[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 13, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S6066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO THOMAS SHEPARDSON

 Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, on February 18, New York lost one 
of its finest citizens. Thomas Shepardson was a Syracuse funeral 
director who helped change the way our Nation responds to incidents of 
mass fatality.
  The Disaster Mortuary Operational Rescue Team, D-MORT, plan was 
created because Mr. Shepardson was disturbed by news reports of the 
exploitation of victims' families after a Texas air disaster in 1986. 
He convened a group of local morticians, first responders, and medical 
professionals to create a strategy that would be humane and team-
oriented. Fortunately, the plan would never be used locally, but State 
officials would enlist Shepardson to devise a similar plan for the 
State of New York. He subsequently worked with FEMA and other 
government agencies to incorporate the D-MORT model into our national 
disaster medical system.
  Tom Shepardson responded to the major disasters of the last decade 
including the Oklahoma City bombing. On September 11, 2001, he oversaw 
the national D-MORT response in New York, Pennsylvania and the 
Pentagon. Tom Shepardson was described by Gary Moore, deputy director 
of the Federal Office of Emergency Response, as ``a man who spent his 
whole life working to help everyone . . . He was a one-man show who 
brought so much energy and commitment to this that it now involves 
about 5,000 people nationwide and made him known all around the 
world.'' I am grateful for Tom Shepardson's legacy of personal 
sacrifice and leadership.




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