[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SHERIFF JOHN D'AGOSTINI SERVED HIS COMMUNITY WELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, if you want to understand successful law 
enforcement, the first place to look is the career of El Dorado County 
Sheriff John D'Agostini.
  It is not hard. It was under his leadership--in fact, it was because 
of his leadership--that the day-to-day operations of his department 
became the subject of the popular TV series ``Sheriffs: El Dorado 
County'' that ran from 2014 to 2019.
  It is the very definition of successful policing, pioneered by Sir 
Robert Peel and perfected and practiced by Sheriff D'Agostini. Ideal 
police departments are run as extensions of the communities they serve. 
They work in partnership with local citizens, and this was the heart of 
Sheriff D'Agostini's success.
  I have seen it over and over in action. During the devastating King 
fire, I watched him at his post even when his own ranch was imminently 
threatened. During the Caldor fire, he opened that same ranch to the 
stream of evacuees who had fled the devastation with only the clothes 
on their backs. I can't tell you the number of times I watched him 
during these terrifying disasters--always calm, always focused, always 
reassuring, and omnipresent.
  He is loved by his community and his department because he loves 
them, and that caring is what binds the community to the sheriff's 
department and exemplified and, indeed, defined his successful record 
of modern policing.
  He was first elected in 2010 by a razor-thin margin of 1,300 votes, 
but as he proved himself, he became a beloved institution in the 
community and won reelection overwhelmingly in 2014 and 2018 and would 
have won by acclimation in 2022, but for the fact that he chose to 
retire back into the community he has so faithfully served and 
protected.
  They were not all easy years. He lost a deputy to an illegal alien in 
a marijuana grow in 2019 and became a national figure warning of the 
dangers that our porous border and sanctuary policies present to 
communities across America and to those who risk their lives to protect 
us.
  When State bureaucrats ordered businesses to shut down during the 
COVID hysteria, Sheriff D'Agostini stood up for the constitutional 
rights of his constituents and refused to destroy their livelihoods. 
His courageous stand has since been affirmed by the mounting evidence 
that the lockdowns cost lives, destroyed livelihoods, and did nothing 
to slow the spread of the disease.

  Sheriff D'Agostini worked his way up through the ranks, first 
graduating from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Academy in 1993. 
Throughout his career, Sheriff D'Agostini served in numerous positions, 
including patrol deputy, detective, SWAT team member, narcotics 
investigator, rangemaster and firearms instructor, and investigator for 
the Amador County District Attorney's Office.
  Sheriff D'Agostini is well known for his many accomplishments and 
contributions to the community, including his leadership in 
constructing a new public safety headquarters located in Placerville. 
This building now provides local law enforcement with emergency 
operations services, a 911 dispatch center, a morgue, an evidence 
building, and a special operations and training building, as well as an 
indoor shooting range and armory.
  Mr. Speaker, without law enforcement, there is no law, and without 
law, there is no civilization, which is why it is impossible to 
overstate the necessity of our local police departments and the law and 
order they uphold within our communities.
  I am proud today to congratulate John on his numerous accomplishments 
and his exemplary leadership, and, on behalf of the grateful citizens 
across El Dorado County, thank him for his extraordinary service.
  El Dorado County has been extremely fortunate to have had his 
leadership for these past 12 years. Although he isn't going anywhere--
he is retiring right back into the community that raised him--and 
although his successor is well prepared under his tutelage to carry on 
his successful policies, that won't stop us from missing him anyway in 
the role that he defined and the responsibilities that he discharged so 
well.

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