[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        SAN LUIS VALLEY PEACE OFFICER OF 1999, GEORGE DINGFELDER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2000

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to 
congratulate the San Luis Valley Peace Officer of 1999.
  Officer George Dingfelder, based in Alamosa, Colorado, has won this 
disguished award due to his high standard of professionalism and 
outstanding commitment to his field. George has made it a personal 
pledge to fight drunk driving and drug use in the San Luis Valley. 
George has made several contacts with drunk drivers and drug 
traffickers. He has recorded more than 500 drunk driving arrests and 
confiscated several hundred pounds of marijuana in his five year 
career. George was honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving in 1998 for 
his efforts stopping drivers from being on the road while intoxicated.
  George is also a local hero. He and his wife, Stephanie, saved a 
young boy when his life was threaten by a leopard at the Cheyenne 
Mountain Zoo. The leopard attacked the boy through a fence, but George 
and Stephanie were successful at fending off the rather large cat. As a 
result of their bravery, George and Stephanie were awarded Colorado's 
Life Saving Award by Colorado Governor Bill Owens.
  It is with this, Mr. Speaker, that I would like to offer this tribute 
to Officer George Dingfelder for his outstanding bravery and commitment 
to uphold the law. He has truly made a difference in the San Luis 
Valley.

                          ____________________