[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           STAFF SGT. ALBERTO SANCHEZ, JR.--IMMIGRANT SOLDIER

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, more than 30 years ago, Alberto and Olga 
Sanchez decided to leave the dusty border town of Renosa, Mexico, and 
immigrate to Texas with their small child, Alberto, Jr.
  Alberto grew up in Houston and went to Milby High School. After high 
school, he wanted to go to college but decided to join the United 
States Army first. So he spent 9 years as a member of the United States 
Army.
  He married his sweetheart, Yesenia; and their fifth wedding 
anniversary was to be next month.
  But, Saturday, Staff Sergeant Alberto Sanchez, Jr., died while on 
combat patrol in Balad, Iraq. Caught in the path of an IED explosion, 
his wounds overcame him. He was 33 years of age.
  He was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 
3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division.
  IEDs, improvised explosive devices, are nothing more than booby traps 
buried by cowardly, masked terrorists who lack the courage to face our 
troops.
  Staff Sergeant Sanchez died while in service to his country. America 
joins his wife, his parents, his two siblings, along with a host of 
friends and family that mourn the loss of this American soldier. He is 
another example that freedom always costs and always will.
  And that's just the way it is.

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