[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16628-16630]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


        TRIBUTE TO THE HEROES OF THE 14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 11, 2002

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary women 
and men of the distinguished 14th Congressional District for their 
heroic responses to the tragic events of a year ago.
  On the first anniversary of the attacks on our nation, we reaffirm 
our commitment to the ideals that have made the United States of 
America the greatest nation on earth. We have grieved for our lost 
loved ones, and now we continue the work of a freedom-loving nation. We 
take pride in and are in awe of what the American people have done in 
response to the attack on our nation. They have been brave, and 
generous and the entire world has witnessed the strength and the 
decency of our people. Americans respond with open, brave and generous 
hands and hearts to those who are in need.
  Mr. Speaker, the 14th Congressional District lost two extraordinary 
people, Naomi Solomon and Andrew Garcia, who enriched the lives of 
everyone they knew and loved.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in once again offering our deepest 
sympathy and that of our entire nation to the Solomon and Garcia 
families.
  This nation had many heroes on September 11, 2001. We all know of the 
supreme sacrifice made by so many firefighters, police officers and 
others in their response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and 
the Pentagon. We know of the heroism of those on the hijacked planes 
who prevented even more calamitous attacks on our nation's Capitol. 
We've learned about of the heroism of people all over our country who 
pitched in to give service to others.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with a great sense of honor and pride that I ask 
my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to all who have emerged from 
the tragedies of that fateful day to embody what it means to be true 
American Heroes by giving so much of their time, talents and resources 
to heal the wounds of September 11, 2001. There are too many 
individuals, organizations and companies to name each separately, but 
I'd like to honor in our Nation's Record a few examples of some of the 
many people of the 14th Congressional District who rose to the occasion 
in extraordinarily generous ways:
  The Town of Woodside Firefighters--held a ``Fill the Boot'' 
fundraiser on Sept 30th for the New York Fire 9-11 Relief Fund.
  YWCA and the Mountain View City Human Relations Commission--held a 
``Building Community, Understanding and Respect'' forum and dialogue in 
response to Sept. 11th.
  The Menlo Park Community Chorus and the Foothill Orchestra--organized 
a program of patriotic and inspirational music on Dec. 15th which 
benefited the ``victims and heroes'' of Sept. 11th.
  Banks, Financial Institutions and Credit Unions including San Mateo 
Credit Union and Stanford Credit Union--maintained and kept

[[Page 16629]]

open their financial networks for their customers despite the resulting 
chaos of the attacks; and organized fundraising campaigns among their 
employees and customers to benefit the families affected by Sept. 11th.
  Gallery Europa in Palo Alto owners Louise Erricson and David 
Himmelberger organized a special exhibit in which the sale proceeds 
were donated to families of victims of Sept. 11th.
  Hyland Hogan and Lane Lees of the Half Moon Bay Fire District--
following September 11th, they boarded a plane and were adopted by NYFD 
Ladder Company 3 where they helped the company after it lost 12 of its 
members and assisted the families of lost firefighters. In May, the 
district presented the New York Company with a memorial hand-made case 
holding an ax recovered by one of the firefighters and pictures of the 
12 who perished.
  All the teachers and school administrators (like Jill Ballard and 
Sherry Fulton who teach American Literature and Studies at Half Moon 
Bay High School)--who changed their curricula and schedules to help 
students understand and cope with the events of September 11th.
  Law enforcement agencies and organizations like the Santa Clara 
County Sheriff's Office and the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff's 
Association--set up funds to help the families of police officers 
killed in the Sept. 11th attacks.
  California Task Force 3 Urban Search and Rescue--deployed local 
firefighters and other task force members to New York to assist at 
ground zero.

Harold Schapelhouman, Menlo Park Fire District
Randall Shurson, Menlo Park Fire District
Paul Cole, Half Moon Bay Fire District
Gerald Kohlmann, San Jose Fire Department
Phil White, South San Francisco Fire Department
Troy Holt, Menlo Park Fire District
Brian Beadnell, Menlo Park Fire District
Ben Marra, Menlo Park Fire District
Carl Kustin, San Mateo Fire Department
Rexford Lanson, Menlo Park Fire District
John Preston, NASA Ames DART
Bill Trolan, Physician
Jared Strote, Physician
George Berry, Civilian--Communications Specialist
David Larton, Civilian--Communications Specialist
Martin Mijangos, Civilian--Technical Information Specialist
Mike Bavister, Civilian--Technical Information Specialist
Gordon Coe, Menlo Park Fire District
Hollice Stonc, Civilian--Logistics Specialist
Mark Meyers, Civilian--Logistics Officer
Paul Brown, NASA Ames DART
Joe Zsutty, Structural Engineer
Raymond Lui, Structural Engineer
Harry Jackson, San Jose Fire Department
Kelly Kasser, NASA Ames DART
Crane Rigger, San Mateo County CDF
Robert Simmons, Civilian
James Stevens, Menlo Park Fire District--Medic
Kenneth Oliver, Menlo Park Fire District--Medic
Eric Haslam, South San Francisco Fire Department--Medic
Kevin Banks, Santa Clara Fire Department--Medic
John Wurdinger, Menlo Park Fire District--Technical Search Specialist
Roger Miller, NASA Ames DART--Technical Search Specialist K-9
Shirley Hammond, California OES, K-9
Jeff Place, California OES, K-9
Patricia Grant, California OES, K-9
Carol Herse, California OES, K-9
Tom Marinkovich, Menlo Park Fire District
Philip Snyder, NASA Ames DART
Don Chesney, Burlingame Fire Department
Michael Shaffer, Menlo Park Fire District
Rodney Brovelli, Menlo Park Fire District
Keith Slade, Menlo Park Fire District
Charles Sturtevant, Menlo Park Fire District
Jeff Schreiber, Menlo Park Fire District
Bill McFarland, Menlo Park Fire District
Mark Tagney, NASA Ames DART
Jeffrey Maxwell, Milpitas Fire Department
Chris De La Osa, Mountain View Fire Department
Daniel Horton, Redwood City Fire Department
Gerald Pera, Redwood City Fire Department
Steve Ehlers, Burlingame Fire Department
Bruce Barron, Burlingame Fire Department
Patrick Brown, Santa Clara Fire Department
Rod Villa, San Jose Fire Department
David Lerma, San Jose Fire Department
Greg Campbell, San Mateo Fire Department
Dave Rovetti, San Mateo Fire Department
Jesus Magallanes, South San Francisco Fire Department
Chris Campagna, South San Francisco Fire Department
Thomas Calvert, Menlo Park Fire District
Alex Leman, Civilian--Incident Support Team
Frank Fraone, Menlo Park Fire District--Incident Support Team
BK Cooper, Civilian--Incident Support Team
David Hammond, Civilian--Incident Support Team
John Osteraas, Civilian--Incident Support Team

  The Children of the Payvand Cultural School of Cupertino, an Iranian 
Community Based School--filmed a special video after 9/11 to spread the 
message of tolerance and peace. The video is named Hand in Hand and it 
was sent to President Bush.
  Local Media--reporters like Mark Simon and Tom Abate with the San 
Francisco Chronicle, Loretta Green, Leigh Weimers and Jim Puzzanghera 
with the San Jose Mercury News, Don Kazak, Palo Alto Weekly, Dave Price 
with the Palo Alto Daily reporters from The Almanac, Half Moon Bay 
Review/Pescadero Pebble, San Mateo County Times, Redwood City 
Independent, Los Altos Town Crier, Mountain View Voice, Silicon Valley 
Business Journal, Gentry, San Jose Magazine, Sunnyvale Sun, Cupertino 
Courier all provided critical information, told our collective stories, 
shared our thoughts and helped to underscore a message of hope and 
tolerance.
  Silicon Valley Companies and Businesses--Silicon Valley companies 
came together with their employees immediately after 9/11 to raise 
millions of dollars for charitable organizations. Many of the 
contributions made by companies were matched by employees, which 
brought aid to the affected families including those of firefighters 
and police officers. The senior executives at Sun Microsystems raised 
$1 million and the company matched dollar per dollar all employee 
contributions. That effort raised an additional $500,000. Sun 
Microsystems, like many Silicon Valley companies also participated in 
Ebay's Auction for America, donating over $1.3 million worth of 
products. Hewlett-Packard employees gave $1 million to support relief 
efforts. HP itself contributed $2 million, and matched its employees' 
gifts with another $1 million. In addition, HP like many other Silicon 
Valley companies, donated equipment to assist in the September 11 
relief efforts. Companies like National Semiconductor not only made 
monetary contributions but also organized employee blood drives. 
Paypal, through their members helped raise $2.35 million for the 
National Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross. Cadence, under 
the leadership of CEO Ray Bingham, raised over $1.6 million in 
contributions to the American Red Cross and to the New York 
Firefighters' 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund. Cadence and its employees also 
held a special flag raising ceremony commemorating the tragic events of 
9-11. Apple too went above and beyond to assist the victims. In 
addition to financial contributions to the Red Cross, Apple donated 
iBooks to the children of the rescue workers who lost their lives in 
the line of duty. These are but a few examples of the many 
contributions made by the employers and employees of the 14th 
Congressional District.
  CHUMS--Children United Morally and Spiritually--designed an 
interfaith holiday card which they sold and donated the proceeds to 
victims of 9/11.
  VA Palo Alto National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 
(NCPTSD) staff including Director Fred Gusman, Gregory Leskin, Robyn 
Walser, Sherry Riney, and Ken Drescher who traveled to the Pentagon to 
provide the Department of Defense guidance and assistance for the 
psychological response efforts following 9/11.
  The men and women of the California Highway Patrol--whose continuing 
vigilance helps ensure the safety of our bridges, airports, and other 
infrastructure.
  The members of the Reserves and California National Guard who have 
been mobilized and their families--many of these dedicated individuals 
have taken deep pay cuts and will endure long separations from their 
families to prosecute the war on terror.
  Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Stanford University (particularly 
Eric Weiss MD and Lou Saksen)--formed a Bioterrorism Preparedness Group 
to respond immediately and appropriately to any suspected cases of 
bioterrorism.
  USPS--dealt with the aftermath of the Anthrax attacks and continued 
to provide excellent service by delivering mail and keeping their 
offices open to the public.
  American Red Cross Palo Alto Area Chapter Deployed September 11th 
Volunteers: The Chapter was second in the State of California for 
percentage of response based on chapter population and serves 250,000 
people in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, at 
Stanford University and Moffett Federal Airfield. The following Red 
Cross-trained volunteers and staff were deployed for assignments

[[Page 16630]]

which lasted up to three weeks at a time following the September 11 
attacks:

Ginny Anderson, WTC New Jersey, Disaster Mental Health
Vinnie Biberdorf, WTC New Jersey, Local Chapter Liaison
Ruth Anderson, WTC New York, Disaster Mental Health
Judy Boore, WTC New York, Disaster Mental Health
Rita Castro-Hawkins, WTC New York, Voluntary Agency Liaison
Don DeJongh, WTC New York, Family Services
Miriam DeJongh, WTC New York, Family Services
Ted Easley, WTC New York, Staffing for Disaster Services
Paige Filomeo, WTC New York, Disaster Mental Health
Adriana Flores, WTC New York, Disaster Volunteers
Lynne McCreight, WTC New York, Records and Reports
Edwin Ou, WTC New York, Logistics
Laura Quilici, WTC New York, Disaster Mental Health
Peggy Rogers, WTC New York, Disaster Mental Health
Richard Wing, WTC New York, Disaster Mental Health
Ann Ziman, WTC FMA Center, Family Services
Geoff Ziman, WTC FMA Center, Family Services
Karen Duncan, WTC NHQ Support, Public Affairs

  American Red Cross Palo Alto Chapter (locally): Palo Alto Area Red 
Cross Chapter led by Executive Director Patricia J. Bubenik, staff 
members and volunteers assisted four local families with issues related 
to the September 11 disaster, including counseling the family of a 
victim of the Pennsylvania air crash. Mental health disaster volunteers 
went to schools, PTAs, and church groups requesting help in the 
aftermath. Volunteers delivered materials to schools to assist with the 
conversations with children, teachers and parents.
  The chapter staff also processed a total of $1,168,737 in donations 
designated for the National Red Cross (between September 11, 2001 and 
June 30, 2002).
  At the same time, the Chapter continued to respond to an increased 
interest in first aid and CPR classes and trained an increased number 
of disaster service volunteers who came in response to the September 11 
tragedies. They also registered and placed an unprecedented number of 
volunteers who wanted to be of service within the community.

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