[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 164 (Monday, November 18, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H7169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO GERARDO I. HERNANDEZ OF PORTER RANCH, CALIFORNIA

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, today there was a memorial in 
Washington in honor of a great public servant, Gerardo I. Hernandez, 
the first transportation security officer to be killed in the line of 
duty. It is with great sorrow that I offer my deepest sympathy to his 
family and pay tribute to him. He died on Friday, November 1, 2013, in 
Los Angeles of gunshot wounds received from an assailant while he was 
doing his duty as a transportation security officer. He was the first 
one to be killed in the line of duty.
  He was born in El Salvador and became an American citizen. He met 
Ana, the love of his life, who he married in 1998, and they have two 
wonderful children.
  In 2010, he joined the Transportation Security Administration. 
Everyone indicated what a great public servant he was. He was always 
excited to go to work and enjoyed the interaction with the passengers 
at LAX. He was a joyful person, always smiling, took pride in his duty 
for the American public and for the TSA mission.
  As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I offer my 
deepest sympathy and ask for a 1-minute acknowledgement of this great 
and fine public servant. May he rest in peace.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sorrow but also great admiration that I 
rise to pay tribute to Gerardo I. Hernandez of Porter Ranch, 
California.
  Mr. Hernandez died on Friday, November 1, 2013, in Los Angeles of 
gunshot wounds received from an assailant while he was doing his duty 
as a Transportation Security Officer at the Los Angeles International 
Airport.
  He was the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty in the 12 
year history of the agency. He was only 39 years old.
  Gerardo Hernandez was born in El Salvador in 1973 and at the age of 
15 immigrated to the United States to escape the civil unrest of that 
war-torn country in 1988.
  Four years later, Gerardo met Ana, the love of his life, whom he 
married in 1998. Together, Gerardo and Ana were the loving parents of 
two wonderful children, Louis and Stephanie.
  Mr. Speaker, in 2010, Gerardo Hernandez joined the Transportation 
Security Administration, an agency created from the ash and rubble and 
heartbreak of the terrorist attack of September 11. He did so because 
he loved his adopted country and wanted to do what he could to help 
keep her safe. According to his wife Ana:

       [Gerardo] was always excited to go to work and enjoyed the 
     interactions with the passengers at LAX. He was a joyful 
     person, always smiling. He took pride in his duty for the 
     American public and for the TSA mission.

  Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee 
and former chair of its Transportation Security Subcommittee, I can 
tell you that Gerardo Hernandez was a good man and reflected TSA at its 
best.
  He will be greatly missed by his family and friends and colleagues 
and by countless members of the flying public who will remember how he 
also greeted them with a smile and treated them with respect.
  Gerardo Hernandez was a special person but happily for our country he 
is not unique.
  Every day thousands of TSA employees carry out their mission of 
keeping the airways safe for the flying public. The importance of TSA 
in safeguarding transportation throughout the nation cannot be 
understated.
  On average, TSA officers screen 1.7 million air passengers at more 
than 450 airports across the nation, which in 2012 amounted to 
637,582,122 passengers.
  TSA provides security for the nation's airports, maintains a security 
force to screen all commercial airline passengers and baggage, and 
works with the transportation, law enforcement and intelligence 
communities to ensure the security of the air transit industry.
  Mr. Speaker, sometimes we tend to forget just how horrible was that 
September 11 day twelve years ago. That day changed forever the way we 
gain access to commercial airplanes.
  From that day on Americans understood that a little temporary 
inconvenience in exchange for the more permanent security of a safe and 
uneventful flight was a small price to pay.
  It is people like Gerardo Hernandez who do their best to make the 
necessary screening as unintrusive and unburdensome as possible 
consistent with the mission of ensuring the security of all members of 
the flying public.
  And they are willing to risk their lives to ensure the job gets done.
  We owe the men and women of the TSA a debt of gratitude. They have 
earned our respect and appreciation and our support. Their hearts ache 
over the loss of their friend and colleague.
  But they recognize and understand that the best way to honor the 
memory of the great Gerardo Hernandez is to continue doing what he 
always did: treat everyone with respect, greet them with a smile, and 
discharge their duties so that all passengers screened board their 
flights secure in the knowledge that every precaution has been taken to 
ensure that they reach their destination and return safely home to the 
families and friends who know them best and love them most.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in honor 
of Gerardo I. Castillo, the first Transportation Security Officer to 
lose his life in the line of duty.

                          ____________________