[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          TRIBUTE TO TOM LEWIS

                                 ______


                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to salute our colleague, Tom Lewis 
of Florida's 16th District, who is retiring after six productive terms 
in this House.
  Tom and I have worked closely together on the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology, especially on the Subcommittee on Technology, 
Environment, and Aviation, where Tom has been the ranking Republican.
  I have appreciated Tom's energy and cooperative spirit, his 
seriousness of purpose. I have also appreciated the great expertise and 
experience that he has brought to the committee's deliberations: prior 
to coming to this House, he spent 16 years at a major aerospace firm, 
serving as chief of rocket and jet engine testing.
  Using his formidable background, the North Palm Beach Congressman has 
been successful in pushing a variety of aviation-related legislation. 
His National Air Safety Act requires the Federal Aviation 
Administration to spend at least 15 percent of its annual research 
budget on a number of safety issues. Earlier, he had drafted a law to 
require the FAA to undertake additional research designed to detect 
problems involving older airlines.
  Tom has been an aggressive advocate of programs pushing American 
aerospace competitiveness. And, most recently, he has promoted a joint 
planning board enlisting NASA, the Defense Department, and private 
firms to devise future aerospace research projects.
  Tom also has been a major force as a member of the House Agriculture 
Committee; his south-central Florida district includes a considerable 
amount of farmland.
  At the same time, he has had an impact on environmental questions, 
concerning himself with expansion of national preserves, wetlands 
research, and offshore drilling issues.
  Tom has made many outstanding contributions to this body's 
deliberations, and all of us will miss him. I join my colleagues in 
wishing him well in his retirement.

                          ____________________