[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IS THIS ANY WAY TO TREAT AN AMERICAN HERO?

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, last night, the Nation was introduced to 
Richard Dean, a true American hero. An employee with the Social 
Security Administration, Mr. Dean was at work in the Murrah Federal 
Building last April when a terrorist's bomb tore a hole through that 
structure, killing 168 people. Mr. Dean went back into the building 
four times, saving three other lives.
  Mr. Dean was a hero on that day in April. But, Mr. Dean and Federal 
employees like him are heroes everyday. They help our elderly in their 
retirement, help our families find affordable housing, help our 
communities stricken by natural disasters. Yet, in November, Mr. Dean 
and thousands of Federal employees like him were forced to work without 
pay, because of the Gingrich Government shutdown. These hard-working 
men and women should not be used as pawns in an inside-the-beltway 
political game. So, let me join the President today to ask my 
Republican colleagues: Please don't shut down the Government for a 
third time. Think about Richard Dean. And, ask yourself, is this any 
way to treat an American hero?

                          ____________________