[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 27 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING THOMAS RUTECKI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor one of our fellow 
citizens, Thomas Rutecki, who displayed an act of great courage when he 
put himself in harm's way to save the life of another.
  His story reads like a scene from a movie. From a distance, a 
passerby sees a woman in a motorized scooter. One wheel has become 
lodged in the train tracks. He walks on to the tracks to help her, 
when, all of a sudden, the warning lights at the train crossing begin 
to flash.
  Seeing the lights from an Amtrak train barreling down on them, he 
frantically tries to dislodge the wheel of the scooter. Unable to free 
the motorized scooter from the tracks, he picks her up and shields her 
with his leather coat, only inches from the track, leaving only 5 
seconds until the train shatters the motorized vehicle.
  A daring scene from a movie? No, it was just what occurred on 
Tuesday, March 2, in my district in downtown Downers Grove, Illinois. 
Thomas Rutecki, a Navy veteran, risked his own life to save the life of 
Rosetta Wiedemann, a wheelchair-bound blind woman on her way to a local 
deli to buy a loaf of bread.
  Not concerned with his own safety, he placed his life in the path of 
a high-speed train to save the life of another. It was an act of utter 
selflessness and heroism.
  I would like to honor this hero today. He may be retired from the 
Navy, but he continues to honor all of us with his kind and selfless 
act of bravery. Our hats are off to you, Thomas Rutecki.

                          ____________________