S10878 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 10, 2008 

and our investments have performed less 

well than we might have hoped. But the biggest problem we have is that in a year and a 

half we have not had a single offer on our 

motor home. Friends tell us we will not be 

able to sell it. We took it to Bretz RV in Missoula, MT, one of the leading sellers of RVs 

including consignment sales. That was last 

August. We have dropped the price below 

what we owe on it and still cannot get any 

offers. The price of diesel is what is causing 

the market for motor homes to dry up. In 

short, our retirement cash flow is in trouble 

due to fuel prices, not to mention our costs 

have skyrocketed. 

We are thoroughly disillusioned by our 

government’s refusal to tell the environmentalists to go pound sand and let our oil 

companies develop the enormous oil and natural gas reserves we have, while competitor 

nations drill for our right off our shores. The 

‘‘pristine parkland’’ in ANWR is a hoax—we 

have seen pictures of the small area where 

drilling rights were sought. We need nuclear 

power plants to be built as quickly as possible, oil refineries as quickly as possible, 

and the development of those resources. 

Yes, alternative energy sources are a good 

thing, and we need eventually to phase out 

the gasoline auto, but this takes time. The 

government is responsible for our predicament, in our opinion, and needs to start putting the needs of America ahead of politics. 

TIM and PEGGY, Emmett. 

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to 

share our story with you. We are most definitely feeling the effects of the ever-increasing costs of fuel. We are a family of six. We 

own three cars and have four drivers. Our 

college-age daughter chose a summer job 

that was close to home just so she can save 

on gas money. We have been discussing how 

we will make ends meet with the rising fuel 

costs. We have decided to pull our youngest 

children (ages 11 and 13) out of piano lessons. 

They were in their 3rd and 5th year respectively. Our daughter, Katie, may have to 

give up flute lessons. Katie has been volunteering at St. Luke’s Hospital for the past 

two years. She was hoping to volunteer there 

through her senior year of high school, but it 

may soon cost too much to get her there and 

back. Our son is volunteering at the Garden 

City Library. He is enjoying it, but we are 

uncertain how long he will be able to participate once again because the amount it costs 

us to get him there. We are a family that believes in volunteering and giving of our time 

and resources—but there is only so much we 

can do. We have recently switched to a doctor in Eagle just so we would not have to 

travel into downtown Boise. We evaluate 

every time we plan to go somewhere—can we 

really afford the gas? We have even denied 

our kids the opportunity to go to mid-week 

youth group at church because it is in 

Southeast Boise—too far to drive. We feel 

badly for the other families/organizations 

our decisions will affect—two moms who give 

piano/flute lessons from their homes, the volunteer office at St. Luke’s, the library, etc. 

We do not have the luxury of buying newer 

more fuel-efficient cars; we must do with 

what we have. 

We are extremely frustrated with Congress 

over its inability to do anything constructive to solve the problem, which for the most 

part they are responsible for causing. We 

support drilling for our own oil both offshore 

and in ANWR. We support building more refineries. We also fully support the expansion 

of our nuclear energy facilities, mining of 

coal and oil shale in addition to renewable 

forms of energy such as wind and solar. More 

hearings and investigations on ‘‘Big Oil’’ and 

speculators is a waste of time along with 

taxing ‘‘windfall profits’’. Pleases urge your 

peers to do something constructive to solve 

the problem. 

Thanks again for this opportunity. 

KELLY and KRISTI, Eagle. 

I work at the INL but commute 45 minutes 

both ways to work; my husband also works 

in Idaho Falls. However, we work at different 

times—my work begins at 7:00 and off at 4:30. 

He starts at 10 and off at 6—so we both drive. 

At the present time, we are considering selling our home of 35 years and moving closer 

to Idaho Falls. We are spending over $110 a 

week with the two cars making the trip to 

Idaho Falls five times a week. I have started 

a car pool with a few employees that will 

help some, but the fact is—it hurts. For the 

first time in many years, we are finding ourselves in financial distress. 

We do not want to sell the house, we have 

raised our kids there—we love it. And, we do 

not want to sell it at this time when the 

market is such that we will not get from it 

what it is worth. 

There has to be a better way. I hope you 

can find it. Good luck. 

UNSIGNED. 

We should not lean on foreign oil providers 

to lower their prices when we have enough 

oil under American soil to last for hundreds 

of years. The so-called environmentalists 

have caused this massive problem which has 

the possibility to sink America. 

I like the scene of oil rigs on the horizon, 

it is a beautiful landscape. I do not believe 

the so-called environmentalists care one 

whit about our environment, they are out to 

see America die, and they are well on their 

way to accomplishing their goal. 

A word to the wise. 

CURT, Wilder. 

As a country, we had plenty of time to 

both prepare for and possibly prevent the situation we are in. However, we cannot change 

the past and now we are going to march into 

a new and different world. I wonder whether 

we will be smarter this time. 

Frankly, I see the silver lining in the increased cost of energy. We are going to have 

to incentivize the discovery and use of new, 

sustainable forms of energy. Maybe we’ll 

think long term instead of searching for the 

short term fixes. 

We will get a chance to pay more attention 

to our local communities rather than driving 

away for fun or shipping produce (and 

water!) from the other side of the planet. We 

will get a glimpse of how a large part of the 

rest of the world lives. We’ll start appreciating and caring for what we have rather 

than strive for ever increasing heights of 

consumption. We’ll ride bikes, fix sidewalks, 

meet neighbors and save our energy use for 

when using energy is really necessary. 

Maybe we’ll even revisit one of the most 

taboo of subjects—whether we should curb 

population growth. (Just think—1⁄100th the 

population means 100 times the resources.) 

So, there you have it. The energy ‘‘crisis’’ 

is of our own making. We had our chances, 

but maybe now we’ll pay attention. The 

question is whether the transition to a world 

of scarcity will be peaceful or turbulent. In 

times of stress, those with the most resources are often the least affected, yet they 

often control positions of leadership. By the 

way . . . if you thought an energy shortage 

was a big thing, wait till the water crisis 

hits. It is going to be a lot worse. 

f 

GEORGE, Idaho Falls. 

(At the request of Mr. REID, the following statement was ordered to be 

printed in the RECORD.) 

TRIBUTE TO ALBERT CORCOS 

∑ Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, it 

is a privilege to bring to the attention 

of my colleagues the remarkable 

record of humanitarian work and numerous accomplishments of Albert 

Corcos, one of the truly great humanitarian leaders of our time 

He is now 98 and lives in Concarneau, 

France, with his loving wife Camille. 

He recently completed his memoir 

spanning his incredible career, during 

which he was awarded the Legion of 

Honor in France and a distinguished 

Royal Award from Thailand. 

I first became acquainted with Mr. 

Corcos’s humanitarian activities when 

I was serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugees in the 1970s. In 

fact, Mr. Corcos had begun his extraordinary career a generation earlier, by 

coordinating the international effort in 

1945 to resettle millions of displaced 

persons and refugees uprooted by World 

War II. He was a young man of immense energy and compassion and had 

been persuaded to use those talents to 

work with the new United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration 

to help refugees and displaced persons 

in Europe. He had actually had an even 

earlier role, performing the hazardous 

duty of a young courier for the French 

resistance during the war. 

The good work that best exemplifies 

Mr. Corcos’s compassionate concern for 

the disadvantaged was his indispensible 

role in coming to the aid of the Indochinese refugees. After an already very 

full career with the International Organization for Migration and its predecessors working to resettle the displaced, he blazed a unique trail in developing and implementing the initial 

response to one of the great humanitarian crises of the time—the international response to the exodus of 1.5 

million Indochinese refugees in the 

1970s. 

As Indochinese refugees flowed into 

neighboring countries in Southeast 

Asia, in 1975, it was a monumental 

challenge to find opportunities for 

their resettlement in the United States 

and other Western nations and to provide the logistical support to make it 

possible. It was vital to move the refugees out of the region rapidly, in order 

to keep the doors open in the first asylum countries of the region. The goal 

was to prevent the land borders from 

being closed, which would have forced 

refugees to take to the sea in desperation and cost thousands of lives. 

Mr. Corcos postponed his retirement 

and put together and oversaw the system for processing and transporting 

refugees to the United States and other 

countries for resettlement. The challenges were extraordinary. The refugees were strewn across dozens of 

camps from northern Thailand to Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the 

Philippines. Each refugee had to be 

documented, fingerprinted, photographed, given medical examinations 

and issued transit papers. The refugees 

December 10, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10879 

then had to be booked on flights to resettlement countries, even as air commerce shrank in Southeast Asia after 

1975. The creativity, courage, and perseverance of Mr. Corcos and his team 

in making this process run smoothly 

was amazing and won him well deserved international praise. 

Mr. Corcos came out of retirement 

again in 1979 to deal with a second 

surge of Indochinese refugees. This 

time, the numbers were even more 

enormous, but he was skillfully able to 

replicate the process of earlier years on 

a much larger regional basis. 

Mr. Corcos is a true humanitarian 

and made a vast difference in the lives 

of countless refugees fleeing from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in the 1970s. 

He is a legend among those who created and benefitted from the Indochinese Refugee Program, and his legacy will forever be remembered.

f 

∑ 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS 

TRIBUTE TO COLONEL LISA LEONARD AND LIEUTENANT COLONEL 

RANDY JOHNSON 

∑ Mr. BOND. Madam President, we 

all know it would be impossible to do 

our jobs without the assistance of 

many dedicated professionals staffing 

the legislative liaison offices for all 

branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. 

Today, I pay tribute to COL Lisa 

Leonard and LTC Randy Johnson who 

joined the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Legislative Liaison as the Army 

and Air Liaison Officers and together 

collectively served 12 years and are 

now, unfortunately for us, retiring at 

the same time. 

Colonel Leonard and Lieutenant 

Colonel Johnson have served competently and well at a pivotal time in 

the history of the National Guard. 

Now, more than ever, America relies on 

the National Guard both at home and 

abroad. Since 9/11 more than 200,000 

Guard troops have left their homes, 

their jobs, and their families to participate in the global war on terror. The 

National Guard has provided as much 

as half of the combat force and 40 percent of the total force in Iraq. Guard 

troops are also called upon to respond 

to natural disasters at home like Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Understanding 

these dual missions is a job in itself. 

During Lisa and Randy’s tenure, the 

National Guard has also had to weather 

a controversial base realignment and 

closure, BRAC, round and several other 

major legislative battles concerning 

relative troop strength, equipment levels and the ability of the Guard to participate in major Pentagon decisions. 

Lisa’s and Randy’s contributions to 

the Senate began with their natural 

ability to establish personal relationships with staff while telling the story 

of the National Guard. They earned the 

respect of Members and staff on both 

sides of the aisle with their expertise, 

strong work ethic, and dedication to 

the job. 

These are truly the unsung heroes of 

the legislative process, faithfully providing information, expertise, and 

analysis on behalf of the National 

Guard on myriad national security and 

homeland security issues. 

We wish them both well in their wellearned retirement from Active Duty 

and from this assignment. They will be 

missed.∑ 

f 

TRIBUTE TO THOMAS W. 

RICHARDSON 

∑ Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, 

Mr. Thomas W. Richardson of the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers will soon retire with over 37 years of exceptional 

service to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is member of the Senior Executive Service and is the Director of 

Corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center Coastal Hydraulic Laboratory. His accomplishments and dedication to the Corps of Engineers’ laboratory community and the Army are exceptional and will have a significant 

and long lasting positive impact on 

this Nation. 

Following 3 years of service as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mr. Richardson began his Army 

civilian career in 1974 as a research hydraulic engineer at the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, 

in Vicksburg, MS. Through the 1970s 

and early 1980s he was a principal investigator for research studies on 

dredging systems for beach nourishment for offshore sources and an assistant investigator on a research study to 

develop new systems for bypassing 

sand past tidal inlets. During this time 

he designed and constructed the 

world’s first portable, land-based hydraulic sand bypassing system, which 

was delivered to the Corps of Engineers 

North Central Division as an operational plant. A systematic approach 

became available to address a major 

national concern with both economic 

and strategic aspects; that of bypassing 

sand to preserve beaches and to maintain harbor channels. 

In 1983, Mr. Richardson became chief 

of the coastal structures and evaluation branch, Coastal Engineering Research Center where he supervised 16 

researchers specializing in functional 

design and performance of coastal 

structures, dredging and sand bypassing systems, geomorphic evaluation, 

and empirical design methods for 

coastal projects. From branch chief he 

quickly moved up to division chief in 

1985 and served in that capacity for 14 

years, first as chief of the Engineering 

Development Division and then as the 

Chief of the Coastal Sediments and Engineering Division. He directed numerous comprehensive research and development investigations, and studies of 

coastal processes, sediment transport, 

shoreline change modeling, beach fill 

design methods, prototype systems design and development, and functional 

design of coastal projects. Notably, he 

developed general technical approaches 

and R&D programs that produced the 

extraordinarily successful and patented 

CORE–LOC concrete armor unit and 

the Scanning Hydrographic Operational Airborne LIDAR Survey— 

SHOALS—system. 

Mr. Richardson assumed the duties of 

acting assistant lab director in January 2000. In June of that same year, he 

was elevated to acting director, CHL. 

Mr. Richardson joined the Senior Executive Service in March 2002 upon becoming director of the CHL. 

Under the leadership of Mr. Richardson, the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory directly supported the Army 

transformation, civil works strategic 

plan, global war on terrorism operations, and high priority civil works 

operations. In addition, CHL addressed 

critical levee issues for the Department of Homeland Security by developing a unique system to rapidly repair 

breaches in levees caused by natural 

phenomena or terrorist attack. 

Throughout his career, Tom Richardson has demonstrated a profound commitment to the Army, the Corps of Engineers, and the Nation. He is a consummate professional whose performance in over 37 years of service has personified those traits of competency and 

integrity that our Nation has come to 

expect of its senior civilian leaders. I 

congratulate Mr. Richardson on his 

distinguished service to the U.S. Army 

and the Nation.

f 

∑ 

REMEMBERING RYNE DOUGHERTY 

∑ Mr. LAUTENBERG. Madam President, I wish to pay tribute to Ryne 

Dougherty, a young man from 

Montclair, NJ, whose young life was 

tragically cut short on October 15. He 

suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage while 

playing football, the sport about which 

he was so passionate. Although he was 

only 16 years old, Ryne made a tremendous impact on his teammates, friends, 

and community. He was a caring and 

loving young man who displayed a special kindness and a deep commitment 

to his friends and family. An honor student and linebacker on the Montclair 

High School Junior Varsity football 

team, Ryne also found time to fix computers to benefit underprivileged families. Ryne was admired by all who 

knew him—over 1,000 mourners gathered together to remember him and 

comfort each other. 

Ryne worked toward his goals with 

steadfast determination, eager to succeed. His football coach said that Ryne 

never sought glory or praise; he came 

to the field every day prepared to work 

his hardest out of respect for his teammates and love for the game. Family 

and friends said that Ryne always 

wanted to talk about football. He was 

always ready with the latest NFL statistics and greatly enjoyed playing 

football video games with his friends in 

his spare time. To honor Ryne, the New 

York Giants held a moment of silence 

during their game on October 19, a fitting tribute for a young fan.