[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 72 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1040]]
       MARKING THE DEDICATION OF THE BAKERSFIELD POLICE MEMORIAL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 5, 1998

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, last month we observed Law Enforcement 
Officers Memorial Week, seven days set aside to honor the courageous 
men and women who gave their lives protecting us and upholding the law. 
Last month, I was proud to vote for House Resolution 422 which states 
that law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty should 
be honored, recognized, and remembered for their great sacrifice. Today 
I rise to help pay tribute to the law enforcement officers who died 
while serving Bakersfield, California.
  With all of the advances that have been made in the field of American 
law enforcement this century, one sad and sobering fact remains the 
same: police officers are often killed in the line of duty. On May 15, 
the Bakersfield Police Department dedicated a monument to honor the law 
enforcement officers who sacrificed their lives for the safety and 
well-being of the people of Bakersfield over the past century.
  Of great men, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said ``brave men who work 
while others sleep, who dare while others fly . . . they build a 
nation's pillars deep and lift them to the sky.'' The names which have 
been etched on this memorial will be an eternal reminder of the seven 
brave men who lost their lives daring to protect the people of 
Bakersfield.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I pay tribute to the law 
enforcement officials in Bakersfield who died in the line of duty: T.J. 
Packard, Frank Sparks, Aaron A. Trent, Floyd B.D.W. Cummings, William 
L. Rucker, Patrick D. Vegas, and William L. Sikola. The somber black 
granite monument will be a lasting tribute to these individuals who put 
the safety of the community ahead of their own. I am proud to live in a 
town which has chosen to honor its fallen police officers in such a 
fitting and lasting manner.

                          ____________________