[Page S3224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING JOSHUA HARDY

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, Joshua Hardy was 2 years older. He was 52 
years old. He had been working for 4\1/2\ years as an engineer and 
technician for the city of Virginia Beach. He was raised in Hampton 
Roads. He came from a really big family, and he was described by his 
friends and his family as being incredibly caring, especially about 
kids. He didn't have any children of his own, but he often watched over 
his nieces and nephews.
  One of his nieces, Tasha, remembered that he was around a lot. ``He 
cared about me and all of my cousins,'' she said. ``He was like a 
father figure to me because my dad wasn't around.''
  In 2011, Joshua actually published a book, called the ``ABC Book on 
Protecting Yourself from Strangers.''
  The people he worked with remember being so impressed that Joshua had 
gone above and beyond the call. One of his colleagues in the 
engineering department, Larry Knight, gave a copy of the book to his 
daughter and his grandson. He remembers Joshua as just always having a 
smile on the job:

       Joshua was one of the nicest men you would ever care to 
     meet. He was funny and kindhearted. [He] would do anything 
     for you.

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