[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO IRA JACKSON ``RED'' CORNETT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I rise today to recognize a very 
successful and hard-working Kentuckian, Mr. Ira Jackson Cornett. Ira--
known to his friends as ``Red''--celebrated his 95th birthday September 
12 and is the proud founder and owner of the internationally known 
engine rebuilding firm, Cornett Machine Shop. Red is extremely proud of 
his God-given ability to rebuild all types of engines and claims if you 
can break it, then he can certainly fix it.
  Red was born in London, KY, and moved to Oregon with his family when 
he was young. He later returned to Somerset where in 1948, he bought 
land and established Cornett Machine Shop, which specializes in the 
rebuilding of racing engines from all over the world. Over the years, 
Red's unique skills have been crucial to his success and helped him 
gain international recognition. Red once sold an engine to Tiger Woods' 
caddy and shipped it to New Zealand. Another time, Red had the 
opportunity to rebuild a V-12 airplane engine like the one flown by 
Eddie Rickenbacker, a famous American fighter ace in World War I. 
Currently, Cornett Machine Shop is rebuilding a Jones car that was made 
in Kansas in 1917--a car he feels very few these days realize were ever 
made.
  Red's Cornett Machine Shop has been a successful and reputable 
business for decades. Now located on a hilltop on the west side of 
south U.S. 27, the business is still running full tilt and Red has 
faith the tradition will continue as he has passed along his talents to 
his sons, David and Jack. However, until then, Red says he plans to 
keep on going, as he still has a lot of work to do.
  Mr. Ira Jackson ``Red'' Cornett continues to exemplify the character 
and success that define generation after generation of Kentuckians; I 
ask unanimous consent that a recent article published in Kentucky's 
Pulaski County-area Commonwealth Journal that highlights Red's lifelong 
achievements be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

            [From the Commonwealth Journal, Sept. 22, 2011]

             Red Cornett: Engine Builder Going Strong at 95

                   (By Bill Mardis, Editor Emeritus)

       ``The Lord gave everybody a talent to make a living and a 
     person ought to enjoy doing it.''
       Ira Jackson Cornett--his friends and everybody call him 
     ``Red''--has been using his God-given talent longer than most 
     people live. He passed his 95th birthday September 12. That's 
     correct. He has been living for nine decades and a half and 
     just keeps on going. ``Red'' Cornett shows up for work every 
     day at his beloved Cornett Machine Shop.
       ``I go home for lunch,'' Cornett reflected. His wife, Mary 
     Elizabeth, is in poor health and he goes home to see about 
     her. They've been married 70 years.
       ``I've still got a lot of work to do,'' said Cornett, 
     grinning and guiding his power chair among sophisticated 
     machinery in the sprawling Cornett Machine Shop on South U.S. 
     27.
       Cornett loves to talk about his business. He relaxes in his 
     chair, stopping a moment as he and a visitor toured the 
     plant.
       Someone spoke, calling him ``Red.'' He rubbed a hand 
     through a headful of gray hair. ``My hair used to be bright 
     red,'' he laughed. ``My whiskers still are . . . and they're 
     thick too.''
       Cornett Machine Shop is his baby. He loves it. It is part 
     of his life. The internationally known engine rebuilding firm 
     rebuilds engines, all kinds of engines; racing engines; 
     engines from all over the world. ``Red'' Cornett knows how it 
     works.
       ``The Lord gave me a talent . . . if you can break it I can 
     fix it,'' said Cornett. ``If nobody else wants to tackle it, 
     I'll do it.'' He has passed his talents along to son, David, 
     who manages the machine shop, and to Jack, who is in charge 
     of the Racing Division.
       ``We sold (golfer) Tiger Woods' caddy an engine last 
     week,'' noted Cornett. ``We shipped it to New Zealand. We 
     sent an engine to Bend, Oregon, yesterday.''
       Recently, Cornett Machine Shop rebuilt a V-12 airplane 
     engine like the one flown by Eddie Rickenbacker, an American 
     fighter ace in World War I. ``We built parts for it,'' 
     Cornett said.
       Cornett Machine Shop currently is rebuilding a Jones car 
     made in Kansas in 1917.
       ``Very few people know there was a Jones car,'' Cornett 
     laughed. ``They were making them back in 1902 and 1903.'' 
     Nearby was a flathead Ford engine circa 1939-40.
       Currently, Cornett Machine Shop has 16 employees. ``One 
     fellow has been here for 55 years,'' Cornett said. ``At one 
     time I had about 30 employees,'' he related. Each employee 
     has his own private air-conditioned room in which to work.
       Age has not tempered Cornett's strong opinions. ``Young 
     people don't have the same work ethics we have,'' he 
     declared. ``They don't love their work like we do.''
       Cornett didn't reveal his political persuasion, but he 
     isn't too impressed with the current administration in 
     Washington. ``Obama sure has been a disappointment,'' he 
     offered.
       About the economy, Cornett has an unusual perspective. 
     ``Things are no higher than they ever were. Money is junk . . 
     . it's getting more worthless.''
       ``I started out on my own in 1948,'' he recalls. His first 
     machine shop was located on South Main Street. `` . . . The 
     telephone company and me were in the same block,'' he said.
       Next, Cornett Machine Shop moved to U.S. 27 where the 
     Tradewind shopping center is now located. ``(U.S. 27) was a 
     single lane (each way) then,'' he remembers. ``Finley's 
     (Drive-in) was the next thing that built out there.''
       ``I bought that lot (Tradewind location) for $2,000,'' 
     Cornett remembers. ``I went to Pope Walker at First and 
     Farmers Bank and he told me I could borrow all the money I 
     needed.'' Cornett Machine Shop has since located on a hilltop 
     farther south on the west side of U.S. 27, now a six-lane 
     boulevard.
       Cornett was born in nearby London but his family moved to 
     Oregon. They later returned to Somerset.
       ``I worked for the forest service in Idaho for $7.50 an 
     hour,'' Cornett recalls. His love for the outdoors has 
     lingered throughout his life. His hobbies are shooting, and 
     big-game hunting. ``I've killed moose, elk, deer, antelope 
     and millions of prairie dogs in South Dakota and Montana.''
       In addition to David and Jack, the Cornett's have two 
     daughters, Mary Ann Bingham who lives in Alabama, and Arlene 
     Warner of Somerset.
       Cornett is not letting 95 years stand in his way. ``I plan 
     to keep on going. That's my talent; that's what God said for 
     me to do. If you enjoy it, why not?''

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