July 26, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1341 

RED TAPE REDUCTION AND 

SMALL BUSINESS JOB CREATION 

ACT 

SPEECH OF

HON. RICK LARSEN OF WASHINGTON

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 

The House in Committee of the Whole 

House on the state of the Union had under 

consideration the bill (H.R. 4078) to provide 

that no agency may take any significant regulatory action until the unemployment rate 

is equal to or less than 6.0 percent: 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Chair, I 

rise today in opposition to H.R. 4078, which 

would cut critical regulations not with a scalpel 

but, like many have said, with a nuclear bomb. 

The transportation authorization bill, MAP–21, 

which this body passed with a widely bipartisan vote, included many important safety and 

efficiency regulations, but my amendment to 

exempt them was not made in order. 

If signed into law, this bill would pull the 

emergency brake and stop safety regulations 

which were just enacted. One important regulation this bill would block is the installation of 

seatbelts in motorcoaches. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes 

these seatbelts could reduce the risk of fatalities in rollover crashes by 77 percent. Safety 

improvements like these will help prevent all 

too common transportation disasters, like the 

motorcoach crash in 2007 which killed 7 members of the Bluffton University baseball team in 

Ohio. 

This is just a single example of the critical 

regulations that H.R. 4078 would halt indiscriminately. I urge the House to reject this bill. 

f 

RECOGNIZING MARION COUNTY 

HIGH SCHOOLS 

HON. DANIEL WEBSTER OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, July 26, 2012 

Mr. WEBSTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased 

to congratulate Marion County Public Schools 

on having some of America’s best high 

schools. In their inaugural High School Challenge, a ranking of the nation’s 19,000 best 

high schools, the Washington Post named four 

Marion County high schools—Belleview High 

School, Vanguard High School, North Marion 

High School, and Lake Weir High School— 

among America’s top ten percent of high 

schools. 

In rating high schools, the High School 

Challenge considers the ratio of college-level 

tests administered to graduating seniors at a 

particular high school. The survey looks at the 

total number of Advanced Placement (AP), 

International Baccalaureate (IB), and Advanced International Certificate of Education 

(AICE) exams given at a school in a single 

academic year. This rating is intended to indicate the level of a high school’s commitment 

to preparing their students for college, noting 

that students who face AP, IB, and AICE 

exams are better prepared for the rigors of 

college reading lists and examinations. 

This is not the first time that Marion County 

Public Schools have been recognized for their 

quality high schools. The U.S. News and 

World Report rankings of high schools has 

ranked nationally two Marion County high 

schools—Vanguard High School and Lake 

Weir High School—and recognized nationally 

three others: Belleview High School, Marion 

Technical Institute, and West Port High 

School. 

Marion County’s dedication to quality high 

school education is evident from these recognitions. I applaud their commitment to their 

students and their community. May their example inspire many to follow in their footsteps. 

f 

HONORING ALEXANDER TEVES, 

HERO AND VICTIM OF THE AURORA, COLORADO SHOOTINGS ON 

JULY 29, 2012 

HON. RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA OF ARIZONA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, July 26, 2012 

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 

honor the life and memory of Alex Teves, who 

was killed in the terrible shooting in Aurora, 

Colorado, not long ago. He died saving his 

girlfriend’s life, pushing her out of the way and 

covering her with his body as bullets flew 

around the theater. He was only 24 years old. 

At his young age, he was already the kind 

of person many of us hope to be. Friends, 

family and everyone who knew him describe 

him as an extraordinarily warm, generous and 

sincere man. Beyond the goodness he 

showed his close friends, he was enthusiastic 

to meet and get to know everyone, whether 

they were older, younger, shared his interests 

or had never spoken with him before. People 

felt his optimism, his honesty and his genuine 

kindness as soon as they met him. He made 

the most of his natural gifts and abilities and 

made time to help others. He was more than 

a good example—he was a rare and very 

good human being. 

Every day in high school he wore a white tshirt and blue jeans, and was so well-known 

and well-liked that the entire student body held 

a ‘‘Teves Day’’ each year for everyone else to 

wear the same. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 2010 and earned his Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver just this June. He was preparing to dedicate his life to helping those who 

could benefit from his warmth, his compassion 

and his wisdom. To anyone tempted to become cynical about our country, our future or 

our way of life, I say Alex Teves proves them 

wrong. 

Our nation loses someone special to gun violence far too often. In Alex, we lost someone 

who was not afraid to befriend strangers, not 

afraid to push himself in the service of others 

who needed help, and not afraid to give his 

life for someone he loved. He lived a quiet, 

everyday kind of heroism that never gets the 

recognition it deserves and never seeks it. I 

humbly offer my voice to the many, many others who are grieving for his death today, and 

offer them as much comfort and support as I 

can. He was a truly extraordinary person, and 

those who knew him best will miss him for a 

very long time. I believe his name will live on 

as a good, even a great, example for others. 

He felt a natural instinct to love, help and be 

good to the people around him, and he 

passed it on simply by being himself. He deserves a greater tribute than I can pay him 

today. 

f 

TOM BROWN 

HON. SAM GRAVES OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, July 26, 2012 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, it is 

with great pleasure that I rise today to recognize the outstanding service of Mr. Tom Brown 

of Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Brown has been 

awarded the Phoenix Community Achievement 

Leader Award. His years of service to his 

community make Mr. Brown well qualified and 

deserving of this honor. 

Tom is currently serving as my Chief of 

Staff, and to see him receive this award for his 

dedicated service to the community gives me 

extreme pride. One of Tom’s strongest contributions to the area is his work for St. Luke’s 

Hospital, where he is currently a board member. He also serves on the board for St. 

Luke’s Northland Hospital, St. Luke’s College 

and The American Hospital Association’s 

Committee on Governance. He has previously 

served on the Tri-County Mental Health Services Board and as Clay County Commissioner 

from 2000–2004. 

Tom has been active in many other civic, 

social, and political groups in Kansas City. He 

has served as Chairman of the Missouri Lottery Commission and of Safe Haven, Inc., and 

was a former member of the Missouri Port Authority Commission. Furthermore, Mr. Brown 

was the secretary of the Clay County Economic Development Corporation and Vice 

President of Clay/Platte Development Corporation. Mr. Brown’s commitment to his community has affected more lives than he may 

ever know. 

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in applauding Mr. Tom Brown for his continued 

commitment to bettering his community. I 

know Mr. Brown’s colleagues, family and 

friends join with me in thanking him for his 

commitment to others and wishing him happiness and good health in his future endeavors. 

f 

NORTHERN NEVADA’S OLYMPIAN 

HON. MARK E. AMODEI OF NEVADA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, July 26, 2012 

Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 

congratulate Jacob ‘‘Jake’’ Dalton of Reno, 

Nevada as he represents his country in the 

2012 Olympic Games in London as a member 

of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team. 

Jake, a 2009 graduate of Spanish Springs 

High School and scholarship recipient at the 

University of Oklahoma, has the reputation of 

a fierce and proven competitor. Only 20 years 

old, Jake is already a champion, winning two 

NCAA titles in 2011 and the all-around gold in 

the Winter Cup Challenge in 2011. 

To earn his place on the team, Dalton excelled in the U.S. Olympic trials in San Jose, 

California, winning both the vault and the floor 

exercise. His teammates are Jonathan Horton, 

Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak, John Orozco, and 


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