[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 23792-23793]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO GONZALES FAMILY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 7, 2006

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
memory of a family recently devastated by a tragic drunk driving 
accident. On Saturday, November 11, Paul Gonzales, Renee Collins-
Gonzales, and their daughters, Alisha Garcia, Jacquelynn Gonzalez, and 
Selena Gonzales were killed in a horrific accident. Arissa Garcia, 
Renee's daughter, survived the terrible crash.
  Paul was the co-owner of a small family-owned business in Las Vegas, 
New Mexico, a town he had lived in his whole life. Paul was well-known 
throughout his home town, especially as a strong supporter of youth 
sports and academics. A graduate of Robertson High School, he was 
continually involved in fundraising events for the high schools in the 
area. He was extremely active with the Robertson band and football 
team, even designing the 2006 District Championship t-shirts for the 
school. Extremely civic-minded, Paul was a member of the Las Vegas 
Fiesta Council and spent some of his spare time helping to restore 
historical buildings.
  Renee, Paul's wife, was also a lifelong resident of Las Vegas. Renee 
spent her life caring for others, as a nurse at the hospital and in the 
West Las Vegas School System. Looking to increase her education, she 
was finishing her master's degree in nursing and was working towards 
becoming a nurse practitioner. Renee was extremely devoted to her 
family and always found the time to spend with each one of them.
  Alisha, seventeen years old, was Renee's daughter and Paul's 
stepdaughter. She was a senior at West Las Vegas High School, and was 
scheduled to graduate in May 2007. Like her mother, she also was 
extremely dedicated to her family and enjoyed her role as the eldest 
sister, often putting the needs of her sisters ahead of her own. Alisha 
was continually active, participating in several sports and music 
programs, and also learning sign language.
  Jacquelynn, the daughter of Paul and Renee, was eleven years old. A 
fifth grader,

[[Page 23793]]

Jacquelynn enjoyed participating in her school's basketball and soccer 
teams, and also enjoyed other sports, camping, and fishing. She was 
thoughtful and giving, and enjoyed spending time with her family.
  Selena, also the daughter of Paul and Renee, had celebrated her tenth 
birthday only three days before the tragic accident took her life. In 
fourth grade, Selena enjoyed school and was an honor student. She also 
enjoyed participating in sports and was known to be daring and to live 
life to the fullest. Like the rest of her family, she was considerate, 
thoughtful, and brought joy to all those around her.
  While we remember these five extraordinary people, we must also show 
our support for Arissa, who was the only survivor of the accident. 
Arissa, who is fifteen, sustained injuries in the accident, but is 
slowly recuperating and is already back in school.
  The members of this family have touched the lives of all members of 
the community, as was evident by the thousands of people who attended 
their services. I want to recognize the entire community for coming 
together to show their support to Arissa and her family. I also want to 
acknowledge the pledge that students, staff, teachers, friends, and 
other members of the community have made--that they will never drink 
and drive, that they will not let a friend drink and drive, and that 
they will not get into a vehicle with someone who is intoxicated. If 
more people were to take this pledge and stick with it, the number of 
drunk driving tragedies surely would decrease.
  In recent years, New Mexico has taken many strides to curb drunk 
driving accidents throughout the State. In fact, recent figures have 
shown an 11 percent decrease in drunk driving accidents in the past 
year. However, this tragedy shows that even one drunk driver is one too 
many.
  We all have our own horror stories of how our constituents have been 
affected by drunk driving accidents. Let's commit ourselves today to 
taking the necessary steps to truly attack this problem. I intend to 
work with local, State, and federal officials, as well as the families 
of the victims of this horrific crash and others that have been 
impacted by drunk driving to continue to attack this problem. We can 
only defeat this problem if we all work together.

                          ____________________