[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               IN TRIBUTE

  (Mr. WALSH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, the tragic events of last Friday here in the 
Capitol have been felt across our entire Nation. Many of my colleagues 
have risen to praise and honor our two fallen Capitol Hill Police 
Officers, J.J. Chestnut and John Gibson, for their heroism on that 
fateful afternoon. I will simply state that I echo those sentiments.
  I wish to add my own personal message of sympathy along with the 
people of New York State's 25th Congressional District in Central New 
York to the families of both officers. Words do not express, words 
cannot express the sadness that we all feel and the grief that we all 
feel for those innocent men and for their families.

                              {time}  1015

  This is an unwritten bond that exists here between and among all 
those who work on the Hill. We are a family; a large one, to be sure, 
but family in every way possible.
  When one loses a member of one's family, it hurts deeply. When they 
are lost due to an act of violence, understanding that loss is even 
more painful and difficult. Now is the time to grieve, and we must be 
allowed to do so in private. In time, the healing will begin, but for 
this moment, we mourn our fallen friends.
  God bless you, J.J.; God bless you, John.

                          ____________________