[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 141 (Tuesday, November 18, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H8039]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN NOBLE TRIBUTE TO SHERIFF'S DEPUTY DANNY OLIVER AND DETECTIVE MICHAEL 
                              DAVID DAVIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, on October 24, Sacramento County 
Sheriff's Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer County Detective Michael David 
Davis were wantonly gunned down in one of the most cold-blooded 
rampages in the history of either county. By all accounts these were 
exemplary law enforcement officers, fathers, husbands, sons, and 
neighbors.
  Deputy Oliver spoke his last words as he approached a car in a 
parking lot for the simple purpose of asking if he could help a couple 
who appeared to be lost.
  How is it going? he said.
  The gunman and his accomplice next gunned down a bystander who was 
too slow in turning over his car keys as the couple hijacked his car. 
Miraculously, the bystander survived a gunshot wound to the head but 
vividly remembers the smile on the gunman's face as he pulled the 
trigger.
  The next victim was Detective Michael Davis. You may have heard of 
him. On the very same date 26 years earlier, Michael Davis' father was 
killed in the line of duty as a Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy. 
Michael was 16 years old at the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish there were some words of consolation to offer the 
grieving families of Danny Oliver and Michael Davis, but there are 
limits to our language, and words fail us when they are the most 
needed, but I know this: that the esteem and gratitude that our 
communities hold for these two officers and the sympathy we feel for 
the terrible losses their families have sustained could be seen most 
vividly and eloquently in the solemn faces of literally thousands of 
ordinary citizens who lined the funeral route for these officers or who 
stood silent vigil outside the church where they were mourned.
  As I looked at the law enforcement officers from throughout the 
country who had come to honor these fallen peace officers at their 
funerals, it occurred to me that Deputy Oliver and Detective Davis and 
their many brothers and sisters in law enforcement are the business end 
of all of the highest principles of this amazing Republic of ours--a 
society that proudly proclaims itself a nation of laws.
  We often speak of the rule of law, but who among us is willing to lay 
down our lives for it? Michael Davis was. Danny Oliver was. Because of 
their sacrifices, this rampage ended without a single civilian death. 
They protected us, but did we do everything we could to protect them? 
Their assailant had repeatedly entered this country illegally. While 
here, he had been apprehended for committing other crimes and had been 
repeatedly deported, only to easily recross the border without even 
being challenged. That is a subject for another day.
  On this day, we should reflect on the agony of the Oliver and Davis 
families, who have lost devoted husbands and fathers. We should reflect 
on the extraordinary courage of our peace officers who bear growing and 
mortal risks every day to protect the peace that we too often take for 
granted.
  Michael Davis' brother Jason eulogized his older brother. Jason is 
also a Placer County Deputy and was on the scene only minutes after his 
brother had been shot. Their third brother, Christopher, had died in 
1998 in an accident as he, too, had been preparing for a career in law 
enforcement. And Jason, who had been present 26 years before when his 
mother was told of his father's death, who 16 years ago had informed 
their mother of Chris' death, and who days before had told her of 
Michael's death, looked at his grieving mother and asked the question 
if all of their pain justified their family's commitment to law 
enforcement. Without hesitation, he answered, ``Yes.''
  I don't know where we get men like Danny Oliver and Michael Davis, 
but I know what we owe them. Of course, we owe them our gratitude and 
every honor that we can bestow upon them, but most of all, we owe it to 
them, to their families, and to their fellow officers to be just as 
devoted to the rule of law as they were. If we, the people, would do 
that, then we will have proven Jason Davis right--that their 
extraordinary devotion to these principles is as justified as it is 
noble.

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