[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 19693]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING DETECTIVE MICHAEL THOMAS

 Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, please allow me to take a moment 
to commemorate the loss of a Colorado police officer last week. He was 
killed in an act of senseless violence, a victim of a random shooting 
while he was on duty. Detective Michael Thomas proudly served a 24-year 
career with the Aurora Police Department, and had been promoted to 
detective last April, where he worked on narcotics cases.
  Mike Thomas graduated from Hinkley High School in Aurora in 1972, and 
joined the U.S. Air Force. There, he became a mechanic for F-16 fighter 
planes, and eventually wound up working with the Air Force's precision 
flight unit, the Thunderbirds. But after 10 years in the Air Force, 
Mike retired, leaving behind his Air Force uniform of service for 
another: that of the Aurora Police Department.
  During his career in the patrol and canine units and as a detective, 
Detective Thomas was decorated for service more than 12 times. Among 
the awards Detective Thomas received was the Medal of Honor, the Aurora 
Police Department's highest award, in 1992. Detective Thomas received 
the award for disarming a suspect armed with a knife in October 1991.
  Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said last week, ``There was no one 
who didn't like Mike Thomas.'' Stories abound of Detective Thomas's 
generosity of spirit, his thoughtful nature, and attention to detail 
that made him such an outstanding policeman. One fellow officer 
recalled the impression that Thomas made upon him about following 
through: after every call, Mike Thomas would make sure to ask those he 
was helping if they were satisfied with the service he had provided 
them.
  Detective Thomas will be interred today at Fort Logan National 
Cemetery in Denver. He will be surrounded by his family of the Aurora 
Police Department, and in the thoughts and prayers of police officers 
and their families around our Nation.
  To Detective Thomas's daughter, Nicole, I can only offer the profound 
thanks of our community and Nation during this time of grief. Your 
father's sacrifice for the greater good fills each of us with deep 
respect and humbles all of us.

                          ____________________