[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 167 (Thursday, December 16, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2166-E2167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  A TRIBUTE TO DR. RICHARD BREITMEYER IN RECOGNITION OF HIS EXEMPLARY 
                             PUBLIC SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANIEL E. LUNGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 16, 2010

  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize and honor Dr. Richard Breitmeyer, who has provided exemplary 
public service for over 25 years.
  Dr. Richard Breitmeyer has served as the California State 
Veterinarian at the California Department of Food and Agriculture since 
1993--rising to this position through a series of senior appointments 
at CDFA since 1988. He has also served at the United States Department 
of Agriculture in Ames, Indiana and Plum Island, New York. Before 
joining the CDFA in 1984, Breitmeyer was in private veterinary 
practice.
  Throughout his professional career, Dr. Breitmeyer has been a member 
of both the California and American Veterinary Medical Associations. He 
also served as president of the U.S. Animal Health Association since 
2009 and was co-chair of the USDA Secretary's Advisory Committee for 
Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases.
  In 2001, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman asked California to loan Dr. 
Breitmeyer to the USDA to provide leadership in addressing the very 
real possibility that Foot and Mouth Disease might migrate from the 
United Kingdom to the United States. It is a testament to Breitmeyer's 
leadership that this virulent and devastating livestock disease did not 
enter the

[[Page E2167]]

United States. Due to this work, the USDA presented Dr. Breitmeyer with 
the Honor Award in 2002.
  Dr. Breitmeyer also led the effort in California to develop animal 
health emergency response planning with the Governor's Office of 
Emergency Services--an effort put to the test during the successful 
eradication of exotic Newcastle disease from Southern California in 
2003.
  Dr. Richard Breitmeyer is loved and respected by his wife and family, 
by the team that worked for him at CDFA, and by all those who have 
interacted with him during his professional life. I am grateful that 
since his retirement on September 30, 2010, Dr. Breitmeyer has joined 
the staff at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at 
the University of California, Davis, to continue his outreach 
activities for livestock and poultry health.
  I am pleased to recognize and congratulate Dr. Richard Breitmeyer 
upon his retirement, and applaud him for his dedication to California.

                          ____________________