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Honoring Capitol Hill Officer William "Billy" Evans. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 13, 2021 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McCarthy, my friend, Minority Leader McConnell, members of Congress, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley, Attorney General Garland, Mayor Bowser, all the Capitol Hill Police and all that are here to pay tribute to this Capitol policeman who fell in the line of duty.

Acting Chief Pittman and the men and women of the Capitol Police force, I'm sorry. The second time in two months, you have such a ceremony. And I didn't know Billy but I knew Billy. I grew up with Billies in Claymont, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Billy was always the kid that you know if you got in a fight, you were outnumbered 3-1, he would still jump in knowing you would both get beaten. He was the one who always kept his word. He said he'd be there, he'd be there. He was the one who, just like folks I grew up with, wasn't capable of saying no when you needed him.

You know just like you, Officer Kenny, the sheriff who was injured in the attack with Billy, and never has there been more strain -- I've been here a long time. I've been here since 1972 as U.S. senator, '73, and so much strain and responsibility has been placed on the shoulders of the Capitol Police. And you hear it, you see it, you watch them. You watch them do their duty with pure courage and not complain.

You know, Sergeant Kyle King, I'm sorry you had to make the call, that telephone call, that every family dreads when they have a son or daughter, a husband, wife, brother, sister in uniform. Every morning, they pin that badge on and go to work and expect to come home in the back of your minds you don't ever get that call.

You knew Billy since grade school. I think it was fourth grade. I've got to deal with all the guys that I grew up with in fourth grade. When one passes way, the other one has to give up, has too much information about you, too much you leave behind.

But, you know, I'm sure all those memories from North Adams and Clarksburg never changed who Billy was. He was defined by his dignity, his decency and his loyalty and his courage. And mom, that's because of you and his dad, that's how it happened, not by accident. Ms. Evans, you have some idea what you're feeling like. I buried two of my children. And people have come up to you and are going to come up to you for some time and say I know how you feel. They'll say that to sis, they're going to say that to your kids. They're going to say that to his former wife.

[11:35:02]

And after a while, you know everybody means well. You feel like saying, you have no idea.

But the truth is that time is going to come, I promise you, not believable now, when a memory, a fragrance, a scene, a circumstance the way his son tilt his head the way he did when he was that age, is going to bring back the memory.

And for the longest time, it's going to feel like at that moment, that memory is going to feel like you got the phone call just that moment ago. And they're going to be people celebrating Billy's life. And as much as you appreciate it, all of you, it also is hard. You relive everything again.

And, you know, I got a phone call when I first got here and lost my family, part of my family, from a person I never knew, never met, former Governor of New Jersey who was literally 45 years my senior. And he told me he knew how I felt, and I didn't say anything.

He said I know what you're thinking. He said but I did know. He said I used to come home. I was the attorney general in New Jersey before I was governor. I come home from lunch because I lived across the green from my office. And one day, a woman who helped out our home came running across the greens, and she's gone. She's gone. His wife had an aneurysm.

He said, you know what I did? He said I kept -- I got graph paper and four months out, I put the month on it, and then a horizontal line. I put the date and the month. And the vertical line, I put the numbers one to ten. Ten would be the happiest day of my life and one would be like the moment I got the phone call.

And he said -- and every night before I go to bed, I would graph it. I would put a dot on that day where I was. He said don't look at it for three or four months. He said, when you look at it and you'll see, put it on a graph. The downs are just as far down but they get further and further and further apart.

You're all going to know that you're going to make it, by holding each other together, most importantly, by holding Logan and Abigail as tightly as you can. Because the long as you have them, you've got Billy, as long as you have them.

You know, my prayer for all of you is that a day will come when you have that memory and you smile before you get a tear in your eyes. I promise you, it's going to come. It just takes a while. It takes a while. But when it comes, you'll know because he is still with you. He's still in your heart, moves of the son, daughter, brother, sister, mom, dad, it's like losing a piece of your soul. But it's buried deep but it comes back.

There's a great quote by R.G. Ingersoll. It was read when my son, who was a chief law enforcement officer in the state of Delaware, attorney general, came back from Iraq after a year and he died. They read this poem from R.G. Ingersoll. It said, when will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns compromise with death, this is heroism.

[11:40:01]

Your son, your husband, your brother, your dad was a hero, and he's part of you. He's in your blood. My prayer for you is that moment of the smile comes before the tear quicker than longer. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the U.S. Army Chorus Quartet.

[11:45:00]

Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated.

[11:50:00]

Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the benediction delivered by Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black.

BARRY C.BLACK, SENATE CHAPLAIN: Let us pray. Eternal God, we thank you for your amazing grace. As we face the painful human reality of death, we thank you in the midst of our grief for the courageous life and legacy of Officer William Evans.

[11:55:03]

May his ultimate sacrifice inspire us to be more vigilant in protecting our freedoms. Continue to comfort his precious family. Continue to restore to health Officer Ken Shaver.

Oh Lord, support us all the daylong until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over and our work is done. Then in your mercy grant us a holy rest and peace at last.

We pray in your sovereign name, amen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- at arms staff.

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