[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        REMEMBERING CAPITOL POLICE OFFICERS GIBSON AND CHESTNUT

  Mr. FRIST. Madam President, 8 years--that is how long it has been 
since two Capitol police officers gave their lives in the line of duty. 
On July 24, 1998, a lone gunman entered this building, the Nation's 
Capitol. He was wearing a green fedora with extra bullets in his pocket 
when he opened fire. He shot two officers and a tourist before falling 
himself.
  It is a day I will never forget. It is a day when I was swiftly 
driven back to my days in emergency medicine, emergency surgery, in the 
reality that even your best efforts cannot always save a life--because, 
despite our best efforts, we couldn't save Special Agent John Gibson or 
Officer Jacob J. Chestnut. It is a humbling experience, realizing the 
debt of gratitude we owe these two fallen heroes for their sacrifice 
and recognizing it can never be fully repaid. But we can honor their 
sacrifice by remembering, by offering solemn tribute to their courage, 
and by protecting the memory of these heroes.
  We must ensure that Special Agent Gibson and Officer Chestnut did not 
die in vain, and that the America they died protecting is the America 
we preserve today and in the future. I hope, I pray we are never faced 
with such tragedy again.
  Thus, at 3:40 this afternoon, I hope this body will join me in a 
moment of silence, a moment to reflect on the courageous sacrifice of 
Special Agent Gibson and Officer Chestnut for, although 8 years have 
passed, their memory and their sacrifice is alive in these halls today.
  I yield the floor.

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