[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN TRIBUTE TO OFFICER JACOB JOSEPH CHESTNUT AND DETECTIVE JOHN GIBSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, without excessive repetition, I would like to 
join my colleagues in the House to pay tribute to Officer Jacob Joseph 
Chestnut and Detective John Gibson, who gave their lives dutifully 
protecting this hallowed institution.
  These two heroes were great points of light for all Americans. It is 
important that we all come together across party lines and across all 
other differences to pay homage to these two heroes. As we pay tribute 
to the dead, let us also honor the other police and protective forces 
and other staff members whose reverence for this institution is no less 
than and sometimes even greater than the reverence of elected members.
  In paying tribute to our defenders, we reaffirm the fact that this 
House of Representatives and the democratic process, this government, 
belongs to all of the people. We reaffirm the fact that we are the 
guardians of a sacred process that takes place within the halls of this 
Capitol.
  This democratic process cannot survive without institutional support. 
This process and the institution have become inseparable. This is the 
great democratic process that guarantees our freedom and guards our 
national progress.
  It is the process that inspired the bravery and the courage on the 
beaches of Normandy. It is the same process that applauded and rewarded 
the returning World War II heroes with more than merely marches and 
medals.
  This Congress, this institution, passed the G.I. Bill, that offered 
unprecedented educational opportunities to every veteran. This is the 
democratic process and the institution that followed the leadership of 
the assassinated President, Abraham Lincoln, and passed the 13th, 14th, 
and 15th amendments, ending slavery and guaranteeing equal treatment 
and the right to vote.
  This is the process and the institution that, while mourning the 
death of John F. Kennedy, accepted the wise and forceful guidance of 
President Lyndon Johnson in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the 
Voting Rights Act.
  This is a sacred place and a sacred process. They must at all times 
be protected and defended. Officer Chestnut and Detective Gibson 
instinctively understood the nature of our mission. The workings of 
this institution are more complex than the wiring or gadgets of any 
nuclear submarine. The impact of the results of what we conclude here 
has more explosive power and long range consequences than any space 
rocket ever fired at NASA.
  To keep this institution relevant and capable of meeting the 
challenges of our rapidly changing and demanding world, we need the 
elevator operators, the cleaning staff, the receptionists, the 
analysts, the secretaries, the directors, chiefs of staff, 
coordinators, counsel, information specialists, administrative 
assistants, and yes, we need the detectives and the police. All are 
vitally necessary. A complicated world demands an intricate 
governmental infrastructure.
  The democratic process within this infrastructure must be protected 
because the twin monsters of insanity and violent savagery are always 
scratching out there at the door. In the last 50 years, the bullets of 
assassins have dramatically altered history in America. Some victims 
were President John F Kennedy; Martin Luther King, Junior; Robert 
Kennedy; and the almost-murdered President Ronald Reagan.
  Against the twin monsters of insanity and savagery, we must do more 
than merely mourn the loss of our heroes. Most Americans can only 
grieve with the families of J. J. Chestnut and John Gibson. We 435 
Members of Congress can do much more.
  In paying tributes to these heroes, we Members of Congress should 
seek a solidarity across party lines and beyond the usual philosophical 
and ideological agendas. In defense of this great institution and to 
protect all vulnerable Americans, we must unite and act as one. Let 
this be a time of new reflections, new insights, and new resolve to 
find ways to disarm the proliferating number of insane and savage 
assassins.
  The second amendment was designed to make us safe from tyranny, to 
bolster our sense of security. No well-regulated militia should allow 
the rampant and random distribution of firearms among the populace.
  In the name of our Capitol heroes, Officer Jacob Joseph Chestnut and 
Detective John Gibson, and for the sake of the families of all similar 
victims, let us resolve, as powerful decision-makers, as Members of 
Congress, let us resolve to end the escalating terror of handguns in 
America.

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