[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING VIRIGINIA TASK FORCES ONE AND TWO

  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I rise today to commend the efforts of 
Virginia Task Forces One and Two on their recent deployment to Haiti. 
Their combined efforts in the immediate aftermath of the devastating 
earthquake resulted in the successful rescue of 19 men, women, and 
children.
  These teams are made up of over 150 firefighters, physicians, and 
structural engineers from Fairfax and Virginia Beach, VA.
  Both teams were manned and ready within 24 hours of the call for 
help. That included preparing and staging over 100 tons of cargo and 
gear for airlift to Haiti.
  One of the rescues involved Jens Christensen, a United Nations worker 
from Denmark who was trapped in the United Nations compound. The teams 
worked for over 8 hours to free him, and kept him alive by inserting a 
feeding tube through the rubble to provide him water during the rescue.
  Acting on a tip from local residents, the team also rescued two 
children, ``Kiki and Sabrina,'' almost a full week after the 
earthquake. These two Haitian girls were still alive in a building no 
one had previously searched.
  Another woman was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed market, and 
the team was able to provide paramedics and physicians to treat her on 
site and stabilize the woman for transport to a local hospital.
  These teams leveraged their countless hours of training to hit the 
ground running at full speed. They have extensive international and 
domestic disaster response experience, and are recognized throughout 
the United States and the world as leaders in readiness, response and 
recovery techniques.
  This is an important capability--and just yesterday I understand the 
teams were put on ready alert to potentially deploy again, this time to 
Chile to help with search and rescue efforts.
  Please join me in commending the heroic and humanitarian efforts of 
Virginia Task Force One and Virginia Task Force Two.
  I offer sincere thanks to all the team members, support personnel, 
and the families of these brave men and women.

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