[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 135 (Wednesday, September 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN RECOGNITION OF DR. RORY COOPER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN P. MURTHA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 23, 2009

  Mr. MURTHA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Rory A. Cooper, 
Ph.D. for his outstanding achievement of winning five gold medals at 
the 2009 National Veterans Wheelchair Games, for helping to guide 
emerging technologies and treatments to improve mobility for people 
with physical disabilities, and for promoting a positive image for our 
wounded, injured, and ill veterans.
  While winning five gold medals is an exceptional achievement by 
itself, Dr. Cooper has proven himself again and again. Madam Speaker, 
Dr. Cooper won four gold medals at the 2008 National Veterans 
Wheelchair Games and over 100 total medals since 1983. He has 
previously held the world record for the 10,000-meter wheelchair race. 
He has participated and won medals almost every year since he first 
started competing. In 1988 he won the bronze medal at the Paralympic 
Games in Seoul, Korea. He continued to stay active in Paralympic 
competition by serving as a member of the Steering Committee for the 
1996 Paralympic Scientific Congress. He was also the Sports Scientist 
for the 2008 United States Paralympic Team. In recognition of his 
achievements at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, he was one of 
the featured athletes on a 2009 Cheerios cereal box.
  When Dr. Cooper is not competing, he is a researcher in the field of 
assistive technology design at the University of Pittsburgh's School of 
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. He is also the Director and 
Veterans Affairs (VA) Senior Research Career Scientist for the VA 
Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence, Co-
director of the National Science Foundation Quality of Life Technology 
Engineering Research Center, a member of the United States Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs Prosthetics and Special Disability Programs Advisory 
Committee, and a Director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research 
Foundation. He has published over two hundred peer-reviewed journal 
articles and two books, Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility 
and Manipulation and Wheelchair Selection and Configuration. Dr. Cooper 
is also a recipient of the Department of the Army's Outstanding 
Civilian Service Medal for ``exceptional leadership, service, and 
advocacy of severely injured service members at Walter Reed Army 
Medical Center (WRAMC) and other military medical facilities from 
October 2004 through May 2008.''
  Madam Speaker, Dr. Cooper is truly an inspiration to all to us. I 
conclude my remarks by commending him for his outstanding achievements.

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