[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7070]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE PEACE OFFICER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, one muggy summer night in July 2011 in 
Beaumont, Texas, John Wesley Nero got into an argument with his mother 
and his grandmother. Being the worthless man that he was, he beat them 
both up and then fled in the darkness of the night. Local police 
officers confronted the outlaw, but he fled away in his truck and led 
the officers on a high-speed chase down a dark country road. Meanwhile, 
down that road, Officer Bryan Hebert intentionally positioned his 
vehicle ahead of the chase and was attempting to retrieve road spikes 
out of the trunk to stop Nero and his vehicle. But when Nero saw 
Hebert's patrol car, he purposely crashed into the vehicle, barreling 
over Officer Hebert and killing him. Officer Bryan Hebert was 36 years 
of age and was a 10-year veteran of the Beaumont, Texas, Police 
Department.
  On an early Sunday morning last May, one of Houston's finest, Officer 
Kevin Will, was investigating a hit-and-run accident in Houston. 
Suddenly, a different vehicle was speeding by and blazed past the 
police barriers at the accident where Officer Will was investigating. 
Immediately, before being struck, Officer Will yelled at a witness to 
jump out of the way, thus saving that citizen's life just before the 
officer's life was stolen from him. Officer Will was 38 years of age 
and had been with the Houston Police Department for only 2 years. He 
left behind a pregnant wife and two stepchildren.
  The driver of that speeding vehicle ignored all the safety lights of 
police cruisers at that accident scene. He was drunk, charged with 
intoxication, manslaughter of a police officer, evading arrest, and 
possession of cocaine. The accused killer also had been in the United 
States illegally, having been deported once, but came back to commit 
crime.
  Police officers dedicate their lives to protecting the rest of us 
from the anarchy of the lawless. Some of them, like Officer Hebert and 
Officer Will, never get to go back home to their families.
  This week, during Police Week, we honor those law enforcement 
officers who have given their lives. We also honor their families. 
Thousands of peace officers and their families have traveled to 
Washington, D.C., this week to respect and remember the fallen. No 
matter if they're from New York City or Beaumont, Texas, they're all 
here for the same reason: to respect the memory of those amazing souls 
who have died in the line of duty somewhere across America's plains.
  On May 17, 1792, New York City's Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith became 
the first recorded peace officer to be killed in the line of duty. 
Since his death, nearly 21,000 peace officers have been killed 
somewhere in America. Although crime is on the decline in the United 
States, crimes against police officers are on the rise. There's been an 
alarming 75 percent increase in police officer deaths since 2008.
  During my 20 years as a judge in Texas, I had the privilege of 
working alongside some of America's finest--the peace officers. 
Unfortunately, some of those peace officers that I had known were 
killed in the line of duty.
  Peace officers often become victims of the crimes they seek to 
prevent. When a peace officer puts on a uniform in the morning, they 
represent everything that is good and right about our country. They're 
the last strand of wire in the fence between the law and the lawless. 
They protect us from those who lurk in the shadows of crime and create 
havoc in our society. Peace officers willingly fight the forces of 
anarchy and bring order to the rule of law. They do this, in some 
cases, with little or no appreciation from the citizens that they 
protect.
  This yearly tribute here in Washington, D.C., provides each of us 
with an opportunity to honor fallen peace officers like Officer Bryan 
Hebert of the Beaumont, TX Police Department and Officer Kevin Will of 
the Houston Police Department and all the others who have given their 
lives in the name of keeping peace in America.
  And that's just the way it is.

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