[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 34 (Monday, February 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1230-H1231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING JROTC CADET PETER WANG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. DeSantis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeSANTIS. Mr. Speaker, the shooting in Parkland, Florida, on 14 
February represented a catastrophic failure of local authorities as 
well as the FBI. The students needed a hero that day, and while the 
sheriff's department failed the students, I think it is important to 
recognize and commemorate the fact that a 15-year-old JROTC cadet named 
Peter Wang answered the call.
  In the face of a deranged gunman descending on his school, Cadet Wang 
helped his fellow students flee to safety, exposing himself to fire in 
the process. He could have simply saved himself, but like a true hero, 
Peter Wang chose to protect the lives of others. Going above and beyond 
the call of duty, he sacrificed his life on that fateful day.
  Scripture teaches that there is no greater love than that a man 
should lay down his life for his friends, and his fellow students will 
be indebted to Peter Wang for his actions on that day.
  Now, Peter Wang had a desire to attend West Point, and his actions on 
14 February more than lived up to the U.S. Military Academy's motto of 
duty, honor, and country. His posthumous admittance to West Point 
represented a rare but well-deserved honor.
  In Peter Wang, the country lost someone who no doubt would have 
enriched the Army's officer corps and provided honorable service in 
uniform. Yet it is also true that, with the lives he saved that day, he 
accomplished more on his final day on this Earth

[[Page H1231]]

than most of us who serve in the military accomplish over the course of 
an entire career.

                              {time}  1215

  You can train for moments like those faced by Peter Wang, but you 
don't know if you can pass the test until you are actually put to the 
test. Peter Wang passed his test with flying colors. His steadfast 
devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and was in keeping 
with the highest traditions of the United States Army.
  Rest in peace, soldier. Job well done.

                          ____________________