[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 149 (Thursday, October 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SCHWEITZER ENGINEERING LABORATORIES CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY

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                      HON. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 15, 2009

  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) and its founder, Dr. Edmund 
O. Schweitzer III, on the 25th anniversary of the lab's first sale from 
its headquarters in Pullman, Washington.
  From its first delivery to the Otter Tail Power Company in Fergus 
Falls, MN in 1984, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories has grown to 
provide a variety of power management systems and automated networking 
devices that are capable of withstanding extreme electrical and weather 
conditions. Ed Schweitzer is a pioneer in the field of power 
protection, having invented the first all-digital protective relay. 
This device reduces the cost and complexity of power protection. This 
digital technology can respond in milliseconds to systems faults and 
keep millions of customers safely supplied with power.
  The spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well in Eastern 
Washington. Today, SEL continues to develop the next generation of 
energy-efficient technologies and to promote smart use of our nation's 
natural resources. The company is proud to be 100 percent employee-
owned and to serve 126 countries, employing more than 2,000 people here 
at home and around the world.
  Madam Speaker, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Ed Schweitzer 
represent the creative and bold nature of our country's innovators and 
the trailblazing spirit of the Inland Northwest in particular. I ask my 
colleagues to join me in congratulating Schweitzer Engineering on 
twenty-five successful years in business and in wishing them many more 
successful, productive years to come.

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