[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 21, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H1039]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H1039]]
                              {time}  1230
                         TRIBUTE TO BRET TARVER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, Phoenix, Arizona, has now grown to be the 
sixth largest city in our country. Yet over the course of the last 7 
days, the entire city and surrounding areas have seen the frenetic pace 
of life come virtually to a standstill as the community has paused to 
honor one of our fallen fire fighters.
  A week ago today, in responding to a blaze at a supermarket, Phoenix 
fire fighter Bret Tarver gave his life. For his wife, Robin, for their 
three young daughters, for the Phoenix Fire Department, for brother and 
sister fire fighters across the country and for all Arizonans, this is 
an exceptional loss.
  Bret Tarver was born 40 years ago in what is now the 6th 
Congressional District of Arizona in Cave Creek. He and his wife, 
Robin, and their daughters recently made their home in another area of 
the district, Queen Creek, Arizona. That is because Bret was a lifelong 
outdoors enthusiast. He loved hunting and fishing. He loved nature. But 
most of all, he loved his family, and he loved being a public servant.
  Mr. Speaker, all too often, during the course of political discourse, 
we describe elective office as public service. Mr. Speaker, how 
incomplete a definition that is. Public service can take many forms. 
The citizen can volunteer. He can be involved in civic clubs or 
spiritual organizations. Yet the ultimate public service all too often 
comes from our public safety officers who here at home are called upon 
to put their lives on the line.
  So it was one week ago on a Wednesday with the sun shining and the 
flowers blooming and spring training and all the frenetic activity so 
common to the desert southwest that an event sadly too common, a fire 
in uncommon and tragic fashion, ended the life of an uncommon man.
  Colleagues describe Bret Tarver as a gentle giant, a man who stood 
over 6 feet 3 inches, who tipped the scales at well over 200 pounds, 
who had tremendously big hands, but often would envelope the tiny hands 
of his daughters and other kids on their soccer team in his own, one 
who inspired trust, one who worked tirelessly in his chosen profession 
as a fire fighter.
  Mr. Speaker, when so many of that calling have come to Washington 
this week, perhaps the greatest tribute we can pay to the memory of 
Bret Tarver is to pause and appreciate the service and the sacrifice of 
every one of those fire fighters who put their lives on the line who in 
so many ways, in so many manifestations, work for the public good and 
the public safety, and who sadly, in the case of Bret Tarver, pay the 
ultimate sacrifice as a part of public service.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in expressing sympathies 
and encouraging prayer for Bret's widow, Robin, for his three 
daughters, for the strapping brothers that made up an active household 
years ago who mourn his loss, for his parents, for his fellow fire 
fighters, and for the people of Phoenix and the surrounding area.
  Mr. Speaker, we pause to remember Bret Tarver, his sacrifice, his 
legacy, and the shining example of true public service that he 
represented so well and so faithfully.

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