[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16214]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO ARMY SERGEANT ANDREW HIGGINS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 18, 2007

  Mr. STARK. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Army SGT Andrew 
Higgins, a Hayward, California soldier who was killed on June 5, 2007, 
in Baqubah, during his second tour in Iraq as part of an elite Stryker 
Brigade. He was a member of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 
3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Washington.
  At a very young age, Sergeant Higgins wanted to join the military. 
During the summer between his junior and senior years at Kennedy High 
School in Fremont, he took Army basic training.
  After graduating from high school, he spent 2 years in the Army 
Reserve, signed up for the regular Army, and was assigned several times 
to an Army Ranger unit as a fire support specialist. Sergeant Higgins 
was deployed to Afghanistan with the first contingent of troops sent to 
fight the Taliban.
  While in the Army, he received awards and decorations including two 
Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign 
Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror 
Service Medal and the Combat Action Badge. He was posthumously awarded 
the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Army Commendation Medal.
  Sergeant Higgins came from a long line of early American settlers. 
The first descendant of his family landed in New England in 1693. He 
was next in line to carry on the family name, as he was the third 
generation of Higginses who were only sons.
  Sergeant Higgins is remembered as a courageous soldier with a sharp 
wit and a kind heart. When he finished his military service, he had 
planned to go back to school and study fish and habitat conservation.
  I join the community in expressing deepest sympathy to SGT Andrew 
Higgins' family members on his tragic death. Our country owes a debt of 
gratitude to Sergeant Higgins and his family for the ultimate sacrifice 
he made in service to his country.

                          ____________________