Expressing Concern About Suicide Plane Attack On Irs Employees In Austin, Texas

Floor Speech

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I thank the gentleman from Georgia and the gentleman from Louisiana for their important comments. The recent suicide attack in my hometown of Austin, Texas, on an IRS building was a horrible tragedy. I authored this resolution to honor those who were victims, to recognize the courage that was displayed by so many that day, and to condemn such cowardly acts of violence.

Seeing that building aflame after this premeditated suicide attack which was, in the words of Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, ``perpetrated in rage without any regard for the sanctity of human life,'' I was just amazed that not more of our neighbors were harmed. In large measure, this was the result of the valor and professionalism amidst the flames and the chaos of the Federal workers, others who came upon the scene, and our local first responders.

Leaders of these well-trained professionals who rose to the call of duty that day include our Austin Police Chief, Art Acevedo; our Fire Chief, Rhoda Mae Kerr; our EMS Director, Ernie Rodriguez; and Travis County HAZMAT Chief, Gary Warren who, with the Westlake Fire Department, was fortunately near the site of the attack and raced into action. And I know that the neighboring Grace Covenant Church has already offered support and solace for many following the attack.

This resolution also recognizes Robin De Haven. Robin, an Iraqi veteran and a technician with Binswanger Glass, was driving by and was one of the first to rush to the scene as he saw the attack. Without a moment's hesitation, he stopped his truck, got out his ladder, and despite the fire, the heat, the smoke and the chaos, he rescued employees from the second floor of the building.

As the saying goes, ``it's easy to be brave from a distance,'' but Robin showed his bravery close up, very close up, and in doing so, he helped many people escape injury. Last week he became the first Austinite to receive a ``challenge coin,'' recognizing his quick thinking and courage from all three of the city's public safety organizations.

There is the spirit and courage of the Austin IRS employees, whose calm and orderly evacuation saved lives. They were recognized by the prompt visit of IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, Treasury Secretary Geithner, and Colleen Kelley, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, who heard firsthand what these employees experienced.

Frankly, all in the building that day were heroes, and we cannot know the names of all who acted with courage. But a few stories that were shared with me by the employees I think are typical: Alfredo Valdespino, who guided employees out of the building and then ran back inside to offer more help. Also returning to help a missing colleague was Richard Lee. David Irving carried a disabled coworker down the stairs and out of the building on his back. Armando Valdez, Jr., and Deborah Fleming yelled to other employees, ``Follow my voice,'' as they guided them away from falling through the gaping holes in the floor. Andrew Jacobson and Morgan Johnson broke out a window and allowed employees to climb out through Robin De Haven's ladder.

That tragic day, even as work continued at the scene, however, after this deadly assault on Federal employees, a Facebook page was created that lauded the killer. This response to violence is deplorable. Intense debate as we have here on this floor about our Tax Code is appropriate. That's what we do here in Congress and in gatherings across the country. There are many tax provisions that I have personally criticized in the strongest terms, and at times I have also criticized the way the IRS has administered the Tax Code. But to demonize and harm public servants who are serving our country at the IRS while praising a murderer or anyone else who would do them harm is outrageous.

Nor is such misconduct unique to this tragedy. According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of threats against IRS employees are on the rise. Just this week, the Austin American-Statesman reported about another local agent's necessary care in opening mail filled with razor blades and pushpins, about last year's phony anthrax attack on another Austin IRS building and an earlier plot to blow up another Austin IRS building. Each year, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which oversees the IRS, investigates more than 900 threats against IRS employees, including violence.

Let me be clear: I'm not here today to glorify the IRS. I'm here to condemn unequivocally through this resolution those who would glorify violence against our public employees who are properly conducting their duties in service to our Nation.

There are many who will long bear the emotional scars from this attack, and some still cope with the physical burdens. I want especially to recognize Shane Hill, a 5-year investigator with the Texas State Comptroller's office who happened to be in the building that day and now with his family faces a very long physical recovery.

Vernon Hunter has been mentioned. Known by his friends as Vern, he lost his life in this senseless attack. At his funeral last Friday, he was described as the type of man who always woke up with a smile, always wanted to help others, and as a Texan, never left home without his cowboy hat. Coming from a family dedicated to uniformed service, he served in the U.S. Army for over two decades, which included two tours of duty in Vietnam. His four brothers and a son all served in the United States military, as does his son-in-law today who is actively serving in the United States Navy. After retiring from the Army, he continued that service to his country for almost three decades with the Internal Revenue Service, where his wife Valerie has also worked.

The gentleman from Georgia is a particularly appropriate person to present this resolution today because after living through a life of segregation in South Carolina, Vern was present that day, John Lewis, when you along with Dr. Martin Luther King spoke down The Mall here in the famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech and the celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. His dream, he saw in his service to his country through the Army and through the Internal Revenue Service, was a dream rooted in freedom and justice; and 45 years after that speech, Vernon was able to witness America's progress when he himself served as a delegate for President Obama.

Dr. Martin Luther King once said: ``The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.'' Because Vern Hunter cared enough to make a difference, Austin and this Nation that he loved so much and served his whole life was made better. In a remarkable statement at a moment of such great pain, the Hunter family expressed its personal forgiveness of the suicide attacker and expressed sympathy for the attacker's family. These moving words of peace reflect the power of their own faith and the strength of spirit, both of the Hunter family and the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church family, led by Reverend Gaylon Clark. Vern, his life and his family are a testament about what is best in our country. In him, we have lost a true American hero.

Today I respectfully ask that my colleagues join in adopting this resolution to honor him, the other victims, the employees, and the rescuers and to renounce violence against those who are serving our country.

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I thank both gentlemen. I want to applaud the remarks of my colleague Mr. McCaul, both the remarks that he made here today and the remarks that he made on the afternoon of this tragedy, under what I know was a very stressful situation.

I believe that we share a common purpose here. No one was looking to see which party, a member of the IRS was that day, or what part of the City of Austin. It affected our entire community. I had not used the term earlier, but I must say I also agree with his conclusion that like the much larger-scale tragedy in Oklahoma City, this was an act of domestic terrorism. But let's not quibble over the terms; it was the harm that was done and the promotion of that harm and violence. There is nothing noble about terror. Any expression to the contrary deserves our condemnation.

As I read the statement that the pilot put up on his website, which was a rather confusing diatribe, I noticed particularly his quotation, ``violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer,'' and in response almost immediately, some folks set up a Facebook page and called themselves ``fans'' of this suicide attacker. Sporting a ``Don't Tread on Me'' flag, the so-called ``fan page'' to the murderer misappropriated Thomas Jefferson's famous words that ``the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.'' This resolution soundly rejects, in a bipartisan manner, such appalling tributes.

The patriots were working in the building that day, not working to kill public servants. The heroes were people like Vern Hunter who were doing their job on behalf of their country, not trying to destroy their fellow human beings.

I believe we must turn down the volume on hate if we are to avoid reoccurrence of such baseless terror attacks. In our country, there is room for wide and vigorous political discourse and disagreement--our democracy thrives on it--but there is no room for violence or the dangerous incitement to violence. We get change through the ballot box, not by bullets, not by suicide airplane attacks. Let us speak today with one strong, unequivocal voice renouncing this attack. We reject the path of hate, and we reject the call to violence.

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