[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13544-13547]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING HEARTFELT SYMPATHY FOR THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES OF THE 
                          RECENT IOWA TORNADO

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 1283) expressing heartfelt sympathy for the victims 
and their families following the tornado that hit Little Sioux, Iowa, 
on June 11, 2008.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1283

       Whereas the Boy Scouts attending the Little Sioux Scout 
     Ranch for the annual Pohuk Pride Junior Leadership training 
     course suffered through a horrific tornado;
       Whereas, on June 11, 2008, the tornado hit the Little Sioux 
     Boy Scout Ranch near Little Sioux, Iowa, at 6:35 p.m., 
     killing 4 youths and injuring 43 other people at the camp;
       Whereas Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch, which spans 1,800 
     acres, is located in the Loess Hills in western Iowa, close 
     to the border with Nebraska, about 40 miles north of Omaha;
       Whereas the tornado caused a giant rock chimney to collapse 
     in the bunkhouse where the Boy Scouts were seeking shelter;
       Whereas the devastation of the tornado resulted in the 
     deaths of Sam Thomsen, Josh Fennen, Ben Petrzilka, and Aaron 
     Eilerts;
       Whereas Sam Thomsen of Omaha, Nebraska, was 13 years old 
     and the son of Sharon and Larry Thomsen;
       Whereas Sharon Thomsen referred to Sam as the family's 
     ``miracle'' baby, as he was born more than 3 months 
     premature, but luckily had no lasting health problems;
       Whereas Sam Thomsen, who loved camping, Jesus, football, 
     and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, as a member of Troop 26 and 
     wanted to eventually become an Eagle Scout;
       Whereas Sam was about to turn 14 years old on June 16, 
     2008, and he had asked his parents for tickets to the College 
     World Series as his birthday present;
       Whereas Josh Fennen of Omaha, Nebraska, was 13 years old, 
     had just finished the 8th grade, and was the son of Charles 
     and Dorothy Fennen;
       Whereas Josh Fennen, a member of Troop 331, was confident 
     and inquisitive, with natural leadership abilities;
       Whereas according to Josh Fennen's middle school principal, 
     Josh was a ``good student, a hard worker, and he was always 
     trying to be creative'';
       Whereas Ben Petrzilka of Omaha, Nebraska, was 13 years old 
     and the son of Bryan and Arnell Petrzilka;
       Whereas Ben Petrzilka had just finished 7th grade at Mary 
     Our Queen Catholic School and often spent time fishing and 
     hunting with his father;
       Whereas Ben Petrzilka had been a member of Troop 448 for 3 
     years and had reached First Class rank, 3 steps below Eagle, 
     and was assistant leader of the Ninja Patrol of Troop 448;
       Whereas Aaron Eilerts of Eagle Groove, Iowa, was 14 years 
     old and a member of Boy Scout Troop 108;
       Whereas Aaron Eilerts was always doing things for others, 
     whether it was creating brightly colored pillowcases for 
     patients at local hospitals, making fleece blankets for dogs 
     at the Humane Society, or making table centerpieces for the 
     senior citizen dining center in Eagle Grove;
       Whereas Aaron Eilerts, an aspiring chef with an obsession 
     with Elvis, was very involved in his community, as he often 
     performed ``The Star Spangled Banner'' at local sporting 
     events, participated in football, ran cross country, and was 
     involved in both band and choir;
       Whereas Sam Thomsen, Josh Fennen, Ben Petrzilka and Aaron 
     Eilerts all lived by the Scout Oath, ``On my honor, I will do 
     my best to do my duty to God and my country and obey the 
     Scout law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself 
     physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight'';
       Whereas all the Boy Scouts exhibited extraordinary 
     leadership by executing techniques they had recently been 
     taught in a mock emergency drill just a day before the 
     tornado hit;
       Whereas the Boy Scouts removed stones that had fallen onto 
     fellow Scouts, tied tourniquets around the limbs of the 
     wounded,

[[Page 13545]]

     helped pull the injured out of the rubble, carried the 
     injured on stretchers, and kept their composure in the face 
     of disaster;
       Whereas the 43 injured people were taken to 5 hospitals: 
     Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha; Mercy Medical 
     Center in Sioux City, Iowa; Burgess Health Center in Onawa, 
     Iowa; Community Memorial Hospital in Missouri Valley, Iowa; 
     and Memorial Community Hospital in Blair, Nebraska;
       Whereas the majority of those injured and sent to area 
     hospitals received treatment and were released;
       Whereas first responders and officers of the Little Sioux 
     Volunteer Fire Department, Monona Country Emergency 
     Management, Decatur Volunteer Fire Department, Fort Calhoun 
     Volunteer Fire Department, Monona County Sheriff's 
     Department, Harrison County Sheriff's Department, Iowa State 
     Patrol, Iowa National Guard, Red Cross, and Mercy Air Care 
     arrived at the Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch within 10 minutes 
     and walked through the rain on a muddy road to reach the 
     campers, as fallen trees in the heavily timbered park blocked 
     their vehicles;
       Whereas, on June 12, 2008, Iowa Governor Chet Culver and 
     Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman met with families of the 
     victims, expressed their condolences, and thanked those who 
     helped during the disaster;
       Whereas Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael 
     Chertoff toured the camp on June 12, 2008, and said it 
     appeared that the Boy Scouts ``didn't have a chance'' and 
     that the tornado came through the camp ``like a bowling 
     ball''; and
       Whereas the Boy Scout community will grieve the loss and 
     celebrate the lives of those who died in this horrific 
     natural disaster for months and years to come: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) expresses its heartfelt sympathy for the victims and 
     their families of the tornado in Little Sioux, Iowa, on June 
     11, 2008; and
       (2) conveys its gratitude to the city and county officials, 
     police, fire department, sheriff, volunteer, and emergency 
     medical teams who responded swiftly to the scene to treat the 
     wounded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Clay) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform, I rise in support of House Resolution 1283 which expresses our 
heartfelt sympathy for the victims and the families following the 
tornado that hit Little Sioux on June 11.
  At 6:35 p.m. on June 11, a tornado touched down at the Little Sioux 
Boy Scout Ranch near Little Sioux, Iowa. The tornado, which tore 
through the ranch with the greatest force of nature, caused a rock 
chimney to collapse into the bunkhouse where the Scouts sought shelter. 
In the aftermath of the tornado's destruction, 43 individuals were 
injured, and four, Sam Thomsen, Josh Fennen, Ben Petrzilka, and Aaron 
Eilerts, were tragically killed.
  Mr. Speaker, the Boy Scout community and America at large will grieve 
the loss of the four Scouts whose lives ended so suddenly. With this 
bill, we have the opportunity to commemorate the lives of these 
individuals and to convey our gratitude to all those who so swiftly 
responded to the disaster, and I urge the adoption of this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, June 12, a vicious cluster of tornadoes 
ripped through the Midwest ending lives and destroying homes in 
Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. Though the storms devastated 
families everywhere they touched down, one storm in particular that 
touched down at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Loess Hills, Iowa, 
wounded the heart of our Nation a little more. And in a moment, I will 
recognize some of our colleagues who were directly involved and are 
here to share their thoughts on this tragedy.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker I continue to reserve.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to my colleague from Nebraska (Mr. 
Terry) such time as he may consume.

                              {time}  2045

  Mr. TERRY. I appreciate you yielding me the time.
  I rise today to pay tribute to four boys who lost their lives after a 
tornado destroyed their Boy Scout camp near Little Sioux, Iowa, on 
Wednesday, June 11. And as the gentlelady from North Carolina 
mentioned, it was a string of storms all the way from Iowa through 
Omaha, Nebraska, all the way down into Manhattan, Kansas.
  The boys were at this camp in Little Sioux, Iowa, Boy Scout camp, 
learning leadership skills and were definitely on the right path to be 
leaders in their future endeavors. Unfortunately, their lives were cut 
short by a fierce and destructive storm, an F-3 tornado.
  Interestingly, it was just the day before where the Scouts practiced 
how to react to a disaster like a tornado, and we can be very proud of 
the Scouts and how they acted after the storm.
  This tornado killed four boys, injured almost 50 others. Killed in 
the storm was 13-year-old Ben Petrzilka, 13-year-old Sam Thomsen, and 
Josh Fennen. Those three boys were all from Omaha. Ironically, all 
three of them were only a few miles from where my wife and my family 
live.
  Ben Petrzilka has been described as a caring and a natural leader. He 
was a member of Boy Scout Troop 448 and earned more than 20 merit 
badges, truly amazing.
  Sam Thomsen was born more than 3 months premature, adopted by a 
caring and loving family. They called Sam their ``miracle boy.'' His 
pastor said he was ``great kid'' and always had a smile on his face.
  Josh Fennen, a great student and hard worker as he was described by 
his school principal, had a knack for exploring and was a natural 
leader.
  Aaron Eilerts was a member of Boy Scout Troop 108 in Humboldt, Iowa, 
loved music, especially Elvis. For merit badges, he created pillowcases 
for local hospitals and made blankets for the humane society. He truly 
lived the Boy Scout Oath of: ``On my honor I will do my best to do my 
duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help others at 
all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and 
morally straight.''
  All of these boys lived the Scout Oath, something their family, 
friends and fellow Scouts can be extremely proud of. I know I am.
  I'm proud of all the Scouts and how they reacted. The stories of 
heroism from these four fallen boys' colleagues are truly moving.
  So God bless them, their families and Scouts everywhere.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I rise to support this legislation of Mr. 
Terry and to offer my deep sympathy.
  I serve on the board of the Boy Scouts in the Houston-Galveston area 
and have worked with the Boy Scouts for a very, very long time. And so 
I want to offer to the families of those who lost their life the 
deepest sympathy of those from Texas and to be able to express my 
appreciation for the organization of Boy Scouts that teaches character 
and leadership and empathy.
  And listening to the testimonies of those who survived and listening 
to the testimony of those boys who then helped others survive, I know 
that even in the loss of these young heroes other young boy Scouts will 
learn the lessons even better of leadership and challenge.
  I'd like to add my sympathy to the families and to the community. As 
we look over the Midwest, this has been an enormously tragic time. 
Families have lost their homes. They've lost loved ones, but this was 
particularly heart-wrenching, and many of us know the service that Boy 
Scouts give across America.
  And so I ask my colleagues, along with the Members who have come to 
the floor today to support H. Res. 1283, to recognize the great loss 
that we've

[[Page 13546]]

experienced. We have to champion the organization of Boy Scouts that 
teaches leadership and service, but also begins to build the building 
blocks that allows those young men to be courageous as they were to 
help others in their time of need.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask support of the legislation.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to my 
colleague from Iowa (Mr. Latham).
  Mr. LATHAM. I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my sympathy to the families who lost 
their boys in the tornado in Little Sioux, Iowa, earlier this month.
  As a parent, I know that no words uttered on this floor will ease the 
pain of losing a child. I only hope today's statements will serve as a 
timeless reminder that America's heart broke upon the news of this 
tragic loss. As a Nation, we are all so very sorry for your loss.
  I'd like to take a moment to talk about Aaron Eilerts of Eagle Grove, 
Iowa. Aaron was 14 years old. He was the only son of Bob and Carol 
Eilerts. He was a dedicated member of Boy Scout Troop 108.
  Although I didn't have the honor of knowing Aaron, many people in the 
town of Eagle Grove were touched deeply by this outstanding young man. 
After reading the many tributes to Aaron Eilerts, I was struck by what 
a special person he was.
  Aaron had taken it upon himself to make pillowcases for children who 
were sick and confined in hospitals. He made dozens of colorful 
pillowcases, including one for his cousin who was recovering from 
losing his leg serving our country in Iraq.
  Aaron will be remembered for his generosity and his big heart. He 
enjoyed making people happy and had a special gift for making folks 
smile.
  It should be noted that Aaron was a distinguished member of 
Scouting's National Honor Society, The Order of the Arrow. Aaron was 
elected to the Order by his peers because he best exemplified the Scout 
Oath and Law in his daily life.
  I will recite the Scout Oath and Law in Aaron's memory, and I hope it 
will give people a sense of what kind of a person he was and what we 
should all aspire to be.
  The Scout Oath reads: ``On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty 
to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people 
at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and 
morally straight.''
  The Scout Law requires each Boy Scout to be trustworthy, loyal, 
helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, 
clean, and reverent.
  We should all follow Aaron Eilerts' example. He lived a good life, 
doing good things for people in need.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to my 
colleague from Iowa (Mr. King).
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from North 
Carolina for yielding.
  I rise with my colleagues this evening to pay tribute to the Scouts 
who were lost in that storm of June 11, 2008, and to those also who 
survived and set such a fine example for Scouts everywhere and for all 
time to follow.
  The location of the tragedy is a few miles west of where I live, I 
suppose about 25 miles as the crow flies over our beloved Loess Hills, 
some of us call them the bluffs, yet a unique soil type that exists in 
only one other place in the world.
  And in those Loess Hills is an 1,800-acre wilderness park, the Boy 
Scout camp, where sometimes there are as many as 8- to 900 Scouts 
camping. On that fateful evening of June 11, there were about 93 Scouts 
on the location, along with about 25 leaders.
  And in this disaster, as I have been on the site the second morning 
after the tragedy, as well as went over it last Saturday morning to 
take a look at that from the air to try to make sense of it and put it 
in a concept where I can at least explain it, this tornado came across 
the Missouri riverbottom, and it ripped through a small treeline down 
on the flat part of the riverbottom and then over an irrigation system 
and flipped it over and went directly to the ranger's house, the ranger 
who lives into the first finger valley in the bluffs in his home with 
his wife and three small children.
  That tornado went directly at his home, which had no basement, slab 
on-grade, about the same kind of architecture as the shelter house that 
the Boy Scouts were in, and took his house and tore it to shreds. They 
huddled in an interior closet and ended up underneath the rubble from 
their fireplace, trapped there, the ranger, his wife and the three 
children. And they were all trapped and laying underneath the blocks 
and the stones.
  And the tornado then went on up the valley and just jumped over a 
little ridge and dropped right down on the shelter house where 40 to 50 
of the Scouts had gone to for shelter.
  And I want to emphasize, Mr. Speaker, that there's nothing more the 
Scouts could have done, no place that they could have gone that was 
better than where they went, with 93 of them scattered out in these 
finger valleys, and they were living in small pup tents that were 
pitched along the valley. As I came in there, many of those tents were 
crushed underneath the trees. If they had stayed in their tents they 
would not have survived.
  Some of them didn't get into the shelter house and had to lay on the 
ground. Those that survived, the tornado miraculously sucked the air 
out of their lungs, but 40 to 50 went into the shelter house, Mr. 
Speaker. And they did the only thing they could do which is get the 
kind of shelter that they could.
  The velocity of the wind was such that it picked up a pick-up truck 
that was sitting about 100 feet on the one side of the building and 
blasted that vehicle through the building, through the fireplace, 
through the chimney. And that vehicle landed about 150 feet the other 
side of what was left of the building, which wasn't much at all. And 
the Scouts that we lost were lost underneath the rubble that was 
knocked down by that pick-up truck that was blown through.
  This lasted about 8 seconds. Scouts being always prepared, one of 
them punched the stopwatch on his wristwatch and timed the storm while 
it was there and shut the stopwatch off. Eight seconds was how long the 
terror lasted.
  And immediately after that was over, some of the Scouts rose up from 
the rubble and began to help the others and triage and do as their 
first aid training had taught them.
  Some of them ran down not quite a half a mile to the ranger's home, 
where they began frantically tearing the rubble off of the ranger and 
his three children and his wife and who were trapped underneath there 
and would have eventually suffocated. They pulled them all out, and 
they all walked away, the ranger and his family.
  Some of the Scouts ran up to another location on the wilderness 
campsite and went into a building and got a couple of small ATVs and 
all the chainsaws they could get their hands on. By the time the 
emergency personnel arrived--that was within 7 minutes--they were 
sawing logs out of the way to make room for the emergency workers.
  These Scouts not only had trained the day before, but 2 years and 2 
months earlier, they had trained in April for a similar kind of a 
drill. They were surprised at 5 o'clock in the morning by the Scout 
leaders and the local EMT workers who had set up this training drill. 
They had issued the Scouts first-aid kits, light boxes or clear plastic 
boxes, with gauze and other type of first-aid equipment in those kits. 
These Scouts who had trained 2 years earlier and 1 day earlier for a 
similar disaster, found themselves with the first-aid kits that they 
had been issued, giving first aid to their fellow Scouts and some to 
their Scout leaders.
  As I walked that site on the Friday morning following the Wednesday 
afternoon, some of these first-aid kits were scattered out around the 
site where they had been used up helping each other. It's a powerful 
example of

[[Page 13547]]

the training that the Scouts had gone through and how they used that 
training.
  Mr. Speaker, they did everything they could have done from a training 
standpoint. They did everything they could have done from a reaction 
standpoint. They did all of the right things in the aftermath of the 
tornado, and I believe that this tragedy of losing the four Scouts, as 
sad as it is--and we pay tribute to them and their lives and we offer 
our prayers and our shared grief to their families and the families of 
all of those who feel this pain--as sad as that is, I believe that 
there is a silver lining to this cloud.
  First, I'm confident that there will be a memorial built on that 
location for those four Scouts.

                              {time}  2100

  And I believe that there will be a day soon where the training drills 
of the Scouts will incorporate the things that they learned there, the 
things that they did there, and I believe there will be Scouts that 
come to this camp, this 1,800-acre wilderness camp, from all over the 
United States over time who will train on the very location where we 
lost the four Scouts.
  Before I conclude, Mr. Speaker, I do want to read the list of the 
local volunteer organizations that I know are at least on this list--
and I'm convinced it cannot be all of them--the Little Sioux, Iowa, 
Volunteer Fire Department on the site quickly, along with the Monona 
County Emergency Management people, the Decatur Volunteer Fire 
Department of Decatur, Nebraska, Fort Calhoun, Nebraska Volunteer Fire 
Department, Monona County Sheriff's Department, Harrison County 
Sheriff's Department, the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa National Guard, Red 
Cross, Mercy Air Care, and the Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch. They all 
began to arrive there within 7 minutes of the time that this tornado 
concluded.
  I congratulate them for their courageous response, for the example 
that they've set, for the inspiration that they are. I hope to be there 
to dedicate the memorial when that day comes. I offer my prayers and 
sympathy to the Scouts and their families. May God continue to bless 
the Boy Scouts of America.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this resolution and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, from our darkest trials, Americans 
consistently display their true heroism. The horrible events on the 
night of June 11 were no different. No one is surprised to learn that 
the Scouts themselves displayed leadership skills and composure in the 
face of danger above and beyond their years. Had these courageous young 
men not lived up to their motto, ``Always Be Prepared,'' it is likely 
that this tragedy would have been magnified.
  I pray that all involved with Scouting will be inspired by the 
examples of the Scouting community shown through this tragedy, and that 
our benevolent God grant a sense of peace to all those affected by the 
tragedy.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of H. Res. 
1263.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1283.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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