[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2630-H2631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      MOURNING THE TRAGIC LOSS OF LIFE OF ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES CRASH

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness I rise today to 
mourn the tragic loss of life on Sunday morning as an Ethiopian 
Airlines jet carrying 157 people crashed only 6 minutes after takeoff. 
On board that flight were people from 35 different countries, including 
8 U.S. citizens, with no survivors.
  This tragedy hits close to home for those of us from northern 
California. Two of the eight Americans were from my own district in 
Shasta County.
  Melvin and Bennett Riffel, two brothers from Redding, California, 
were embarking upon an adventure that had already taken them through 
Australia and Mogadishu before they arrived in Ethiopia. It has been 
said that this was their last trip together before Melvin was set to 
become a father, together with his wife Brittney, who had only recently 
returned home.
  Our friends and neighbors in northern California share in the sadness 
and grief that we all feel for their families, and for all of the 
families who lost loved ones that day on that plane.

[[Page H2631]]

  As we await more information on exactly what went wrong, please join 
me in praying for Melvin and Bennett, their families, and all the 
others who boarded that fateful flight that day.

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