Recognizing the dedication of the employees at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center who, during and after Hurricane Katrina's assault on Mississippi, provided shelter and medical care to storm evacuees and logistical support for storm recovery efforts, while effectively maintaining critical facilities at the Center.

Mr. Speaker, let me being by thanking my colleagues in the Mississippi and Louisiana delegations for cosponsoring this.

Mr. Speaker, I could spend the remainder of this year's session naming south Mississippians who on an individual basis rose to the occasion and performed heroic deeds. Tonight we want to thank the employees of the Stennis Space Center for the phenomenal job they did in Hancock County, a county that 90 percent of the homes were either destroyed outright or severely damaged, a county where the vast majority of it was underwater for at least a substantial portion of the day.

Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting sidelights, my colleague and friend, Congressman Hall mentioned, the Stennis Space Center runway, a 10,000 runway that was open the next day after the storm in order to bring in vital supplies.

What the Congressman probably would never guess is that the person who opened that runway was the 13-year-old son of the airport manager, a young man by the name of Billy Cotter. His family had lost their home in Bay St. Louis. Knowing that the home was gone, they had gone out to the Stennis Space Center, moved into the dad's office. The dad's office had taken about waist-deep water, had about 6 inches of mud on the floor.

And realizing that that runway was the vital link in a county that almost all of the bridges coming to and from it had been destroyed, 13- year-old Billy Cotter hops on the street sweeper, gets out there, and the next day cleared the runway of, I am told, snakes, branches, trees, and had the runway up and running by Tuesday afternoon, which is absolutely remarkable for anyone, but in particular a young boy.

A reporter passes through the next day, and in trying a write a good news story of Katrina, looks over and notices that the helicopter that he was traveling in was being refueled by this little kid. And thinking it is pretty remarkable, goes up and hands the kid a $20 bill. The kid runs over to the refueling truck, opens the door and his pet dog is sitting in the driver's seat.

The kid is so thrilled to get the $20 bill, he shows the 20 to the dog. And of course OSHA and every other agency of occupational safety in America probably would have gone berserk.

But again here is Billy Cotter, 13 years old, running the street sweeper, refueling helicopters that are bringing in the life-saving goods. Billy really epitomizes the work that was going on out there, and the people pitching in doing what had to be done.

Mr. Speaker, the other person I want to mention also, in addition to great work of Stennis employees, on the day after Easter, a convoy of the 155th Mississippi National Guard was attacked in Iraq.

One of the drivers, a young Mississippi State student who had been activated for the war, a fellow by the name of William Brooks was severely wounded, lost both legs. He spends a lot of time at Walter Reed.

In the course of that, I had asked the folks at Mississippi State University if William was up to it, if he would do an internship, would they give him credit for his studies. For whatever reason, William chose not to take me up on that offer until the day after the storm.

The day after the storm, after many months of recuperating at Walter Reed Hospital, William finds some money for a cab fare, has the cab bring him to Capitol Hill, shows up at my office, says something to my staff that is kind of overwhelmed at this point, and says: ``I figured you all could use some help.''

And for the next couple of weeks, since the phones are down in Mississippi, and when a Mississippian can finally get to a phone and make a call looking for some assistance, almost all of those calls came to the Washington office.

Young William Brooks, who had been severely wounded in Iraq, was there answering the phone helping people. Again, I know the hour is late and I could tell 8,000 stories like that. But tonight we want to talk about the great work of the Stennis Space Center, so many of whom had lost their own homes, so many of whom retreated to the Space Center.

First thing, here is a place to take care of their families, but then pitching in and taking care of approximately 4,000 other south Mississippians who found themselves in the same predicament. So we want to commend the staff at the Stennis Space Center, Admiral Donaldson, who was in charge of leading the space center at that time, and all of the people out there for doing a phenomenal job of taking care of themselves, their families and the people who had retreated to the Stennis Space Center looking for hope in the aftermath of the storm.

What is really remarkable about my fellow south Mississippians is that the extremely high percentage of people who had lost their own homes, be their firemen, policemen, civil servants, the airport manager, fill-in-the blank, but who kept going to work, taking care of others, knowing that there really was not much that they could do for themselves, but they were in a position to help someone else.

That is the kind of spirit that has gotten Mississippi going back in the right direction. We still have a heck of a lot of work to do, but because of the good work done by the folks at the Stennis Space Center, William Brooks, Billy Cotter and so many others in south Mississippi, we are at least heading in the right direction.

I thank you very much for bringing this bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to speak in strong support of this resolution, 948, which is a resolution that honors the dedication of the employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center, who stayed at their posts during Hurricane Katrina and protected critical space program assets.

In addition, they provided shelter and medical care to storm evacuees, and they provided logistical support for storm recovery efforts.

Mr. Speaker, as you may recall during late August of last year, Hurricane Katrina severely assaulted southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi coast, resulting in massive damage and the evacuation of large numbers of citizens.

Yet, in the midst of the storm there were countless examples of heroism. One example is the way in which employees of the Stennis Space Center stayed and protected the facility instead of fleeing the area.

These great Americans deserve our thanks and praise for their dedication to working to preserve Stennis during Hurricane Katrina's passage through the region.

Among their accomplishments was the protection of critical test infrastructure at the rocket propulsion text complex. The Stennis Space Center plays an important role in the United States space program. By risking their own lives, these brave individuals ensured that the Center was preserved as a viable facility in spite of the devastation wrought by this Hurricane.

But these individuals are also worthy of recognition for their efforts to assist their fellow citizens who were affected by the storm. During the hurricane, almost 3,700 people took refuge at the center. The employees who remained helped feed, provide medical care and maintain electrical power for all of those on site. The space center also served as the site of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's incident command center for the parts of the Gulf Coast impacted by Katrina.

In short, without the dedication of the employees listed in the resolution before us today, the consequences of Katrina's passage through the region would have been far worse. Mr. Speaker, it is only fitting and proper that we

honor those brave individuals for their heroic deeds. I strongly urge the passage of House Resolution 948.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my good friend, Congressman Taylor, from the coast of Mississippi who firsthand experienced the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and who himself is a hero for the way he stood tall and was there on the ground helping people who were affected by the Hurricane.

I think it is only suitable and only proper that Congressman Taylor shares his point of view with us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to associate myself with the comments of my good friend, Representative Hall. And I think I speak for him and every other Member of this body when I express the opinion that there is nobody that is more respected than Congressman Taylor.

And we are all in a sense examples of the people in our district. And when we watch and work with Congressman Taylor, we know that there are thousands of other people in his district that have integrity, that have a work ethic that makes us proud. And it is his leadership and his courage, I think Judge Hall would agree that have helped the Congress continue to do the right thing, although we have much more to do for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi to put things to right after this terrible natural disaster.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 948, recognizing the dedication of the employees at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center.

I cannot honor and commend these employees enough for their heroism during and after Hurricane Katrina's assault on Mississippi. The Stennis Space Center employees provided shelter and medical care to storm evacuees and logistical support for storm recovery efforts, while effectively maintaining critical facilities at the center.

During Hurricane Katrina, some 3,700 persons, including employees, their immediate and extended families, and members of the general public, sought shelter at the Stennis Space Center.

The Stennis cafeteria, which normally serves about 175 breakfasts and 600 lunches each day, served 3,000 meals 3 times a day

to evacuees, for a period of a week following the storm.

Before, during, and in the immediate aftermath of the storm, the small staff of the Stennis Medical Clinic provided medical care to all who needed it among the evacuees onsite. This included some 20 special needs patients, and soon after the storm, the Stennis clinic staff was complemented by medical personnel airlifted from other National Aeronautics and Space Administration Centers.

Although commercial electrical power was not available to Stennis for 10 days following the storm, electrical power was maintained to all essential buildings through the extensive use of diesel-powered generators and the around the clock efforts of a team of individuals who mechanically maintained those generators and kept them fueled. This also enabled the pumps on Stennis's deep-water wells to provide a continuous supply of potable water for drinking, cooking, and sanitation to support the 3,700 people onsite.

These brave individuals include: Cheryl Bennett, James Bevis, Terry Bordelon, Steve Brettel, Vicki Brown, Bill Brumfield, Kirt Bush, Paul Byrd, Ethan Calder, Marla Carpenter, David Carstens, Jonathan Clemens, Eric Crawford, Cheri Cuevas, John Davenport, David Del Santo, Isaac DeLancey, Jim Freeman, Greg Garrett, Dave Geiger, Stan Gill, Don Griffith, Haynes Haselmaier, Coby Holloway, Gay Irby, Manning ``JJ'' Jones, Catriona Ladner, David Ladner, Richard Ladner, Stanley Lee, Michelle Logan, Ron Magee, Sharlene Majors, Steve McCord, Pat McCullough, Michael McDaniel, Mike McKinion, Kirk Miller, John Mitchell, Ron Moore, David R. Oakes, Kevin A. Oliver, Alan Phillips, John Nick Pitalo, Allen Price, Porter Pryor, Margaret Roberts, Miguel Rodriguez, Jason Saucier, Dale Sewell, Donald Seymore, Kathy Slade, Sue Smith, David Throckmorton, Karen Vander, John Waquespack, Rodney Wilkinson, Robert Williams, and Michael J. Witt.

Thank you, to all of these employees, for their selfless and honorable actions. I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 948) recognizing the dedication of the employees at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Stennis Space Center who, during and after Hurricane Katrina's assault on Mississippi, provided shelter and medical care to storm evacuees and logistical support for storm recovery efforts, while effectively maintaining critical facilities at the Center.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 948, the resolution now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 948, a resolution recognizing the stalwart NASA employees who performed beyond their day- to-day duties to establish the Stennis Space Center as a logistical emergency center for a large region of the southern Mississippi coast leading up to, during, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Stennis Space Center's runway, which served all of southern Mississippi, as well as the New Orleans area, was cleared within a day. This alone allowed flights with food stuffs, generators and medical supplies to land and also allowed for the medical evacuation of storm survivors.

Nearly 3,700 persons, including employees and their families, as well as the local public sought refuge at the Stennis facility for weeks following the disaster. Despite this overwhelming tragedy, the employees at the Stennis factory were back to work and excited about their upcoming role in the Vision For Space Exploration.

Excitement about their work and about the future shows the drive and ingenuity of the American people at its best. I want to join in expressing my admiration for those exceptional people who showed the strength and the spirit of America.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that it hurts my heart to hear the story that Mr. Taylor has told us. And from the very first day he hit this Congress, I intercepted him, and he has been one of my dearest friends. Never knowing that he would go through the vicissitudes of nature and the hardships that they have undergone, we need still to have and invoke the power of prayer for those people and for the Taylor family. God bless you, Gene. Thank you for your testimony.

Mr. Speaker, we yield back the balance of our time.