Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to an individual whose dedication and contributions to Riverside County are exceptional. Riverside County has been fortunate to have dynamic and dedicated community leaders who willingly and unselfishly give time and talent to making their communities a better place to live and work. David Zappe is one of these individuals. This year David will retire from the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District after providing more than 33 years of loyal, consciences and outstanding engineering and management service period.

A native born Californian, David attended public schools in Riverside and Palm Springs, California. In 1969 he graduated from California State Polytechnic College in Pomona, California with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. As a student he was a member of the Engineer Honorary Fraternity, Sigma Phi Alpha.

After his graduation David was employed by the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District as a Junior Engineer. He was quickly promoted to Associate Civil and Senior Civil Engineer position. As Senior Civil Engineer, David supervised the District's Project Planning Section. In 1983 David was promoted to the position of Flood Control Principal Engineer, with the responsibility for management of the Administrative Division, one of five divisions in the District. In 1992, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Chief Engineer and was responsible for coordination of District activities involving the District's six division and other governmental and private entities in the execution of the District's mission. In 1996 David was promoted to the position of General Manager-Chief Engineer.

The Riverside County Flood and Water Conservation District presently employees a staff of approximately 175, forty of which are graduate engineers and thirty eight are registered civil engineers in the State of California. Under David's exemplary leadership the District continues to pursue an aggressive effort to design and construct needed flood control infrastructure.

In addition to his degree in Civil Engineering, David completed the Advanced Management Program and the Executive Management Program at the University of California, Riverside. He has been a registered Civil Engineer

in the State of California since 1972. He also is a member of ASCE and

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to an organization whose dedication and contributions to Riverside County are exceptional. Riverside County has been fortunate to have dynamic and dedicated community organizations who willingly and unselfishly give time and talent to making their communities a better place to live and work. St. Thomas the apostle church is one of those organization. This January, St. Thomas the Apostle Church celebrates its 100th year anniversary.

The history of St. Thomas the Apostle Church includes service by the Jesuits, Franciscans and Diocesan priests as well as several communities of religious women. The Church has had the honor to have one of the newly named American saints work within the church community. St. Katharine Drexel and her order, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, served the religious needs of the children at the Indian schools in the Southwest.

In 1903, St. Thomas the Apostle Church's path began as Father O'Brien celebrated his first Mass to a church paced with Indian students using a kitchen table as an alter. In the 1940's, the church experienced many changes as the pews began to fill with Army personnel during World War II. Father Edmund Krolicki of the Conventual Franciscans, with the help of parishioner volunteers, worked to build the first school buildings at St. Thomas the Apostle. In the late 1950's the parish faced more challenges when the church was lost to an arson fire. The commitment of service and faith would see the church through these difficult times and the community quickly united in the effort of re-building the church.

The new millennium has brought the parishioners of St. Thomas the Apostle great spiritual and structural growth under the care and guidance of Fr. Joseph Felker. Since his arrival in 2000, the parish has enjoyed a renewed sense of community as the parish joins in the collaborative effort of renovating the parish site as well as building a new ministry center. The Katharine Drexel Ministry Center is a dream being actualized as a legacy for the next generation.

St. Thomas the Apostle continues to illustrate what a church community should strive for; a community of prayer, a place for families to be blessed; a place to celebrate the sacraments; and where God's live is at work. St. Thomas the Apostle's tireless work in their community and among their members has contributed immeasurably to the betterment of Riverside county. I congratulate St. Thomas the Apostle on 100 years of service and worship.

Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday a tragedy occurred that touched every one of us. We lost seven brave explorers and now grieve along with their friends and family.

In our modern world, we have grown comfortable with the frequent occurrence of space travel, forgetting that with each mission, there is risk. The men and women of Columbia knew the risks, and in the name of discovery accepted them.

We owe each one of these brave voyagers a great deal of gratitude and reverence.

As a country we hold life and freedom as our highest values, and it is natural for us to question the meaning behind the Columbia mission to determine whether it was worth the loss we feel now. One of the ironies of such a tragedy is that the valuable work these men and women were doing is now on the front pages of every newspaper and in the headlines of our evening news programs. If the mission had been completed as scheduled, there would have been perhaps a column on the back page of the newspaper or a 30 second newsbyte. Outside of the space community, few people are aware of the extraordinary advances being made in the fields of medicine, agriculture, physical and biological science by our space programs.

Our missions into space will continue to hold a measure of risk and I believe we should support these missions in every way possible. Our country has had a tradition of leading the way in exploration in every field, and that tradition should continue. The exploration of space will go on in the name of these seven fine men and women and in the name of all those who went before them.

On January 16 seven astronauts journeyed out of this world and they would go farther than anyone of us imagined; into the greatest unknown. However, their journey is not over and their legacy will never be forgotten God Bless.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Republican Conference, I call up a privileged resolution (H. Res. 34) election of majority membership on the Committee on House Administration, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) be removed as a cosponsor of

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to an individual whose dedication and contributions to Southern California are exceptional. Southern California has been fortunate to have dynamic and dedicated community leaders who willingly and unselfishly give time and talent to making their communities a better place to live and work. Bob Drake is one of these individuals. On January 8, 2003, Ben will be stepping down as President of the Temecula Valley Winegrower's Association after a year of dedicated service.

The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association represents 17 wineries and 49 grower members in their efforts to promote the making and growing of quality wine and winegrapes in the Temecula Valley appellation located in Riverside County. During his year as president, Ben has shown exemplary leadership skills as he has guided the association through a period of dynamic growth, vital to the associations' representation and promotion as one of the world's premiere wine and winegrape producing regions.

Ben has represented the association on critical community and political matters, such as land use, beautification efforts, state shipping restrictions and continuing issues dealing with Pierce's Disease and the glass-winger sharpshooter. He has worked diligently to keep open lines of communication with our membership, regional vintner and grower groups and elected officials.

Ben has placed much of his energy and focus on enhancing the recognition of the region as one of quality through educating association members through monthly enology and viticulture seminars. He has made himself available for countless media interviews and community outreach programs. Because of his personal and intensive involvement with association fundraising activities, he is leaving the association in a position of strength and financial stability.

Ben's diligent work as the Temecula Valley Winegrower's Association has contributed unmeasurably to the betterment of Riverside County. His involvement in the community makes me proud to call him a fellow community member, American and friend. In know that all of the residents of Riverside County are grateful for his service and salute him as his term comes to an end. I look forward to working with him in the future for the good of our community.