Honoring Alaska Correctional Officer Daniel Bates

HONORING ALASKA CORRECTIONAL OFFICER DANIEL BATES

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, law enforcement officers from around the Nation-troopers, police officers, sheriff's deputies, professional corrections officers, conservation officers and rangers and federal law enforcement officers-are traveling to our Nation's Capital for the annual observance of National Police Week which begins on May 9 and continues through May 15.

National Police Week is a solemn period, during which law enforcement officers recognize their brothers and sisters who died in the line of duty and provide support and comfort to the survivors.

Last year, during National Police Week, I had the sad duty of acknowledging the loss of Officer James C. Hesterberg, the first member of the Alaska Department of Corrections to lose his life in the line of duty. This year, I must sadly acknowledge the loss of Officer John Watson of the Kenai Police Department who was fatally shot while on duty on Christmas night 2003.

On May 11, as part of the National Police Week observance, Corrections U.S.A., an association of 90,000 publicly-employed professional corrections officers, will meet to honor their brothers and sisters who have performed acts above and beyond in the protection of public safety.

It gives me great pride to recognize Officer Daniel Bates, an employee of the Alaska Department of Corrections, presently assigned to the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, who will receive the 2004 Silver Medal of Valor from Corrections U.S.A.

On December 31, 2000, Officer Bates, then assigned to the Ketchikan Correctional Center, reacted quickly and professionally to an incident involving an inmate who one month prior was convicted of twelve criminal counts stemming from the armed robbery of a liquor store and a convenience store. Two of those counts were for the crime of attempted murder. The prisoner in question was arrested after an all night manhunt during which he shot at police officers who tried to apprehend him at a motel.

The inmate was participating in outdoor recreation at the jail when he began to scale the first of two perimeter fences around the exercise area. He succeeded in scaling the inner fence, ignoring orders to stop, and failed to stop after being struck by a rubber projectile fired by Officer Bates. After the prisoner breached the outer fence, the final barrier, Officer Bates fired at him with live ammunition, bringing him down.

Given this inmate's history of violence toward law enforcement officers, it was critical to the public's safety that Officer Bates acted promptly and decisively to prevent the escape. His calm and professional actions may have been instrumental in keeping the names of one or more Alaska law enforcement officers off of the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Wall in Judiciary Square. For this we are grateful.

Our Nation's professional correctional officers are said to walk the toughest beat in law enforcement. I am pleased to join with Corrections U.S.A. in recognizing one of America's finest officers, Daniel Bates, a veteran member of the Alaska Department of Corrections, whose actions personify the department's motto, "Vigilance Pride Dedication."
I thank the President and yield the floor.