[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.

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