[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11926]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                COMMEMORATING LIVES OF D.C. FIREFIGHTERS

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to commemorate the lives 
of two brave young firefighters who gave their lives in a fire in the 
District while Congress was out of session. Both firefighters were born 
and raised in the Nation's Capital.
  The loss is not only to their families but to the Congress of the 
United States and to this city, where D.C. firefighters prepare every 
day to do what is necessary to protect both hometown Washington and 
official Washington, including the Members of this House.
  Anthony Phillips of Engine Company No. 10 worked the busiest fire 
house in the Nation. Only 30 years old, he was the father of two boys, 
one 21 months old, the other 6 years old. Firefighter Phillips married 
his childhood sweetheart, Lysa. They were a deeply loving couple and 
family.
  Louis Matthews of Engine Company No. 26 was only 29 years old but 
served 7 years as a D.C. firefighter. He leaves a loving family, 
including his mother, Cassandra Shields, and two young children.
  Members of this body have been mindful of the risks firefighters face 
and the sacrifices that their families could be called upon to make. I 
am grateful that the 105th Congress passed my bill, the Officer Brian 
Gibson Tax Free Pension Equity Act, that allows the families of 
firefighters killed in the line of duty to receive survivors' benefits 
tax free. They did their duty, and I am grateful that we did ours.

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