[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING KEITH WOOD MEURLIN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 16, 2005

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to draw the attention of the 
House to the retirement of Keith Wood Meurlin from the position of vice 
president and airport manager of Washington Dulles International 
Airport. He will leave his position at the end of March.
  Keith has helped Washington Dulles grow from an airport that was used 
by few to an airport that is well respected world-wide. I remember 
attending an event on the runway of Dulles Airport when I was first 
elected to Congress. Last year alone 22.9 million passengers traveled 
through Dulles Airport.
  As airport manager, Mr. Meurlin directed operations, maintenance, and 
commercial activities at Dulles, which employs nearly 17,000 people and 
is one of the busiest in the country in terms of aircraft operations. 
During Keith's tenure as airport manager, the Metropolitan Washington 
Airports Authority (MWAA) has invested nearly $1.5 billion in expanding 
the airport facilities in the late 1990's and is currently undertaking 
an additional $3 billion construction program to keep pace with current 
and future growth.
  Mr. Meurlin came to the Washington airports in 1977 following his 
active duty in the United States Air Force. He began his service as an 
airport operations officer and successively advanced through the 
organization in engineering and maintenance and operations management 
positions before becoming the airport manager in 1989.
  Mr. Meurlin helped guide Dulles after the September 11 terrorist 
attacks and has helped lead the way as the airport and the aviation 
industry have grown since that time. Last year at Dulles saw a 
passenger increase of almost 35 percent compared to 2003.
  Keith has been extensively involved in the community. He has served 
on the Board of Directors of the Greater Reston and the Loudoun 
Chambers of Commerce; Board of Directors of the Loudoun County 
Convention and Visitors Association; member of Leadership Fairfax; the 
Board of the United Way for both Loudoun County and the National 
Capital Area; and is the past chairman of the Heart Association of 
Northern Virginia.
  He was also the recipient of the 2000 Citizen of the Year award from 
the Loudoun Rotary and the 2002 Tower of Dulles Award from the 
Committee for Dulles.
  In addition to his service with MWAA, Mr. Meurlin has continued his 
military service in the Air Force Reserve where he has attained the 
rank of major general, the highest rank a traditional reservist can 
achieve.
  I wish Keith and his family the best as he retires from MWAA and 
again thank him for his efforts to make Dulles Airport the thriving 
aviation center it is today.

                          ____________________