[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3818]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     NEW YORK TROOPER ANDREW SPERR

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, I request permission to take Mr. Jones' time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The Speaker pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor New York State Trooper 
Andrew Sperr. Each person who wears a badge walks a thin blue line 
between life and death. Their families wonder when their police officer 
reports for duty, if that person will return home.
  On March 1, 2006, Trooper Sperr did not return. He was shot and 
killed in the line of duty during a blazing gun fight with bank robbers 
in Big Flats, New York. Just after noon, Andrew Sperr stopped to 
investigate a suspicious pickup truck on the side of the road. As he 
approached the vehicle, the robbery suspects opened the door and opened 
fire on him, striking him multiple times. At least one round struck him 
in the right side above his body armor.
  He was a dedicated lawman, so Trooper Sperr was able to return fire, 
and he wounded both of the suspects, which eventually led to their 
arrest, even though he was mortally wounded himself. Andrew Sperr was 
33 years of age. He was from Greece, New York, and he had been a member 
of the New York State police force for 10 years.
  Though he had no kids of his own, he was greatly involved in lives of 
his 10 siblings and their kids, and was godfather to several of his 
nieces and nephews. He was known as AJ to close family and friends, and 
he was remembered as always being the center of all activity.
  He spent his free time on his 80-acre farm in Steuben County, New 
York. He loved the outdoors and in his other free time he was a hunter 
and a wildlife photographer. As a young kid, Andrew Sperr had wanted to 
serve his community by becoming a peace officer.
  In his life and his death, service was his mission. Friends family 
and co-workers remember him as a compassionate public servant who 
generally cared about the people he came in contact with on a daily 
basis, no matter who they were. He had recently won the outstanding 
trooper award for the second year in a row.
  When terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York City on 
September 11, 2001, Andrew Sperr was there. He volunteered to go and 
help the people of New York, as well as the citizens of the United 
States, by providing law enforcement in the aftermath of that attack on 
America. Trooper Sperr also traveled to Louisiana this past fall in 
Hurricane Katrina and helped those folks in that area, neighbors.
  Madam Speaker, as a former judge in Texas, I have had the opportunity 
to speak several times in New York and to the troopers at the New York 
State Police Academy in Albany, New York. After we got through the 
language barrier, I found these right-thinking Americans to be 
passionate about protecting the citizens of New York State and bringing 
outlaws to justice.
  Trooper Andrew Sperr was proud to be a member of this group of law 
officers. Trooper Andrew Sperr died doing what he wanted to do, 
protecting, serving and defending the people. As thousands of his 
fellow State troopers, law enforcement personnel, friends and family, 
mourn his loss, our prayers go out to his family for allowing his life 
to be sacrificed for the rest of us.
  Andrew J. Sperr was a dedicated officer and a compassionate friend to 
all. He served with distinction and honor, and he will be missed. 
America and Americans were better because of the life of Andrew Sperr. 
He wore the badge and proudly took the oath to protect and serve.
  Madam Speaker, peace officers are the last strand of wire in the 
fence between safety and anarchy. They are all that stands between the 
people and the barbarians. Trooper Andrew Sperr died protecting the 
rest of us from those outlaws.
  So God bless those that wear the badge of the American peace officer. 
That's just the way it is.

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