[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 124 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10705-S10706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN REMEMBRANCE OF SAM VOLPENTEST

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate and pay 
tribute to the life of a great Washingtonian, a great American, and 
someone that I know even in the Nation's Capital will be remembered for 
his great contributions. Yesterday, I learned of the death of Sam 
Volpentest, a resident of Washington State, who lived to be 101-year-
old.
  Sam has continued to play a leadership role in our State. We were all 
proud of the fact that we all attended his 100th birthday party last 
year and that for the last several months he has continued to play a 
vital role in the State of Washington on important economic issues.
  I am proud to say that Sam was a friend, and I am grateful for his 
mentorship and his wisdom. My thoughts are with his family and the 
larger Tri-City community that mourn his loss. This is a man who had a 
list of unending accomplishments and literally touched thousands of 
lives of his fellow citizens. He changed the course of history in 
Washington State and left his mark on this Nation's history, as well.
  Sam's legacy was one of generosity, of leadership, of commitment, of 
inspiration--important lessons for Washingtonians to still benefit 
from.

[[Page S10706]]

  My remarks today cannot justify the significance of his contribution. 
Sam moved with his family from Seattle to the Tri-Cities in 1949 and 
went into business as a tavern owner. The Tri-Cities was just at the 
beginning the epicenter of the nuclear age, a sleepy little town in 
Richmond that sprung to life when the Hanford site was selected in 1943 
as the location of the Manhattan Project, plutonium production 
activities as part of President Roosevelt's strategy to win World War 
II. The Manhattan Project transformed the entire region from literally 
an agriculture and fishing economy centered on the Columbia River into 
a Federal booming town. It changed the course of our State and Nation's 
history.
  Central Washington was booming, and Sam thought it was the right 
place for a salesman like him and his family; so he went to work right 
away on community and business issues.

  It was his vision for the community that continued to push the 
community and the representatives who came here to Washington and those 
in Washington, DC, to further see the future in Washington State.
  Hanford had grown due to the Federal investment in the Manhattan 
Project and later in support of the Cold War. At that time, Sam, a 
former salesman and tavern owner, found himself rubbing shoulders with 
the likes of Senators Jackson and Magnuson, and stories about Sam, 
Scoop, and Maggie are numerous and legendary.
  I think this picture shows that even at that time, with my 
predecessors, Senator Warren Magnuson and Senator Scoop Jackson, Sam 
Volpentest even back then was right in the thick of things. The fact 
that he still consulted with Senator Murray and me up until the last 
several months showed his dedication to what this country needed to be 
focused on.
  In 1956, Sam decided that Richland, WA--one of the Tri-Cities 
surrounding Hanford--looked too much like a construction camp. That is 
because it was a community that literally sprang up overnight out in 
the desert. Sam wanted that community to continue to grow.
  The N-Reactor was one of the most critical investments in the Tri-
Cities, with Sam Volpentest's fingerprints on it. The Hanford site 
evolved as our Nation's nuclear needs changed. Sam's efforts helped 
America stay in the lead during the nuclear age, put Americans to work, 
improved the lives of those living in central Washington, and it played 
an incredible role for our country.
  In the mid-1960s, as the nuclear age transitioned, Sam saw the 
writing on the wall: the Tri-Cities would need to evolve with it. As 
Hanford's nuclear weapons material production activities began to slow, 
Sam's vision drove him to change his strategy as well.
  I come back to a critical point I want to say. In the 1940s, as World 
War II raged in Asia, Europe, and North Africa, my State responded to 
the Federal Government's call. As Federal investment grew during the 
early days of the Manhattan Project, this remote area of our State 
responded with the energy infrastructure that was so critical in 
helping launch the nuclear age. This world's first large-scale 
production nuclear reactor, the B Reactor, located in our State, played 
an incredibly vital role.
  The reason I emphasize that is because Sam realized that once that 
goal was achieved, the region needed to keep playing an important role 
in our national security issues, and that was through the contributions 
of its workforce and materials needed throughout our time period post-
World War II.
  Our contribution and Sam's continuing contribution was to make sure 
the Federal investment and cleanup work at Hanford was actually 
achieved. Sam knew that the Tri-Cities had a lot to offer our Nation, 
but he knew that the economy needed to have diversity and that cleanup 
was part of it. So what did Sam do? He went about convincing Federal 
officials, private investment, and other resources to come to Hanford 
and explore more efficient ways to clean up the waste, and not just at 
our site in Washington State but around the world.
  Sam's vision led to a larger vision that has leveraged the workforce 
in the State of Washington. Those efforts led to the establishment of 
one of our National Laboratories, the Pacific Northwest National Lab in 
the Tri-Cities. Today, Federal research dollars spur research and 
development in countless scientific areas--from proteomics research, 
nuclear materials cleanup, biofuels, and many more.
  Sam did not just want to get the work done; he wanted the workforce 
and the community to be safe. Sam worked to further the economic 
development and success of his community through a variety of 
government and community organizations.
  One of his most important projects was helping the business community 
get access to small business contracts that were being part of the 
Federal work commissioned at Hanford. Some of the most notable projects 
Sam Volpentest is responsible for in the Tri-Cities in Washington State 
are a six-story Federal building in Richland, the inception of the 
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, three freeways, twin bridges 
over the Columbia River, the N-Reactor Hanford Generating Plant, the 
Fast Flux Test Facility, the Life Sciences Laboratory and the 
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, the Hanford House/Red Lion 
Hotel, the Iowa Beef Processing Plant, and Sam's namesake, the 
Volpentest HAMMER Training and Education Center.
  This training center is probably one of Sam's greatest 
accomplishments because it still today provides Hanford workers with 
real-time training in safety and response. The training facility now 
has trained countless first responders from governments all over our 
country and all over the world on how to respond to safety incidents 
from a more robust public participation. Sam's efficiency at this 
training facility gives those who are first responders the on-the-job-
training they need.
  Sam was often asked when he was going to retire--for example, whether 
it would be at age 65 or 75. He said: Why would I want to do that? 
Don't retire. Look to the future. Ask what you can do for your 
community that has been so good to you. Get out there and do something. 
And even if you do it for free, it will make you feel great afterward.
  That was Sam Volpentest, a great Washingtonian, a great member of our 
country. We will miss ``Mr. Tri-Cities,'' and we will try to live up to 
his legacy of accomplishment and continue to bring about a good 
cooperative relationship between a key part of Washington State, the 
great Tri-Cities, and our Federal Government, in making sure the 
Volpentest legacy continues.
  I yield the floor, Mr. President.

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