[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 43 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H1409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO RICHARD CARDWELL

  (Mr. GANSKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GANSKE. Mr. Speaker, Richard Cardwell from Des Moines, Iowa, is a 
hero. Richard, a retired plumber, is a wiry, muscular man from a 
lifetime of tugging on stubborn pipes. In his work he has been bitten 
many times by animals but he did not hesitate when he saw a dog mauling 
a man on the ground.
  There was blood everywhere when Richard jumped out of his car. The 
man on the ground was protecting his neck from the vicious jaws of the 
dog and was losing a lot of blood from bites on his arms and head. 
Richard grabbed a stick and started hitting the Rottweiler.
  Afterwards, Robert Jones, the victim of the dog's attack, said this 
about his scary experience: ``That dog was just putting the finishing 
touches on me when Richard Cardwell came along. If it hadn't been for 
him, I'd have been a goner.''
  Richard is a brave guy. He risked his own life for another's. That 
huge dog could have gone for his throat. And while saving a life may be 
the first for Richard, it is not the first time he has come to the 
rescue. In fact, he once made a house call on a Christmas day to save 
my frozen house.
  Mr. Speaker, we need more good neighbors like Richard Cardwell.

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