[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13828]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO DEPUTY DARREN GOFORTH OF THE HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, 
      LOVING HUSBAND, DEVOTED FATHER, AND DEDICATED PUBLIC SERVANT

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                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 8, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sorrow but an abiding 
admiration that I rise today to acknowledge the life and service of 
Deputy Darren Goforth of Houston, Texas.
  Deputy Darren Goforth, a ten-year veteran of the Harris County 
Sheriff's office, died on Friday, August 28, 2015, while refueling his 
patrol car.
  He was shot fifteen times by a man who, by all accounts, never knew 
Darren Goforth and the light he brought into this world.
  In a senseless act of violence, the love and care Darren Goforth gave 
to his wife, Kathleen and two young children, and the community he 
served, ended entirely too soon.
  According to Kathleen Goforth her husband was an ``intricate blend of 
toughness and gentility,'' a man who was fiercely loyal and always 
strived to do the right thing; a person ``who you wanted for a friend, 
a colleague, and a neighbor.''
  May I add, Mr. Speaker, Darren Goforth was what we want in an 
American.
  Mr. Speaker, Darren Goforth's life is a testament to the goodness in 
the American people, but his death is a reminder of many difficult and 
painful truths.
  Foremost among these are the dangers the men and women of our 
nation's law enforcement departments face every time they walk their 
beats and patrol their communities.
  Their families, the persons who know them best and love them most, 
deserve to welcome them home at the end of each shift, safe and sound.
  Mr. Speaker, we must confront the reality that police departments and 
the communities they protect are all too often adversarial.
  We must all work together--law enforcement, community residents, 
public officials--to make our communities places where we trust one 
another and cooperate to achieve our mutual goal of safety and security 
for all persons.
  The murder of Deputy Goforth also reminds us that we must do more to 
stem the tide of gun violence that tears through this country.
  Neither our country nor our hearts can afford to lose people of such 
quality as Darren Goforth to gun violence in the staggering quantities 
that we do.
  Mr. Speaker, over 32,000 Americans die from gun violence each year.
  So, while Darren Goforth's death is most certainly a tragedy, death 
by gun violence happens all too often in our country.
  This normalcy of gun violence is inexcusable.
  Mr. Speaker, according to media reports, the person who ended Deputy 
Goforth's wonderful life, struggled with mental illness for quite some 
time.
  We absolutely have to do more to ensure that society's most dangerous 
weapons stay out of the hands of the most mentally or emotionally 
unstable persons.
  It is important that we do this because it is estimated that 61.5 
million Americans experience mental illness in a given year.
  This is why we must, as a nation, attach as much importance and 
provide the same level of resources for mental health as we do for 
physical health.
  We can no longer afford to ignore the struggles of nearly 20 percent 
of the population and fail to provide adequate treatment and services 
that could alleviate some of that struggle and prevent horrific events 
like the one that claimed the life of Deputy Darren Goforth.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand here today mourning the loss of Deputy Darren 
Goforth but I have hope.
  I have hope that out of this tragedy we will be moved to act to make 
this country safer for the men and women who risk their lives to keep 
their communities safe.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in honor 
of Deputy Darren Goforth, an extraordinary human being and a shining 
example of what is meant when we remember him and say: ``He was one of 
Houston's finest.''

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