[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 205 (Friday, December 4, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE LIFE AND MEMORY OF CAPTAIN ROBERT ``BOBBY'' ROCHA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 4, 2020

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy and tired heart 
to honor the life of fire Captain Robert Joseph ``Bobby'' Rocha. 
Captain Rocha was a beloved, giving, vibrant soul, who lost his life 
last week after battling a COVID-19 infection he caught in the line of 
duty. Captain Rocha gave twenty-nine years of honorable service to the 
Kansas City Fire Department, and while his life was cut short, we must 
ensure that his memory is never forgotten.
  Captain Rocha began at the fire department back in 1991, the same 
year I was sworn in as Mayor of Kansas City. Since then, I have watched 
from afar as he rose to the rank of Captain while earning the respect 
and admiration of his fellow firefighters and the city he protected. 
When the coronavirus hit, Captain Rocha knew the fire department was in 
for a long haul. During this past year, firefighters around the country 
have been assisting EMTs more and more with pandemic-related emergency 
calls In Kansas City, more than 200 members of the fire department have 
tested positive and seventy-three are currently infected. Captain Rocha 
likely came into contact with ten to fifteen COVID-19 each and every 
day while in uniform.
  And then, the worst happened. In early November, Captain Rocha went 
into quarantine and was eventually hospitalized. He fought the disease 
valiantly, with the same vigor and verve with which he fought fires and 
saved lives for nearly three decades. But as Captain Rocha no doubt 
taught the young firefighters he trained, not all battles can be won; 
and on November 21th, Captain Rocha made his way toward eternal peace. 
He was sixty years old.
  Captain Rocha will be remembered in the community as a courageous 
public servant and a generous leader. We will never forget his 
selflessness, his humility, or the twenty-nine years he dedicated to 
our safety and peace of mind. His team will remember him as a mentor 
who trained and prepared them for the risks that they faced every day 
on the job. His family and friends remember him as loving man with a 
good sense of humor and an incredible ability to inspire those around 
him. They remember Captain Rocha as man who would do anything for 
anybody. They say people looked up to him ``like he was Hercules.'' And 
throughout his life, Captain Rocha always proved to be a decent, 
dependable man--a man who loved to ride his motorcycle, sing karaoke, 
and spend time with friends at the Outpost Bar and Grill.
  ``For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, 
and to give his life as a ransom for many,'' scripture tells us This 
has been a year of loss, a year of painful goodbyes, and a year of 
empty seats at the dinner table. But it also a year of heroes. The 
doctors, nurses, medical students, nursing students, EMTs, 
firefighters, and ordinary Americans who have placed their health in 
the hands of God to save others. Heroes who have come to serve the 
wellbeing of complete strangers. And, all too often, heroes who have 
given their lives as ransom for untold millions. Heroes like Captain 
Rocha.
  Today, my prayers are with Captain's Rocha's family, his friends, and 
all his brothers and sisters at Station 18. Let it be preserved in this 
timeless Record that his loss leaves us with a grief that cannot be 
weighed and debt that cannot be paid. His legacy lives on in the 
countless lives he touched and saved. So, Madam Speaker, let us honor 
Captain Rocha. Let us remember the light he brought with him everywhere 
he went. And, whatever we do in Congress today, tomorrow, next week, 
next year let the story of Captain Rocha sit at my chair in this 
Chamber. Let the stories of his fallen brothers, Billy Birmingham and 
Scott Davidson, walk with me through these halls. Let those stories 
remind us all that we have a part to play. Let them remind us of our 
duty to serve.
  In the coming days, flags across my state will fly at half-staff to 
honor Captain Rocha, dutiful Americans will wear masks and adhere to 
social distancing, and first responders will wake up again and again to 
walk into a weary nightmare that we have the power to make less dark. 
Captain Rocha gave his life to save others. We can never repay that 
debt. But it is our duty to try.

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