[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 14, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN CELEBRATION OF RYAN ROSSI

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANICE HAHN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 14, 2012

  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life of Ryan 
Rossi, an inspiring young man from my district who died too soon this 
past December.
  A star soccer forward at his alma mater of Cal State Northridge, a 
talented singer songwriter, and a dedicated humanitarian, Ryan made the 
world a brighter place for his having been in it. And while non-
Hodgkin's lymphoma extinguished his life at the age of 27, it could not 
dim the love and generosity that suffused it.
  After a trip to El Salvador, meeting impoverished children with 
ragged breathing caused by the toxic fumes of the kerosene lamps that 
lit their homes, Ryan helped start a charity to replace the noxious 
lamps with clean, safe and affordable solar lamps.
  Before his death, Ryan asked that he be remembered not with a 
funeral, but with a celebration. And well we should celebrate, for 
today I know Ryan's light lives on--not only in the hearts of those who 
knew him, but in the homes of thousands who never will.

                          ____________________