[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S934-S935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATIONS TO VERMONT OLYMPIANS
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, on a happier note, I see the
distinguished Senator from Vermont, Senator Sanders, on the floor
today. I want to congratulate the Vermonters who represented our
country at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The Olympics themselves were exciting. I know Marcelle and I watched
hours and hours of them. But we watched especially, obviously, when we
saw some of these young Vermonters.
These athletes carry on a long tradition of Vermonters participating
in the Winter Olympics. Hundreds of Vermonters have competed in the 21
Winter Olympiads, and it is no secret that Vermont produces great
winter sports athletes, thanks to our northern climate, beautiful
rugged terrain, and also a healthy sports industry.
After all, the first ski lift in the United States was a rope tow
built in the town of Woodstock. I remember what a thrill it was when
then-President Gerald Ford told me that the first ski lift he was on
was on that ski lift in Woodstock. It is a nice memory of a wonderful
person, President Gerald Ford.
Thanks to Jake Burton Carpenter and his wife Donna, Vermont is the
cradle of snowboarding and it is now a central Olympic event. The
Carpenters have worked so hard to make this a real sport, and they
have. Our schools in ski areas have hosted dozens of international
snowboarding, Alpine, and Nordic ski competitions.
Many Vermonters have won medals at the Winter Olympics over the
years.
These champions include alpine skier Andrea Meade Lawrence from
Rutland who was the first American to win two gold medals in 1952,
Brattleboro's Bill Koch who was the first American nordic skier to
medal in 1976, and alpine
[[Page S935]]
skier Barbara Ann Cochran, slalom gold medalist in 1972.
The Cochran family is somewhat of an Olympic dynasty in its own
right. Barbara Ann's sister Marilyn and brother Bob also competed in
1972 and her sister Lindy in 1976. Bob's son Jim raced in Saturday's
slalom at his second Olympics. A member of the family is a member of my
own staff and I cherish having him here.
There were 11 athletes in Vancouver this year who were born in
Vermont or call Vermont home. Ten others attended high school or
college in Vermont, we are going to take credit for them as well, and
we are proud to do that.
Raised in Vermont are snowboarders Kelly Clark from West Dover,
Lindsey Jacobellis from Stratton, Hannah Teter from Belmont and Ross
Powers from Londonderry; alpine skiers Jimmy Cochran from Richmond,
Nolan Kasper from Warren, and Chelsea Marshall from Pittsfield; nordic
skiers Andy Newell from Shaftsbury, Liz Stephen from East Montpelier,
Caitlin Compton from Warren; and freestyle skier Hannah Kearney from
Norwich.
Vermont's colleges and universities, with a strong tradition of
winter sports, have sent athletes, both in-state and out-of-state, to
numerous games. Jim Cochran is a UVM alum, along with biathlete Lowell
Bailey, nordic skier Kris Freeman and hockey goalie Tim Thomas. Nordic
skiers Simi Hamilton and Garrott Kuzzy are Middlebury College
graduates.
Vermont's ski academies, private high schools that are dedicated to
winter sports training, attract hundreds of kids from out of State
every year, and have produced hundreds of Olympians. Liz Stephen and
Nolan Kasper skied at Vancouver and are graduates of Burke Mountain
Academy, which was the first ski academy in the country, founded in
1970. Other ski academy graduates competing in Vancouver are
snowboarder Louie Vito who attended Stratton Mountain School along with
Andy Newell and Ross Powers; freestyle skier Michael Morse of the
Killington Mountain School; and biathlete Laura Spector and skiercross
racers Paul Casey Puckett and Daron Rahlves who attended the Green
Mountain Valley School along with Chelsea Marshall. Jim Cochran
represented the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy, and Kelly Clark the
Mount Snow Academy.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S935, March 2, 2010, the Record reads as follows: . . .
and skiercross racers Christ Puckett . . .
The online Record has been corrected to read: . . . and
skiercross racers Paul Casey Puckett . . .
========================= END NOTE =========================
Of course, all of Vermont wants to give a special hearty
congratulations to those whose efforts resulted in medals--Hannah
Kearney won gold in the mogul competition.
I spoke with her the morning after. I told her I had seen her great
smile on television that morning. She said I think it is going to take
forever to get that smile off my face. The New York Times had a
wonderful article showing Marty Candon driving her in a parade in
Norwich this past weekend.
Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark won silver and bronze in the snowboard
halfpipe. Our entire State is proud of your accomplishments on this
international stage.
But I am proud of every Vermonter who was chosen for the Team. No
matter what their results were, it has been a pleasure to watch them,
and I know that each minute of competition we saw on television was
preceded by hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and thousands of hours of
training.
They have been great ambassadors for the United States, and fantastic
role models to Vermont's kids. I say congratulations to all of them.
Finally, I want to take a moment to recognize two Vermonters who
missed competing in Vancouver because of serious head injuries.
Snowboarder Kevin Pearce of Norwich fell while training in Park City,
UT, on December 31, and Cody Marshall, Chelsea's brother, of
Pittsfield, an alpine slalom racer, was injured last summer. Both have
come a long way since their injuries but have difficult recoveries
ahead of them. I spoke with Kevin Pearce's mother Pia, and I know how
the whole family has come together for him, just as Cody Marshall's
family has come together for him. So I wish them and their families
well, and I wanted them to know they are special inspirations to all of
us. They are in all of our prayers and thoughts.
Vermont is a very small State--second smallest in the country--so it
is almost like one big community in our sense of pride for these young
people.
I see my distinguished colleague from Vermont on the floor. I yield
to him.
Mr. SANDERS. I thank Senator Leahy for yielding. There is not a lot
more I can add to what he has already said.
As you well know, Vermont is a small State. We have 620,000 people--
one of the smallest States in the country. But a lot of our young
people grow up on the slopes of Vermont. They are involved in skiing
and snowboarding from a very young age. My grandson is out there. He is
5. He is doing pretty well as a snowboarder. That is true all over the
State.
I think people who have watched the extraordinary Olympics in
Vancouver noted that a lot of the participants, a lot of the
outstanding athletes came from the State of Vermont. The world watched
as Hannah Kearney of Norwich won the first gold medal for the United
States. She was closely followed in the women's snowboarding halfpipe
when Vermont took both second and third place on the podium. That is
quite a feat for a small State. Kelly Clark of West Dover brought home
the bronze, and Hannah Teter of Belmont, the silver medal. This is an
incredible feat when you consider that there were a total of just eight
women on the U.S. snowboarding team; three of them were from the Green
Mountain State and two of them were in the top three. That is pretty
good under anybody's definition of success.
In true Vermont fashion, our Olympians bring more than talent,
excellence, and commitment to their sports. They showed exemplary
dedication to their communities. In other words, these men and women
are more than just athletes; they are people who are concerned about
the world in which they are living and the communities in which they
live. When Hannah Teter took gold in the Torino games in 2006, she
combined her prize money with proceeds from maple syrup sales to start
a charity called ``Hannah's Gold'' which brings aid to a village in
Kenya. That is what Hannah Teter did. Liz Stephen, a cross-country
skier from East Montpelier, supports ``Fast and Female,'' a charity
geared toward getting young girls involved in sports. Lindsey
Jacobellis, a snowboarder from Stratton, VT, used her love of animals
as motivation to get involved with the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. From charity efforts to hometown,
family-owned restaurants, the impact of these outstanding individuals
is felt by many.
The 11 athletes who are recognized today as Vermont Olympians are the
following: in cross-country skiing, Caitlin Compton, Andy Newell; in
Alpine skiing, Chelsea Marshall, Nolan Kasper, and Jimmy Cochran; in
ski jumping, Nick Alexander; in freestyle skiing, gold medalist Hannah
Kearney; and in snowboarding, silver medalist Hannah Teter, bronze
medalist Kelly Clark, and Lindsey Jacobellis. It is with great pleasure
that I congratulate these athletes on a spectacular job. The State of
Vermont is very proud of you all.
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