WEBVTT

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I call their name. Ladies first.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz,
who was a fighter and a champion

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
for the people.
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who is always advocating for the issues
that impact our community.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Congressman Carlos Curbelo,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who is new to the Congress but
is blazing his own great trail.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And they all helped move this bill.
I always want to take a moment again


99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to recognize the family of
Special Agent Grogan who are here with us,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and the family of Special Agent Dove,
wherever they might be.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We have the honor of having FBI Director
James Comey with us.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He has the enormous task of
keeping all Americans safe.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and I'd seen him so many times,
but he looks taller today.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We're also happy to have GSA Administrator
Denise Roth here today.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We're fortunate to have a great 
local leader as the head of

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the Miami field office,
Special Agent-in-Charge George Piro.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And I also want to acknowledge our mayor.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Consider this scenario:

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The brand new federal building
housing the FBI has been built.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And the FBI approaches my office.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Congresswoman Wilson:

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The ribbon cutting has been scheduled
in four short weeks.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The dedication is
on the government's calendar,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and cannot be changed.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
One problem.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The FBI wants to name
this gorgeous edifice

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
at the same time it opened.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Everyone said: “That's impossible.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It takes at least eight months to a year
to complete the process,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[through] the House, the Senate
and to the president's office.”

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I said: ‘I'm a school principal.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And I said’ — excuse my French —

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
‘Oh, hell no.
We're going to get this done.’

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Immediately, I went into attack mode.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I went to the speaker, Speaker Boehner.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I said, ‘Mr. Speaker, I need your help,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the FBI needs your help.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And your country needs your help.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And we have no time to waste.’

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He went into attack mode,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and in two days pulled it out
of committee.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Brought it to the floor for a vote.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Rep. Curbelo and I presented it.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We all voted for it.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And I dashed it over to the Senate.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And put our senators on notice:
Put it on your radar.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who I believe have representatives
here today,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
they hotlined it to the Senate floor
in just two days.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And guess what?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The president signed the bill into law
this past Tuesday, April 7, 2015.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
With a bang, bang, bang!

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You know what?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I will be presenting the bill, a copy of the bill,
that was signed into the law, to the FBI

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and also the pen the president used
to sign that document.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It is a miracle, to say the least.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But it speaks to the respect our Congress has
for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The men and women who put their lives
on the line every single day.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And today we're providing a boost to our nation

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
by naming this fantastic building in honor of
Special Agent Benajmin Grogan and Jerry Dove,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who died valiantly on Friday, April 11,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in what is still considered the bloodiest gun battle
in the storied history of the FBI.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Most men and women in law enforcement
leave their homes for work

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
knowing that there is a possibility
that they may not return.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I may [inaudible] for all men and women
and first responders to stand up.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Stand up now, so that we can
applaud you and what you do.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Stand up! We are proud of you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We are proud of your courage.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Thank you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I don't know if that was on the minds
of agents Grogan and Dove

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as they left their homes on April 11, 1986.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But I do know it was an unusually breezy
spring morning in South Florida.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So eerily similar today,
and the actual anniversary is tomorrow.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I do [know] that Miami in the 1980s was plagued
by crime and graphic violence.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We all know that.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This period has been chronicled
in media reports,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and portrayed on TV shows like Miami Vice
and movies like Scarface.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I know that Agent Grogan was a company man,
and one year from retirement.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
His wife also was an employee of the FBI.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I know that Agent Dove joined the bureau
after completing law school,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and was living his boyhood dream,
according to his family.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I know their bravery was the motivation
for joining a team on that morning.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
A team that was tailing a vehicle
with two suspects

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who were connected to a string of murders
and violence and bank robberies.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The agents attempted to get
the drivers to pull over.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They were cornered.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
A gun battle immediately ensued.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There was a barrage of bullets.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I can only imagine the frustration
of those agents.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Yet they battled on.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In a desperate attempt to flee, the suspects
tried to commandeer Grogan and Dove’s vehicle.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It is reported the suspects shot both agents
with a high-powered rifle at close range.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Shortly after, the suspects were themselves
fatally shot by Agent Morales.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Agent Morales made a memorable statement
about his role in that historic event.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He said, 'I just knew I was going to die.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But I was going to do my very best to make sure
that those suspects did not get away."

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When the smoke cleared, two agents lay dead.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And five were seriously injured.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So today it is our patriotic duty to lift up

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Special Agent Benjamin Grogan
and Special Agent Jerry Dove

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
from the streets of South Florida,
and place their names and pictures high.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Where the world will know that
we are proud of their sacrifice.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Sacrifice for our nation.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It is only fitting that their names should be placed
on the same mantle with the letters FBI.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Because Special Agent Grogan and Dove embody

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the sacred motto for which
the agency has become known.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
- Please repeat it after me, fidelity.
- Fidelity.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
- Bravery. 
- Bravery.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
- And integrity.
- And integrity.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
God bless you, God bless the FBI,
and God bless America.