May 23, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 87 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S3072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                    HONORING SERGEANT VERDELL SMITH

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, yesterday, Tennesseans were really 
filled with a bittersweet pride as President Trump awarded posthumously 
the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to a heroic Tennessean, 
Sergeant Verdell Smith.
  His watch with the Memphis Police Department ended on June 4, 2016. 
On that day, an armed gunman stole a car and led Memphis police on a 
chase into the downtown area. Officer Smith responded to the call and 
worked quickly to clear the pedestrians from an intersection directly 
in the path of a speeding car. Then the unthinkable happened. Before 
the police were able to apprehend him, the gunman crashed through a 
barrier and fatally struck Officer Smith.
  Valor is a word that is defined as ``great personal bravery.'' Valor, 
you don't hear it a lot, but valor is that great personal bravery in 
the face of danger, and I think there is no better way to describe the 
actions of Officer Smith.
  I honor him on behalf of all Tennesseans for his service in the U.S. 
Navy, for his 18 years with the Memphis Police Department, and for his 
final act of heroism.

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