[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H12067-H12068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN MEMORY OF DAVID TODD HETLAND, MINNESOTA THIRD DISTRICT FIELD 
                                DIRECTOR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Ramstad] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, this is truly the most difficult speech 
that I have ever made before this body.
  Yesterday, I was a pallbearer at the funeral of my extremely gifted 
and talented field director, David Hetland. David passed away Saturday 
at the age of 28 after a courageous struggle with cancer. Dave Hetland 
was a dear friend, treasured employee, and a committed public servant.
  Dave had a vibrant spirit that was there right up to the end as he 
battled this awful disease. He did not even know he had cancer until 4 
short months ago, yet he never got down and he never gave up. Dave will 
be sorely missed by all of us who knew and loved him.
  Dave and Jeanne Broz Hetland, his brave and loving wife, and their 
wonderful family are in our thoughts and prayers. Jeanne exhibited 
amazing strength during David's ordeal. Their love for each other was 
truly a lasting inspiration to each of the 600 mourners who were at the 
Colonial Church of Edina, MN, yesterday for the funeral.
  Pastor Gary Klingsporn, who also officiated at their marriage 
ceremony just this past August at the same church, said it beautifully 
in his very moving homily. He talked about the courageous, inspiring 
way in which Jeanne Hetland lived up to the wedding vows that she had 
made just 2 months ago. She truly lived the words about being there for 
Dave in sickness and in health.
  In a statement that made each of us in that church nod in unison and 
wipe our tear-filled eyes, Rev. Klingsporn noted that if the roles had 
been reversed, that Dave would have been at Jeanne's side, night and 
day, day and night, just as she was there for him over these last 
difficult months.
  Jeanne was truly the perfect partner for Dave, except when Purdue 
University played Dave's alma mater, the University of Minnesota. I 
will never forget when Dave came to me when they first started dating 
and asked for tickets for that game so they could sit in the middle of 
the University of Minnesota section. The Gophers lost, but Dave won the 
heart of one diehard Boilermaker fan. Dave and Jeanne have a wonderful 
love story that has inspired us all.

  Dave has been a key staff member for me since 1991, my first term 
here. I met Dave through my predecessor and mentor, Congressman Bill 
Frenzel. Dave served as a college intern for Bill.
  Dave came to us energized to pursue the highest standards of public 
service, and he really represented the absolute best in public service. 
He had a spirit and motivation that never waned and never left him. 
That spirit of Dave Hetland will be with me and my staff always, 
driving us even harder to help people in need and to respond to their 
problems back in Minnesota.
  As my field director in Minnesota, every day Dave Hetland showed up 
for work performing at the absolute highest level. He was known 
throughout the district as always being well-prepared and well-versed 
on the issues before Congress and how they affected the people that we 
represent.
  One of the many accomplishments that Dave will be remembered for is 
his creation of our ``School of the Month'' program. We recognize one 
outstanding elementary school each month in our district, based on 
Dave's research of a lengthy list of applicants each month.
  My school visits with Dave would include a short talk to the students 
and then a presentation of the award. Dave was an expert at making 
these presentations interesting to the students and understandable to 
the young people in our district.
  Dave Hetland was a wonderful teacher himself. He taught me and 
everyone in our office a great deal about life and living. He also 
taught us about death and dying. He never made any excuses when his 
pain was too much for any mortal to endure. In fact, I remember the 
last time I saw Dave at the office he could barely walk to his car, but 
he was there working for the people of our district, putting them above 
his own needs.
  Dave faced death and dying the same courageous, upbeat way that he 
lived his life. He was a true profile in courage.
  Dave remained optimistic to the end and focused on helping 
constituents and his other work, which he always performed in a first-
rate manner. Dave's favorite part of his job, one of his favorite parts 
of his job, was Service Academy Coordinator. Just recently, the Air 
Force Academy Associate Athletic Director, Jim Bauman, visited my 
office in Washington and said that Dave Hetland was personally 
responsible for bringing enough Minnesotans to the Academy to field 
their 

[[Page H 12068]]
hockey team and to make them competitive with the best in the land.

  Dave's special skills in dealing with constituents and their problems 
and his deep sense of compassion served the people of the Third 
District of Minnesota very, very well. His friendly ways and relentless 
pursuit of solving problems helped literally hundreds and hundreds of 
Minnesota people.
  Another area in which Dave shined was working with people with 
disabilities. It is a major emphasis in our office, and Dave organized 
many meetings for people with disabilities to listen to their concerns 
and to convey those concerns back here to Washington.
  Dave also knew every member of the police departments in the Third 
District by their first name and worked with me on crime legislation. 
He was always there when I was back in the district, a wonderful 
adviser and trusted friend.

                              {time}  1800

  Mr. Speaker, in one of the most touching eulogies I have ever heard, 
Dave's father-in-law put it best when he said, ``Dave told me something 
after his cancer was diagnosed that I will never forget. He turned to 
me and said, `You know, Jim, relationships are the most important thing 
in life.' ''
  Dave, speaking for all of us in our office, let me say we could not 
agree with you more. We will treasure our very special relationship 
with you forever. We love you, Dave. We are devastated by your passing. 
We will miss you a lot, but your special spirit will be with us every 
day for the rest of our lives. We will never forget the lessons you 
taught us, Dave, nor the inspiration you gave us.
  Dave Hetland, you will live forever in our hearts.
  The SPEAKER pro tempo (Mr. Allard). Our hearts and prayers go out to 
Dave Hetland and his family and friends.

                          ____________________