[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1667-E1668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN HONOR OF THE FAIRFAX COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENT URBAN SEARCH 
                            AND RESCUE TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. THOMAS M. DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 1998

  Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to 
rise today to pay tribute to 62 distinguished citizens of the Eleventh 
District of Virginia, the members of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue 
Department's Urban Search and Rescue Team. Called Virginia Task Force 
One, this brave team of men and women has served as our humanitarian 
diplomats to cities in crisis.
  On August 7, 1998, the world was rocked by twin explosions. The 
American Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were 
destroyed in tragic, unconscionably cruel bombings that took the lives 
of innocent East Africans and Americans. As we stared in numb disbelief 
at news reports that overflowed with heart-wrenching images and 
constantly rising death counts, Virginia Task Force One was already 
alerted and preparing for their daunting mission.
  Within 12 hours of the bombings, Virginia Task Force One was fully 
mobilized for deployment to Africa. Less than 24 hours after the 
explosions, as many of us were still grasping to understand this 
tragedy, the team was en route from Andrews Air Force Base to Nairobi. 
Search and rescue technicians, cave-in experts, physicians, paramedics, 
logisticians, and command and control personnel comprised the 62-member 
Task Force, led by Battalion Chief Michael Tamillow and retired Deputy 
Chief James Strickland.
  Virginia Task Force One worked tirelessly with search and rescue 
teams from Kenya and Israel, transforming the chaos of Friday into an 
orderly and systematic search for any survivors, and for key evidence 
to piece together the cause of the event. For the first several days of 
the rescue effort, team members ran two twelve-hour shifts to provide 
round-the-clock operations. The work was especially dangerous during 
the night, due to the poor light and danger of shifting debris. After 
they had gone through the entire debris pile, well ahead of schedule, 
and it was clear that they would find no more survivors, they ceased 
nighttime operations. Despite the grueling labor, dangerous conditions, 
and long hours, the members of the Task Force consistently reported 
that they were ``in good spirits and . . . happy to be contributing to 
the effort.''
  Chief Strickland, co-commander of the mission, reported feeling a 
sense of deja vu as he surveyed the wreckage in Nairobi. He compared it 
to the devastation he had observed when the Virginia Task Force 
assisted rescue efforts in Oklahoma City, after the bombing of the 
Alfred P. Murrah Building. Nairobi was not the first or even the second 
scene of mass destruction heroically attended by the Fairfax County 
Team. As one of only two search and rescue task forces in the U.S. 
trained and authorized for overseas disaster deployment, Virginia Task 
Force One has been deployed to Armenia and the Philippines, as well as 
Oklahoma City and Kenya.
  The men and women of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department's 
Urban Search

[[Page E1668]]

and Rescue Team answered their nation's call for help. Their work as 
not glamorous; they quite literally dug in, lifting away thousands of 
pounds of concrete and steel in the searing African sun. They labored 
in the face of danger, even switching hotels to evade the bombers, who 
were still at large. They labored in the face of horrific tragedy, but 
they never lost faith in their purpose.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in honoring the Urban 
Search and Rescue Team of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue 
Department. The men and women of Virginia Task Force One left their 
homes and families, traveling thousands of miles to represent the 
United States in a purely humanitarian mission. Their nobility of 
purpose and action was an honor to witness. I am proud to represent 
such heroic citizens.

                          ____________________