[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 106 (Thursday, August 4, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        TRIBUTE TO THE U.S. COAST GUARD ON ITS 204TH ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. GERRY E. STUDDS

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 4, 1994

  Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, today marks the 204th anniversary of the 
U.S. Coast Guard, our Nation's oldest maritime service. I take personal 
pleasure in noting Massachusetts' special relationship with the Coast 
Guard which dates back to the agency's inception. In 1790, Alexander 
Hamilton, then-Secretary of the Treasury, ordered the commissioning of 
10 revenue cutters to assist in the collection of customs duties. The 
revenue cutter Massachusetts was the largest of the 10 original Coast 
Guard cutters. Today, Massachusetts fishermen and all other mariners 
continue to rely on the U.S. Coast Guard to be ``Semper Paratus.''
  Over the past 200 years, the Coast Guard's missions have greatly 
expanded from its revenue cutter service beginnings. Today, the Coast 
Guard is charged with maintaining aids to navigation, ensuring the 
protection of the marine environment from oil and other hazardous 
spills, interdicting the flow of drugs, enforcing fisheries laws and 
treaties, and promoting safety at sea. In addition to these peacetime 
duties, the Coast Guard is a branch of our military and has served with 
distinction in ever U.S. armed conflict.
  And the missions keep expanding. Thus far in 1994, the Coast Guard 
has rescued over 25,000 Haitians from overcrowded boats helplessly 
adrift in the Caribbean.
  The U.S. Coast Guard is the world's premier humanitarian maritime 
organization. The invaluable service it provides to the American people 
was clearly illustrated by a letter recently sent to the Coast Guard 
Commandant, Admiral Robert Kramek, by a grateful citizen.
  Writing to thank the Coast Guard for its successful efforts to rescue 
first a seriously injured crew member and then the boat itself, Mr. 
Louis Spizziri of Wyckoff, NJ, said:

       Every member of your organization performed in outstanding 
     fashion. They were all most competent in their jobs which 
     they performed in a thoroughly professional manner. I feel 
     that their behavior displayed an extraordinary level of 
     ability and training.

  Mr. Sprzziri vividly described the June 27, 1994, rescue of the badly 
injured owner of the sloop Kanoa Kai by a USCG HH 60 J Jayhawk 
helicopter 200 miles east of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The 
following day, the remaining crew encountered a violent thunderstorm 
that knocked the boat flat four times in the space of only 10 minutes 
and set off the engine alarm. The Coast Guard cutter Aquidneck sent two 
crewmen to help but were unable to solve the problem and the cutter 
ended up towing the boat to Little Creek, VA.
  Mr. Spizziri closed his letter to Admiral Kramek by saying,

       I know I speak for the owner and the other two crew members 
     of the Kanoa Kai thanking all the many people who 
     participated in the rescue operations and commending them for 
     their outstanding abilities and dedication to service. Some 
     of them as you well know literally put their own lives at 
     risk. The Coast Guard certainly lived up to its mission of 
     saving life and performing rescue.

  Mr. Speaker, those of us who work with the Coast Guard know that 
events like those described by Mr. Spizziri are a daily occurrence. The 
resourceful and courageous men and women who serve in the Coast Guard 
are to be applauded and there is no better time to recognize their 
often heroic efforts then on today, their 204th anniversary.

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