[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 26, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H7486-H7488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE DEDICATION OF THE EMPLOYEES AT THE STENNIS SPACE CENTER
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 948) recognizing the dedication of the employees at
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space
Center who, during and after Hurricane Katrina's assault on
Mississippi, provided shelter and medical care to storm evacuees and
logistical support for storm recovery efforts, while effectively
maintaining critical facilities at the Center.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 948
Whereas, during Hurricane Katrina, some 3,700 persons
(including employees, their immediate and extended families,
and members of the general public), sought shelter at the
Stennis Space Center;
Whereas the Stennis cafeteria, which normally serves about
175 breakfasts and 600 lunches each day, served 3,000 meals 3
times a day to evacuees, for a period of a week following the
storm;
Whereas before, during, and in the immediate aftermath of
the storm, the small staff of the Stennis Medical Clinic
provided medical care to all who needed it among the evacuees
onsite, including some 20 special needs patients, and soon
after the storm, the Stennis clinic staff was complemented by
medical personnel airlifted from other National Aeronautics
and Space Administration Centers;
Whereas, although commercial electrical power was not
available to Stennis for 10 days following the storm,
electrical power was maintained to all essential buildings
through the extensive use of diesel-powered generators and
the around the clock efforts of a team of individuals who
mechanically maintained those generators and kept them
fueled, also enabling the pumps on Stennis' deep-water wells
to provide a continuous supply of potable water for drinking,
cooking, and sanitation to support the 3,700 people onsite;
Whereas a team of employees in the Stennis rocket
propulsion test complex protected the health of all test
infrastructure, employing innovative methods to ensure an
uninterrupted supply of purge gases to all required facility
infrastructure and test hardware, failure of which would have
resulted in untold millions of dollars of new costs to clean,
purge, and recertify these facilities for Space Shuttle Main
Engine and other propulsion system testing;
Whereas for 10 days following the storm, logistical support
(including food, water, medical supplies, and personnel
exchange) of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans was
provided via helicopters operating from the Stennis Space
Center, along with helicopters, and flight crew and security
personnel, from the Marshall Space Flight and Kennedy Space
Centers; and
Whereas, immediately following the storm, Stennis Space
Center facilitated the use of its property as the site of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency's Incident Command Center
serving a 6-county area along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and
Stennis served as the central distribution hub for disaster
response supplies to those same counties, including, during
the nearly 2-months of Federal Emergency Management Agency
relief operations at Stennis, distributing more than
7,600,000 gallons of water, 41,000,000 pounds of ice, and
3,500,000 MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) to devastated areas via
the Stennis Space Center hub: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives commends the
dedication of the employees who stayed behind at the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center,
who, during and after Hurricane Katrina's assault on
Mississippi, provided shelter and medical care to storm
evacuees and logistical support for storm recovery efforts,
while effectively maintaining critical facilities at the
Center, including Cheryl Bennett, James Bevis, Terry
Bordelon, Steve Brettel, Vicki Brown, Bill Brumfield, Kirt
Bush, Paul Byrd, Ethan Calder, Marla Carpenter, David
Carstens, Jonathan Clemens, Eric Crawford, Cheri Cuevas, John
Davenport, David Del Santo, Isaac DeLancey, Jim Freeman, Greg
Garrett, Dave Geiger, Stan Gill, Don Griffith, Haynes
Haselmaier, Coby Holloway, Gay Irby, Manning ``JJ'' Jones,
Catriona Ladner, David Ladner, Richard Ladner, Stanley Lee,
Michelle Logan, Ron Magee, Sharlene Majors, Steve McCord, Pat
McCullough, Michael McDaniel, Mike McKinion, Kirk Miller,
John Mitchell, Ron Moore, David R. Oakes, Kevin A. Oliver,
Alan Phillips, John Nick Pitalo, Allen Price, Porter Pryor,
Margaret Roberts, Miguel Rodriguez, Jason Saucier, Dale
Sewell, Donald Seymore, Kathy Slade, Sue Smith, David
Throckmorton, Karen Vander, John Waquespack, Rodney
Wilkinson, Robert Williams, and Michael J. Witt.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Hall) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on H. Res. 948, the resolution now under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 948, a resolution
recognizing the stalwart NASA employees who performed beyond their day-
to-day duties to establish the Stennis Space Center as a logistical
emergency center for a large region of the southern Mississippi coast
leading up to, during, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Stennis Space Center's runway, which served all of southern
Mississippi, as well as the New Orleans area, was cleared within a day.
This alone allowed flights with food stuffs, generators and medical
supplies to land and also allowed for the medical evacuation of storm
survivors.
Nearly 3,700 persons, including employees and their families, as well
as the local public sought refuge at the Stennis facility for weeks
following the disaster. Despite this overwhelming tragedy, the
employees at the Stennis factory were back to work and excited about
their upcoming role in the Vision For Space Exploration.
Excitement about their work and about the future shows the drive and
ingenuity of the American people at its best. I want to join in
expressing my admiration for those exceptional people who showed the
strength and the spirit of America.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to speak in strong support of this resolution, 948, which is a
resolution that honors the dedication of the employees of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center, who stayed
at their posts during Hurricane Katrina and protected critical space
program assets.
In addition, they provided shelter and medical care to storm
evacuees, and they provided logistical support for storm recovery
efforts.
Mr. Speaker, as you may recall during late August of last year,
Hurricane Katrina severely assaulted southeast Louisiana and the
Mississippi coast, resulting in massive damage and the evacuation of
large numbers of citizens.
Yet, in the midst of the storm there were countless examples of
heroism. One example is the way in which employees of the Stennis Space
Center stayed and protected the facility instead of fleeing the area.
These great Americans deserve our thanks and praise for their
dedication to working to preserve Stennis during Hurricane Katrina's
passage through the region.
Among their accomplishments was the protection of critical test
infrastructure at the rocket propulsion text complex. The Stennis Space
Center plays an important role in the United States space program. By
risking their own lives, these brave individuals ensured that the
Center was preserved as a viable facility in spite of the devastation
wrought by this Hurricane.
But these individuals are also worthy of recognition for their
efforts to assist their fellow citizens who were affected by the storm.
During the hurricane, almost 3,700 people took refuge at the center.
The employees who remained helped feed, provide medical care and
maintain electrical power for all of those on site. The space center
also served as the site of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's
incident command center for the parts of the Gulf Coast impacted by
Katrina.
In short, without the dedication of the employees listed in the
resolution before us today, the consequences of Katrina's passage
through the region would have been far worse. Mr. Speaker, it is only
fitting and proper that we
[[Page H7487]]
honor those brave individuals for their heroic deeds. I strongly urge
the passage of House Resolution 948.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to my good friend, Congressman Taylor, from the coast of
Mississippi who firsthand experienced the effects of Hurricane Katrina,
and who himself is a hero for the way he stood tall and was there on
the ground helping people who were affected by the Hurricane.
I think it is only suitable and only proper that Congressman Taylor
shares his point of view with us.
Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, let me being by thanking my
colleagues in the Mississippi and Louisiana delegations for
cosponsoring this.
Mr. Speaker, I could spend the remainder of this year's session
naming south Mississippians who on an individual basis rose to the
occasion and performed heroic deeds. Tonight we want to thank the
employees of the Stennis Space Center for the phenomenal job they did
in Hancock County, a county that 90 percent of the homes were either
destroyed outright or severely damaged, a county where the vast
majority of it was underwater for at least a substantial portion of the
day.
Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting sidelights, my colleague and
friend, Congressman Hall mentioned, the Stennis Space Center runway, a
10,000 runway that was open the next day after the storm in order to
bring in vital supplies.
What the Congressman probably would never guess is that the person
who opened that runway was the 13-year-old son of the airport manager,
a young man by the name of Billy Cotter. His family had lost their home
in Bay St. Louis. Knowing that the home was gone, they had gone out to
the Stennis Space Center, moved into the dad's office. The dad's office
had taken about waist-deep water, had about 6 inches of mud on the
floor.
And realizing that that runway was the vital link in a county that
almost all of the bridges coming to and from it had been destroyed, 13-
year-old Billy Cotter hops on the street sweeper, gets out there, and
the next day cleared the runway of, I am told, snakes, branches, trees,
and had the runway up and running by Tuesday afternoon, which is
absolutely remarkable for anyone, but in particular a young boy.
A reporter passes through the next day, and in trying a write a good
news story of Katrina, looks over and notices that the helicopter that
he was traveling in was being refueled by this little kid. And thinking
it is pretty remarkable, goes up and hands the kid a $20 bill. The kid
runs over to the refueling truck, opens the door and his pet dog is
sitting in the driver's seat.
The kid is so thrilled to get the $20 bill, he shows the 20 to the
dog. And of course OSHA and every other agency of occupational safety
in America probably would have gone berserk.
But again here is Billy Cotter, 13 years old, running the street
sweeper, refueling helicopters that are bringing in the life-saving
goods. Billy really epitomizes the work that was going on out there,
and the people pitching in doing what had to be done.
Mr. Speaker, the other person I want to mention also, in addition to
great work of Stennis employees, on the day after Easter, a convoy of
the 155th Mississippi National Guard was attacked in Iraq.
One of the drivers, a young Mississippi State student who had been
activated for the war, a fellow by the name of William Brooks was
severely wounded, lost both legs. He spends a lot of time at Walter
Reed.
In the course of that, I had asked the folks at Mississippi State
University if William was up to it, if he would do an internship, would
they give him credit for his studies. For whatever reason, William
chose not to take me up on that offer until the day after the storm.
The day after the storm, after many months of recuperating at Walter
Reed Hospital, William finds some money for a cab fare, has the cab
bring him to Capitol Hill, shows up at my office, says something to my
staff that is kind of overwhelmed at this point, and says: ``I figured
you all could use some help.''
And for the next couple of weeks, since the phones are down in
Mississippi, and when a Mississippian can finally get to a phone and
make a call looking for some assistance, almost all of those calls came
to the Washington office.
Young William Brooks, who had been severely wounded in Iraq, was
there answering the phone helping people. Again, I know the hour is
late and I could tell 8,000 stories like that. But tonight we want to
talk about the great work of the Stennis Space Center, so many of whom
had lost their own homes, so many of whom retreated to the Space
Center.
First thing, here is a place to take care of their families, but then
pitching in and taking care of approximately 4,000 other south
Mississippians who found themselves in the same predicament. So we want
to commend the staff at the Stennis Space Center, Admiral Donaldson,
who was in charge of leading the space center at that time, and all of
the people out there for doing a phenomenal job of taking care of
themselves, their families and the people who had retreated to the
Stennis Space Center looking for hope in the aftermath of the storm.
What is really remarkable about my fellow south Mississippians is
that the extremely high percentage of people who had lost their own
homes, be their firemen, policemen, civil servants, the airport
manager, fill-in-the blank, but who kept going to work, taking care of
others, knowing that there really was not much that they could do for
themselves, but they were in a position to help someone else.
That is the kind of spirit that has gotten Mississippi going back in
the right direction. We still have a heck of a lot of work to do, but
because of the good work done by the folks at the Stennis Space Center,
William Brooks, Billy Cotter and so many others in south Mississippi,
we are at least heading in the right direction.
I thank you very much for bringing this bill to the floor.
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that it hurts my heart to
hear the story that Mr. Taylor has told us. And from the very first day
he hit this Congress, I intercepted him, and he has been one of my
dearest friends. Never knowing that he would go through the
vicissitudes of nature and the hardships that they have undergone, we
need still to have and invoke the power of prayer for those people and
for the Taylor family. God bless you, Gene. Thank you for your
testimony.
Mr. Speaker, we yield back the balance of our time.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to associate myself with the comments of my
good friend, Representative Hall. And I think I speak for him and every
other Member of this body when I express the opinion that there is
nobody that is more respected than Congressman Taylor.
And we are all in a sense examples of the people in our district. And
when we watch and work with Congressman Taylor, we know that there are
thousands of other people in his district that have integrity, that
have a work ethic that makes us proud. And it is his leadership and his
courage, I think Judge Hall would agree that have helped the Congress
continue to do the right thing, although we have much more to do for
the people of Louisiana and Mississippi to put things to right after
this terrible natural disaster.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res.
948, recognizing the dedication of the employees at the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center.
I cannot honor and commend these employees enough for their heroism
during and after Hurricane Katrina's assault on Mississippi. The
Stennis Space Center employees provided shelter and medical care to
storm evacuees and logistical support for storm recovery efforts, while
effectively maintaining critical facilities at the center.
During Hurricane Katrina, some 3,700 persons, including employees,
their immediate and extended families, and members of the general
public, sought shelter at the Stennis Space Center.
The Stennis cafeteria, which normally serves about 175 breakfasts and
600 lunches each day, served 3,000 meals 3 times a day
[[Page H7488]]
to evacuees, for a period of a week following the storm.
Before, during, and in the immediate aftermath of the storm, the
small staff of the Stennis Medical Clinic provided medical care to all
who needed it among the evacuees onsite. This included some 20 special
needs patients, and soon after the storm, the Stennis clinic staff was
complemented by medical personnel airlifted from other National
Aeronautics and Space Administration Centers.
Although commercial electrical power was not available to Stennis for
10 days following the storm, electrical power was maintained to all
essential buildings through the extensive use of diesel-powered
generators and the around the clock efforts of a team of individuals
who mechanically maintained those generators and kept them fueled. This
also enabled the pumps on Stennis's deep-water wells to provide a
continuous supply of potable water for drinking, cooking, and
sanitation to support the 3,700 people onsite.
These brave individuals include: Cheryl Bennett, James Bevis, Terry
Bordelon, Steve Brettel, Vicki Brown, Bill Brumfield, Kirt Bush, Paul
Byrd, Ethan Calder, Marla Carpenter, David Carstens, Jonathan Clemens,
Eric Crawford, Cheri Cuevas, John Davenport, David Del Santo, Isaac
DeLancey, Jim Freeman, Greg Garrett, Dave Geiger, Stan Gill, Don
Griffith, Haynes Haselmaier, Coby Holloway, Gay Irby, Manning ``JJ''
Jones, Catriona Ladner, David Ladner, Richard Ladner, Stanley Lee,
Michelle Logan, Ron Magee, Sharlene Majors, Steve McCord, Pat
McCullough, Michael McDaniel, Mike McKinion, Kirk Miller, John
Mitchell, Ron Moore, David R. Oakes, Kevin A. Oliver, Alan Phillips,
John Nick Pitalo, Allen Price, Porter Pryor, Margaret Roberts, Miguel
Rodriguez, Jason Saucier, Dale Sewell, Donald Seymore, Kathy Slade, Sue
Smith, David Throckmorton, Karen Vander, John Waquespack, Rodney
Wilkinson, Robert Williams, and Michael J. Witt.
Thank you, to all of these employees, for their selfless and
honorable actions. I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 948.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________