[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 10, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H2573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        EXPRESSING GRATITUDE FOR THE FBI INVESTIGATION IN KELSO

  (Ms. Perez of Washington was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my profound and deep 
gratitude to the Kelso Police Department, the FBI, and Columbia County 
Sheriff's Office.
  On May 19, the FBI Portland field office was given a tip that there 
was a potential threat to the Three Rivers Crossing, a mall located in 
my district in Kelso. An investigation was immediately launched in 
coordination with local partners, and law enforcement was able to 
identify the teenage suspect the next day.
  During the investigation, law enforcement had discovered the suspect 
had shared heinous, detailed plans for a mass shooting in online chat 
rooms and had the intent and means to carry out a horrific attack.
  People rarely get thanked for the fires they prevent, the disasters 
they forestall, and the wreck that doesn't happen. I think it is 
incredibly important that we pause and recognize the skill, dedication, 
intelligence, and the bravery that these officers and law enforcement 
agents exemplified in preventing what would have been a horrifying 
event.
  We are grateful for the families that weren't torn apart, the pain 
that wasn't caused, and the lives that weren't wrecked.
  We are so grateful for the work and the diligence they represent 
every day, and we thank them for their dedication and work.
  It is also important that we spend time understanding what the root 
causes of this evil are: the rot of isolation, the impotence of rage, 
the mental illness, the corrosion of social networks, and how we have 
gotten to this point where we are.
  To each officer who worked to keep southwest Washington safe, from 
the bottom of my heart, I thank them. Families are together today 
because of their work.


                         Thurston County Nazis

  Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a recent arrest 
made by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office in my district.
  On June 1, two men illegally gained access to Joint Base Lewis-
McChord in Pierce County. Once inside, they broke into a U.S. Army 
Ranger operational facility, where they were discovered. After 
assaulting the man who found them with both a hammer and a knife, they 
fled with about $14,000 worth of stolen military equipment and weapons.
  After an extensive investigation to identify the two assailants, the 
Army Criminal Investigation Division reached out to the Thurston County 
Sheriff's Office for assistance in executing an arrest warrant.
  The FBI SWAT team who executed the arrest in Lacey, Washington, found 
35 weapons, including rifles and a machine gun, as well as a large 
amount of Nazi paraphernalia in every room of that home. Both suspects 
were actively involved in Nazi white nationalist efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, thanks to the quick work of the Thurston County 
Sheriff's Office, the Army, and the FBI, these two dangerous men were 
identified and taken into custody.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the Thurston County Sheriff's Office for keeping 
Washington safe.

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