[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 3, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1043-H1045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING CONCERN ABOUT SUICIDE PLANE ATTACK ON IRS EMPLOYEES IN
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1127) expressing concern regarding the
suicide plane attack on Internal Revenue Service employees in Austin,
Texas.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1127
Whereas all Federal employees, and those from the Internal
Revenue Service in particular, have experienced a terrible
tragedy in the suicide plane attack on February 18, 2010;
Whereas Vernon Hunter, who lost his life in the terror
attack, had 48 years of public service, including 20 years of
serving in the United States Army and 2 tours in Vietnam;
Whereas Federal, State, and local officials have cooperated
to respond promptly and professionally to the attack and
provide assistance to Internal Revenue Service victims and
families affected by the crash; and
Whereas Federal employees, from the Armed Forces to the
Internal Revenue Service, serve their Nation with honor and
commitment, and perform public service that benefits the
entire Nation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) strongly condemns the terror attack perpetrated
deliberately against Federal employees of the Internal
Revenue Service in Austin, Texas;
(2) honors Vernon Hunter, a victim of the crash, Shane
Hill, who suffered severe injuries, and all those who were
injured for their service to our Nation;
(3) commends Internal Revenue Service employees for their
dedication and public service;
(4) recognizes the heroic actions of the first responders,
emergency services personnel, Internal Revenue Service
employees, and citizens on the ground in Austin such as Robin
De Haven whose actions minimized the loss of life; and
(5) rejects any statement or act that deliberately fans the
flames of hatred or expresses sympathy for those who would
attack public servants serving our Nation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
General Leave
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on
House Resolution 1127.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
On February 18, the IRS family suffered a terrible tragedy. I rise
today to express my deepest sympathies to the families of Vernon
Hunter, Shane Hill, and the employees at the IRS in Austin, Texas. We
as a Nation and as a people are much better than this. We should be
better to each other. This type of attack is just wrong, and we must
not tolerate violence against our public servants.
I understand that people may not like to pay their taxes, but we
cannot take out our anger on IRS employees. They do not deserve this.
The people who work at the Internal Revenue Service are mothers and
fathers and brothers and sisters who work hard each and every day. They
do their jobs, and they do them well. They perform a public service
that benefits the entire Nation. This Congress is committed to the
safety of each and every person who serves this Nation.
I want to thank the IRS Commissioner for the steps he has taken to
enhance security at all IRS sites around the country. We will continue
to make sure that the Internal Revenue Service has the resources to
improve security at its offices.
I was moved by the many stories of people who reached out and helped
each other during this terrible tragedy. Even in the face of chaos and
violence, people reached out and helped each other. First responders,
emergency personnel, employees, and other citizens showed great courage
and compassion to minimize the loss of life. I thank them all and honor
them today.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BOUSTANY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
(Mr. BOUSTANY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. BOUSTANY. Like all my colleagues here in the House of
Representatives, I was shocked and horrified by the tragedy that
occurred at the IRS office in Austin, Texas, on February 18. I
especially want to offer my condolences to the family of Vernon Hunter,
who lost his life in this senseless attack. Mr. Hunter dedicated his
life to serving his country, including 20 years in the U.S. Army and
two tours in Vietnam. I stand with my colleagues today to honor his
service and his memory.
We should also recognize the courage and heroism of those men and
women, including IRS employees, first responders, and others, who
responded to the attack to ensure that our country did not suffer even
greater losses.
I would like to associate myself with the words of President Obama to
the employees of the IRS when he said, and I quote, ``I am thankful for
your dedication, courage, and professionalism as we rebuild in Austin.
And as you continue your work, we will do what is needed to ensure your
safety. We are grateful for your service to this country. May God bless
you and the United States of America.''
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1330
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to yield such time
as he may consume to my colleague and my friend, the distinguished
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), a member of the Ways and Means
Committee and a sponsor of the resolution.
Mr. DOGGETT. I thank the gentleman from Georgia and the gentleman
from Louisiana for their important comments. The recent suicide attack
in my hometown of Austin, Texas, on an IRS building was a horrible
tragedy. I authored this resolution to honor those who were victims, to
recognize the courage that was displayed by so many that day, and to
condemn such cowardly acts of violence.
Seeing that building aflame after this premeditated suicide attack
which was, in the words of Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, ``perpetrated
in rage without any regard for the sanctity of human life,'' I was just
amazed that not more of our neighbors were harmed. In large measure,
this was the result of the valor and professionalism amidst the flames
and the chaos of the Federal workers, others who came upon the scene,
and our local first responders.
Leaders of these well-trained professionals who rose to the call of
duty that day include our Austin Police Chief, Art Acevedo; our Fire
Chief, Rhoda Mae Kerr; our EMS Director, Ernie Rodriguez; and Travis
County HAZMAT Chief, Gary Warren who, with the Westlake Fire
Department, was fortunately near the site of the attack and raced into
action. And I know
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that the neighboring Grace Covenant Church has already offered support
and solace for many following the attack.
This resolution also recognizes Robin De Haven. Robin, an Iraqi
veteran and a technician with Binswanger Glass, was driving by and was
one of the first to rush to the scene as he saw the attack. Without a
moment's hesitation, he stopped his truck, got out his ladder, and
despite the fire, the heat, the smoke and the chaos, he rescued
employees from the second floor of the building.
As the saying goes, ``it's easy to be brave from a distance,'' but
Robin showed his bravery close up, very close up, and in doing so, he
helped many people escape injury. Last week he became the first
Austinite to receive a ``challenge coin,'' recognizing his quick
thinking and courage from all three of the city's public safety
organizations.
There is the spirit and courage of the Austin IRS employees, whose
calm and orderly evacuation saved lives. They were recognized by the
prompt visit of IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, Treasury Secretary
Geithner, and Colleen Kelley, the president of the National Treasury
Employees Union, who heard firsthand what these employees experienced.
Frankly, all in the building that day were heroes, and we cannot know
the names of all who acted with courage. But a few stories that were
shared with me by the employees I think are typical: Alfredo
Valdespino, who guided employees out of the building and then ran back
inside to offer more help. Also returning to help a missing colleague
was Richard Lee. David Irving carried a disabled coworker down the
stairs and out of the building on his back. Armando Valdez, Jr., and
Deborah Fleming yelled to other employees, ``Follow my voice,'' as they
guided them away from falling through the gaping holes in the floor.
Andrew Jacobson and Morgan Johnson broke out a window and allowed
employees to climb out through Robin De Haven's ladder.
That tragic day, even as work continued at the scene, however, after
this deadly assault on Federal employees, a Facebook page was created
that lauded the killer. This response to violence is deplorable.
Intense debate as we have here on this floor about our Tax Code is
appropriate. That's what we do here in Congress and in gatherings
across the country. There are many tax provisions that I have
personally criticized in the strongest terms, and at times I have also
criticized the way the IRS has administered the Tax Code. But to
demonize and harm public servants who are serving our country at the
IRS while praising a murderer or anyone else who would do them harm is
outrageous.
Nor is such misconduct unique to this tragedy. According to the Wall
Street Journal, the number of threats against IRS employees are on the
rise. Just this week, the Austin American-Statesman reported about
another local agent's necessary care in opening mail filled with razor
blades and pushpins, about last year's phony anthrax attack on another
Austin IRS building and an earlier plot to blow up another Austin IRS
building. Each year, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration, which oversees the IRS, investigates more than 900
threats against IRS employees, including violence.
Let me be clear: I'm not here today to glorify the IRS. I'm here to
condemn unequivocally through this resolution those who would glorify
violence against our public employees who are properly conducting their
duties in service to our Nation.
There are many who will long bear the emotional scars from this
attack, and some still cope with the physical burdens. I want
especially to recognize Shane Hill, a 5-year investigator with the
Texas State Comptroller's office who happened to be in the building
that day and now with his family faces a very long physical recovery.
Vernon Hunter has been mentioned. Known by his friends as Vern, he
lost his life in this senseless attack. At his funeral last Friday, he
was described as the type of man who always woke up with a smile,
always wanted to help others, and as a Texan, never left home without
his cowboy hat. Coming from a family dedicated to uniformed service, he
served in the U.S. Army for over two decades, which included two tours
of duty in Vietnam. His four brothers and a son all served in the
United States military, as does his son-in-law today who is actively
serving in the United States Navy. After retiring from the Army, he
continued that service to his country for almost three decades with the
Internal Revenue Service, where his wife Valerie has also worked.
The gentleman from Georgia is a particularly appropriate person to
present this resolution today because after living through a life of
segregation in South Carolina, Vern was present that day, John Lewis,
when you along with Dr. Martin Luther King spoke down The Mall here in
the famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech and the celebration at the Lincoln
Memorial. His dream, he saw in his service to his country through the
Army and through the Internal Revenue Service, was a dream rooted in
freedom and justice; and 45 years after that speech, Vernon was able to
witness America's progress when he himself served as a delegate for
President Obama.
Dr. Martin Luther King once said: ``The quality, not the longevity,
of one's life is what is important.'' Because Vern Hunter cared enough
to make a difference, Austin and this Nation that he loved so much and
served his whole life was made better. In a remarkable statement at a
moment of such great pain, the Hunter family expressed its personal
forgiveness of the suicide attacker and expressed sympathy for the
attacker's family. These moving words of peace reflect the power of
their own faith and the strength of spirit, both of the Hunter family
and the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church family, led by Reverend
Gaylon Clark. Vern, his life and his family are a testament about what
is best in our country. In him, we have lost a true American hero.
Today I respectfully ask that my colleagues join in adopting this
resolution to honor him, the other victims, the employees, and the
rescuers and to renounce violence against those who are serving our
country.
Mr. BOUSTANY. Madam Speaker, now I would like to yield such time as
he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) in whose
district this tragic event occurred.
Mr. McCAUL. I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I thank the
gentleman from Austin, Mr. Doggett, for introducing this resolution. We
share Austin, and we share in our grief and share in these tragic
events that occurred on February 18. I was in Austin. I was driving,
and I saw a bunch of smoke coming out of some Federal buildings where I
used to work with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI, right
next door to the IRS building.
I called the police chief that day, and I said, What happened? Police
Chief Acevedo said that a plane had flown into the Federal building,
and I said, Well, do you know if it was an accident? He said, No,
Congressman, it was intentional. And at that point in time, we knew
that this was not just some accidental mishap, airplane getting off
course, mechanical problems, but rather an intentional act of violence.
What I saw at the scene was quite astounding, and I'm sure the
gentleman from Austin saw it as well. The airplane was a rather small
aircraft, yet the damage that was done was massive, almost bringing the
entire Federal building down. As it was in flames that fateful day, it
reminded me a bit of Oklahoma City. It also looked like a sort of
smaller version of 9/11. As the flames went up, as the glass blew out,
a technician by the name of Robin De Haven, probably one of the great
heroes that day, removed glass from the back side of the building and
saved five employees of the IRS.
Our thoughts and prayers go to the Hunter family. Vernon Hunter
served his country and served in the IRS. He also served in the United
States Army for 20 years. His office was right above where the airplane
crashed into that building. The plane literally skipped off the top of
a car and went into the first floor of the building in an intentional
act to kill people.
And I was asked a question at the press conference with the police
chief and the fire department, Well, Congressman, was this an act of
terrorism? Well, I guess it's all how you define ``act of terrorism.''
But what I said was, Anytime somebody flies an airplane intentionally
into a Federal
[[Page H1045]]
building to kill people, I think that is an act of terror. And if you
ask the Federal employees that day what they thought, well, they
certainly thought it was an act of terror as well. We need to stop this
in this country. We need to stop this.
The heroism on the part of the Austin Police Department, the fire
department, the FBI and the first responders in responding to this
tragic scene and saving so many lives when we saw this massive
destruction, the great miracle that day was that more people were not
killed. Those first responders saved countless lives, and we owe them a
debt of gratitude for their great, great service to not only the city
of Austin but to the American people.
So with that, let me again thank the gentleman from Austin for
introducing this resolution. It's very timely. We do share that city
together. We work well together, and I think, again, we share the grief
of the loss. We share the tragic event, and we also share the belief
that this was really an intentional act, an act of terror that we need
to stop in this country.
Mr. BOUSTANY. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Having no further requests for time, Madam
Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Texas to
close.
Mr. DOGGETT. I thank both gentlemen. I want to applaud the remarks of
my colleague Mr. McCaul, both the remarks that he made here today and
the remarks that he made on the afternoon of this tragedy, under what I
know was a very stressful situation.
{time} 1345
I believe that we share a common purpose here. No one was looking to
see which party, a member of the IRS was that day, or what part of the
City of Austin. It affected our entire community. I had not used the
term earlier, but I must say I also agree with his conclusion that like
the much larger-scale tragedy in Oklahoma City, this was an act of
domestic terrorism. But let's not quibble over the terms; it was the
harm that was done and the promotion of that harm and violence. There
is nothing noble about terror. Any expression to the contrary deserves
our condemnation.
As I read the statement that the pilot put up on his website, which
was a rather confusing diatribe, I noticed particularly his quotation,
``violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer,'' and in
response almost immediately, some folks set up a Facebook page and
called themselves ``fans'' of this suicide attacker. Sporting a ``Don't
Tread on Me'' flag, the so-called ``fan page'' to the murderer
misappropriated Thomas Jefferson's famous words that ``the tree of
liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots
and tyrants.'' This resolution soundly rejects, in a bipartisan manner,
such appalling tributes.
The patriots were working in the building that day, not working to
kill public servants. The heroes were people like Vern Hunter who were
doing their job on behalf of their country, not trying to destroy their
fellow human beings.
I believe we must turn down the volume on hate if we are to avoid
reoccurrence of such baseless terror attacks. In our country, there is
room for wide and vigorous political discourse and disagreement--our
democracy thrives on it--but there is no room for violence or the
dangerous incitement to violence. We get change through the ballot box,
not by bullets, not by suicide airplane attacks. Let us speak today
with one strong, unequivocal voice renouncing this attack. We reject
the path of hate, and we reject the call to violence.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1127.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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