Date: 2013-11-18
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. today there was a memorial in Washington in honor of a great public servant. Gerardo I. Hernandez. the first transportation security officer to be killed in the line of duty. It is with great sorrow that I offer my deepest sympathy to his family and pay tribute to him. He died on Friday. November 1. 2013. in Los Angeles of gunshot wounds received from an assailant while he was doing his duty as a transportation security officer. He was the first one to be killed in the line of duty. He was born in El Salvador and became an American citizen. He met Ana. the love of his life. who he married in 1998. and they have two wonderful children. In 2010. he joined the Transportation Security Administration. Everyone indicated what a great public servant he was. He was always excited to go to work and enjoyed the interaction with the passengers at LAX. He was a joyful person. always smiling. took pride in his duty for the American public and for the TSA mission. As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee. I offer my deepest sympathy and ask for a 1minute acknowledgement of this great and fine public servant. May he rest in peace. Mr. Speaker. it is with great sorrow but also great admiration that I rise to pay tribute to Gerardo I. Hernandez of Porter Ranch. California. Mr. Hernandez died on Friday. November 1. 2013. in Los Angeles of gunshot wounds received from an assailant while he was doing his duty as a Transportation Security Officer at the Los Angeles International Airport. He was the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty in the 12 year history of the agency. He was only 39 years old. Gerardo Hernandez was born in El Salvador in 1973 and at the age of 15 immigrated to the United States to escape the civil unrest of that wartorn country in 1988. Four years later. Gerardo met Ana. the love of his life. whom he married in 1998. Together. Gerardo and Ana were the loving parents of two wonderful children. Louis and Stephanie. Mr. Speaker. in 2010. Gerardo Hernandez joined the Transportation Security Administration. an agency created from the ash and rubble and heartbreak of the terrorist attack of September 11. He did so because he loved his adopted country and wanted to do what he could to help keep her safe. According to his wife Ana: [Gerardo] was always excited to go to work and enjoyed the interactions with the passengers at LAX. He was a joyful person. always smiling. He took pride in his duty for the American public and for the TSA mission. Mr. Speaker. as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee and former chair of its Transportation Security Subcommittee. I can tell you that Gerardo Hernandez was a good man and reflected TSA at its best. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends and colleagues and by countless members of the flying public who will remember how he also greeted them with a smile and treated them with respect. Gerardo Hernandez was a special person but happily for our country he is not unique. Every day thousands of TSA employees carry out their mission of keeping the airways safe for the flying public. The importance of TSA in safeguarding transportation throughout the nation cannot be understated. On average. TSA officers screen 1.7 million air passengers at more than 450 airports across the nation. which in 2012 amounted to 637.582.122 passengers. TSA provides security for the nations airports. maintains a security force to screen all commercial airline passengers and baggage. and works with the transportation. law enforcement and intelligence communities to ensure the security of the air transit industry. Mr. Speaker. sometimes we tend to forget just how horrible was that September 11 day twelve years ago. That day changed forever the way we gain access to commercial airplanes. From that day on Americans understood that a little temporary inconvenience in exchange for the more permanent security of a safe and uneventful flight was a small price to pay. It is people like Gerardo Hernandez who do their best to make the necessary screening as unintrusive and unburdensome as possible consistent with the mission of ensuring the security of all members of the flying public. And they are willing to risk their lives to ensure the job gets done. We owe the men and women of the TSA a debt of gratitude. They have earned our respect and appreciation and our support. Their hearts ache over the loss of their friend and colleague. But they recognize and understand that the best way to honor the memory of the great Gerardo Hernandez is to continue doing what he always did: treat everyone with respect. greet them with a smile. and discharge their duties so that all passengers screened board their flights secure in the knowledge that every precaution has been taken to ensure that they reach their destination and return safely home to the families and friends who know them best and love them most. Mr. Speaker. I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in honor of Gerardo I. Castillo. the first Transportation Security Officer to lose his life in the line of duty.