[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12926]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING SERGEANT STEVE PEREZ

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as Hurricane Harvey rampaged across 
Texas, the heavens opened up and 50 inches of rain hammered down on the 
Houston area.
  After 2 days of hard rain, on August 27, 60-year-old Houston Police 
Officer Sergeant Steve Perez got up, as he does every morning, put on 
the badge, the shield over his heart, and began to drive to work to 
help rescue flood victims. It was dangerous. The floodwaters were high 
and constantly rising. People's homes and businesses were flooding. 
Perez's wife even asked him not to go that day. But, Mr. Speaker, 
Sergeant Perez knew the people of Houston were counting on him.
  He made a wrong turn when he was headed to work, fighting the flooded 
streets. Because of that, the 34-year veteran of the force, Sergeant 
Perez, died in the floodwaters. He gave his life for the thin blue 
line, the line that protects and serves the rest of us.
  Officers like Sergeant Perez are just a cut above the rest of us. 
They willingly put themselves into harm's way for their communities, 
and their motto is to protect and to serve.
  Houston will remember Texas lawman Sergeant Perez as one of their 
own, putting his life on the line during one of the worst natural 
disasters in Texas history.
  Next week, as hundreds of officers from all over the State of Texas 
and other States stand in silence, taps will be played for the end of 
watch for Sergeant Perez. Sergeant Perez is one of the rare breed--the 
Texas breed of law officers that sacrifice for the rest of us.
  While we mourn the loss of Sergeant Perez, we thank the good Lord 
that such men ever lived.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________