[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           SERGEANT DWAYNE POLK, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, LAWMAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, peace officers are the ones who 
diligently protect and serve the people. They are the first to respond 
to the call for help in time of trouble.
  They go after the bad guys and provide us safe communities to live 
in. Some take extra jobs to make ends meet. They wear the badge of 
commitment over their heart. Sheriffs departments in Texas wear a star 
over their heart.
  Today, peace officers in Houston, Texas, have placed a black band 
across their badges in honor of one of the fallen among their number. 
Sergeant Dwayne Polk, 47, of the Harris County Sheriff's Department, 
was killed about 3 a.m. Sunday morning. He was headed home in his 
uniform after working a contract assignment.
  Sergeant Polk grew up in Houston, Texas, with his three sisters and 
his two brothers. His mother always encouraged him and the other kids 
to read the Bible.
  He had worked for the sheriff for 16 years. Sheriff Adrian Garcia 
said:

       It was tough talking to his son, but he will have many big 
     brothers in the sheriff's department.

  As Sergeant Polk was driving home that Sunday morning, his pickup 
truck was struck by Andres Munos-Munos, who ran a red light, never 
slowed down, and crashed into Polk. Polk was killed. Munos-Munos was 
drunk and had minor injuries.
  Munos-Munos was charged with intoxication, manslaughter, and is in 
jail. He had been convicted last year for drunk driving and unlawfully 
carrying a pistol. He went to jail for 30 days for that offense. News 
reports also say Munos-Munos was in the country illegally.
  Last weekend, while Polk was being killed in Texas, America's 
families of peace officers killed in the line of duty last year were 
here in D.C. Their fallen were honored by thousands of other officers 
from America on the west side of this Capitol.
  Next year, about this time, Sergeant Dwayne Polk, of Harris County, 
Texas, and the sheriff's department will be remembered here as his name 
is read from the rollcall of the dead.
  Citizens should appreciate the service of officers like Sergeant 
Polk. They do the work most of us would never do. They go into the 
worst places of our cities to root out evil that lives among us. They 
sacrifice for us. The least we can do is appreciate them for wearing 
the star or the badge over their heart, protecting the rest of us.
  They are the only thing that stands between us and the lawless. They 
are among the best we have. So we mourn the loss of Sergeant Polk, 
while thanking the good Lord such men as him ever lived.
  And that's just the way it is.

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