House Passes Resolution Honoring Four Slain Oakland Police Officers
For Immediate Release
April 1, 2009
Contact: Nicole Y. Williams
(202) 225-2661
Congresswoman Lee Offers Tribute to Slain Oakland Officers on House Floor
Washington, DC – Today, the House unanimously passed (417-0) H. Res. 290, a resolution introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) honoring the lives, and mourning the loss, of Sgts. Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans, Daniel Sakai, and Officer John Hege, members of the Oakland Police Department in California who were brutally slain in the line of duty. Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over the vote and asked for a moment of silence on the House floor prior to the vote.
Yesterday, House Members including Speaker Pelosi and Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) paid tribute to the fallen officers. Congresswoman Lee’s statement read in part as follows:
“The death of any law enforcement officer or first responder in the line of duty is a loss felt by so many people in so many communities. The tragic deaths of the heroes we honor in this resolution is no different. These wonderful men may have served and protected the people of Oakland, California, in my congressional district, but off duty they devoted their lives to improving the neighboring East Bay communities where they lived: Castro Valley, Danville, Tracy, and Concord, California. This resolution is cosponsored by the entire California Congressional Delegation, including Speaker Pelosi.
“So I just want to thank them all for their support, especially Congresswoman Tauscher and Congressman McNerney, each of whom represented one of the officers we honor today and with whom I worked very closely on this resolution.
“The number of persons seeking to pay their respects to the fallen officers was so great, more than 20,000, that the memorial service was held at Oracle Arena. Among those in attendance were Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Boxer, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and California Attorney General Jerry Brown. They were joined by thousands of fellow police officers and elected officials from around the country. President Obama also sent his condolences.
“This is a small but fitting tribute to four good men who routinely performed great deeds and who gave their lives in service to the people of Oakland, California. Their sacrifice increases by four the number of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty since May 17, 1792, when Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith of the New York City Sheriff's Office was killed.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund--an invaluable source, I might say, of historical and statistical information--that roll of honor now lists more than 18,270 names, each of which is engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial located in Washington, D.C.
“In May, 2010, the names of Sergeant Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans, Daniel Sakai and Officer John Hege will be added to those of their fallen brothers and sisters.
“The slayings of these four officers remind us that the risks assumed by police officers daily in serving and protecting their communities continue to be enormous, ever-present, and, often times, lethal.
“Their deaths also challenge us to redouble our efforts to ensure that law enforcement personnel have the training, the resources, and assistance and support needed to make our community safer, not only for the people who live there, but also for the people who serve those communities.
“The bravery, the devotion to duty, and the love of community of these fallen heroes has forever earned them a place in the hearts and memories of the citizens they willingly risked their lives to protect.
“But that honor comes at an enormous cost to the people who knew them best, who loved them most, and remember them simply as husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, and friends.
“In the face of this horrible loss and for the people of Oakland, California, we stand together in our resolve to make our city safer and peaceful, and we resolve that Sergeants Dunakin, Romans, Sakai, and Officer Hege, who sacrificed their lives, will be remembered and honored as those who really loved the community and did protect and defend it. Only by achieving our goals of peace, nonviolence, and resolution of conflicts by peaceful means will we be able to achieve a truly peaceful community, and then repay the debt that we owe to these four remarkable human beings who made the supreme sacrifice to keep us safe.”
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