Emanuel Cleaver: “I rise to honor five firefighters from my district, Missouri's Fifth, who selflessly risked their lives in the line of…”

“I rise to honor five firefighters from my district, Missouri's Fifth, who selflessly risked their lives in the line of duty. On February 23, 2004, Captain Patrick Martin, Firefighter Marvin Donaldson, Firefighter David Bradley, Firefighter Stephen Johnson, and Mr. Sean McKarnin responded to a fire at a residence in South Kansas City not far from where I live. Upon their arrival at the scene, they came under heavy and rapid gunfire from a nearby residence and were pinned down for nearly 30 minutes while the fire raged. In the midst of this chaos, a paramedic who also responded to the scene was shot. The team members successfully pulled her to safety and eventually extinguished the fire. Today, these five heroes will be awarded the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor by President Bush. He will recognize their extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty. The medal is the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer and only 10 public safety officers will receive this award this year. I commend those firefighters for their exceptional courage and decisiveness in an extraordinary situation and know my colleagues will join me in honoring them today. ____________________”