Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution; and, oh, how I wish we were not in this well at this time to express such sentiments.

Mr. Speaker, we differ on issues. That is the hallmark of a free people, and yet this afternoon we rise as one to remember and memorialize the contribution and the sacrifice of the Columbia Seven.

Of the seven aboard, Mr. Speaker, several had connections to Arizona, perhaps the most pointed and poignant that of payload specialist Michael Anderson. Though Michael called Spokane, Washington, home, he spent some of his younger years in the State of Arizona, attended Avondale Elementary School and carried with him on this flight a T- shirt from that school and that student body. The principal at Avondale Elementary now says another type of special memorial will be there in the school to remember that special student.

Indeed, also in our West Valley, Mr. Speaker, there is the Challenger Learning Center, so named for another group of seven who paid the ultimate price; and at Central Arizona College there is a NASA Aerospace Education Center.

Mr. Speaker, we are reaffirming some difficult lessons today, even as we memorialize and celebrate America's mission and indeed mankind's mission to the stars, as we think that over four decades ago President Kennedy stood at the podium behind us, challenging this Nation to land a man on the moon and bring him safely back home to earth before the decade of the 1960s is out.

Mr. Speaker, we remember the message of the Australian Prime Minister upon the landing on the moon when he said, We salute the spirit of dangerous adventure that has brought mankind to this accomplishment.

The danger remains apparent. The spirit of adventure remains, Mr. Speaker. We remember and memorialize the Columbia Seven; and as we remember, as we rededicate, as we conduct the inevitable oversight that our Constitution mandates, let us make the vow not to retreat but to advance, to think beyond what has gone before, to revisit the moon, to one day be involved in manned exploration of Mars, to continue the advancement of human knowledge for which the Columbia Seven gave their all. That is the true memorial to these heroes who soared in the heavens and embraced the spirit of dangerous adventure.

God bless them and their families and all affiliated with them and our great country.

Mr. Speaker, a little more than halfway through our nation's history, when the West was still an untamed region full of untapped potential, central Arizona's early settlers embarked on what has become a hallmark of American vision, boldness and success. The story is that of the Salt River Project, the nation's third largest public power provider, the largest supplier of water to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and the oldest multi-purpose reclamation project in the U.S.

Incorporated on February 7, 1903, the Salt River Project, more commonly known as SRP, deserves special commendation in its centennial year for the prominent role it has played in central Arizona's growth and development. Its place in Arizona's history prompted me and my colleague, Congressman John Shadegg, to nominate SRP for inclusion in the Library of Congress's Bicentennial Local Legacies Project.

Before SRP was formed, pioneers of the area that now encompasses large parts of my own Congressional District 5 saw opportunity in the desert region they had settled. Farming, commerce and trade were beginning to boom. But the region's main source of water, the Salt River, proved fickle and dangerous.

To preserve themselves, their families and their future, the pioneers banded together to secure a reliable water supply. They envisioned a great dam in the Salt River Canyon east of Phoenix and, though the idea may have seemed fanciful to some, it won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt.

With passage of the National Reclamation Act of 1902, the foundation was laid for formation in 1903 of the Salt River Valley Water Users Association, a non-profit entity that later became the Salt River Project. Local farms were offered as collateral to secure a federal loan for construction of a stone masonry dam on the Salt River. When the dam was completed in 1911, it was rightly named Roosevelt Dam after the president whose visionary reclamation concepts helped settlers of Arizona and other Western states forge progress and prosperity.

Today, SRP has more than 780,000 electric power customers, shares ownership of power plants in four states, participates actively in power transmission decisions across the West, and manages six dams on the Salt and Verde rivers and thousands of miles of canals and laterals that deliver more than 40 percent of the region's water supply.

Among utilities nationally, SRP is recognized for its customer service, employee-community involvement, corporate giving and environmental leadership.

There can be no doubt that SRP will continue to be a major force in meeting Arizona's water and power needs, and an invaluable partner to the communities it serves. With pride, Mr. Speaker, I salute the Salt River Project on its 100th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow afternoon in Scottsdale, Arizona at 2 o'clock Mountain Standard Time, there will be a memorial service held for the man described as the ace of aces, a genuine hero, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss.

Joe Foss accomplished much in his life. Indeed Tom Brokaw in his book The Greatest Generation devoted an entire chapter to the life of Joe Foss. It was a remarkable life, not only in wartime but in winning the peace. A two-term governor of South Dakota, the first commissioner of the American Football League, president of the National Rifle Association, a television personality in his own right, and finally in retirement Joe Foss relocated to Arizona.

It was my privilege to know this great and good man, this genuine American hero who despite the reputation of fliers had none of the swagger but all of the humility and humble nature that a man could possess.

The story goes once a journalist asked Joe Foss about his many earthly accomplishments, and Joe said ``Yeah, I guess I have done a lot of things but nothing compares to the day when I met the Lord.'' Now Joe Foss is with the Lord, and I know the people of Arizona along with the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Janklow), the people of South Dakota, and all of America remember and revere this great American. At ease, Joe, rest in peace.