[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF AHMAD R. OLOMI

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN CALVERT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 13, 2003

  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to an 
individual whose dedication to his country and community was 
extraordinary. Orange County, California, was indeed fortunate to have 
such a dynamic and dedicated community leader who willingly and 
unselfishly gave his time and talents to make his community a better 
place in which to live and work. The individual of whom I am speaking 
is Ahmad Rateb Olomi. He was unexpectedly and tragically taken in an 
airplane accident over the Arabian Sea on Monday, February 24, 2003, at 
the age of 45.
  Mr. Olomi was born in Afghanistan, and earned a bachelor's degree in 
Civil Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology in 
Lahore, Pakistan. He moved to the United States in 1980. He was hired 
by Orange County in 1984 and shortly thereafter became a naturalized 
United States citizen. He worked his way up from Engineering Technician 
to the position of Senior Civil Engineer. Some of the more notable 
projects he worked on were Seven Oaks Dam, the Santa Ana River Mainstem 
Project, and the Laguna Canyon Road State Route 133 realignment. Over 
his 19 years of service to Orange County, Mr. Olomi developed himself 
into one of the County's most talented and valued professionals.
  In addition to his love for the United States and his community, he 
never forgot his original homeland. On the day of the tragedy, Mr. 
Olomi was on a 6-month leave of absence from the County of Orange 
traveling with the Afghan Minister of Mines and Industries to help with 
the rebuilding of Afghanistan, and the construction of a transnational 
pipeline project that would pump natural gas and oil from Turkmenistan 
across Afghanistan and into Pakistan.
  Mr. Olomi was also a dedicated family man. He is survived by his wife 
Roya and children, Yusef and Sahar. He is remembered by his family and 
friends as a man admired for his integrity, honesty, intelligence and 
selfless commitment to others. My thoughts and prayers go out to them 
for their loss.
  Mr. Speaker, looking back at Mr. Olomi's life, we see a man dedicated 
to his family, community, adopted country and original homeland--an 
American and Afghani whose service led to the betterment of those who 
had the privilege to come in contact or work with him. Honoring Mr. 
Olomi's memory is the least we can do today for all that he gave over 
his lifetime.

                          ____________________