January 7, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S165 

Also many years ago we had glass bottles 

and people employed in glass factories making them. We could save a lot of petrol by 

getting away from so much plastic. Glass is 

far easier to recycle than plastic and it is reusable. 

It is time [Congress got past partisanship 

and figured out how to solve these problems]. 

They should be paying us by now not the 

other way around. Let us put an end to the 

financial handout to them and start using 

those funds to build our own country. 

LUCIAN. 

Thank you for your recent communication 

regarding your vote on the climate change 

bill. I must say that I disagree with your decision, despite being spared an increase in 

gasoline costs. With 5 kilowatt-h/ sq meter of 

solar income, in addition to our hydroelectric power and category 4–5 wind, Idaho 

should be a net green energy exporter. Just 

because the oil companies, in times of record 

profits, decide to squeeze the consumer, does 

not mean we can make the short-sighted 

choice to think only with our wallets. We 

need an energy policy that provides true security—a diversified portfolio of energy 

sources—not continued investment in a delivery system that is outmoded, wasteful, 

and polluting. I am stretched in this economy, but I would gladly put out the extra 

money for the long term solution of improved air quality (have you seen the brown 

air over the Treasure Valley recently), cutting off money supply to unstable Mideast 

regimes, and a chance for my son to have a 

functional environment in which to live. 

Please stop making short-term political decisions when you have the opportunity to 

show true leadership and thoughtfully consider how to achieve a sustainable future for 

our country. It is not too hard for us, for 

heaven’s sake, we are Americans! 

LISA, Boise. 

The cost for fuel oil has gone from $.60 per 

gal. to over $4 per gallon, raising my monthly heating costs in the winter from $85 to 

$353 per month. I also drive around 40,000 

miles per year for my job and while costs 

have skyrocketed, the business deduction 

has not, which is, in fact, a tax increase to 

go with the punishing costs. To add to these 

problems, my wife’s mother, who lives in Dillon, Montana, has cancer, and lives at her 

trailer home for now. She is on Medicaid, has 

limited options for care and depends on us 

for many things. It is a six-hour drive. We 

get reasonable good mileage but that country, with the unpredictable weather, has a 

negative impact on our 26 miles per gallon. 

The cost of the trip has gone from $100 to 

$400 in just the last year and 1⁄2. My wife 

stayed home and raised our children while I 

provided for them so she has no Social Security. I am self-employed, so there is no retirement waiting except for what I can provide and I have used that to pay my taxes 

till it ran out. My wife was injured very 

badly 21⁄2 years ago without insurance and I 

must pay the county back over the next 15 

years. I realize that these things are adversity and I can, with hard work and the blessings of God, overcome them and still succeed. The biggest obstacle in my way is the 

very government that has sworn to uphold 

and defend the constitution that was inspired to protect me. Those who are bent on 

a socialistic society are destroying my hope 

for a future and the hope of my children. 

f 

RICHARD, Caldwell. 

TRIBUTE TO ST. MICHAEL’S 

COLLEGE STUDENT VOLUNTEERS 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I wish to 

draw the attention of the Senate to a 

group of selfless volunteers at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT, who 

sacrificed time with their families and 

friends this past holiday season to ensure that Vermonters in need of emergency services had someone to call 

upon even on the Christmas holiday. 

St. Michael’s Fire and Rescue was 

founded in 1969 and has been staffed 

and operated by student volunteers 

ever since. Donald Sutton, affectionately known as ‘‘Pappy’’ around the 

firehouse, helped start the organization 

as dean and director of campus security following the untimely death of a 

student athlete on campus. Nearly 40 

years later, the organization serves as 

the primarily ambulance and fire service for a large portion of the State’s 

most populous region, Chittenden 

County. 

The student volunteers who make 

this organization run find time outside 

of their rigorous course work to not 

only be on call but also to complete 

hundreds of hours of Emergency Medical Technician training and Firefighter training. While their classmates may be battling another school 

on the ice, on the field, or on the 

court—St. Michael’s Fire and Rescue 

members are risking their lives in reallife emergency situations, aiding the 

sick, and putting out fires. Even during 

the holidays, when schools shut down 

and students usually go home to visit 

with family, these students stand 

watch for their community. 

While I was at my family farm in 

Middlesex this holiday season, I came 

across a Christmas Day Burlington 

Free Press article highlighting the sacrifice of these students. I ask unanimous consent that the text of that article be printed in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

[From the Burlington Free Press, Dec. 25, 

2008] 

NO BREAK FOR STUDENTS ON RESCUE SQUAD

(by Joel Banner Baird) 

COLCHESTER.—Their classmates might delight in holiday downtime: late nights, late 

mornings, heavy meals and torpor. 

On the night before Christmas, a studentstaffed rescue squad at St. Michael’s College 

remains on-call and alert—by choice. Time 

off will come to squad Capt. Kristen Dalton, 

21, later this week, after a 90-hour week at 

the College Parkway station. 

Her fellow St. Mike’s seniors, Mark Petersen and Peter Cronin, both 21, opted for holiday duty, too. 

This is more than a club. The squad’s 20 

members are first-responders who you see 

tending to car-wreck victims and heart-attack patients. They respond to more than 

2,700 calls every year from Chittenden County residents, most of them in Colchester, 

Winooski and Hinesburg. Dalton looked 

cheerful on a slow Wednesday morning. 

The biology major and pre-med student 

said she typically logs 40 to 50 hours per 

week at St. Michael’s Fire and Rescue. 

Each volunteer, certified as an Emergency 

Medical Technician, puts in at least 24 hours 

per week, including a 12-hour overnight shift 

at the station. 

‘‘We hold ourselves to a 3-minute response 

time,’’ Dalton said. ‘‘I throw a jumpsuit over 

my pajamas, I’m in my boots, and I’m out 

the door.’’ 

Like his captain, Petersen joined the squad 

as a freshman. He said the commitment 

taught him how to juggle academic commitments. 

‘‘It really, really forces you into time management,’’ he said. 

Another learning curve brought him up to 

speed as a member of a larger, adult community. 

‘‘What we do here is a lot of consequencebased decision-making,’’ he said. ‘‘You see 

the results of your actions right away. It 

makes you step back and say, ‘Hey—I’m not 

a kid anymore.’’’ 

Interrupting him, a call came through dispatch: An infant in Plattsburgh, N.Y., needed to be transported to Fletcher Allen. 

Petersen and Cronin did a final inspection 

of the neo-natal intensive care truck—one of 

the station’s three ambulances—and headed 

out to pick up a specialist at the hospital en 

route to New York. 

Christmas Eve’s activities would be anybody’s guess. Wrapped packages lay beneath 

a decorated tree in the ready room. Cronin’s 

parents said they’d cook breakfast for the 

volunteers on Christmas morning. 

Dalton said the squad would lose almost 

half of its members after graduation. She’s 

already planning a spring recruitment drive. 

‘‘This attracts a lot of different people— 

people who want to do something good with 

their time,’’ she said. 

As if on cue, Kate Soons of Colchester, a 

self-described ‘‘lingering alum,’’ entered 

with an overnight bag. She’d heard about the 

Plattsburgh call and wanted to provide 

backup. 

Soons served with the squad in the 1980s, 

and now is a nurse at Fletcher Allen. She 

also coordinates regional emergency care 

training, and keeps tabs on St. Mike’s graduates who have chosen to stay active in the 

field. 

Begun in 1969, the rescue squad is the busiest volunteer ambulance unit in the state, 

she said. 

‘‘It’s a big family,’’ she said. 

Soons’ husband, Pete Soons, also served 

with rescue volunteers as an undergraduate. 

He directs the college’s department of public 

safety, overseeing campus security, rescue 

and fire squads. 

Unlike the rescue volunteers, St. Michael’s 

25 firefighters have an off-campus affiliation; 

they’re a battalion in the Colchester Center 

Volunteer Fire Company. 

Standing between a hose truck and an engine, company firefighter Gary Zeno discussed hydrant fittings with freshman Andrea Dillner, 19. Still in training, Dillner will 

accompany squads as a rookie until she 

qualifies for hands-on work. 

Nonetheless, she volunteered. 

After a briefing with Zeno, she headed upstairs, past a wall-sized calendar of shift 

schedules and birthdays, to take a nap. 

Dalton, coffee in hand, looked as wideawake as ever on the night before Christmas. 

f 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS 

RETIREMENT OF CHARLENE DAVIS 

∑ Mr. BOND. Mr. President, today I acknowledge and pay tribute to Charlene 

Davis’s dedication and service to the 

people of Missouri as she retires from 

the Jackson County Election Board of 

Election Commissioners after 34 years. 

During her tenure with the board, 

Charlene has helped modernize our 

election technology, improving the reliability and integrity of elections. 


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S166 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 7, 2009 

Charlene had the opportunity to design the program to implement punch 

card voting; to design, implement, and 

monitor the computerized database for 

voter registration; and to implement 

the National Voting Rights Act, making modifications to the database to 

conform. Charlene has been instrumental to making the voting process in 

the State of Missouri a secure one. 

Charlene was also implemental in securing the new electronic voting system required by Help America Vote 

Act. As a sponsor of the Help America 

Vote Act, I express my gratitude to 

Charlene in executing this program. 

She has been an active member of 

The International Association of 

Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials & 

Treasurers since 1981, serving as State 

director from Missouri for 10 years, 

treasurer of IACREOT and special assistant to the president in 2004. 

Charlene received her formal education from the University of Missouri, 

in Columbia, MO, where she majored in 

math and physics. 

She and her husband Wade are the 

parents of three married children, and 

they have eight grandchildren. 

Charlene, congratulations on your 

well-deserved retirement and best 

wishes for your future endeavors.

f 

∑ 

TRIBUTE TO DICK HOXWORTH 

∑ Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I would 

like to take a moment today to recognize the career of journalist Dick 

Hoxworth who, after serving the residents of central Pennsylvania for 40 

years, retired from his post as anchor 

on WGAL-TV on Christmas Eve. 

The longest serving anchor in the 

Harrisburg media market, Dick covered some of the most newsworthy 

events in the region’s history. Most notably, he covered the Agnes flood in 

1972 and was one of the first reporters 

on the scene at the Three Mile Island 

nuclear accident. During the Vietnam 

war he reported on the return of the 

first American prisoners of war, as well 

as the arrival of the first Vietnamese 

refugees to the United States. In the 

political arena, Dick Hoxworth covered 

stories at both the Pennsylvania State 

Capitol and the White House. 

Dick was a highly decorated newsman. Over the course of his distinguished career, he received awards 

from the Associated Press, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, 

and was nominated for 29 regional 

Emmy Awards, winning 3 times. 

But simply listing Dick Hoxworth’s 

accomplishments and accolades within 

the field of journalism doesn’t tell his 

full story. Dick was an old-fashioned 

‘‘news man,’’ getting his start before 

blogs, the Internet, 24-hour cable news, 

and live satellite feeds. However, as 

time went on, he did one of the most 

difficult things to do in a profession he 

transcended the changes that were taking place in his field. Dick continued 

broadcasting, writing, and reporting 

even as the faces and technology 

around him changed with the times. 

Rather than be deterred by these 

changes, he embraced them and continued to thrive. 

Edward R. Murrow once said, ‘‘the 

newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in 

the relations between human beings, 

and in the end the communicator will 

be confronted with the old problem, of 

what to say and how to say it.’’ 

For 40 years, Dick Hoxworth knew 

what to say and how to say it And, in 

doing so, he has made Pennsylvania 

proud. Today I would like to recognize 

and pay tribute to that service and his 

long and successful career. 

f 

∑ 

TRIBUTE TO JAMES A. TEGNELIA 

∑ Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, today I 

wish to honor the accomplishments 

and leadership of Dr. James Tegnelia 

for his service to the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency—DTRA—and the 

Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. DTRA is a 2,000-member 

combat support agency which is 

charged by the Department of Defense 

to safeguard the United States and its 

allies from weapons of mass destruction. 

I have had the pleasure of working 

closely with Jim and DTRA in their 

role as the primary implementers of 

the Nunn-Lugar program. I am thankful to have had such a strong ally in 

the fight against nuclear proliferation. 

The agency is an integral actor in the 

fight to reduce WMD proliferation 

worldwide and has proven to be an extraordinary source of leadership in reducing the threats posed by weapons of 

mass destruction. 

Dr. James Tegnelia, of Albuquerque, 

NM, has served as the Director of the 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

since February 2005, and will leave that 

post in February 2009, after 4 years of 

dedicated service. Dr. Tegnelia’s accomplishments are as wide in scope as 

they are large in number, and for this 

we honor him today on the floor of the 

U.S. Senate. 

Dr. Tegnelia was instrumental in institutionalizing and integrating the 

mission of combating weapons proliferation across the Department of Defense and in guiding agency support to 

the global war on terrorism. The integration of Department of Defense missions in both fighting terror and WMD 

proliferation has allowed both agencies 

to share valuable resources and seek 

common purpose in our efforts on both 

important fronts. 

Jim has been a tireless champion of 

international efforts to curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and his 

understanding of the threat of weapons 

of mass destruction to our nation and 

U.S. interests abroad is unparalleled. 

This expertise and dedication manifested itself in a leadership role for the 

agency in the establishment of regional 

and global nonproliferation partnerships. Working closely with the Department of State, Dr. Tegnelia has 

been a vocal advocate of the President’s Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, a program designed to 

prevent terrorists and dangerous regimes from threatening the United 

States and its allies with the world’s 

most deadly weapons. 

I have had the opportunity to travel 

extensively with Dr. Tegnelia and the 

experts at DTRA to Nunn-Lugar dismantlement sites all over the world. I 

remember fondly a trip we took just 2 

years ago. He joined Sam Nunn and I in 

celebrating the 15th anniversary of the 

program on a trip to Russia, Ukraine, 

and Albania. We enjoyed good conversation on the program’s significant 

contributions to international security 

and Nunn-Lugar’s future prospects in 

countries outside the former Soviet 

Union. Jim has been an immensely successful leader and colleague in the 

fight to keep the United States safe 

and secure against the threats of weapons of mass destruction. We are indebted for his service and honor his 

commitment to this country. 

I ask my colleagues to join me in 

wishing him good luck in his future endeavors and thanks for a job well 

done.∑ 

f 

HONORING MAINE ENERGY 

SYSTEMS 

∑ Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, while 

many hold an idyllic notion of Maine 

in the winter as a haven for skiers and 

snow enthusiasts, Mainers know that 

the cold winter months bring with 

them many dangers, particularly when 

it comes to heating homes. That is why 

I wish to recognize Maine Energy Systems of Bethel, a small business that is 

using technology and innovative thinking to help solve our Nation’s energy 

crisis and keep Mainers warm during 

the State’s lengthy winter. 

Maine Energy Systems is the product 

of three men: Les Otten, Dr. Harry 

‘‘Dutch’’ Dressler, and William 

Strauss. They came together in 2007 to 

brainstorm a way to reduce energy 

costs for Mainers and for the Nation. 

When the trio formed Maine Energy 

Systems they agreed that any solution 

had to: Reduce dependency on foreign 

oil; be environmentally sensitive; be 

renewable; and be affordable. With 

these goals in mind, they spent 14 

months researching every aspect of energy delivery and production. These efforts eventually bore fruit when they 

partnered with German manufacturer 

Bosch to create a wood pellet fueled 

boiler system suitable for sale in 

America. 

Bosch created a boiler fueled by highgrade wood pellets that are pumped 

through an automatic feeder into the 

boiler itself. The wood pellets are made 

directly from trees or from the byproducts of other wood manufacturing processes before undergoing a unique and 

exciting process. The wood is first 

dried, pulverized and forced under high 

pressure through the holes in a die, a 

specialized manufacturing tool. The 


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