House Proceeding 02-25-09 on Feb 25th, 2009 :: 0:05:10 to 0:20:00
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Speech By: Michael Arcuri

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Michael Arcuri: yield myself such time as i may consume. i want to express my deepest sympathies to the families who lost loved ones in the tragic crash of continental connection flight 3407. i can say as an upstate new yorker and as an american, the

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Thomas E. Petri: families and friends of those who were lost are in our thoughts and in our prayers. mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. petri: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in very str --

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Speech By: Thomas E. Petri

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Thomas E. Petri: the speaker pro mpore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. petri: for this resolution which is beingntroduced by chris lee. this res resolution 183, expresses condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims of the february 12, 2009, accident of flight 3407 which took place in clarence center, new york.

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Thomas E. Petri: there were 50 people onboard flight 3407, including passengers and crew. sadly all lives were lost. our sympathy goes out to the victims and to each and every one of their families, friend and loved ones -- friends and loved ones. losing a loved one is tragic but the loss is compounded when

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Thomas E. Petri: it is the result of an unfortunate and unforeseen situation. i'm hopeful that this resolution will in some small way comfort the families and friends of all those who lost their lives on flight 3407. i also want to thank the first responders and those who are providing support and assistance to the families of the victims.

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Thomas E. Petri: their efforts are appreciated. the national transportation safety board is thoroughly investigating every this accident. the board is responsible for determing the circumstances and cause of this accident and they will report back to congress. in the meantime, i want to assure the families, the public, members of congress

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Thomas E. Petri: that those charged with th investigation of this tragedy will not rest until the cause of this aviation accident has been determined. the loss of even one life in an aviation accident is unacceptable, but the american public should know that our commercial airlines today a both safe and reliable.

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Thomas E. Petri: the national air space system handles almost 50,000 flights per day, more than seven million passengers annually. since 2007, the commercial airline industry has maintained the lowest fatality zept rate in commercial aviation history -- rate in commercial aviation

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Thomas E. Petri: history. there were no fatalities and operations in the past two years and now approaching almost three years. with about 1.6 billion people transported during that period. despite the amazing safety record, i wish we lived in a world where we could eliminate

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Thomas E. Petri: all accidents and risks. while i don't believe we he can do t can continue to work as effectively as possible to do everything we can to avoid these types of accidents in the future. again, i want to express my condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the

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victims onboard flight 3407 and also to mr. chris lee, my diinguished colleague from new york, and his constituents. i yield to my colleague, mr. lee, such time as he consume. mr. lee: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i appreciate the support from our state delegation, many of whom

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co-sponsored this resolution. i especially wanted to thank mr. higgins and ms. slaughter who have exhibited untiring leadership in offering assistance since this tragedy has struck. the night of thursday, february 12, was going along like any other winter evening in the small town of clarence.

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clence is located less than 20 miles from the city of buffalo. at the home of the willinski family, 22-year-old jill was w mother karen while her husband doug was in the dining room doing some housework. it was at that moment that the continental flight 3407,

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carrying 49 passengers and crew, struck the will nirvings nsk home, taking doug's life. all onboard the plane were lost. each and every soul is a significant loss to our community. among them, a prominent human rights activist, a september 11

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widow, a retired air force r guitarist, the cantor at a williamsville tellle approximately. the director of a youth services program, a nurse at a westfield memorial hospital, a second-year law studen the

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daughter of a holocaust survivor, a vietnam veteran with two purple hearts and lastly, a personal friend who was expecting the birth of her first child due at the end of may. at that moment, about a quarter mile away, clarence center fire chief was also having a quiet

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eeping at home when he heard on his radio that a plane had crashed and struck a house nearby. the chief was one of the first to arrive on the scene that night, but no means was he by himself. volunteers from throughout clarence, assisted by crews from new steady, akron, harris

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hill, rapids, east amherst, swarmsville, mill grove, bowmansville, lancaster, brighton and the buffalo international airports aircraft rescue fire unit. their efforts were supported by hundredsf volunteers who gave their time and energy to support the first responders and the families of the

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victims. last nht, chief case sat in this very gallery just a handful of rows from the first lady as the president of the united states addressed congress on the state of our nation. chief case zpt come here to accept the saltations afforded everyday heroes among us. he said he came and i quote, only to be a representative of

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the men and the women of clarence center fire company and all the first responders. to those first responders and all the volunteers, i simply want to say, thank you. chief case was indeed a fitting representative for a small and proud tope town that just last year celebrated its bicentennial.

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clarence is where my wife and i chose to make our home, it's where my 3-year-old son will grow up and i hope that he in turn raises a family there as well. since the night of this accident, we have been posted on our website messages from families of the victims. thoughts and prayers have come in from all around the country.

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one message we received was from holly henderson, a clarence resident, and it reads, i am a clarence resident and a frequent traveler. i think all of those -- i think all those who were deeply concerned for me, my family and neighbors and ask that they continue to pray for the souls whose lived ended in such

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tragedy. it is awesome to see how the community has put up ribbons, have come together at this time of crisis. it confirms why i moved back to this area after being gone for so long and feel very proud to be part of this community in western new york, where the people are truly the best in the world. of course this resolution is

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the memories of the victims and the courage of their families. and the echoes of the shock and grief we felt that long thursday night are still with us. but we can find comfort in the fact that even in tough times like these, families and communities come together, rally around one another and do whatever they can to help those in need.

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Michael Arcuri: again, i thank members of our delegation for their support and for this resolution and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: i have no further -- mr. petri: i have no further requests for time and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

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Speech By: Michael Arcuri

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Michael Arcuri: the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank my colleague from clarence for his leadership in bringing this resolution and also i'd like to thank him for the courage that he happened. he immediately recognized where his duty was and that was to be home in clarence and he immediately headed home to be

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Michael Arcuri: there to help, to show leadership, to show his constituentshere his priorities were and that was at home where he was needed most. so i thank him for what he has done, clearly this has been a shock to his community and to the entire country. certainly while the whole country has felt it, no one has

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Brian Higgins: felt it more than western new york and i'd like to yield three minutes it to my colleague from western new york, mr. higgins. mr. higgins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. higg i, too, want to join new commending our colleague, chris lee, for going back to assist in the recovery effort. i spent time with the

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Speech By: Brian Higgins

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Brian Higgins: congressman on saturday where we toured the site with several other officials. . i ask that you join me in offering condolences to the families of the victims. what was to be reuniting of

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Brian Higgins: family and friends became a time of unspeakable time of grief and sorrow. the victims of this tragedy need our support and empathy during this difficult time in their lives. my community has demonstrated great strength and compassion as it mourns the loss of 50 lives of those loved ones, many of

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Brian Higgins: whom are vibrant members of the western new york community. our community's response has included professional and spiritual counseling as well as donated males and letters offering sympathy and support. the families will undoubtedly experience difficulty and sadness in the days ahead, but i'm confident that the loving

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Brian Higgins: embrace of the western new york community will comfort and sustain them. mr. speaker, i ask that you join me in thanking the first respond ers who worked through the night in each succeeding day in the recovery effort. their work is a tribute to the decency of the human spirit and

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Brian Higgins: their professionalism. they deserve our respect, admiration and deepest gratitude. this tragedy and the loss to the buffalo community is profound, but the love and support of our community is much greater. i'm thankful to those dedicated individuals who responded to this disaster and those offering support and counseling to the families. they are still trying to come to

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Brian Higgins: grips. we will never forget those we lost that night. i join chris lee in offering

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Michael Arcuri: support to all of those who need them and love them. i thank chris lee in bringing this resolution to the floor. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: mr. speaker, i see no further witnesses and with that, i just would like to say,

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Speech By: Michael Arcuri

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Michael Arcuri: thank my colleague, mr. lee, for his leadership on and i would urge a yes vote on this resolution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 183. those in favor say aye. those

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Michael Arcuri: opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the

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affirmative, the les are suspended, the resolution is agreed to -- mr. arcuri: i object on the ground that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: further proceedings on this question

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will be postponed. the speaker pro tempe: the chair will entertain one-minute requests. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the

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Ron Paul: following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. perriello of virginia for the wk of february 23 and mr. kline of minnesota for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the requests are granted. for what purpose does the

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Speech By: Ron Paul

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Ron Paul: gentleman from texas rise? mr. paul: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that t following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house, revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. mr. poe, march 3 and 4 for five minutes.

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Ron Paul: mr. jones, march and 4 for five minutes. mr. wolf, today for five minutes. mr. jenkins, today, five minutes. mr. broun, today, five minutes. and mrs. foxx, today, five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise?

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Ron Paul: mr. hare: i ask that following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the folling members may be permitted to address the house and include extraneous material. mr. sestak of pennsylvania, mr. defazio of oregon, mr. kissell