[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 29387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MATTHEW SCOTT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RICK LARSEN

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 16, 2005

  Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
heroism of a man named Matthew Scott who nearly 9 years ago performed 
an act of uncommon courage that saved the life of a young woman in my 
congressional district.
  In August of 1997 a 15-year-old woman and her friend were out driving 
a truck near a very dangerous area in my congressional district called 
Deception Pass. The road was dark, and the two girls could not see the 
road in front of them. Leslie, the driver, yanked her steering wheel in 
the wrong direction and drove off a 185-foot cliff into the freezing 
ocean below. Her passenger managed to jump from the truck at the last 
second before it went over the edge. At the same time, Mathew Scott, a 
young Naval Chief Petty Officer, was driving by the location when he 
spotted a busted guardrail, and a hysterical group of people pointing 
to the ocean below.
  Matthew does not consider himself a hero. On that night in 1997, he 
was just there for another human being--a young girl he had never met. 
He scaled down a treacherous, dark cliff with only a small flashlight 
to guide him. At the bottom of his remarkable 185-foot descent, he swam 
30 yards out in strong tides and frigid water to rescue young Leslie. 
She was in bad shape. Leslie suffered a broken back, leg, and arm and 
had numerous cuts and bruises covering her body.
  Because of his selfless, courageous heroics--Leslie is now 24-years-
old and the manager of a local coffee shop. She is also the mother of a 
little girl and an upstanding member of her community.
  Matthew Scott has continued to dedicate his life to one of military 
service. He is now a Lieutenant studying for his MBA at the Naval Post 
Graduate School in Monterey, California.
  Those who know Lt. Scott talk about his everyday heroics. As a member 
of the House Armed Services Committee, I am honored to have had Lt. 
Scott serve at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state's 
2nd Congressional District. He is the truest face of our U.S. Navy. 
Every day he honors what is described as the Navy's unofficial motto--
``not self but country.''
  Lt. Scott has spent his life serving his country. That dark night in 
1997 was no different. But that night he served his country and his 
fellow Americans in a personal and profound way. Off duty, he still put 
his own life at risk to save the life of another.
  For this, I come to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to 
honor him and call on all of my colleagues to look to Matthew's example 
to inspire us and spur us on to our own acts of selfless service and 
care.
  Because of Matthew's humble heroics, Leslie is alive today.
  Matthew is not just a good father--not just a good sailor--he's a 
good person. And he is a true hero.

                          ____________________