H 5554 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 24, 1995

the House for 1 minute and to revise

and extend his remarks, and include

extraneous matter.)

Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina. Mr.

Speaker, I rise today to congratulate

Joey Hill, a winner of the South Carolina Voice of Democracy Broadcast

scriptwriting contest in South Carolina. Joey Hill is the president of the

student body at Southside High School

in Greenville, SC.

In this year, on the theme ‘‘My Vision for America,’’ Joey wrote this: ‘‘I

have a vision for America. I long to see

gratitude return to the hearts of our

citizens. Too often we always want to

play the victim, the person to whom

the world owes a great debt. Although

pointing the finger is easy and maybe

even a little fun, we will, after continued pointing, find the consequences too

great to bear, so we must change, and

the key to change is gratitude.’’

Mr. Speaker, I agree with Joey, that

this is a time of change. We do not

need to blame others and claim entitlement for past debts. What we need, instead, is a little gratitude for what has

been given us. I am very proud to congratulate Joey today, and to enter his

speech in the RECORD of today’s proceedings, as follows:

MY VISION FOR AMERICA

‘‘It’s too hard.’’ ‘‘It’s not fair.’’ ‘‘I never

get the good things in life.’’ ‘‘The grass on

the other side gets greener and greener while

useless stubble sprouts on my side of the

fence.’’ Complaining; it seems as if it comes

natural to Americans. Of the many purposes

for which words could be used, complaints

tiptoe off our tongues most often and that

fact reflects badly on us. We always want to

play the victim, the person who is never in

the wrong, the person to whom the world

owes a great debt. Although pointing the finger is easy, and maybe even a little fun, we

will, after continued pointing, find the consequences too great to bear. So we must

change, and the key to changing is gratitude. I have a vision for America. I long to

see gratitude return to the hearts of our citizens. We must be grateful to those persons

who came before us, who paved a smooth,

scenic way for us to travel on through life

and we must take advantage of the blessings

they have won for our sake.

History is spotted with them. They are

dubbed the movers and shakers—the

somebodies. The people to whom the United

States of America fall into unpayable debt.

These persons struggled under the most uncompromising of trials to gain freedoms for

this nation’s citizens. Their names are many:

Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Thurgood Marshall, Cesar

Chavez, John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe,

John Kennedy, Martin King, Malcolm X.

Their voices spoke the same message, but in

a myriad of ways. This message covered

many topics: perseverance in the midst of a

trial, retention of goodwill when the world

gives you its worst, striving for excellence in

the realm of education. These persons sincerely encouraged us to better ourselves.

They gave us wisdom to live by. For example, Cesar Chavez stated to the world that

‘‘the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice.’’ Susan B. Anthony tested our sincerity about the equality of women with her establishment of temperance organizations. And every American

has heard of the labors of Dr. Martin Luther

King, Jr.—but many of Americans fail to understand the significance of his work. King

courageously led a people who were punched,

kicked, beaten, bitten by dogs, waterhosed,

and murdered in some of the most inhumane

ways so that we, the present day citizens of

the United States of America—White, Black,

Latino, Oriental, Indian, Native American—

might be educated in the realm of culture;

that we might not be discriminated against

because of our culture.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under

SPECIAL ORDERS

fthe Speaker’s announced policy of May

12, 1995, and under a previous order of

the House, the following Members will

be recognized for 5 minutes each.

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. G

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

fOSS] is recognized for 5 minutes.

[Mr. GOSS addressed the House. His

remarks will appear hereafter in the

previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. K

Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

fAPTUR] is recognized for 5 minutes.

[Ms. KAPTUR addressed the House.

Her remarks will appear hereafter in

the Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

SAD NEWS FROM COLORADO

fprevious order of the House, the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. MCINNIS] is

recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. MCINNIS. Mr. Speaker, once

again I stand in front of my colleagues

of the great House of Representatives

bringing sad news from the State of

Colorado. On Friday, April 28, 1995, a

mad killer drove into a local grocery

store in South Jefferson County. As he

drove into that grocery store, he

walked, and got out of his car, walked

into the grocery store, shot his wife

dead, then shot the store manager

dead, and then a police officer, the first

officer responding to the scene, Sgt.

Tim Mossbrucker, was shot before he

even knew what hit him.

b 1830

Sergeant Mossbrucker was a father,

he was a husband, he was an officer

strongly admired by his fellow officers

in Jefferson County. He was a young

father. He was a father of five children,

with a sixth child on the way.

Once again, a police officer has given

his life in the line of duty, and, once

again, as too often happens, his wife,

Lynn, who in her own respects is a

strong, wonderful woman, will be delivering their child without his presence.

Once again we have children who will

be raised through life without their father, because their father gave his life

in the line of duty. Lynn, his wife,

tucked 3-year-old Alex into bed that

Friday night, saying, ‘‘A bad person

hurt daddy bad—so bad that he can’t

come home.’’

Lynn, his wife, will have to go

through life maintaining the strength

she has so far shown in life.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a

poem that was presented at the service

for this fine officer. First of all, for the

officer, from mother to son.

MOTHER TO SON

God gave me a wonderful little pride and joy,

a bouncing baby boy.

And as he grew straight and tall,

he was always ready to give it his all.

A policeman he decided to be,

as he studied life sitting on my knee.

He exceeded far beyond expectation,

honest and smart, care and loving.

A little soul, entrusted to my care,

always helpful, his goodness he would

share.

Growing straight and tall, a protector of life

he became,

until one Friday morning an angel came.

Swift and graceful, taking him from me.

No more ‘‘Hi, Mom,’’ or sweet smile I

would see.

A role model for his children had always

been his fame,

but in the calm, a hero for his community

he became.

Lovingly he left me, a strong young woman

and the little flock of six,

all in all, a glorious mix.

But that’s not all, I am truly blessed you see,

two more sons and a daughter gave to me.

They grew, too, in much the same way,

adding more to our family, making me

proud every day.

With a husband, daughters, sons, grandchildren, parents and friends,

now ‘‘our little hand.’’

Steadfast and strong we make our stand.

Timothy Michael was your name,

it occurred to me long before you came

into my life to stay.

I love you more than I can say.

God bless and keep my little boy,

my strong, straight and tall deputy son,

For your hard fought battle has been won.

Until some day when we meet again,

fighting the good fight as best we can.

Tim, guide us in God’s great and wondrous

plan.

Love, Mom.

The sergeant was a true professional,

a true professional that was taken

from us by a despicable killer. But we

also had two other lives that were lost

that day, and I should point out that 11

children as a result of this incident

were left without a parent: Lynn, Matt,

Erin, Annie, Alex, William, Moss,

Iralee, Mark, David, and Mindy.

Mr. Speaker, all too often we have to

appear in front of this body and speak

of an officer, a man or woman in blue,

who has given their life for the rest of

us.

Mr. Speaker, I make these statements for the RECORD as a memorial

and as a thank you from the United

States of America, not only to the fallen officer, but to his strong wife and

his wonderful children. I also include

for the RECORD a tribute from Russ

Cook, the Chief of Police of the Golden

Police Department.

To the EDITOR:

Residents of South Jefferson County were

shocked last week when they were awakened

by a tragic crime, usually thought to occur

in big cities. No one could have suspected

that an angry and enraged killer was about

to walk into their local grocery store and