[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9578-H9579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE OF MAJOR BRENT RUSSELL TAYLOR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah 
(Mr. Bishop) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, Major Brent Russell Taylor is one of 
six brothers to each wear the uniform of the United States Army.
  While training Afghan security forces in support of Operation 
Freedom's Sentinel, Major Taylor was killed by an apparent insider 
attack on November 3 in Kabul province while in the final months of his 
deployment. He is survived by his wife, Jennie, and seven children: 
Megan, Lincoln, Alex, Jacob, Ellie, Jonathan, and Caroline. In Utah, we 
mourn with the family of Major Taylor and grieve his loss and honor his 
sacrifice.
  As Major Taylor and his brothers passed through Basic Combat 
Training, they learned the seven Army values in great detail. Those 
values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, 
and personal courage, and Major Brent Taylor lived these values.
  First, loyalty: Major Taylor swore to bear true faith and allegiance 
to the Constitution of the United States and support and defend our 
Nation's guiding documents against all enemies. He demonstrated his 
loyalty to this oath time and time again.
  Duty: Major Taylor earned a Bronze Star for his outstanding 
dedication to duty during combat operations in Iraq. The Army says 
doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasks. Major 
Taylor's military service record shows he employed this guidance to the 
fullest.
  So, too, does his life outside the military, because Major Taylor was 
not only Major Taylor, he was also Mayor Taylor. His community and 
neighbors so entrusted him to lead and provide that they elected him 
the mayor of North Ogden City in Utah.
  In that role, he did much more than carry out his assigned tasks. He 
worked to beautify and improve the city and to create a community that 
was welcoming to newcomers; and in the predawn morning of his last 
Christmas on Earth, Mayor Taylor ventured out into the cold to oversee 
the snowplows and salt trucks as they cleared the roads and made his 
city safe.
  Respect: Major Taylor not only enjoyed the respect of his family, 
community, and fellow servicemembers, but his praises came from across 
the globe. In a letter from Afghanistan to Mrs. Taylor following her 
husband's death, an Afghan aviator said: ``Your husband taught me to . 
. . treat my children as treasured gifts, to be a better father, to be 
a better husband, and to be a better man.''

  A man does not receive that level of praise without first showing his 
own grand measure of respect.
  Selfless service: As a high school senior in Chandler, Arizona, Brent 
delivered the honor speech at graduation, and his instruction to the 
audience was: ``Go out. Be happy. Find peace and make a positive 
difference in the world.''
  Major Taylor left his family and American soil on four deployments to 
serve and ``make a positive difference in the world.'' In that same 
honor speech, he gave the order to ``stick with it to the end.'' He, 
himself, did just that.
  Honor: Major Taylor honored his faith, his family, his community, and 
his country throughout his short life. Brent's social media postings 
are replete with photos of his children and family. They show images of 
love and service and patriotism, qualities of a man, a husband, and a 
father who honors his family and country.
  In his last Facebook post, Brent implored that we all remember: ``We 
have far more as Americans that unites us than divides us.'' And he 
ended the post with the words, ``God Bless America.''
  Integrity: The Army says that integrity is a quality you develop by 
adhering to moral principles, and the more choices you make based on 
integrity, the more this highly prized value will affect your 
relationships with family and friends.
  The days since the sad passing of Major Taylor have been filled with 
an outpouring of love and grief expressed by those who knew Brent. His 
integrity left an impression, and his integrity affected his 
relationships.
  Finally, personal courage: In September of 2007, Major Taylor was 
commanding a convoy in Iraq when he was hit by an insurgent IED. His 
vehicle was struck by shrapnel, asphalt, and concrete debris. For the 
wounds received in action, Major Taylor was awarded the Purple Heart, 
and he would go on to deploy twice more.
  Brent Taylor stood as an example of personal courage. He lived the 
Army Values.
  In April of this year, the Department of Veterans Affairs opened a 
facility in North Ogden City. It is a place where veterans and their 
families can go to receive counseling and support. It is a place 
located in the heart of Brent Taylor's hometown.
  As a small gesture to his service and his sacrifice, I have 
introduced a bill to name that VA facility the ``Major Brent Taylor Vet 
Center Outstation.''
  The naming of a building will never repay the debt our Nation owes 
Major Taylor or his family, but it can stand as a humble reminder of 
the citizen soldier who lost his life in the service of others.

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