[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 45 (Thursday, March 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE RETIREMENT OF R. BYRON DAVIS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 15, 2007

  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of a great 
public servant to the State of West Virginia. After 45 years of federal 
service, R. Byron Davis recently retired and while he will surely be 
missed, he leaves behind a legacy of work that will benefit the State 
of West Virginia for years to corne.
  Beginning his career in the 1960s, serving as a civil engineer for 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District and later the U.S. 
EDA, Byron went on to become the Chief of Engineering Service for the 
Veterans Administration Medical Center in Huntington. He has spent the 
last 20 years as the Economic Development Representative for the State 
of West Virginia with the EDA.
  During that time, Byron has traveled to all 55 counties in the State, 
meeting with most County Commissions, conducting meetings with city 
officials, economic development authorities and public service 
districts. Through his hard work, many new projects have been funded 
and many long-term jobs have been created.
  In my District, Byron was instrumental in providing us the support to 
establish multi-use industrial buildings and incubators to Marshall 
University, Beckley, Hinton and Huntington. He was also instrumental in 
helping fund industrial park projects in Wayne, Mercer, Raleigh, 
Fayette, Logan, Summers, Monroe, Greenbrier and Mingo counties. Most 
recently, he was instrumental in helping with my establishment of a 
Mine Safety Technology Consortium in the Third District, and I am 
grateful for his support of this important project that will be a 
catalyst in transforming West Virginia coal mining.
  It has truly been an honor and a pleasure to work with Byron through 
the years on these and so many other important initiatives. I admire 
and respect his dedication to our state, his strong work ethic and his 
unwavering values.
  I again commend Byron for great work that he has accomplished. Of 
course, of all of his accomplishments, Byron would likely say that he 
is proudest of his strong Christian family, his wife of 47 years, 
Marion, and his seven grandchildren.
  I hope that in his retirement he will get to spend a little more time 
with ``his greatest accomplishment'' and enjoy the fruits of his labor, 
for they are many. I wish him the best as he begins the next chapter in 
what has been and continues to be a life lived well.
  Byron, the great State of West Virginia thanks you.

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