[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 102 (Monday, July 27, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H6457-H6459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AUTHORIZING USE OF ROTUNDA OF CAPITOL FOR MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR
DETECTIVE JOHN MICHAEL GIBSON AND PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JACOB JOSEPH
CHESTNUT OF UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on
House Oversight be discharged from further consideration of the
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 310) and I ask for its immediate
consideration and adoption by the House.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the concurrent
resolution.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 310
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),
SECTION 1. AUTHORIZING USE OF ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL FOR
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR DETECTIVE JOHN MICHAEL
GIBSON AND PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JACOB JOSEPH
CHESTNUT.
The rotunda of the Capitol is authorized to be used for a
memorial service and proceedings related thereto for
Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob
Joseph Chestnut of the United States Capitol Police on
Tuesday, July 28, 1998, under the direction of the United
States Capitol Police Board.
SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF PLAQUE IN CAPITOL IN MEMORY OF DETECTIVE
GIBSON AND PRIVATE FIRST CLASS CHESTNUT.
The Architect of the Capitol shall place a plaque in honor
of the memory of Detective
[[Page H6458]]
John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph
Chestnut of the United States Capitol Police at an
appropriate site in the United States Capitol, with the
approval of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
SEC. 3. PAYMENT OF FUNERAL EXPENSES FOR JOHN GIBSON AND JACOB
JOSEPH CHESTNUT.
(a) In General.--The Sergeant at Arms of the House of
Representatives is authorized and directed to make such
arrangements as may be necessary for funeral services for
Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob
Joseph Chestnut of the United States Capitol Police,
including payments for travel expenses of immediate family
members, and for the attendance of Members of the House of
Representatives at such services, including payments for
expenses incurred by Members in attending such services.
(b) Source and Manner of Making Payments.--Any payment made
under subsection (a) shall be made from the applicable
accounts of the House of Representatives, using vouchers
approved in a manner directed by the Committee on House
Oversight.
SEC. 4. PAYMENT OF SURVIVOR'S GRATUITY TO WIDOWS OF JOHN
GIBSON AND JACOB JOSEPH CHESTNUT.
(a) In General.--In accordance with the first sentence of
the last undesignated paragraph under the center heading
``HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES'' in the first section of the
Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1955 (2 U.S.C. 125),
the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives is authorized and directed to pay, from the
applicable accounts of the House of Representatives--
(1) a gratuity to the widow of Detective John Michael
Gibson of the United States Capitol Police in the amount of
$51,866.00; and
(2) a gratuity to the widow of Private First Class Jacob
Joseph Chestnut of the United States Capitol Police in the
amount of $47,280.00.
(b) Treatment as Gift.--Each gratuity paid under subsection
(a) shall be held to have been a gift.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPITOL
POLICE MEMORIAL FUND.
It is the sense of Congress that there should be
established under law a United States Capitol Police Memorial
Fund for the surviving spouse and children of members of the
United States Capitol Police who are slain in the line of
duty.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, obviously I
will not object, but at this time I yield to the distinguished
gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the majority whip, who lost a good
and true friend, as all of us lost two good and true friends.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for
yielding, and I appreciate the gentleman's expression of sympathy. The
gentleman has always shown a true regard for the Capitol community and
the people that work here, and particularly the Capitol Police that
protect us. I appreciate the gentleman joining me in this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution will do several things. I want Members
to understand that this is not the only resolution we will be doing
today. Later on today, when Members come back and get into town, they
will be able to express themselves when we will have another resolution
honoring Detective Gibson and Officer Chestnut.
Mr. Speaker, this particular resolution establishes some very real
principles. First of all, it authorizes the use of the Rotunda for a
memorial service for Detective Gibson and Private First Class Chestnut.
It also, for the first time that I know of, authorizes the placement of
two plaques in honor of Detective Gibson and Officer Chestnut in the
general area where they lost their lives, commemorating those two spots
in the Capitol.
We also want to obviously pay for their funeral expenses. This
resolution allows us to do that. We also want to make sure that their
surviving widows are taken care of and make sure that they do not have
any concerns about their future and the future of their children, and,
therefore, we authorize one year's annual salary to be paid to the
widow of Detective Gibson and to the widow of Officer Chestnut. We also
establish a Capitol Police Memorial Fund that will be used for whatever
the needs may be of the families of Detective Gibson and Officer
Chestnut.
Later on today, as I said, we will consider a concurrent resolution
that honors the memory of these two officers, of these two fine, fine
gentlemen. Some, probably cynically, are already asking why we are
using the Capitol Rotunda to honor these two brave men. After all,
police officers are slain in the line of duty all over the country; why
should these two particular men receive special treatment? Is it simply
because they died defending Members of Congress and their staff?
Besides their personal bravery, these men died defending the Capitol
of the United States of America, the symbol of freedom across this
world. They are the first Capitol Police officers to die in the line of
duty since the Capitol Police Department was created 170 years ago.
They died saving lives. They died doing their job. They died being
professionals and representing a fine, fine law enforcement group of
officers that protect this Capitol and everybody in it, whether they be
tourists, Americans, people from other nations or Members of Congress
and their staffs.
I just feel that it is absolutely fitting, and I greatly appreciate
the leaders of both the House and Senate in agreeing to use the Rotunda
to pay tribute to these two officers. By paying tribute to their
sacrifice, we all pay tribute to the sacrifices of law enforcement
officers all across this country. What more fitting place to pay
tribute to law enforcement officers than in the Rotunda of the building
that is the symbol of freedom across the world?
John Gibson and J.J. Chestnut were members of this Capitol Hill
community. One of the most gratifying things that I know the families
have received, as well as me and my staff, who have had a very
difficult weekend, is all the calls from all across the country
honoring these two wonderful men as heroes. They are leaving behind
many grieving friends and associates here in this Capitol Hill
community.
I saw J.J. Chestnut every night when I left this building. He was
always standing there by the document door. He was always grinning, and
he was always giving me, in a very warm, openhearted way, a hearty,
hearty, sincere, ``Good night, Congressman. You take care of
yourself.'' And every night I would respond with, ``J.J., you be
careful.''
He was careful, but, unfortunately, not enough, and this shooter
comes in and shoots him. But my enduring vision of J.J. will be of a
professional officer who loved his job, loved his post, fought to keep
his post, and he was dedicated to his duty in protecting the Nation's
Capitol and everyone that was in it.
John Gibson was a member of my security detail, and, therefore, he
was a member of my staff. But, as importantly, my wife and my daughter
and I feel very strongly that he was a member of our family. John and I
went everywhere together. We had many long talks about life, about
family, about duty and about country.
John loved his detective badge. In fact, he would get in trouble for
wearing it, but he wore it because he was so proud about the fact that
he was a detective in the Capitol Police Corps, that he had made
detective, that he was a man that believed in duty, and that he knew
that it would be possible some day that he would have to throw his body
in front of me or someone like me and my staff.
{time} 1215
One never thinks that that is really going to happen, but it happened
on Friday, and John did throw his body between my staff and a shooter,
and he lost his life for it. The President said it so well, because it
is in scripture, that ``No greater gift is there than the gift of
laying down your life for another,'' and John gave the ultimate gift.
He loved his country, John did. He loved sports. John Gibson was a
solid man. He was a patriot. He exemplified everything that was good
about America.
Both John Gibson and J.J. Chestnut are also members of another
community, and that is the Nation's community of police officers. As
such, their sacrifice represents the sacrifices of thousands of police
officers across the Nation who do their duty to serve and protect the
public, sometimes under great abuse, sometimes under great disregard,
and many times people take them for granted. It all comes together when
an incident like this happens and
[[Page H6459]]
we realize how much we owe to police officers all across this country.
So I think by using the Rotunda to honor these fallen heroes we are
honoring not only the specific acts of courage that have saved so many
other Americans and we are not only honoring them because of the fact
that this was their building and they were protecting it, we also honor
them, all fallen law enforcement heroes who have died defending the
American people from evil.
So my heart goes out to the families of John Gibson and J.J.
Chestnut, and particularly those young kids that have lost a father. We
have lost two wonderful heroes who have saved so many from harm. We
have lost two heroes who were dedicated husbands and wonderful fathers,
and I urge all my colleagues and the American people in general to pray
for these families as they try to cope with this great loss.
Mr. Speaker, I will just add at the end, if people around this
country want to donate to the memorial fund created by this resolution,
they can send their contributions to the United States Capitol Police
Memorial Fund, United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., 20515.
Let me also add, if the gentleman will further yield, something that
really touched me just a while ago. One of the pages came up to me and
handed me this, and I want to put it in the Record, from the pages that
serve here in the United States House of Representatives.
Mr. Speaker, the Pages would like to say that ``We salute these two
fallen heroes who gave their lives for ours. In the line of duty, these
men stood strong and brave for their country. For that, we all owe a
great debt of gratitude.
``We are all aware of their courageous sacrifice, and we hold these
officers deep in our hearts. God bless their families, and God bless
America.''
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding, and I include for
the Record the tribute by our Pages.
From the Pages of the U.S. House of Representatives
We salute these two fallen heroes who gave their lives for
ours. In the line of duty, these men stood strong and brave
for their country. For that, we all owe a great debt of
gratitude.
We are all aware of their courageous sacrifice, and we hold
these officers deep in our hearts. God bless their families,
and God bless America.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, under my reservation, I sadly join the
majority whip, whose comments are both personal but express as well the
sentiments of his colleagues.
Over 14,622 law enforcement officers have lost their lives in the
history of our country. The first one lost his life in 1794. Since that
time, we have asked some of our fellow citizens to take upon themselves
the responsibility and the risk of defending freedom here at home.
When I began the Pledge of Allegiance, I said that Officer Chestnut
and Detective Gibson died defending the principles for which it stands.
That was literally and figuratively true. Every morning those whom we
ask to bear the responsibility of maintaining order in a civil society,
without which we would not have freedom and justice and the rule of
law, they put on their uniform or their plain clothes and they put on a
badge, and most of them attach a gun to their hip or to their shoulder.
They and their families know that daily they risk their lives. In this
instance, of course, because no previous Capitol police officer has
lost his or her life in a confrontation, that risk seemed remote.
Mr. Speaker, Friday, July 24 reminds us once again that the risk is
always present for those we ask to defend this free society. The
vagaries of life are such that there are those, either demented or
angry or for whatever reasons, take onto themselves the opportunity to
commit violence.
In this instance, Officer Chestnut, Detective Gibson and, indeed, the
hundreds of Capitol police officers who responded to this crisis, gave
their lives that many others might be safe and, more importantly, to
indicate that the Capitol of the United States, Freedom's House, if you
will, will, in fact, be accessible, but it will also be protected.
Our community on this Hill is a grief-stricken community, and it is a
reflection of a country that shares that grief. I have had the
opportunity of talking to family members of these officers. I and so
many others on this floor know the personal grief that they are
experiencing. They have lost a loved one. They have lost a friend. They
have lost a dad or brother or an uncle or a friend and a neighbor. They
have a very personal grief.
But our country has a collective grief, and it is appropriate that we
honor these men, both as individual American heroes, but as well, as
the majority whip has indicated, as two members of a group of some
700,000 Americans who daily leave their homes and take to their duties
to defend America's principles, to defend Americans, to defend an
orderly society.
These men and women of law enforcement, like those we ask to join the
Armed Services and defend freedom abroad, are equally responsible for
us being able to meet in this body in a society that honors the
peaceful resolution of disputes. We are the land of the free because we
are the home of the brave. This resolution honors two of those brave
who ensure that this will be, in fact, the land of the free.
Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
The concurrent resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________