters, a group of men and women who inspire so many by the brave 
actions they take in and for their communities.

                              {time}  1830

  Volunteer firefighters are uniquely small town and rural American. 
They provide a quality protection that their communities would never be 
able to afford without their dedication.
  This evening, I am asking that all Americans take a moment to 
remember Tom Archer, his wife Kelly, and their 2 children, Cody and 
Tanner, and to remember Larry Walsh, his wife Valerie, their four 
children, Angela, Lindsey, Jason and Shannon, in our prayers. May we 
remember Tom Archer and Larry Walsh in our hearts as fathers, husbands 
and two of America's greatest heroes. May they rest in peace in God's 
hands.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the Chairman of the Congressional Fire and 
EMS Caucus, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for 
yielding; and I just want to join him and thank him for his eloquent 
statement on behalf of these two brave Americans and to extend my 
deepest sympathies to their families along with the gentleman from 
Iowa.
  Let me state, Mr. Speaker, each year, unfortunately, we have a 
hundred incidents of this type across this Nation, where there is no 
other volunteer occupation in America where, each year, 100 brave 
Americans lose their lives and they are torn from their families as we 
have with the American volunteer fire service. It is another example of 
where we have people selflessly providing support to protect our 
families and our neighborhoods, and it is all the more reason why in 
this terrible tragedy in Iowa we should recommit ourselves as an 
institution to try to lessen the amount of loss of life that we have 
not in just these brave Americans but from those people they are trying 
to save.
  I join with my friend and colleague, and I would reiterate that on 
Thursday, Mr. Speaker, we will be joined by some 2,000 of these leaders 
from across the country to talk about the kind of needs that would 
better prepare men like Tom and Larry to deal with these terrible 
disasters that they face every day in their communities.
  Right outside of the House Chambers will be a massive display of 
support for the men and women of the American Fire Service, both paid 
and volunteers, asking this Congress and this administration to finally 
listen, to provide not just training but resources, communications 
equipment, support for pre-planning that does not exist now so that we 
do not keep having to come down to the well to pay tribute to brave 
Americans like Tom Archer and Larry Walsh.
  Let me say in closing, Mr. Speaker, as we in this country look for 
heroes we do not have to look to Hollywood, and we do not have to look 
to our athletic figures. We do not have to look to our politicians. We 
can look to those men and women across this country, 1.2 million of 
them in 32,000 organizations and departments just like the one that Tom 
and Larry belonged to who, day in and day out, protect America. And 
they do not do it for the pay. They do not do it for the recognition. 
They do it because it is the right thing to do for their community and 
for their country.
  I join with my friend, and I thank him for his tireless efforts on 
behalf of

[[Page H2382]]

the American Fire Service and in paying tribute to these two great 
Americans.
  Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for his 
excellent statement.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.

  (Mr. STRICKLAND addressed the House. His remarks will appear 
hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.)

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