[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 130 (Thursday, September 10, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5873-H5874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MOMENT OF SILENCE HONORING DEPUTY DARREN GOFORTH, HARRIS COUNTY 
                            SHERIFF'S OFFICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Deputy 
Darren H. Goforth, 47 years old, who lost his life more than 10 days 
ago in Houston, Texas, in an execution-style killing, doing his job and 
serving his community.
  Deputy Goforth was a Harris County Sheriff's Deputy and a man who 
loved his job. He loved his family, his daughter and his son, and he 
loved his beautiful wife. Might I share with you her words, Kathleen 
Goforth's:
  ``My husband was an incredibly intricate blend of toughness and 
gentility,'' she said in a statement following his tragic death.
  He was fueling his vehicle at about 8:30 on a Friday night, and 
someone came behind him--the individual now in custody--and, in 
execution style, killed him.
  ``There are no words for this,'' his wife said. ``He was always 
loyal--fiercely so. He was ethical. The right thing to do is what 
guided his internal compass.''
  Of course, she wanted us to know, ``If people want to know what kind 
of man he was, this is it. He was who you wanted for a friend, a 
colleague, and a neighbor,'' Goforth said in a statement.
  She went on to say, ``However, I am who was blessed so richly that I 
had the privilege of calling him my husband and my best friend.''
  To Kathleen and her family, Deputy Goforth was the best friends of 
all of us. He was the best friend of the community. He was the best 
friend of children whom he stopped and talked to or of young people 
whom he sought to inspire.
  He was the best friend of his friends and neighbors, as was evidenced 
by the 11,000 people who attended his funeral. He was the best friend 
of law enforcement officers. He was the best friend of the integrity of 
what law enforcement and first responders are all about.
  He was a young man, as we came to know during the eulogy and the 
various statements of friends and officers, who desired to be just a 
helper to anyone.
  We were told that, even as he worked, his father had a business and, 
when he had his time off, he would go to that business and help his 
father.
  We have come to understand that it was his mode of law enforcement 
to, again, protect and serve but to reach out even to talk to those who 
weren't even looking his way. It was our understanding that he was 
gentle and kind and had a great sense of humor and, yes, looked like he 
did a little baby-sitting as well.
  So I rise today to speak to this Nation about this officer and to 
claim the time for ending senseless violence and to recognize that his 
life--Deputy Goforth's life--is a testament to the goodness of the 
American people and our citizens in Houston and Harris County. 
Certainly, all of our State and local and congressional officials were 
there to acknowledge our deepest sense of loss.
  I want to thank the people of Harris County, when we see officers, 
for distributing 30,000 wristbands to pray for police. I went out to 
the gas pump where he was so heinously and tragically shot, and all of 
the flowers and notes and people raising money touched all of our 
hearts. Everyone stopped to pray and talk and hug.
  I remember someone saying, ``I am a conservative male, but I am so 
glad to see you here.''
  And I said, ``My brother, I am glad to see you here. Can I hug you?'' 
And we hugged because tragedy brings us together, but purpose should 
have us going forward. There should be a purpose as we lost this 
wonderful father and husband and law enforcement officer.
  As the ranking member on the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and 
Investigations Subcommittee, that is the very purpose that I am so 
excited about: this opportunity to talk about walking together, finding 
ways for solutions, and making sure that the life of a gentle, strong 
law enforcement person continues to have a presence in our lives 
through the way we handle our legislation and our coming together.
  Foremost among these dangers, of course, are those who come upon 
officers in the line of duty. Just a week ago, an officer in Illinois 
faced an enormous tragedy and lost his life, but we realize that they 
understand that as they go to serve their communities.
  We must all work together--law enforcement, community residents, 
public officials, the Nation--to make our communities places where we 
trust one another and cooperate to achieve our mutual goal of safety 
and security for all persons. It reminds us how much work we have to do 
and how much we are interwoven with our first responders and our law 
enforcement.
  Mr. Speaker, just a few days ago, I was at the 9/11 commemoration, 
the memorial, and it reminded me of the strength of Deputy Goforth. So 
I would simply say we honor them.
  At this time, I will ask for a moment of silence in honor of Deputy 
Goforth.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sorrow but an abiding admiration that I 
rise today to acknowledge the life and service of Deputy Darren Goforth 
of Houston, Texas.
  Deputy Darren Goforth, a ten year veteran of the Harris County 
Sheriff's office, died on Friday, August 28, 2015, while refueling his 
patrol car.
  He was shot fifteen times by a man who, by all accounts, never knew 
Darren Goforth and the light he brought into this world.
  In a senseless act of violence, the love and care Darren Goforth gave 
to his wife, Kathleen and two young children, and the community he 
served, ended entirely too soon.
  According to Kathleen Goforth her husband was an ``intricate blend of 
toughness and gentility,'' a man who was fiercely loyal and always 
strived to do the right thing; a person ``who you wanted for a friend, 
a colleague, and a neighbor.''
  May I add, Mr. Speaker, Darren Goforth was what we want in an 
American.
  Mr. Speaker, Darren Goforth's life is a testament to the goodness in 
the American people, but his death is a reminder of many difficult and 
painful truths.

[[Page H5874]]

  Foremost among these are the dangers the men and women of our 
nation's law enforcement departments face every time they walk their 
beats and patrol their communities.
  Their families, the persons who know them best and love them most, 
deserve to welcome them home at the end of each shift, safe and sound.
  Mr. Speaker, we must confront the reality that police departments and 
the communities they protect are all too often adversarial.
  We must all work together--law enforcement, community residents, 
public officials--to make our communities places where we trust one 
another and cooperate to achieve our mutual goal of safety and security 
of for all persons.
  The murder of Deputy Goforth also reminds us that we must do more to 
stem the tide of gun violence that tears through this country.
  Neither our country nor our hearts can afford to lose people of such 
quality as Darren Goforth to gun violence in the staggering quantities 
that we do.
  Mr. Speaker, over 32,000 Americans die from gun violence each year.
  So, while Darren Goforth's death is most certainly a tragedy, death 
by gun violence happens all too often in our country.
  This normalcy of gun violence is inexcusable.
  Mr. Speaker, according to media reports, the person who ended Deputy 
Goforth's wonderful life, struggled with mental illness for quite some 
time.
  We absolutely have to do more to ensure that society's most dangerous 
weapons stay out of the hands of the most mentally or emotionally 
unstable persons.
  It is important that we do this because it is estimated that 61.5 
million Americans experience mental illness in a given year.
  This is why we must, as a nation, attach as much importance and 
provide the same level of resources for mental health as we do for 
physical health.
  We can no longer afford to ignore the struggles of nearly 20 percent 
of the population and fail to provide adequate treatment and services 
that could alleviate some of that struggle and prevent horrific events 
like the one that claimed the life of Deputy Darren Goforth.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand here today mourning the loss of Deputy Darren 
Goforth but I have hope.
  I have hope that out of this tragedy we will be moved to act to make 
this country safer for the men and women who risk their lives to keep 
their communities safe.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in honor 
of Deputy Darren Goforth, an extraordinary human being and a shining 
example of what is meant when we remember him and say: ``he was one of 
Houston's finest.''

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