On the recordJuly 24, 2013
Fifteen years ago this week, we had two of our Capitol Police officers killed in this building. Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson were killed. An intruder came into the building, and these two people, trying to protect and defend others, were killed. Later today there will be a moment of silence in honor of them and at the same time remembering all of those who do this every day for us. I happened to be working in this building on 9/11. I was one of the last people to leave the building that morning, and I remember the people who were still here when I left were the Capitol Police. I remember one of the policewomen I saw as I was going out the door-- Isabelle said: You need to get out of the building as quick as you can. But she was still here. Officer Gibson actually died in the doorway of an office that was my office for a couple of years in this building. I moved into that office shortly after he and his family both made the sacrifice that all of those who work here to protect us are willing to make. The other thing I would like to say is that in light of all of that, this building was kept open for people who were not only from the United States but from all over the world to come and see. One of the things Congress appropriately never talked about after that tragedy was: What do we do to keep people out of this building? The discussion was: What do we do to let people continue to be in this building, and we will be remembering that day. The Economy
