[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19551]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING MR. STEVEN SHAPIRO FOR HIS NATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN BUILDING 
                       SAFETY AND FIRE PROTECTION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. THELMA D. DRAKE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2008

  Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Steven 
Shapiro, a resident of Hampton, Virginia, and someone I am especially 
proud to have as a constituent. In addition to his full-time public 
service as the Building Official for Hampton, this year Steve has also 
served as President of the Board of the International Code Council. It 
is the on-going work of the Code Council that provides the nation with 
an extensive body of model building and fire safety regulations. His 
role as the President of the Code Council is the culmination of 30 
years of experience, leadership and tireless work in ensuring that we 
are well protected in the buildings where we live and work.
  I would also like to recognize the Code Council's work on Capitol 
Hill this year in advocating for legislation to build a program to 
bolster local governmental capacity to ensure compliance with its 
building and fire codes. A high point of their effort occurred in May 
when the Code Council's leadership assembled here in Washington, D.C. 
during Building Safety Week 2008. With focused attention, Mr. Shapiro's 
delegation worked with over 120 Congressional offices like mine on 
enactment of the Community Building Code Administration Grant Act. I am 
proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 4461, the House version of the Act, and 
to have worked with my Colleague Dennis Moore, the sponsor, and the 
Code Council and its broad coalition in achieving House passage this 
July.
  Leading a membership association of over nearly 50,000 building 
safety and fire prevention professionals is, of course, a substantial 
preoccupation, and the City of Hampton, its Mayor Ross Kearney and City 
Manager Jesse Wallace are also to be thanked for supporting Steve's 
volunteer work in leadership of the Code Council. I am proud that local 
leadership from my District is at work in leading the development and 
maintenance of the building and fire codes that protect us all across 
the country. These safety codes, independently modified for adoption by 
the Commonwealth of Virginia and all across the country, govern 
construction and maintenance of our residential and commercial 
buildings, including the homes and the business, schools, and places of 
worship we use and visit regularly.
  So I applaud Steve's three decades as a relentless advocate for 
building safety; a mission that he is sure to carry on for quite some 
time. In working on that mission he serves not only Hampton and the 
Commonwealth, but, in his role as President of the Board of the Code 
Council, has served the rest of the nation as well. In his non-
volunteer job as Director of Codes Compliance for the City of Hampton, 
he continues to ensure the safety of construction our very historic 
city of nearly 150,000 residents; a town proud of the title as the 
first continuous English-speaking settlement in America. Steve is an 
honored and distinguished citizen of my District, and as a leader of 
the ICC has shared with the nation his values as an outstanding public 
safety professional and a truly dedicated public servant.
  I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize the rest of 
the ICC delegation who visited Capitol Hill during Building Safety Week 
2008, and thank them for their efforts to promote and defend a safe and 
sound built-environment. Those individuals include: Board Vice 
President Adolf Zubia, Board Secretary/Treasurer Ron Lynn, Immediate 
Past President of the Board Wally Bailey; Board members Gregori 
Anderson, James Brothers, John Darnall, Gerald George, Greg Johnson, 
Stephen Jones, Barbara Koffron, John LaTorra, Ronald Lynn, Doug 
Murdock, Ronald Piester, James Ryan and Jeff Whitney; International 
Accreditation Services Board Chair Majed Dabdoub, Vice Chair Ravi Shah 
and Board Members John Barrios, Guy Tomberlin, Michael Bouse, and Isam 
Hasenin and IAS President Chuck Ramani; ICC Government Relations 
Advisory Committee Chair Rebecca Baker, and Committee Members Jim 
Martin, Lynn Underwood and George Wiggins; ICC Chapter Leaders Tina 
Rakes, Robert Boyer, Gary Schenk and John Glover; Matthew Wheeler of 
the California Building Officials; and members of ICC's professional 
staff including its CEO Richard Weiland, COO Dominic Sims, David 
deCourcy, Sara Yerkes, Jim Tidwell, Mark Dinneen, Richard Kuchnicki, 
Laura Scott, Matthew Lightfoot, Gretchen Hesbacher, and Jennifer 
Gibson.

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