September 21, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1611 

to the reason why we were homeless. She 

raised my sister and I as a single mother and 

had to work all the time while my sister baby 

sat me. 

We lived in Colorado for the first five years 

of my life, but I was born in San Antonio, 

Texas. My mother and I, along with my older 

sister moved to San Antonio because it’s 

where the rest of our family was. It wasn’t 

even my mom’s idea to go to Colorado in the 

first place so the first chance we got to come 

back, we took. Growing up in San Antonio 

was quite difficult. As soon as we arrived, my 

mother asked a family member for a place to 

stay. She needed time to find a job for herself 

and an elementary school for me. My sister 

was old enough by this time to get her own 

job and begin living her own life, so that’s exactly what she did. Eventually, the family of 

the family member we were staying with 

began to grow and my mother knew it was 

time to give them their own space back. We 

felt somewhat intrusive, as we did for most of 

the others we stayed with. The people we 

stayed with usually already had their own family, but still had the heart to offer a whole room 

to my mother and I. 

My mother was great with keeping me in 

school, but not so great at staying put in one 

place, or keeping a job. This sounds really 

negative, but the reasons will explain why she 

couldn’t keep a job. My mother found out that 

she was a diabetic when I was in the second 

grade. The next school year, we found out 

that I was also diabetic. She fell ill quite a bit, 

and so did I. We were both new to this disease, so we didn’t quite know how to control 

it like we do now. Most minimum wage jobs 

expect a doctors excuse if a day is missed. 

For my mother, that was difficult. She never 

learned how to drive, so we stuck to public 

transportation, but for a woman who is ill, public transportation is just not safe. I remember 

feeling so helpless knowing that my mother, 

the woman who’d kept me healthy and up to 

date with shots and other records was sick 

and I could do nothing. By the fifth grade, I’d 

been to seven elementary schools, and my 

mother had worked a handful of jobs. The last 

person we stayed with lived in the courts. 

They got evicted because we weren’t on their 

lease. We got someone kicked out of the 

courts. After that event, my mother felt so low 

and so bad about what we’d done. After that, 

she decided that it would be best if we were 

on our own instead of hurting others. 

We moved into the Dwyer Avenue Shelter 

and I feel that was the best decision my mother made. The shelter provided so much information about the services that were available 

to us. They even offered my mom a job as receptionist in the front office of the shelter. 

They helped us get in contact with Transportation Services who provided school busses 

for me to attend which ever school I was last 

attending. Unfortunately, I had just moved up 

to junior high school so I attended yet another 

school, but I still felt more stable than I had 

before. The Shelter case workers helped all of 

the families who lived in the shelter find an 

apartment complex in a really nice part of 

town at an extremely discounted price. After 

the lease was up, my mother had worked 

enough as a receptionist that we could now 

afford our own apartment. 

After two and a half years of successfully 

staying on our feet, my mother fell ill. Her liver 

had become inflamed and she was hospitalized for a month. She lost her job and we lost 

our apartment. For a whole month I lived with 

friends; Friends who I was able to create 

bonds with because we were stable. After that 

month, we had to move back into the shelter. 

My mother was told that she wouldn’t be able 

to work ever again. This news threw my mother into a depression because she knew that 

she could no longer support herself, much 

less her daughter. The shelter, once again, 

helped us move into an apartment complex 

that wanted only a fraction of our total income, 

and helped us with transportation. Luckily, my 

father had begun paying child support a few 

years earlier so we had an income. We lived 

there for two and a half years, until I graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, 

ranked number 7 of my class. 

That summer, I left to attend Texas State 

University. Moving from school to school made 

me slower than the other students because of 

all the different teaching techniques I’d been 

exposed to; some teachers even thought I 

was dyslexic. However, I made it all the way. 

I plan to go so much further, too, because I’m 

tired of being homeless. ‘‘Education is power’’ 

is my motto. Look at me now: ‘‘Only after two 

semesters of college, I’m influencing the decisions of congressmen!’’ 

A TRIBUTE TO PETTY OFFICER 

GREGORY GAYLOR 

HON. DAVE CAMP OF MICHIGAN

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay 

tribute to Petty Officer Gregory Gaylor, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician 

with the United States Navy. Petty Officer 

Gaylor is being honored by the Navy at the 

USO annual gala this November as the 2012 

USO Sailor of the Year. He is being recognized for the steadfast determination and unwavering courage he displayed in saving the 

lives of his fellow soldiers and furthering the 

U.S. mission in Afghanistan. 

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Petty 

Officer Gaylor’s service came when he 

expertly led a three man EOD team during 

combat operations in Afghanistan from December 2011 to June 2012, in which he was 

responsible for locating and dismantling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), among other 

objectives. In April of 2012, Gaylor and his 

team were fired upon by four separate machine gun positions, but with little regard for 

his own safety he managed to clear a nearby 

compound of explosive hazards and help 

transport those wounded from the line of fire. 

Overall, he located and destroyed four IEDs, 

faced six direct fire engagements, and trained 

over 300 Afghan Commandos in Counter-IED 

tactics and basic demolition techniques, which 

aided in the autonomy of Afghan security 

forces. 

The courageous and selfless actions of 

Petty Officer Gaylor are truly commendable 

and indicative of the skill, professionalism and 

fortitude of the men and women of the United 

States Navy. On behalf of the Fourth Congressional District, I congratulate Petty Officer 

Gaylor on achieving the USO Sailor of the 

Year honor and thank him for his remarkable 

service to this great nation. 

RECOGNIZING DR. TRACY VALLIER 

HON. TOM McCLINTOCK OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today 

in recognition of Dr. Tracy Vallier. 

Dr. Vallier’s career as a Professor of Geology at Indiana State University, Whitman College, Lewis-Clark State College, and Iowa 

State University; as well as his experience 

with Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Moss 

Landing Marine Laboratories and the US Geological Survey are all worthy of note. He has 

doubtlessly passed his passion and hardearned knowledge on to innumerable students 

and colleagues. 

Dr. Vallier has spent the last 50 years working to explore, document and teach the geography and geology of the Hells Canyon. The 

canyon, which follows the route of the Snake 

River through Idaho and Oregon, is the deepest gorge in North America: at 7,993 feet 

deep, it dwarfs the Grand Canyon by nearly 

2,000 feet. Hells Canyon is a breathtaking, 

nearly-inaccessible American treasure that has 

been over 300 million years in the making, 

during which numerous geological processes 

ranging from volcanic uprisings, to the slow 

carving of the Snake River to cataclysmic glacial floods have provided a landscape filled 

with some of the most complex and intertwined geology in North America. 

Dr. Vallier has dedicated the last half-century to understanding this geologic masterpiece. His colleagues tell us that he has probably explored more geography of Hells Canyon than any person alive. In his 50 years 

working in the Canyon, Dr. Vallier has led to 

an understanding of not only the geologic history of the Canyon, but also of the regional 

tectonics of the Pacific Northwest. He has 

shared this knowledge of the Canyon’s history, 

native sites, flora and fauna, and ecology to 

colleagues, students, and almost everyone he 

has met. Dr. Vallier is a born teacher and his 

love and knowledge of the Canyon is passed 

on to students and strangers alike. 

John Wesley Powell, who is best known for 

his pioneering study of the Grand Canyon, 

said about his explorations: ‘‘We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river 

to explore. What falls there are, we know not; 

what rocks beset the channel, we know not; 

what walls ride over the river, we know not. 

Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.’’ 

Without Powell, indeed we would have been 

left for a long time with only conjecture as our 

guide to the Grand Canyon. 

In the same way Mr. Speaker, without Dr. 

Tracy Vallier, we would remain in the dark 

about the wonders of Hells Canyon. As Dr. 

Vallier continues his work in the Canyon 

today, it is my privilege to rise in recognition 

of his many achievements and contributions to 

our nation. 

f 

COLORADO BIOBUSINESS 

ACCELERATOR 

HON. ED PERLMUTTER OF COLORADO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise 

today to recognize and applaud the grand 


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E1612 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks September 21, 2012 

opening of the Biobusiness Accelerator, the 

newest addition to the Fitzsimons Life Science 

District and the Anschutz Medical Campus of 

Aurora. 

The 184-acre Fitzsimons Life Science District is adjacent to the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. This proximity encourages commercial bioscience companies 

and academia to collaborate and share amenities. The current business Incubator opened 

in 2000, and already its 50+ bioscience startups have created in excess of 600 jobs. 

When these start-ups have demonstrated viability as a commercial entity and received 

funding to enhance their growth, they graduate 

to the Accelerator environment for continued 

growth. The work happening in these incubators and accelerators shows the innovation, 

risks and cooperation involved in building successful small, medium and large businesses. 

The new Accelerator will be a valuable economic engine for Colorado’s bioscience industry, and I’m excited to see the creativity and 

innovative products developed right here in 

Colorado. 

These are the kinds of businesses we need 

to encourage and to grow here in our state 

and country. 

I extend my deepest congratulations and 

best wishes to the Colorado BioBusiness Accelerator, the Colorado Biosciences Association and all the startups and businesses involved in the opening of this new center. 

f 

OVARIAN CANCER 

HON. MARTHA ROBY OF ALABAMA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 

support of House Resolution 773—the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act. 

The incredible team at the National Cancer 

Institute has provided extraordinary research 

that has been vital to our ability to combat 

cancer in all its forms. 

Still, research for the deadliest cancers— 

called recalcitrant cancers—remains only a 

small portion of the Institute’s total funding. 

Recalcitrant cancers are defined by those 

that average a less than fifty percent survival 

rate beyond five years. 

It’s these cancers, which hide in hard-to-detect places, that can be the most dangerous 

for victims and most painful for families. 

I know this to be true, Mr. Speaker, because 

my dear friend from childhood, Mrs. Kathryn 

Elliot Williams, lost a grueling battle with ovarian cancer earlier this year at the young age 

of 36. Elliot wasn’t just my friend. She was a 

loving wife, a nurturing mother, a daughter, a 

sister and a true servant of her Lord and her 

neighbor. 

After Elliot passed away I came to this floor 

to memorialize her life. But I cannot think of a 

better way to honor her memory than for the 

Congress to do its part to ensure that more 

women faced with this terrible disease have 

hope for the future. 

September, Ovarian Cancer Awareness 

Month, is the most appropriate time to remind 

women young and old of the risks and ensure 

that research for ovarian cancer and other recalcitrant cancers will remain a priority for this 

country. 

HONORING THE DAKOTA JAZZ 

CLUB 

HON. KEITH ELLISON 

OF MINNESOTA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 

honor of the Dakota Jazz Club for its contribution to the music industry and musical development of the great state of Minnesota. 

The Dakota Jazz Club opened in 1985 at 

Bandana Square in St. Paul as a bar and restaurant for local jazz performers. Since then it 

has grown to a well-recognized institution featuring performances by a range of national artists. In 2003, the Club moved to its current 

home in Nicollet Mall in Downtown Minneapolis. Its stage has hosted a multitude of 

nationally famous jazz musicians, including: 

Ray Brown, McCoy Tyner, Toots Thielemans, 

Joey DeFrancesco, Ahmad Jamal, Chucho 

Valde ́s, Benny Green, Joe Williams, Bobby 

Hutcherson, Roy Haynes, Arturo Sandoval, 

Wallace Roney, Charles Lloyd, Roy Hargrove, 

Nicholas Payton, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, 

Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Sonny Fortune, 

Frank Morgan, Zakir Hussain, Kurt Elling, 

Joshua Redman, James Carter, Madeleine 

Peyroux, Regina Carter, Patricia Barber, Von 

Freeman, Billy Higgins and Charles Brown. 

The Dakota Jazz Club also operates the 

Dakota Live Record Label, a label dedicated 

to capturing and distributing world class jazz 

from their legendary stage in Minnesota. 

Some of the noted artists that have recorded 

for the label are legendary jazz musicians Von 

Freeman, Nachito Herrera, and Barvara Morrison. 

The Dakota Jazz Club’s passion for jazz extends beyond hosting musical performances 

and contributing to the history of jazz at large. 

The Dakota Jazz Club has also taken it upon 

itself to ensure the future of jazz in Minnesota 

through their Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education. Started in 1997, the Foundation’s purpose is: ‘‘Introducing young people to jazz and 

helping them understand—and care about— 

what they are hearing. We want to help young 

people use jazz for self-expression and communication, and to experience the sheer 

pleasure that comes from responding to its 

challenges.’’ The Dakota Foundation for Jazz 

Education supports a variety of services including offering scholarships for a year of serious extra-curricular jazz study and performance in partnership with the MacPhail Center 

for Music, helping young musicians develop 

and hone their skills in jazz appreciation, promoting a wide variety of workshops, funding 

the Youth Stage at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival held each June in St. Paul, and recognizing outstanding educators in honor of Jane 

Matteson, the benefactor and cofounder of the 

Foundation. 

I commend the Dakota Jazz Club for all it 

has done for the Twin Cities, and I thank them 

for their dedication and service to music and 

the community. 

HONORING COL. ROBERT 

FORTNAM, USAF (RET.) OF NEW 

HAMPSHIRE 

HON. CHARLES F. BASS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

Mr. BASS of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, 

I rise today to honor retired Air Force Colonel 

Robert Fortnam of Pembroke, a New Hampshire hero whose service and sacrifice during 

World War II is to be commended and remembered. Mr. Fortnam is celebrating his 90th 

birthday this year, and in his 90 years, he has 

seen and experienced more than most Americans ever will in their lifetimes. 

Mr. Fortnam served as a B–17 co-pilot in 

the 305th Bombardment Group during World 

War II. On October 8, 1943, his life changed 

dramatically after his plane was shot down by 

a German F–190 fighter over the German border. Mr. Fortnam landed the plane safely and 

protected the lives of the 10 crew members on 

board, but their luck would change when German guards picked them up and sent them off 

to a POW camp in Poland, where Mr. Fortnam 

spent the next 19 months of his life. 

After the war, Mr. Fortnam returned to the 

Granite State, where he graduated from the 

University of New Hampshire, became a mechanical engineer, and continued to serve in 

the Reserves as a colonel until his retirement. 

Mr. Fortnam still likes to fly once a week in a 

Cessna Skyhawk and travel all over New England. 

Mr. Speaker, stories like Mr. Fortnam’s reaffirm my commitment to those who have 

served and continue to serve our nation. We 

all owe Mr. Fortnam and the brave men and 

women of our armed forces a debt of gratitude 

that we can never truly repay, but we will continue fighting for them as they have fought for 

us. 

New Hampshire citizens have long answered the call to service to our nation, and 

Mr. Fortnam represents the best of our state. 

It is an honor to represent him in the United 

States Congress, and I wish him all the best 

as he continues to share his incredible story of 

service and sacrifice with us all. 

f 

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE 

OF TAIWAN 

HON. BILL CASSIDY OF LOUISIANA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 21, 2012 

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

recognize October 10 as a very special day 

for the people of Taiwan. It is their National 

Day. I join them in celebrating their continued 

political freedom and democracy. Today the 

people of Taiwan determine their own destiny 

and government through free and fair elections. Mr. Ma Ying-jeou won re-election as the 

fifth freely elected president on January 14, 

2012. 

The United States and Taiwan value human 

rights, civil liberties, a free press and the rule 

of law. Our shared values have produced a 

strong and dependable friendship for the past 

century. Taiwan was one of the first countries 

to come to our aid after Hurricane Katrina ravaged my home state of Louisiana. They have 


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