[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 3, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1118-E1119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO COLONEL KEVIN RICE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 3, 2003

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a devoted soldier as 
well as an accomplished scholar and leader. Colonel Kevin Rice has 
served as the Installation Commander at the Defense Language Institute, 
Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey since December 2000. 
Tomorrow, he earns a well-deserved retirement after serving his country 
honorably for the last 30 years. Throughout his service at the 
Presidio, Colonel Rice was instrumental in improving the standard of 
excellence in training our military linguists and in continuing the 
transition of Fort Ord, the Nation's largest base closure, to civilian 
use.
  Colonel Rice was born in Henderson, Nevada and grew up there and in 
La Mirada, California. Kevin Rice attended the U.S. Military Academy at 
West Point and upon his graduation in 1973, was commissioned as a 
second lieutenant in the Infantry. Colonel Rice is a graduate of the 
Chinese Program at the Defense Language Institute of Monterey which he 
would later lead, and he also successfully completed studies at the 
British Ministry of Defense Chinese Language School in Hong Kong and 
holds Master's Degrees from both the Naval Postgraduate School and the 
National War College.
  Colonel Rice's military career in the U.S. Army is extremely 
distinguished and diverse. He started out as a mechanized rifle platoon 
leader and quickly rose through the ranks while applying his expertise 
in mechanized infantry, light infantry and airborne special operations 
units. Prior to his service at the Presidio, Colonel Rice held the 
position of U.S. Army Attache to the People's Republic of China. 
Throughout these assignments, he was repeatedly honored for his 
outstanding performance with awards ranging from the Meritorious 
Service Medal to the Army Achievement Medal.
  I am extremely grateful to have worked with Colonel Rice on several 
military construction projects at the Defense Language Institute, 
including a new classroom facility--Collins Hall--as well as Video 
Tele-Training Facility. These base modernization projects illustrate 
Colonel Rice's leadership in making sure DLI, the world's largest 
foreign language school, employs the most advanced technology to 
continue as a center of excellence in the teaching of foreign 
languages.
  Moreover, Colonel Rice has presided over the only dual service--Army 
and Navy--base housing modernization program in the Nation. When 
complete, the Residential Community Initiative at the Presidio will 
provide the Central Coast military community with 1,800 units of 
quality base housing, built to local code, and paid for by the military 
housing allowance known as the BAH. Without his continued efforts to 
move this huge undertaking through the bureaucratic process both inside 
the Pentagon and outside, the RCI wouldn't have come to fruition.
  Colonel Kevin Rice and his wife, Kitty, have been active and highly 
regarded members of the local community who are leaving a lasting 
legacy of civic involvement and a wide circle of friends who will miss 
them both. I am

[[Page E1119]]

pleased to count myself as one of Colonel Rice's friends and wish him 
well in the next stage of life's journey.

                          ____________________