[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 121 (Thursday, September 30, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1751-E1752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CENTENNIAL SAM VOLPENTEST

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. NORMAN D. DICKS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2004

  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, last Friday night in Pasco, Washington 
several members of the Washington State Congressional Delegation 
attended an unusual event: the celebration of the 100th Birthday of a 
man who may be the world's oldest active lobbyist and one of the most 
successful and accomplished economic development leaders in the United 
States. Sam Volpentest, who was born on September 24, 1904 has been a 
real leader of the business community in the Tri-Cities community of 
central Washington state since the early 1960s. The cities of Pasco, 
Kennewick and Richland grew and developed around the Hanford Nuclear 
site following World War II, and Sam moved to the area in the late 
1940s. His business interests led to his involvement in local economic 
development efforts, and in 1960 he began to lead the area's efforts to 
expand its energy-related work for the federal government and to 
diversify the regional economy. My earliest recollections of Sam were 
when I served on Senator Warren Magnuson's staff. Sam and the publisher 
of the local paper, Glenn Lee, would meet with the Senator, setting him 
in motion on another project, another building, another highway--always 
something that meant bringing more jobs to the area and always helping 
to make the Tri-Cities community economically stronger. There was the 
work on the N-Reactor, the FFTF--The Fast Flux Test Facility--and the 
FMEF--the Fuels and Materials Examination Facility. When I was elected 
to Congress from the 6th District, I was obviously enlisted in the 
cause, and since then have worked with all of the Congressmen from the 
4th Congressional District--including Doc Hastings today--on important 
national security and energy research activities. We have worked on the 
cleanup of nuclear waste and on new missions for DOE-Hanford, on EMSL 
and, of course, the Volpentest Hazardous Materials and Emergency 
Response Training Center, named in honor of Sam. Along the way, Sam and 
I had countless discussions about dozens and dozens of other ideas he 
had over the years to diversity the region's economy and to keep the 
standard of living in the Tri-Cities as remarkably high as it is today.
  Sam is truly a remarkable man who continues today--beyond his 100th 
birthday--to work on behalf of TRIDEC, the economic development 
authority in the Tri-Cities community. I would like my colleagues to 
read the tribute that was published on his birthday in the local 
newspaper. Following is an article that was published in the Tri-City 
Herald.

                       [From the Tri-City Herald]

                      Celebrating a Century of Sam

                 (By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer)

       The Tri-Cities' most celebrated birthday boy is having a 
     party tonight at the Pasco Red Lion. The event includes just 
     his family and a few friends, about 700 of them at last 
     count.
       Volpentest is pleased.
       ``I'd like to see everybody happy and have a good time,'' 
     he said earlier this week from his office at the Tri-Cities 
     Industrial Development Council in Kennewick.
       Volpentest is looking forward to seeing some of his old 
     friends, such as former Gov. Albert D. Rosellini, 94.
       Volpentest and Rosellini go back more than three-quarters 
     of a century when they were both members of an athletic club 
     called the Italian Club in Seattle.
       ``I joined in 1933 at the age of 29. He was 23,'' recalled 
     Volpentest.
       A quarter of a century later, Rosellini was elected 
     governor of Washington, and Volpentest was cutting political 
     deals in the Tri-Cities for national lawmakers representing 
     the Evergreen State. In Volpentest's world, friendships count 
     a lot.
       These days, Volpentest, who insists he is not retired 
     despite doctor's orders to take it easier, comes into his 
     office Monday through Friday. He continues to keep his hand 
     in the game at TRIDEC on behalf of the Tri-Cities, calling in 
     favors and calling on politicians in Washington, D.C., just 
     like he has for nearly half a century.

[[Page E1752]]

       Volpentest's track record for bringing home the bacon is 
     legendary, and perhaps the main reason his birthday parties 
     attract so many grateful well-wishers.
       Just this week he received the 2004 Edward DeLuca lifetime 
     achievement award from the International Economic Development 
     Council in Washington, D.C., recognizing ``his unfailing 
     commitment and endless accomplishments,'' said Steven Budd, 
     council chairman.
       Volpentest accepted the accolade with well-rehearsed ado. 
     Dozens of awards, plaques and commendations have come his way 
     in the past four decades. Those not displayed on his office 
     walls are in his home or stored in his garage, he said.
       Reaching the century mark is remarkable, but for 
     Volpentest, it is a good deal more.
       ``The doctor gave me a month to live in 1957,'' he says, 
     recalling those frightening days when cancer of the jaw 
     nearly took his life.
       A lot has happened since then. Volpentest helped found what 
     is now TRIDEC, got deep into state and national politics, and 
     along the way helped bring millions of dollars of development 
     and infrastructure to the Tri-Cities.
       Buildings, freeways, research laboratories, bridges, a 
     hotel and a training center for emergency response teams all 
     have the touch of Volpentest on them to some degree.
       And he says he's not done yet.
       ``We need more money for the HAMMER training facility. It's 
     proven itself as a world class facility. We need more 
     classrooms out there,'' he said.
       Volpentest also is fully aware that Hanford's budget hasn't 
     been approved by Congress, and that Battelle needs to have 
     support for the new campus in north Richland.
       ``They (Battelle) are the foundation for the growth of this 
     area,'' Volpentest said.
       The centenarian says he's seen so much growth in the Tri-
     Cities that he's concerned the region might grow too fast.
       ``We can have steady growth, but not too many people too 
     fast,'' he said.
       His birthday wish for the Tri-Cities is that the 
     communities would start working together. ``Teamwork is the 
     most important word to me,'' he said, adding that politics 
     today seems to be more unfriendly than it used to be.
       Volpentest's birthday wish for himself is ``to have a few 
     more years.''
       He has no secrets to share about how to reach the century 
     milestone.
       ``How would I know? Got good genes, I guess. Just work hard 
     and stay active,'' Volpentest said.
       Tonight's party isn't all there is for the birthday boy. 
     The Seattle Seahawks have invited him to bring out the game 
     ball for Sunday's home game with the San Francisco 49ers.
       ``I just hope they don't expect me to run with it,'' he 
     said with a gleam in his eye.

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