[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PAYING TRIBUTE TO VIVIEN SPITZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. THOMAS G. TANCREDO

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 11, 2005

  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to honor 
Vivien Spitz for her dedication and devotion to the court reporting 
profession over the past six decades. She has given so much to the 
court reporting profession and gained the admiration of friends and 
colleagues.
  Vivien Spitz has played a valuable role in preserving history and 
documenting events of epic proportion throughout her career. She is a 
Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters of the National Court 
Reporters Association. Ms. Spitz was an Official Reporter of Debates 
and Chief Reporter in the United States House of Representatives from 
1972 to 1982. During this time she reported Presidents Nixon, Ford, 
Carter, and Reagan on their State of the Union Addresses to the Nation.
  Vivien also reported all foreign Heads of State who addressed 
Congress during this period including King Juan Carlos of Spain, 
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin of 
Israel. She reported President Carter's establishment in 1978 of the 
President's Commission on the Holocaust, appointing Elie Wiesel as 
Chairman. She was also the first woman reporter in the U.S. Senate on 
temporary assignments during 1969, 1970, and 1971 out of her Denver 
district court.
  By contract with the United States War Department, Ms. Spitz reported 
the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in Germany from 1946 to 1948, including 
the Nazi Doctors Case. She recorded verbatim the words that came from 
the mouths of witnesses and victims who survived the heinous 
experiments ``in the name of scientific medical research'' conducted by 
doctors who had taken the Oath of Hippocrates to heal and cure, turned 
into doctors who became torturers and murders. Through the record that 
she helped to create this serious tragedy will never be forgotten.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Vivien for her years of work and 
dedication to her profession. The history that she has preserved 
through her devoted work as a court reporter will never be forgotten.

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