[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4021]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                          TRIBUTE TO RAY BURKE

 Mr. JEFFORDS. Madam President, I rise today to congratulate 
and thank Ray Burke of Berlin, Vermont, for over 30 years of service as 
Vermont's highway dispatcher. Ray retires at the end of this month from 
the Vermont Agency of Transportation and he will be missed heartily.
  Humorist Kin Hubbard once said, ``Don't knock the weather; nine-
tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change 
once in a while.'' I suppose then that the art of conversation is 
easiest for Vermonters, especially during the winter months. For most 
of us, that conversation often turns into complaining futilely about 
the weather, except, of course, when Ray was talking. And Ray, as 
dispatcher, is known for his talking.
  For 32 years, Vermonters have relied on Ray's constant updates and 
information on which roads were being treated with salt and sand, which 
routes we should avoid altogether, and how serious driving conditions 
were or were likely to become. And, of course, most importantly, Ray 
always reminded us to drive safely. Snow and ice can be unpredictable 
and dangerous at their worst; Ray, at his best and always on the job, 
kept Vermonters' safety as his top priority.
  Heavy snowfalls, black ice, sleet, and freezing rain made Ray's work 
important and difficult. More challenging than Vermont's natural 
arsenal of inclement weather, however, was Ray's ability to always be 
there when we needed him. This is extraordinary because Ray has a 
disease that has slowly taken away his sight, although it has never 
disrupted his sense of service to Vermonters or his spirit.
  Ray has never stopped. His disability has never beaten him; his 
disability has never even slowed him. Aside from dispatching trucks and 
plows to deal with winter weather, Ray plays the saxophone in his band, 
Stretch and the Limits, along with drummer Conrad ``Stretch'' 
Normandeau and keyboardist Jim Thompson.
  I would like to close with a personal message to Ray. You will be 
missed dearly by every Vermonter who listened to you update conditions 
on the news, by the plow drivers who relied on your information, and by 
everyone who has learned to live with Vermont's weather with the help 
of your advice and forecasts.

                          ____________________