[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM C. WRIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 11, 2003

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
pay tribute to the life and memory of William C. Wright of Pueblo, 
Colorado. Bill was a hero who saved the lives of five people and was a 
constant contributor to his community. Today, I stand before this body 
of Congress and this nation to honor the heroism of William C. Wright, 
and commemorate his recent passing.
  In a span of less than ten years, Mr. Wright's selflessness and quick 
thinking saved the lives of five people. In June of 1964, while working 
on a construction site, Bill saved an 18-month-old girl who had stepped 
in front of a moving truck. Bill risked his own life by jumping in 
front of the truck and cushioning the girl's fall with his own body. 
Then, a few weeks later, Bill stopped his car at an accident on La Veta 
Pass. Seeing a man pinned beneath the overturned car, Bill lifted the 
car, freeing the man to crawl to safety. Always humble, Mr. Wright said 
he doubted his own physical strength. The strength of his resolve saved 
the trapped man's life.
  Less than a year later, Bill saved a young girl in a busy 
intersection in Gunnison, Colorado. Then, while traveling to Golden, 
Bill again paused to check on a vehicle stopped in the middle of the 
road. He saw a five-year-old boy brush against the gearshift, sending 
the car down a steep incline. Bill dashed after the car and, after 
breaking the window with his shoulder, stopped the car, saving the boy 
inside it. Finally, during a trip to Las Vegas, Bill saved another 
young girl, though he himself suffered a fractured elbow and a broken 
wrist. Mr. Wright's quick actions and selfless thinking saved the lives 
of five individuals, making him a true hero who will be deeply missed.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Mr. 
William Wright. He saved many lives, and was a hero for Pueblo and all 
of Colorado. As we mourn Bill's passing, our thoughts are with those 
who knew him, and we are sure that his memory will live on in the lives 
of all those he touched, and especially those he saved.

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