Ted Poe: “In a remote region of Algeria at an oil and gas facility, in the dark of night before the sun rose, workers from all…”

“In a remote region of Algeria at an oil and gas facility, in the dark of night before the sun rose, workers from all over the world were getting ready to sit down for breakfast when suddenly gun-wielding Islamic radicals stormed the facility. Some of the workers were killed; some were able to escape; some were taken hostage. One of the hostages killed in this attack was a member of my congressional district, Victor Lovelady. Victor was a native of southeast Texas. He was originally from Nederland, Texas, a town of primarily hardworking, blue collar folks centered around the energy industry. Victor had recently moved to Atascocita, Texas, his home not far from where I live. He was 57 years of age. When he died, he was on a contract assignment for ENGlobal, an energy company in Algeria. According to his family, Victor waited to take that contract until his children had finished school so he could attend their sporting events. This was not surprising for someone who was described as a ``dedicated family man and a fantastic coworker.'' Although it was hard to be so far away from his family, Victor was excited to take the contract assignment so he could ensure a secure future for his family. That's just the kind of father and husband he was. The deal for this contract was 28 days on, 28 days off, and he was just 10 days in with only 18 days left to go. He was scheduled to come home to Texas the day after his daughter's birthday.…”