[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 110 (Monday, September 18, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            2000 PARALYMPICS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. THOMAS M. REYNOLDS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 18, 2000

  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, as the eyes of the world are fixed on 
Sydney, Australia, and the games of the 27th Olympiad, I rise to ask 
this House to glance closer to home, to Western New York, to share in 
an inspiring story of personal triumph and the spirit of athletic 
competition.
  On Wednesday, September 20, 2000, friends and supporters will gather 
at the Rochester Yacht Club to lend their support to sailors Keith 
Burhans, Paul Callahan and Richard Hughes and their quest for gold at 
the 2000 Paralympics to be held next month in Sydney, Australia.
  Burhans of Monroe County lost both legs in a 1995 boating accident. 
Callahan, of Newport, Rhode Island, has been a quadriplegic since 
college. And Hughes is an amputee from Philadelphia. The three formed a 
world-class team that finished second in last year's World Disabled 
Sailing Championship.
  But their story is even greater than their ability to tack around the 
tetrahedrons faster than their competitors. They have used their 
personal experiences to teach others to overcome barriers and test 
their limits.
  Callahan reorganized and became CEO of the Shake-A-Leg program for 
the disabled in Newport. And Burhans joined the board of the Rochester 
Rehabilitation Center, which organizes SportsNet, a similar program 
that allows those with physical disabilities to participate in the 
able-bodied sports world.
  In what became the first race of one of the oldest competitions in 
sport, the America's Cup, a young Queen Victoria watched as the yacht 
``America'' plowed across the finish line. When she asked her courtier 
to search the sea and identify which boat was second, he took a long 
took through his telescope and replied: ``Your majesty, I regret to 
report, there is no second.''
  To Keith Burhans, Paul Callahan and Richard Hughes, I am pleased to 
report that your personal courage, your triumph over adversity, and 
your devotion to athletic competition has already made each of you, 
like the 1851 crew of the ``America,'' a winner.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that this House of Representatives join me in 
saluting the achievements of these three extraordinary men, and that we 
further extend to them the best of luck at the games of the 2000 
Paralympics.

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