[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21865]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO REX COLE AND CATO CEDILLO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HUNTER. Madam Speaker, as we study the various proposals that are 
being circulated right now on the economic crisis, I thought I might 
take a break for just a minute from that and talk about a bright spot 
in this country and a shining light in this country, and that is two of 
the individuals in my community, in San Diego, who provided a wonderful 
bright spot for hundreds and hundreds of young people.
  The first person I would like to talk about is Rex Cole, who was the 
head golf pro and manager at a place called Carlton Oaks Golf Course, a 
public golf course in San Diego County, for many years. Rex Cole was 
known for the fact that every weekend for almost 40 years, and he is 
now at Cottonwood Golf Course in East County, he would give free 
lessons to any young person who wanted to come over and be taught the 
game of golf.
  On those Saturdays and Sundays, you would swing by that practice area 
and you would see that great professional, Rex Cole, out there teaching 
young people, whether they were 5 years old or 10 or 15, or sometimes 
90, teaching them the golf grip and the basic swing and helping them, 
and not charging a dime.
  Madam Speaker, this is a time when we are looking to heroes for 
inspiration. As Ronald Reagan said, you don't always have to look to 
great national leaders or military leaders. Heroes are in these 
communities all around us, and Rex Cole is one of those heroes. He and 
his wife Karen have seven children and 13 grandchildren, but, beyond 
that, they have many, many young people who in a very real way have 
benefited from Rex Cole's mentorship and from his teaching and from his 
being such a solid, wonderful member of our East County community.
  The other person I would like to mention is the late Cato Cedillo, 
who was my District Administrator in San Diego, California, in that 
East County area. I will never forget Cato going out to schools, to 
grade schools, and teaching young people how to play golf, and going 
out to the football field and hitting a few shots out there, and then 
having each young person pledge to him that they would never take 
drugs, and then giving each one of them a couple of cut-down golf clubs 
that he had gotten from various professionals in the area, sometimes 
from Rex Cole, giving them a couple of cut-down golf clubs and letting 
them have those clubs and take home a bag of golf balls and start this 
wonderful game.
  So, Madam Speaker, I thought it might be kind of nice to talk about 
two local heroes, two people who gave, and in Rex Cole's case, continue 
to give so much of their own time and their own substance to the young 
people in our community.

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