HOUSTON – A Houston police officer who died while trying to get to work during the floods produced by Hurricane Harvey was honored Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Tex Poe, R-Humble, stood next to a photograph of Sgt. Steven Perez, calling him “a cut above the rest of us.”
Perez drowned Aug. 27 when he drove into 16 feet of floodwater near the Hardy Tollway and Beltway 8 while trying to report for duty.
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“He gave his life for the thin, blue line,” Poe said. “The line that protects and serves the rest of us.”
Houston police said Perez's funeral will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 13 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 1111 St. Joseph Parkway.
“While we mourn the loss of Sgt. Perez, we thank the good Lord that such men ever lived,” Poe said.
Perez was a 34-year law enforcement veteran. He is survived by a wife, son and daughter.
