[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN TRIBUTE TO TERESA KIRKEENG-KINCAID

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RAY LaHOOD

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 23, 2007

  Mr. LaHOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Teresa 
Kirkeeng-Kincaid, a remarkable civil servant who dedicated her entire 
career to making her community, the Illinois River basin, the Upper 
Mississippi River Region and her Nation a better place. Teresa passed 
away last week at the young age of 48, after a courageous battle 
against cancer. Her legacy, however, will continue long into the 
future. Teresa dedicated her entire professional life to working for 
the Federal Government. I have long believed that government service is 
a high and important calling. The hours are often long, the pressures 
are great, and the monetary compensation is frequently lower than what 
is available in the private sector. Teresa was one of those individuals 
who was more concerned with making a difference than making a fortune. 
Teresa joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a civil engineer with 
the Rock Island District in 1981, and continued with the Corps for 26 
years. In that time, she served in many roles, including Assistant 
Chief of the Planning, Program and Project Management Division.
  During her two and a half decades of service, Teresa earned a 
reputation on the Illinois River basin, the Upper Mississippi Region 
and across the Nation as a public servant of great dedication and 
integrity. She played a leadership role in formulating navigation, 
flood damage, and ecosystem restoration projects throughout the entire 
Upper Mississippi River basin. She was the ``go to person'' throughout 
the Corps of Engineers on numerous planning issues. The team she led 
reestablished the Corps' Planning Associates program to train future 
planners for the Corps, a legacy that will last for many decades.
  I had the occasion to meet Teresa several times, and know the very 
high regard in which she was held by her co-workers, her countless 
friends, and her loving family. It is my hope they will take solace in 
the fact that through more than two decades of doing the day-to-day 
work of democracy, Teresa Kirkeeng-Kincaid truly earned the title of 
``hero.''

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