Honoring the Service of Six Fallen Federal Law Enforcement Officers

(As prepared for delivery. )

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, family and friends: thank you for the opportunity to participate in this memorable and solemn occasion.

Today we gather to honor the memories and service of six federal law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty last year. These brave, selfless heroes risked their own lives for the safety of others. They died doing what all law enforcement officers do every day—protecting the United States and serving the American people.

No one here needs reminding that it can be dangerous to be a law enforcement officer. The job has become even more challenging in the past 4 years. U.S. law enforcement officers are working long and hard hours to defend the American people from the threat of terrorists. We have become key players in the global war on terrorism. Not only have we ramped up our antiterrorism activities at home, U.S. law enforcement officers routinely perform dangerous missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places throughout the world.

At the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the security and law enforcement arm of the State Department, 1,400 special agents have taken their oaths as federal law enforcement officers. They protect diplomats from terrorists and they solve passport fraud cases that most often are linked to international criminals and terrorists. Our special agents work in some of the world’s most politically volatile places. They lead U.S. embassy security operations in Baghdad, Iraq. And they constantly delve into dangerous crisis situations to save others. In just the past few months, our special agents have stepped right into the middle of angry mobs in Sierra Leone and Togo in Africa—at grave risk to themselves—to rescue American citizens. It’s the nature of the job, and it’s what the American people expect us to do.

Law enforcement officers from across America also face serious risks every day. The cost of this is all too real, and, sometimes, all too tragic. Since 1970, the names of 141 law enforcement officers from 81 different agencies who were killed in action have been added to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Graduates Memorial.

When we sign up to become federal law enforcement officers, we accept that our work is more than a job. It is, in fact, a way of life. It is fundamentally unpredictable, uncertain, and hazardous. And although all of us know this, we don’t truly appreciate what it means until a fellow law enforcement officer – someone we know, someone we’ve worked with, someone we’ve socialized with – until that person dies in the line of duty.

The six brave law enforcement officers we honor today did make the ultimate sacrifice. They gave their lives as they were working to protect others.

Three of the fallen whom we honor and remember today were with the U.S. Border Patrol. Agents Travis W. Attaway and Jeremy Wilson were on routine patrol on the Rio Grande when their boat capsized in the rain-swollen river, and they drowned. Agent George B. DeBates was performing his assigned surveillance, monitoring, and apprehension duties in Arizona when his patrol vehicle overturned, killing him.

Special agents from the U.S. Secret Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service also gave their lives last year. Secret Service Special Agent Phillip C. Lebid died in the line of duty in an automobile accident in Tampa, Florida. N-C-I-S Special Agent Tom Marzilli, deputy chief of the multiple threat analysis center, was performing his physical fitness training when he collapsed and died.

Today we also honor and remember Diplomatic Security’s Ed Seitz. In Ed’s case, he was in Camp Victory, a compound outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, going about his routine. Although it was still very early on Sunday, October 24, Ed had just wrapped up his workout. Then—in a moment that still shocks us with its tragedy —Iraqi insurgents fired mortar shells into the compound, killing Ed instantly.

He was the first DS special agent and first State Department employee to die in Iraq since the onset of hostilities in 2003.

Ed came from a family of dedicated law enforcement professionals. His father, Elroy "Butch" Seitz, was a career officer with the Cleveland, Ohio, Police Department. His brother, Billy, is a Cleveland police officer even today. Ed, too, proudly carried on the family tradition as an officer with both the Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland Police Departments in Ohio before he joined Diplomatic Security more than 16 years ago.

Ed’s nearly 20 years of law enforcement experience taught him many important lessons, with surely the most critical being that of the value of cooperation among law enforcement agencies. Ed knew, and I’m sure every law enforcement officer here today also knows, that it doesn’t matter if you work at the local, state, or federal level – the bottom line is that you are a law enforcement officer. To Ed, that meant being a part of a fraternity, a special band of brothers and sisters. Coming from a family of police officers himself, Ed recognized the value of sharing information and being a team player. He knew that the combined efforts of law enforcement officers working in harmony would prove much greater that the sum of individuals working on their own.

Ed really believed in this concept of cooperation, especially in these dangerous times of global terrorism and international organized crime. As a member of a Joint Terrorism Task Force in Detroit 4 years ago, he cooperated with all levels of law enforcement, the U.S. Attorney’s office, and various state and local officials. When the task force needed an expert for a passport fraud or visa fraud angle concerning a terrorism case, Ed was there. When agents from the Customs and Border Patrol would detain a traveler trying to sneak across the border with questionable travel documents, they called Ed. The bottom line is that Ed was always willing to help. He was the ultimate professional. And he knew the importance of the mission to safeguard America and its residents against global terrorism and the threat of organized crime.

Ed once wrote, “It is nice to know that I made a difference, and I did my job.” Ed did make a difference.

Each of the six men whose names were added to the FLETC memorial today clearly made a difference. They made a difference in every life they touched and in the hearts and minds of all of us. They were dedicated professionals who did their jobs with great pride and distinction, and represented the best that our nation has to offer. And they paid the ultimate price in the name of our country and in the name of freedom. These men made us all proud to be Americans. I can assure you, we will never forget their bravery, their honor, and their sacrifice.

Today we offer our thoughts and prayers in memory of these six men who sacrificed so much for our nation and for the American people. As you reflect on these fallen officers today, please also continue to keep your thoughts and prayers with the other American law enforcement officers who are still out there now.

May God bless these six brave men. May God bless their families, friends, and fellow law enforcement officers. And may God continue to bless America.