[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               IN TRIBUTE

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, last Friday America's family room was 
invaded. I call the Rotunda in the United States Capitol America's 
family room, because this is where American tourists come and Americans 
come to see their government in action. The thin line between them, 
between safety and danger, safety and disaster, is the Capitol Hill 
Police.
  Last Friday, Officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson made the 
ultimate sacrifice to protect the sanctity of America's living room. 
The system worked. They protected the tourists, they protected Members 
of Congress, they protected the staff, and they were able to protect 
everyone but, unfortunately, themselves.
  Every day hundreds if not thousands of tourists and employees and 
Members of Congress walk by these brave men and women, and often we 
take them for granted, not necessarily in a negative sense, but you 
know they are there, you know they have got a job to do, and you are 
doing yours and you do not really think about it, but over time they 
become family. You know them by face, not necessarily every time by 
name. You know them, you like them, you exchange greetings and so 
forth.

  Then suddenly something like this happens, and it divides their job 
from your job and how important their job is and how ultimately their 
job endangers their lives as it protects our lives. I salute these 
brave men, I pray for their family, and our hearts and prayers are with 
them.

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