[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 36 (Thursday, March 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E484-E485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO JERRY O. RAINER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HAROLD ROGERS

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 26, 1998

  Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Speaker, April 3, 1998 marks the conclusion of a 
remarkable term of service to Kentucky and our Nation. After a 34-year 
career, Jerry O. Rainer will retire from the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers as the Deputy District Engineer for Project Management of the 
Nashville District.
  During his tenure and under his leadership, this country has 
witnessed the construction of some of its largest public works, all 
bearing Jerry's combination of engineering skill, a drive to accomplish 
complex projects, a dedication to serving the customer, and an 
admirable public reserve.
  The constituents of Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District will 
remain in debt to Jerry for his stewardship of the massive flood 
control works now nearly complete along the Upper Cumberland River. 
Thousands of citizens now live and work without fear of being washed 
out of their homes and businesses, owing their newfound security to 
these projects and the people who prosecuted them under Jerry's day to 
day leadership
  Kentucky's most revered statesman, Henry Clay, is remembered among 
other things for emerging early in his U.S. Senate career as a 
spokesman for a system of federally funded improvements to our Nation's 
infrastructure. Clay's American System was an ambitious program of 
roads and canals needed to nurture our young union into an economically 
self-reliant nation.
  The work that Clay championed is not unlike that which Jerry has been 
critical in implementing during his career with the Corps of Engineers: 
the massive Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, the rehabilitation of Wilson 
Lock, the Piney Grove Recreation Area, the Upper Cumberland River Flood 
Prevention Project, and the new lock at Kentucky Dam. These and many 
other works are proof positive of the dedication and experience which 
Jerry has applied to the benefit of thousands of citizens living within 
communities served by the Nashville Corps District.
  In recognition of his performance, Jerry is the recipient of no less 
than 21 service awards, including the Meritorious Civilian Service 
Award for outstanding leadership and management skills. And though a 
native of Mississippi and a life long Tennessean, we in Kentucky are 
proud to claim Jerry as one of our own.
  The citizens of Kentucky and the House of Representatives thank and 
congratulate Jerry

[[Page E485]]

O. Rainer on his outstanding contributions to the Nashville District, 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Nation.

                          ____________________