[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 93 (Thursday, June 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          GIVING THANKS FOR THE RESCUE OF CAPT. SCOTT O'GRADY

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to give thanks for 
the safe rescue of Capt. Scott O'Grady, the F-16 pilot shot down over 
Bosnia while flying a NATO support mission.
  Captain O'Grady's training was the very best in the world, and it 
kept him alive for 6 days as he managed to elude hostile Bosnian Serb 
troops and communicate by radio with the Marine Corp rescue unit that 
would ultimately bring him to safety.
  Though he had suffered some burns to his neck as he ejected from his 
crippled aircraft, Captain O'Grady never panicked.
  He endured hunger and hypothermia while judiciously using his 
battery-powered rescue radio to call for help.
  Both Captain O'Grady and his Marine Corps rescuers from Camp Lejeune 
performed by the book. They did precisely what their military training 
had instructed them to do, and thus the prayers of all America have 
been answered.
  Mr. Speaker, it has become fashionable lately for many of my 
congressional colleagues to criticize our military's readiness, to 
allege that training has suffered as a result of more streamlined 
Pentagon spending.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, for those who want to justify a return to the days 
of monstrous defense budgets in the face of deficits and mounting 
domestic problems, I would like to point to the textbook competence and 
excellence displayed by American fighting forces in this dramatic 
episode.
  To Captain O'Grady's family, I extend America's warmest wishes.
  We share your joy in the safe return of your brave loved one.
  And we share your pride in knowing that he is a part of the very best 
trained, the very best equipped, and the readiest fighting force the 
world has ever known, and supported by this administration and 
Democrats of Congress believing in a strong, efficient, effective 
defense.

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