[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 48 (Monday, March 20, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H2189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING SHAWN T. ANDERSON

  (Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a saddened 
heart for my friend and comrade Sergeant Shawn T. Anderson, a veteran 
and highly decorated police officer, who was shot dead on Saturday 
evening as he attempted to arrest a rape suspect.
  Sergeant Anderson died as he lived: in honorable service to the 
people of his State, Louisiana, and his city, Baton Rouge, wearing the 
uniform of my comrade and friend Sheriff Sid Gautreaux of the East 
Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.
  Mr. Speaker, there are 435 Members of this esteemed body. We wear a 
small badge upon our lapel to acknowledge our service to the citizens 
of the country we love.
  One million of us across the country wear another badge, resembling 
this one, of various shapes and colors. We are the thin blue line. When 
we lose a brethren or sistren, we place a mourning band upon our badge. 
Over the course of the last decade, it has been difficult to remove my 
mourning badge because we wear them for 7 days, and I find myself never 
quite able to get the mourning band removed from the badge that I wear.
  My soul and my heart delivers unto my lips constant prayer for the 
family of my brother Sergeant Anderson, for his fellow deputies, his 
community, and, indeed, for our Nation.
  Our job begins with an oath. That oath is not an oath of allegiance 
to a sheriff or a chief or a marshal. It is an oath of allegiance to 
the institutional principles that our badges represent. Sergeant 
Anderson gave his last life's blood in service to all of us.
  I thank the Speaker for allowing me to honor my fallen comrade.

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