Michael Burgess

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a community within my district for being acknowledged as one of the ``Top Ten Best Places to Live in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex'' by D Magazine, a regional monthly publication. This top honor went to the town of Hickory Creek for its excellent schools, affordable housing, low crime rates, and its small town ambience. Every 2 years, the magazine ranks some fifty plus suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, the State of Texas' largest metropolitan area. The town of Hickory Creek received the number nine spot on the list and is also recognized as a place for ``quiet, hassle-free, safe living.'' Also worth mentioning, the town of Hickory Creek was acknowledged as having the ``best value for quality of life.'' For this, it received the honor of the first spot on list of ``Best Deals'' in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as rated by D Magazine. With a population of 2,400 and an annual growth rate of 1.5 percent, the town of Hickory Creek is the smallest suburb to make the Top Ten. In 1996, the town's annual sales tax revenue was $30,000. Today, that number is closer to $1 million. Mr. Speaker, I applaud Mayor John Smith and the City Council of Hickory Creek for building the town of Hickory Creek into a distinguished community. I am proud to represent such a vibrant place to live.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. I thank the Speaker for that consideration. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to come to the floor tonight to speak just a little bit about a situation that we have had to address here in Congress, and we likely will have to think about it some more over the coming year or years, and that is the issue of avian influenza. The important thing to remember when we talk about bird flu, or avian influenza, is, there are different types of flu. We are all familiar with the common type of influenza, the one that we all get a flu shot for or should get a flu shot for every year. And the reason we have to be vaccinated every year is because there are modest changes that occur in the genetic makeup of this virus year in and year out, a so-called genetic drift. Avian flu refers to a virus that is currently present only in birds, but has on occasion made the transition to a human host with rather significant effects. This reflects a bigger genetic change than can occur in the flu virus from time to time, a so-called genetic shift. This could become a major health threat to humans. As of June 20, 2006, the World Health Organization has confirmed 228 human cases with 130 deaths. It doesn't take much to do the math to see that that is a mortality rate in excess of 50 percent for this virus. Now, the trouble signs that are already present. We do have the virus present in birds; there is a wide geographic setting with involvement of other animals, including cats and tigers. Bird-to-human transmission has occurred, but it has occurred only with inefficiency; and there has been on occasion, through close household contact, inefficient human- to-human transmission. Steps one through four have occurred since 1997, and I must stress, they have occurred in the Eastern Hemisphere of the world. There have been no reported cases in birds or humans in the Western Hemisphere. The last step in this process, the efficient human-to-human transmission of this virus, has not occurred. If that step does occur, and it is certainly not certain that it will, but if that step does occur, that would trigger the onset of the possibility of pandemic flu. One of the big problems that we have with this virus, as humans, is that we have no underlying immunity to this virus, so that if the virus is introduced to the community where it can spread easily from person to person, it could progress very rapidly through the population. Now, pandemics are not new phenomena; they occur and have occurred over the centuries. They happen about every 35 years, approximately three per century. And, indeed, in the 20th century there were three such epidemics. In 1918, the so-called Spanish flu killed 50 million people worldwide. In 1957, the Asiatic flu killed 170,000 people in the United States. And, in 1968, the Hong Kong flu killed 35,000 people in the United States. What would happen if a pandemic flu were to reemerge? The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that for a moderate outbreak like the Asian flu pandemic in 1957, we could see over 200,000 deaths in this country. In a worst-case scenario, such as the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, almost 2 million deaths would be estimated to occur in the United States. Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of maps that show some of the progression of this illness across the globe. Looking here at this first map, the eastern part of the world, avian flu cases are depicted in blue, human cases in black. On this map you will see almost 50 countries that have been involved with avian flu in bird populations and a smaller number, 10 countries, have reported human cases which have moved with some difficulty from birds to humans. Looking at a map that shows the progression of this illness in birds, we see that in Hong Kong in 1997 when the disease was first reported, there has been a gradual progression westward since that time. June of 2004, the disease had progressed to Vietnam. June of 2005, the disease was reported in Iraq. In 2006, Turkey. In March of 2006, it had made an appearance in Egypt, and the progression is westward. This inset map on the bottom, the orange lines, and it is difficult to see, but that outlines the places where bird populations, domestic bird populations, poultry populations and human populations tend to overlap. You can see in the areas in China and Vietnam and Southeast Asia where that appears to have been a significant issue, and you can see some areas of the United States that would be at risk if bird flu actually spread to this country. To date, the disease has been endemic in birds and over 200 million birds have been culled in the last 3 years. This is significant in that there are many parts of the world that rely on poultry as literally a means of currency, and this has been a very difficult thing for some countries to accomplish. But a critical aspect of the prevention of the disease is if we can stop it in birds and never have to worry about it in humans, it is going to be much, much better for us as a people. Let me take these out of the way for a moment and demonstrate one of the issues that is so striking about this illness because it does occur in wild birds. This is a map that shows the migratory flyways across the world. It is thought that this virus is spread by migratory birds to poultry populations. The countries with outbreaks in general have a high concentration of poultry. There is some concern because there are two of these flyways, as you can see, the East Atlanta Flyway which goes from the African continent up into the polar regions of Canada, and then the East Asia Flyway which comes up through Australia and comes into Canada and Alaska. Now, it is unknown whether the virus will make a transition to the Western Hemisphere by these routes, but the routes suggest there could be some risk. And for that reason, there has been increased testing across the United States starting in Alaska with nearly 100,000 samples taken from live and dead wild birds, and 50,000 samples from water from high-risk waterfowl habitats to be tested in 2006 alone. The World Health Organization has identified six levels of pandemic alert, and we are currently at level 3 with limited human-to-human transmission. As of June 20, 2006, the World Health Organization has confirmed 228 human cases, 130 deaths. The disease was first found in Hong Kong in 1997, and 18 human cases were encountered in that outbreak, six of whom died, and there was significant poultry culling from that population. The disease was almost arrested at that point. There is a high incidence of the disease in a few countries. Vietnam has had 40 percent of the human cases, and Indonesia has had 20 percent of the human cases. The problem is in Indonesia, the virus has not been contained compared to Vietnam. And Indonesia has had outbreaks since early 2004, and new outbreak reports occur with some frequency. As of June 20, the 51st case of human infection, which was fatal, was confirmed. Let's look at a map of Indonesia. There has been a steady rise of reported cases and a high correlation between poultry populations and human outbreaks. The little triangles on the map represent human cases. It is misleading because the triangles overlap so there are more case than there are actually triangles because some of these cases do occur in clusters and are very close in a geographic footprint. In some of the larger cities, notice how close some of the triangles occur. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country. In many ways Indonesia is still suffering from the tsunami that hit there the day after Christmas in 2004. In May they had a major earthquake in the central Java region with as many as a million and a half people left homeless, and Indonesia raises about a billion and a quarter chickens per year. That is about 7 percent of the global total. It has 70,000 villages spread across its 17,000 islands. Many of the poultry raised in Indonesia are raised in the backyards of people's houses, and about 80 percent of the country's 55 million households actually have close proximity to poultry. And that makes the presence of the disease in Indonesia a little more troubling. A chart that is fairly busy but I think important to look at depicts some of the cases that have occurred in Indonesia. This is information that has been confirmed by scientists and field researchers from the World Health Organization. This is a recent family cluster that occurred in the Kubu Simbelang village in North Sumatra. Many of the recent news headlines had to do with the fact concerning the avian flu virus may have become efficient in going from human to human, but the outbreak investigation showed that this is indeed, although there is a high number of cases, it is indeed what is known as a contained cluster, meaning no others, no health care workers, no neighboring villagers, were being infected. The initial case, the index case of a 37-year-old woman, was most likely infected by her sick and dying backyard chickens. She kept them indoors at night. No specimen was taken from this patient before she was buried so it cannot be confirmed that she was infected with the H5NI virus. However, seven of her relatives did test positive for the virus. The relatives most likely became ill because of close contact with the initial illness. Six of the seven relatives have died, so currently limited inefficient human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus that causes the avian flu. Another thing that is striking about this, we all think of flu as being an illness that strikes the very young or very old. But look at the age distribution in this family, in this village. Basically young healthy people were the ones that were infected. Now, it is not known whether that is significant or that just was the cluster that unfortunately got infected by that incident of infection, but it is striking that so many people were in the age group where you would think they would be young and healthy with a good immune system that could ward off this virus. In general, 3 to 5, 10 days elapse between the time of symptoms to death with this illness. Now several things separate the situation that is present today from that which existed in this country in 1918, and the first has been the introduction of antivirals and vaccines. Antiviral agents are able to actually attack part of the virus itself and work like an antibiotic and prevent the virus from replicating, and prevent the viral infection from being so severe. Antivirals do have to be administered within the first 24 hours of the onset of symptoms in order to be effective. For that reason, we have to have an adequate stockpile of antiviral medications, and there has to be the distribution network to get the antiviral medications to the areas where they would be required should an outbreak occur. Tamiflu is probably the most famous of the antivirals. Relenza is another one proprietary name for one of the antivirals. Again, if administered during the first 12 to 24 hours, these have the possibility of not stopping the illness, but moderating the course of the disease. Vaccines are historically our major line of defense against viral illnesses. One of the problems we have is we have not had a great deal of secure vaccine manufacturing within our borders for a number of years. We have to have that ability to manufacture the vaccine within the United States. One of the other problems is this virus is constantly evolving. It has not yet evolved from a state where it can go easily from human to human. There has been a vaccine developed to the current H5N1 virus, but if it changes yet again to the efficient human-to-human form, the vaccine may not be as effective. To some degree, you almost need to wait until the pandemic occurs before you can actually develop the vaccine. But the good news is that there has been a vaccine that has been developed that seems safe. It does seem effective against the current strain of bird flu. One of the difficulties occurs, since we have no native immunity to this virus, it does take a lot of this vaccine to render someone immune to the virus. Normally you take a flu shot that is 15 micrograms of material to develop immunity. With this vaccine, it requires two doses of 90 micrograms in order to get someone to develop the appropriate immunity. The other thing that has to happen, vaccine manufacturers that do exist manufacture vaccines by an old method, an egg-based method. If the disease is in chickens and we are having to cull poultry from the population, you don't want to depend upon an egg source for your vaccine, and newer cell-based technologies certainly need to be developed. Surge capacity within the health care system is going to play a key role. We are going to have to be certain that we protect first line responders with whatever vaccine is available. If the virus hits, antivirals have to be available for first line responders. It is going to be important to rotate health care workers so they don't become overwhelmed in dealing with the disease, and we are going to have to offer mental support services, not just for health care workers, but for patients and their relatives who are charged with caring for them. This could be a disease that will take a very heavy emotional toll on the population. In order to minimize the economic impact, we have to implement business continuity plans. This is being done in many communities. Certainly my communities back in Texas have looked into how they will handle some of the other things that local and county and State governments are supposed to do if faced with a pandemic outbreak. Mr. Speaker, I will wrap this up. I do want to mention that I spent a day last week in Geneva with some individuals at the World Health Organization. Dr. Michael Ryan was kind enough to spend some time talking with me on the global perspective. I have been focused primarily on preparedness within this country, and Congress appropriately has been focused on preparedness in this country. But I want to make mention of some of the things being done by the World Health Organization in order to make certain that the virus is either arrested in its initial outbreak or that the disease is mitigated because people have been on top of it. Dr. Ryan works at a place called the Strategic Health Operations Center that is part of the World Health Organization in Geneva. The purpose of that organization is to provide strategic support, in this country to provide that strategic support to the Department of Health and Human Services, but they also have a global response network that is responsive to the World Health Organization as well as the CDC and Health and Human Services Department here in this country. The concept is to control this virus at the source, and that is really what is one of the critical features of this. That is how they were able to gain control in Vietnam and Hong Kong. To some degree, culling of poultry populations is something that we may see more of as time goes by, as well as isolation and quarantine of infected individuals coupled with vaccination and antivirals. Intelligence is of course a key to this whole process. And then verification of that intelligence, assessment of the situation on the ground and then a response to the situation as it occurs. All of these are parameters that the World Health Organization is monitoring through the Strategic Health Operation Center in Geneva. Countries need to know that they just are not able to hide a problem like this and that officials at the World Health Organization consider this a reportable illness with or without the permission of the host government of the country. That, I think, is a terribly important step. We have a lot of work yet to do in Congress as far as national preparedness. A good deal of work has already been done as far as the request for proposal for vaccines that went out earlier this year through Secretary Leavitt and the Department of Health and Human Services. A lot of preparatory work is taking place on the State, local, and county levels. Every one of our committees in Congress has a role to play in preparedness for the possibility of this pandemic. In the final analysis, is a pandemic going to occur? No one knows the answer to that question. It could be an illness of such severity that preparedness is something we are all going to wish we spent more time doing. Or it may have come across as something more like the Y2K phenomenon where nothing much happens. It will be in our best national interest, though, to focus on some of these preparedness aspects to work with some of our partners at the World Health Organization, be certain that we keep this virus under surveillance, be certain that we develop the vaccine capability, the surge capacity within our health care system and the development and stockpiling of antivirals within our country. Mr. Speaker, you have been very indulgent.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Dr. Ben Smith for his thirty-two years of service as the pastor of Lakeland Baptist Church in Lewisville, Texas which is my hometown. I am particularly grateful to the service Dr. Smith has provided not only the church but also to those less fortunate in North Texas. Lakeland has always had a strong emphasis on outreach to the community, and Dr. Smith as sought to strengthen this ministry during his tenure as pastor. He is largely responsible for the congregation's in-depth outreach strategies, such as F.A.I.T.H. Under his leadership Lakeland has grown from less than 200 to over 2,700 members, with 22 full time staff. There have been 14 missions started and of those 7 are now strong churches. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I stand here today to honor Dr. Ben Smith. He is a strong, moral voice in the community; an actively involved citizen; and a role model to us all. I am proud to serve as his representative in Washington.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Little Elm Journal, the McKinney Courier Gazette, and the Frisco Enterprise as they and their staffers took home numerous awards in the Texas Press Association's 2006 Better Newspapers Contest. These Star Community newspapers, which are read throughout my district, were among 194 papers and 1740 total entries in the contest. The Little Elm Journal was named the best paper for news photography in a small weekly as well as receiving the winner's plaque for feature stories written by former staff writer Corina Miller. The Journal also took second place in news writing by community editor Devin Monk, third place in sports coverage, and fourth place in sweepstakes. The McKinney Courier-Gazette took second-place honors in the small daily division for page design and third-place recognition for feature stories. The Frisco Enterprise won a second-place prize for editorials; third place in general excellence; third places in feature story and feature photo; fourth places in sports photo and in headline writing. It was also fourth in the overall sweepstakes contest. I extend my sincere congratulations to these newspapers on their outstanding achievements in journalism. Their hard work, dedication, and success in delivering the news and informing the community deserve the highest recognition and congratulations. Accurate and informative news is a cornerstone of democracy, and the Star Community papers are a credit to the journalism trade.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Curtis Siler of Flower Mound, Texas, who rescued a drowning girl during a day trip to a local water park. Twelve-year-old Curtis Siler and his mother, Tanya Siler, were spending the day at Hurricane Harbor, an Arlington, Texas water-based park. While swimming in the deeper end of the wave pool, Siler noticed a young girl resting on the bottom of the pool. He realized that her eyes had rolled back in her head and she was not moving. Without hesitation, Siler dove to the bottom, grabbed the girl, and brought her to the surface. He then called for the help of a lifeguard. Thanks to the actions of Curtis Siler, lifeguards were able to get the girl to safety and begin first aid, ultimately saving her life. I extend my sincere congratulations to young Curtis Siler for his heroic actions and true concern for the welfare of others. I admire his bravery during such a grave situation. He is truly an inspiration to us all. I am honored to represent Curtis and his family in Washington.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Dr. Andy Anderson for his 8\1/2\-year tenure as the hospital chief executive officer of Gainesville Memorial Hospital. Dr. Anderson was the fourth administrator for Gainesville Memorial Hospital. The most notable of his achievements was his leadership in campaigning for a $26.5 million dollar bond to build the North Texas Medical Center. Under Dr. Anderson's tenure, the quality of patient care increased, opportunities for continuing education improved, and nine tenure doctors were hired. Retiring to pursue another challenge in life, the progress Dr. Anderson catalyzed substantially strengthened the health care quality throughout the 26th District of Texas, and I know his vision improved the lives of thousands. As a doctor myself, I find personal inspiration in Dr. Andy Anderson and the devotion he had to his family, his hospital and his community. He is a role model, and I am proud to serve as his representative in Washington.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the city of Lewisville's Community Relations and Tourism Department for winning two State awards by the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers: The Best Marketing Plan and Best Special Event. Lewisville is my hometown and sits in the heart of the 26th Congressional District. Lewisville's Community Relations and Tourism Department won ``Best Marketing Plan'' for its promotion of the 2005 Bassmaster Elite 50 tournament and county fair. The tournament was a huge success and was broadcast on ESPN. The Bassmaster Elite held on Lewisville Lake gave sports fishermen around the world a glimpse of beautiful North Texas, and I am honored that the city developed an award winning plan in conjunction with the competition. The team also won ``Best Special Event'' for the 2005 Holiday at the Hall Festival. The Festival is always a welcome relief to holiday stress and last year was enjoyed by more than 10,000 people. In 2005, the city held its third annual event in Old Town Lewisville highlighted by the Holiday Parade down Main Street. I extend my sincerest congratulations to the city of Lewisvile and the Community Relations and Tourism Department on their accomplishments. I am honored to represent the city and call it my hometown.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County as it celebrates 100 years of service in the 26th District of Texas. The YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the first YWCA in Texas, has been serving our community since 1907. Since its start, the YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County has grown to encompass over 100 paid employees as well as 200 volunteers. Together, these individuals have sought to eliminate racism and empower women through residential services such as My Own Place, which houses 14 young women who have outgrown foster care, and Supportive Living, which houses about 20 women and is designed to help homeless women become independent and self-reliant. After 100 years of service, the YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County continues to find innovative ways to improve the community. In 2005, the YWCA started two new programs: a class on diversity called ``Dialogue on Race'' and a partnership with a local Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop that employs at-risk youth. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I stand here today to honor the YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County for its commitment to playing an active role in the development, improvement, and success of the community.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the amount of time that remains?

Mr. BURGESS. I thank the Speaker, and the gentleman from New Jersey for allowing me a little time on the floor tonight. I thought it was important to come to the floor and talk about an issue that pops up from time to time on our news shows and the American consciousness, and that is the issue of avian flu, or the bird flu. Mr. Speaker, as far as a little background is concerned, there are several types of influenza. There is the common flu, or seasonal flu, that we all receive inoculation against every year. Because of modest genetic changes that occur in this virus year over year, it is necessary to get a vaccination every year. But sometimes, instead of just that genetic drift that happens within the virus, there is a major change, a genetic shift; and when that happens, the stage is set for a world-wide pandemic. And, indeed, history tells us that that will occur about three times every century. Now, currently, the avian flu is present in birds; and a big genetic change would have to occur for this to become a major health threat to humans. As of June 16 of this year, the World Health Organization has confirmed 227 human cases, with 129 deaths reported. The problem is, Mr. Speaker, if you do the math, that is a mortality rate that is in excess of 50 percent. Now, when you think of a worldwide pandemic, there are various trouble signs you encounter. The World Health Organization has identified five of those. Widespread distribution of the virus in nature, in this case in birds, an endemic carrying of the virus in birds. A wide geographic setting with involvement of other animals, in this case felines, cats and tigers have become infected, presumably from eating infected animals. Bird-to-human transmission occurs with inefficiency and then comes inefficient human-to-human transmission. The last step, efficient human-to-human transmission, has not yet occurred, but that is the step, the previous four have occurred, and that is the step that would signal the onset of a worldwide pandemic. Because the threat is so significant, our Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, has designated the threat anywhere in the world, a threat anywhere in the world is a threat everywhere in the world, and that is why it is incumbent upon us to keep such a close watch on this illness. Steps one through four occurred between right now and 1997. The last step, which has not to date occurred, would trigger a human pandemic. One of our major problems with a worldwide pandemic is we, as humans, have no underlying immunity to this relatively new type of flu virus. Now, as I mentioned earlier, there are approximately three pandemics every century; and, indeed, last century there were exactly three. In 1918, the Spanish flu killed 50 million people worldwide; in 1957, the Asiatic flu killed 170,000; in 1968, the Hong Kong flu killed 35,000 people in the United States. If the pandemic flu were to hit, the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 209,000 deaths in the United States for a moderate flu outbreak, such as occurred during the Asiatic flu outbreak of 1957, and 10 times that many, 1.9 million deaths in the United States for a severe epidemic, such as occurred when the Spanish flu broke out in 1918. Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw your attention to this map that I have here. It is somewhat shocking to look at the eastern part of the world, several continents, in fact, that are totally covered in blue. And as you see from the key here, avian flu cases confirmed in 52 countries, and again widespread distribution across the eastern half of the globe. The countries colored in in black are, in fact, where human cases have occurred; and we see originally China and Vietnam, Southeast Asia but more recently the addition of other countries that are moving more and more westward. There has been a gradual spread westward since 2004. Mr. Speaker, let me demonstrate that further on this second map. Gradual western spread since 2004, and since 2004 the avian flu has gone from China to Cambodia to Thailand to Russia and then to Turkey in 2005. Mr. Speaker, there was an explosion of outbreaks in early 2006 to the Middle East and Eastern Europe; countries such as Iraq, Romania, Italy, Germany, France, Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt, just to name a few. We see these concentric circles indicating the year of the spread. Here we have June, 2004, affecting primarily China and Southeast Asia; December of 2004, June of 2005, January of 2006; and as you can see, the arrow is pointing ever, ever westward. From January to April, 2006, 35 new countries have reported avian flu outbreaks in poultry; and some of these have had their new first reported cases of H5-N1 virus in humans as well. So the total estimate of the World Health Organization for the number of countries affected is just over 50. The disease is indeed endemic in birds. Over 200 million birds have been culled in the last 3 years, both birds that were suspected of having the infection and those culled for preventive measures. One of the keys here, Mr. Speaker, is this virus can be stopped in birds; and, indeed, stopping the virus in birds has to be the first line of defense. The reason this is so important, and let me go to an additional map, if we look at the migratory flyways throughout the world, this disease is spread by migratory birds and infected poultry. Countries with outbreaks, this map shows the concentration of poultry worldwide and the migratory bird flyways. The darker the color here, the greater the concentration of humans and poultry. You see the eastern United States, starting in my State of Texas, east Texas eastward, we have several significant concentrations of poultry juxtaposed to human populations. Countries with outbreaks in general have a high concentration of poultry populations. There are some concerns over two flyways that go from Africa to North America, the so-called East Atlantic flyway, and the one that goes from Asia to Alaska, the East Asia-Australian flyway. Countries in both Africa and Asia have reported outbreaks and are countries that are directly on that flyway. Now it is not for sure the virus will be carried this way, but the fact that the distribution has occurred in migratory birds, and those are the migratory pathways, certainly that is going to bear careful watching. Some of the other unknowns is what is the behavior of the virus in very cold climates. I don't think anyone knows that yet, but, indeed, it is around this time of year that those bird populations are in fact returning to the Arctic areas. So increased testing across the United States, starting with Alaska, and indeed over nearly 100,000 samples have been taken from both live and dead wild birds as well as from high-risk waterfowl habitats. On the World Health Organization scale of pandemic alerts, you go from low risk of human cases to efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission; and there are six stages on that World Health Organization pandemic alert chart. Currently, we are at a level three, no or very limited human-to-human transmission. As of June 6, 2006, there have been 227 cases and 129 deaths. H5-N1, the virus that causes bird flu, has been cited first in 1997 in Hong Kong, with 18 human cases, six died, all poultry were culled. From 2002 to 2003, there was a reemergence of the virus in Asia. There was a high incidence of cases in a few countries. Vietnam accounts for 40 percent of the human cases; and Indonesia, so far, accounts for 20 percent of the human cases. The problem is that, in Indonesia, avian flu has not yet been contained, compared to Vietnam. Indonesia has had outbreaks since early 2004, and new outbreak reports are coming out all the time. Last week or the week before, the 50th case of the human infection, which was fatal, was confirmed. Let's look for just a minute at a map of Indonesia. There has been a steady rise in reported cases and a high correlation between poultry and human outbreaks. On the map, the triangles represent human cases. It is a little misleading, because more cases have occurred and many of the triangles overlap. Since these cases occur in clusters, they are very close together geographically. But look at how close the triangles are and take notice of Singapore and Malaysia and the close geographic location. Indonesia is densely populated. It is the world's fourth most densely populated country. Indonesia is still suffering from the effects of the tsunami that occurred in December of 2004. In May of this year, an earthquake in the central Java region left as many as 1.5 million people homeless. The country of Indonesia raises about 1\1/4\ billion chickens a year, about 7\1/2\ percent of the global total. About 70,000 villages, spread across 17,000 islands, raise poultry. Poultry is raised in the backyards of about 80 percent of the country's 55 million households. Mr. Speaker, I am going to put a chart up here that is a little busy, but it illustrates a very important point for us to keep in mind. This chart shows only a sample of the human cases in Indonesia, some 15 of the now 51 cases. Information confirmed by scientists and field researchers from the World Health Organization is present on this graph. Mr. Speaker, there is a family cluster from the Kubu Simbelang Village in North Sumatra. Many of the recent news headlines had to do with concern that the avian flu virus might have become effective at transmitting from human to human. When you just look at the number of cases involved, you would have to ask yourselves that question. Now, this outbreak has been extensively investigated. The outbreak investigation showed that this cluster is, indeed, what is called a contained cluster, meaning that no other individuals, no other health care workers, no neighboring villagers, were, in fact, becoming infected. In the initial case, a 37-year-old woman was most likely infected by sick and dying chickens that she was keeping in her backyard. Indeed, on the chart there, you see she kept them in indoors with her at night. Because no specimen was taken before she was buried, it can't be confirmed that the illness from which she died was indeed the avian flu, or the H5N1 virus, more specifically. However, seven of her relatives have tested positive for the H5N1 virus. The relatives most likely became ill due to close contact with the initial case, the woman who initially became ill. Six of these seven individuals have since died. So there is currently limited human- to-human transmission of avian flu. If we look at this chart of those, indeed, who are sick or who have died from this illness, spent the night with a sick index patient on April 29, spent the night with the index patient on April 29. Spent the night with the index patient on the 29th. Took personal care of the sick index patient. Took personal care of the patient. Often visited the patient, was there April 29. Took care of a sick son in the hospital on May 9 through 13. Another thing that I would like to point out are the ages of these individuals, and how very young they are. This is not a disease of the old and infirm. This is an illness of the young and robust. The ages span that of an 18-month-old baby to a 43-year-old man. This disease, when it strikes, is extremely virulent. On average, it is about a week, from 5 to 10 days from the onset of symptoms until the disease claims its victim or the victim recovers. The illness itself is characterized by an intensely consolidated process in the lung, basically a pneumonia, a hemorrhagic pneumonia. There may be bleeding into lung tissue, and it is a very striking picture from these patients when they are ill with this disease. Mr. Speaker, my main purpose in being here tonight is not to discuss how frightening the disease is, because, indeed, it is frightening, but to talk about what weakened it, what we can do as a country, what we can do as a partner in the world, what we can do as a Congress to place in motion those things that are going to be responsible for preparedness, particularly preparedness at the Federal level, because, after all, that is our responsibility. There are medicines available that are known as antivirals. In the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic there were no antiviral medications. They had not yet been invented, but we have antiviral medications today. Now, an antiviral is different from a vaccine or an immunization. An antiviral is a medicine like an antibiotic would be administered for a bacterial infection. An antiviral is administered after an onset of symptoms. It does, indeed, reduce the severity of symptoms, but it must be administered within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of the symptoms. Having proper stockpiles of antiviral medications is going to be of critical importance. Even just as critical is going to be the distributive network to get those antivirals into the hands of communities where the virus may be present. It does reduce the severity of symptoms. The New England Journal of Medicine indicated that the treatment with an antiviral reduced the median duration of illness from nearly 5 days to 3 days, and the severity of the illness by about 40 percent. When you have got an illness that has a 55 to 58 percent mortality rate, that reduction in severity is extremely critical. In another study, the antiviral Tamiflu, given within the first 12 hours after the onset of fever, shortened the illness duration by more than 3 days as compared with the treatment that was started at 48 hours. Vaccines are the other tool in the armamentarium against this illness. Vaccines also were not available in the 1918 flu epidemic, but obviously vaccines were available with the outbreak of the Hong Kong flu and the more recent pandemics. Vaccines are of such critical importance that it is mandatory that we move the production of vaccine manufacture from foreign countries back into this country. We have seen an exodus of vaccine manufacturing out of this country. The vaccine needs to be manufactured within our shores, within our borders. We can't very well go around to other countries who may be suffering also with this disease and ask them to supply our vaccinations for us. It just simply won't happen. It is going to be necessary, although a vaccine has been developed, reverse genetics were used to take one of the virus samples from one of these early cases in Vietnam and create a vaccine to the H5N1 as it exists today. The vaccine appears to be safe and effective, but it does require a lot of that vaccine in order to immunize any one of us, because we have no native immunity to this particular type of flu. But since the flu is constantly changing, since it is constantly evolving, indeed it is going to be one of those changes if a pandemic occurs and it changes from a disease that is very bad in birds to a disease that is very bad in people, there will be of necessity another shift that has occurred in that virus. Therefore, the virus that is present today, if we make vaccine in large quantities against that, it may or may not be effective against the virus that would go easily from human to human. So we do to some degree have to wait and develop the correct vaccine for the correct strain of flu. But within the past 6 months, in fact our Department of Defense appropriation bill that we passed last December, had money in it for the development of a flu vaccine. Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services was awarded a total of $1 billion and a request for proposals for companies to develop cell-based vaccines manufactured in this country. Those contracts were let in May of 2006. Mr. Speaker, when you look at vaccine manufacture in this country, not only have we suffered because companies have gone offshore, our method of creating vaccines is somewhat antiquated. We are still stuck back in the 1950s. We use an egg-based system to create our vaccines. Well, you can just imagine, you have got an illness that is primarily affecting chickens, and we are culling chickens from chicken farms. Where are we going to get the eggs to manufacture the vaccines? Newer type of vaccine technology, the so-called cell-based vaccine technology. It is critical that the companies that manufacture the flu vaccine, not just for avian flu but for our seasonal flu, it is critical that we develop the companies and the capability of manufacturing those vaccines with a cell-based system much less prone to contamination and to all the other difficulties that have been much encountered by the egg-based system. To some degree we may have to consider streamlining the FDA regulation and emphasize teamwork amongst our various research teams, not only at the NIH, but across the country and indeed across the world. We have to explore the promise that a universal vaccine holds. When we talk about flu vaccines, the reason we are always changing is because the virus will change various parts of its outside protein coat, if you will. But there are several of the genes of the virus that don't change, from flu type to flu type, the so-called more pedantic or housekeeping genes within the core of the virus. If there is a way to develop a vaccine that will target those genes, it is going to be a much more effective vaccine because it will have that cross-reactivity across many different strains of the flu virus. The current H5N1 vaccine clinical trials with Sanofi are of necessity. Those are going to continue. It will be critical, even though it may not be the final genetic result that they are developing the vaccine for. This vaccine is going to be critical as far as providing a pool for vaccinating our first responders, our nurses, our doctors, our firefighters, our ambulance personnel, if the virus were to make a sudden appearance in this country. It is important again to remember, let me stress, that a much higher dosage of this vaccine is needed than for the average flu inoculation. Generally up to 90 micrograms of this vaccine are necessary to immunize one individual, where typically you need only 15 micrograms for the more common seasonal flu. Other things that we need to do around our country, we need to be sure that we have the surge capacity of our vital workforce thought about and in place, identifying those key players, and ensuring their safety during the crisis and their ability to get and help people who have been harmed by the illness. Strengthening the health care infrastructure in general is a worthwhile thing that we should consider, really, on a daily basis here in this Congress. Protecting first responders, I alluded to wanting to have a vaccine stockpile available, even if it is not the correct vaccine that we will end up with at the time when the flu virus mutates for that last time. But some immunity will be imparted by that early vaccine, and we need to be certain that we have that early vaccine to have for our first responders to allow them to have some measure of protection as they are on the first lines fighting this illness if the worst were to develop. Offering support services, even including mental health support services. Remember the flu epidemic that occurred in 1918, it didn't just happen around the globe in 3 weeks and then it was over. It came in waves and wave after wave would affect communities, and basically the virus encircled the globe three times before it eventually died out. We are going to have to be able to rotate workers, not just health care workers, but workers in various lines of work so that they don't become fatigued, give up, and we have to be able to sustain their efforts. The economic impact of this illness is pretty hard to tell. In some countries already it has had a significant impact. Some of the maps I showed earlier of Africa, the country of Nigeria, where chickens are basically used as currency, this has had a significant economic impact. It may well have significant economic impact in this country as well. We just go back to one of the earlier maps and point out, as the disease spreads westward. Look at where the chicken populations are concentrated in this country and other countries. There could be a devastating effect on the poultry industry, and some compensation for poultry farmers, especially if they involve themselves in early reporting and maintaining the livelihood of those individuals. Safe cooking practices to kill the virus and, let me stress at this point, the virus has not been found in the Western Hemisphere, and United States chicken populations at this juncture are not affected or infected with this virus, but early containment of any outbreaks to prevent paralysis of a whole economy that is based on poultry. We have got to encourage understanding. Panic is not going to be a solution for a pandemic, but proper planning is going to be one of the keys. The focus of the messaging, the World Health Organization, has already put out outbreak communication tips for public officials. I encourage my colleagues to become familiar with those. Enhance the public's compliance if a quarantine is needed and a quarantine is required, and common prevention techniques are going to go a long way towards preventing the spread of this illness; then we must be prepared to not only talk about them, but mandate them if indicated. Our Federal, State, and local community officials will help play a big role in the preparedness. I know my officials back in north Texas have done a great job as far as preparing themselves for some of the things that would happen or could happen in the even of a pandemic. Bear in mind, this may be one of those things just like Y2K. We get all concerned about it, and it never happens. But the manufacture of vaccine within the shores of this country is critically important. We should be doing that anyway and not just if we are faced with the threat of avian flu. Stockpiling of antiviral medications and indeed our Nation's stockpile of critical medicines, we need to look at that and be sure we have the distributive networks in place. It doesn't matter if it is a hurricane, an earthquake or a terrorist strike. Preparedness should just be one of the bywords of this United States Congress for the rest of this decade and likely for many decades to come. There are places on virtually every congressional committee where steps towards preparedness can be undertaken and, in fact, should be undertaken. Certainly we will look at a committee like Armed Services and what happened during the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 and how it affected the returning troops from World War I. Armed Services needs to pay a good deal of attention to observing the outbreaks globally and implementing quarantine plans when is necessary. The Committee on Agriculture, tracking avian populations as they disperse throughout the United States; my own committee of Energy and Commerce, and they have. I want to thank the committee on Energy and Commerce. They have done a great deal as far as the hearings on avian flu and as far as providing information for our committee. The Committee on Homeland Security will have critical oversight over border security and, in fact, coordinating efforts should a pandemic hit across the country. The Committee on Judiciary will have to decide some jurisdictional issues; and, indeed, they will have to decide whether or not we relax some of the liability as it pertains to vaccine manufacture as well as indemnifying first responders if they are harmed by vaccines or new antiviral medicines that are developed. The Committee on Science, of course, will have an integral role in encouraging research on vaccines, vaccine development and rapid testing to detect is this just a cold or is this, indeed, a more serious type of flu. The Committee on Veterans Affairs will be involved with educating veterans and combating the spread of the illness, as well as providing very educated, organized local spokespersons for educating the public should this disease become a problem. The Committee on Ways and Means will have significant oversight of trade issues as they become important. Look at the countries that could possibly be affected by this, as well as issues in countries that are currently experiencing an outbreak. Integration from the Federal, State and local levels is going to be critical. The global health threat is important. It should not, indeed, it cannot be ignored. But preparing for the threat within our own country is certainly critical. The virus, H5N1, could appear in the bird population as early as this fall in the Western Hemisphere; and even if it does appear in birds it doesn't mean that a pandemic has started. But because of the natural flyways that exist, that is a possibility that we need to be, we, in Congress, need to be prepared for how we educate our constituents and how we help our State and local officials adjust to that. Preparedness is going to be the greatest single tool at our disposal to mitigate what might otherwise be a disaster of worldwide proportions. Mr. Speaker, this is an important issue. I thank you for the time and letting me come to the House and talk about this tonight. I know I have covered a lot of these issues relatively quickly. I know a lot of the maps are somewhat involved, and they have gone by quickly. They are available on my Web site at burgess.house.gov.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the superior performance of 20-year old Brittany Lang, during the Wegmans Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. Ms. Lang, a resident of McKinney, TX, was a runner-up in the U.S. Women's Open as an amateur a year ago. On Sunday, June 25, 2006, she briefly held the lead at the Wegmans LPGA tournament. Lang shot a 71 and tied for third after starting the day one shot off the lead. This was her first top 3 finish and her second top 10 finish of the 10 events she has competed in thus far in her career. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I stand here today to honor Brittany Lang for her achievements on the golf course. She serves as an example of athletic excellence to the young women of our community. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Frank Barrow for his admirable devotion to his family, friends, and his community. Mr. Barrow died at the age of 83; he was a model citizen to the City of Denton. He left in his wake a loving and adoring family. Frank Barrows lived in Denton, TX, for 71 years. During his life, Frank was a successful businessman, a leader in his church and served his community as the Mayor of Denton. He helped craft the Denton which I know and love today. One of the richest gifts Mr. Barrows left was the Denton Community Theater. Helping found the theater, and serving the organization for 30 years, Frank brought a rich culture to the neighborhood. His legacy in the theater and commerce will be remembered. It was my pleasure to serve Frank Barrows. I extend my sympathies to his family and friends. May the example of this man, who enriched the lives of those around him, be inspiration to all who seek their dreams to serve their family and fellow man.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Xiaodong Wang, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, for being awarded the $1 million Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine. Dr. Wang, 43, will receive the international award in September from the Hong Kong-based Shaw Prize Foundation. A professor of biochemistry, Dr. Wang will receive the award for his discovery of the biochemical basis of programmed cell death which is a vital process that balances cell birth and prevents cancer. His scientific breakthrough marks a turning point in the history of medicine and will indeed benefit the lives of millions around the world. The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is presented annually and sometimes referred to as the ``Nobel Prize of the East,'' is awarded to those who have achieved significant breakthroughs in scientific research and applications. Dr. Wang has discovered mechanisms responsible for programmed cell death. As a doctor, I am honored to know that great scientific research continues and the heart of such work is being conducted at UT Southwestern. I extend my sincere congratulations to Dr. Xiaodong Wang for his outstanding leadership. He is an excellent scientist who has greatly benefited his fellow man, and I hope that his research will act as a catalyst for others to strive for excellent and great achievements.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of L.A, Nelson for his admirable devotion to his family, friends, and his community. Mr. Nelson died at the age of 80; he was a model citizen to the City of Denton. He left in his wake a loving and adoring family. Mr. Nelson was born in Hugo, OK. He served in the Navy during World War II. After the war, he went to Denton to attend college. Soon, Mr. Nelson became one of the city's leading lawyers and served on the City Council from 1966-1970 before being elected to mayor in 1969. L.A. Nelson is best remembered for his dedication to the City of Denton, He was president of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Flow Memorial Hospital. He was instrumental in the construction of a new City Hall and the creation of Ray Roberts Lake. It has been my honor to serve Mr. L.A. Nelson. His tenure as the Mayor of Denton impressed me greatly, and today, I extend my sympathies to his family and friends. May the example of this man, who enriched the lives of those around him, be an inspiration to all who seek their dreams to serve their family and fellow man.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Michael Admire on being elected Texas Youth Governor by his peers this year as part of the YMCA National Youth in Government program. The national conference of governors is being held this week in Washington, DC. Mr. Admire is an outstanding student who has proven to be charismatic, ambitious and full of integrity. Part of his official duties as the Texas Youth Governor includes reviewing all proposed legislation with the option to sign or veto specific bills. This task is considerable and brings a great deal of commitment and clear judgment. The Texas Youth in Government is an outstanding program which allows students to actively participate in the government process. During the program, participating students gain an understanding of local and national government process, an understanding of political systems, as well as obtain an appreciation for the diversity of viewpoints on public issues and a respect for the beliefs of others. Democracy is built upon citizens' active participation in upholding civic responsibilities; the Texas Youth in Government program actively promotes this foundation of democracy. I extend my sincere congratulations to Michael Admire and his accomplishments as Texas Youth Governor. As a resident of Justin, Texas, in the heart of the 26th Congressional District, I am honored to represent Mr. Admire in Washington. He is an outstanding student and a model to the community.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Lance Corporal Ryan S. Miller, United States Marine Corps, for receiving a Certificate of Appreciation for superior performance of duty while serving as the Non Commissioned Officer in Charge of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center's Color Detail at Twentynine Palms, California. Lance Corporal Miller was responsible for posting the Combat Center's colors on a daily basis. As a result of his leadership, motivation, and attention to detail, the Color Detail accomplished its mission in an exemplary manner. Lance Corporal Miller has performed a great duty to our country. Lance Corporal Miller's Certificate of Appreciation is a permanent part of his official record at Headquarters, United States Marine Corps. A 2004 graduate of Edward S. Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, in the heart of the 26th Congressional District, Lance Corporal Miller is a fine example of how brave Americans stationed both in the United States and abroad are doing their duty faithfully and serving their country admirably. As a member of the United States Marine Corps, Lance Corporal Miller is a part of a long tradition of military excellence. Due to the Marine's constant vigilance, the borders and freedoms of the United States are protected. The traditions of the United States Marine Corps are as old as the nation itself; Lance Corporal Miller's outstanding service and respect for traditions make him the pride of his community and a model American. I extend my sincere congratulations to Lance Corporal Ryan S. Miller for receiving a Certificate of Appreciation. His contributions and service are a shining example to us all, and I am honored to be his representative in Washington.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Fort Worth Police Department East Division, in the 26th Congressional District of Texas for their outstanding work serving and protecting the communities of Fort Worth. This past May, I had the privilege of visiting the Fort Worth Police Department East Division. Captain Bryan Sudan provided me with a brief tour of the facility and explained how the divisions of the department interacted together. I also had the opportunity to ride along with veteran Officer Anthony Cutler and with Officer Thomas O'Brien and witnessed firsthand the high level of respect the officers have for the community and citizens. It was clear that the officers cared about the neighborhood and the people in it. On a day-to-day basis, these individuals place their lives on the line just to protect us all. They do this with bravery, strength, humility and dignity. They are selfless in their actions and compassionate people at heart. They only want safety for us all, and I am thankful for their service. Friendly, courteous, and professional only begins to describe the high caliber of officers employed with the Fort Worth Police Department East Division. I am honored to now represent the Fort Worth Police Department and send my sincere thanks for their service to the community.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Ms. Kirsten Shortridge for being selected as the 2006 Gatorade National Girls Softball Player of the Year. Of the more than three-hundred and fifty-thousand student girl athletes across the country, only one person is chosen to receive this award. The honor, which also factors in academic achievements and overall character, has been awarded for 20 years to athletes in ten different sports. Kirsten is batting .554 with two home runs, eight triples and twenty- five RBIs. In 181 innings she has pitched 365 strikeouts, 21 shutouts and eight no-hitters, including three perfect games. She maintains a 3.5 grade point average, is a member of the Circle of Friends, and is a lunch buddy, library buddy, peer mentor, volunteers at Northwood Church with the Revive program, and also volunteers for Special Olympics. I extend my sincere congratulations to Ms. Kirsten Shortridge for her efforts and for her success in softball and her academics. Her dedication and commitment serve as an inspiration to all.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Chairman, I do want to thank Chairman Barton, chairman of the Full Committee; and the gentleman from Michigan, who is the subcommittee chairman; as well as Vice Chairman Pickering. And also we have enjoyed the bipartisan support from Bobby Rush on our committee. This is truly a bipartisan product that was forged together after countless hours of negotiation. Its recent passage out of the Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 42-12 only underscores this point. Mr. Chairman, I represent a district in north Texas, and there is a community within that area in north Texas named Keller. Keller, Texas, a very forward-thinking town of over 36,000 people. Keller is home to Verizon's first fiberoptic television system. What has happened since the fiberoptic system was introduced in the Keller market is that prices for cable TV are now 25 percent lower than they were before the entry into the video market. New services, new technologies, lower prices. Consumers now have a choice, and over 30 percent of the market has signed up for this new fiberoptic service from Verizon. Clearly, people want choice. The citizens of Keller not only have access to one of the best telecommunications networks in the world, and a choice of providers, but they also get much better services at competitive prices. What is even more intriguing is about a third of those new video customers were not previously cable customers. That means that these customers now are a new source of franchise fee revenue for the city of Keller. Mr. Chairman, it is no accident that every member from Texas on the committee supports this bill. This past year the State of Texas passed legislation similar to that which we are considering here, removing the franchise fee from the local level. Texas is now at the forefront of video competition. I sponsored H.R. 5252. I voted for it in committee. I will vote for it on the floor. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation as well.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of the Women's Division of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce in its support for the development and recognition of women as business leaders in Fort worth. I am proud to represent an organization so dedicated in its efforts to empower African American women and to create an expanded atmosphere for inclusive business development. The Women's Division annually recognizes the success of businesses and organizations that support its mission, and it has awarded over a dozen scholarships to women to enable them to attend area colleges. The Women's Division of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce has recognized over one hundred individuals for their business, civic, and social accomplishments and has itself been lauded by the Texas State House of Representatives for steadfast work in behalf and support of the City of Fort Worth. It is with great pleasure that I recognize the Fort Worth Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Women's Division and I am honored to now represent them as part of the 26th Congressional District of Texas.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give tribute to Mrs. Vera Jean Sturns in the 26th Congressional District of Texas, for her life- long contributions to her community and to her fellow citizens. Mrs. Sturns died on June 4, 2006 at the age of 67. I would like to recognize and celebrate Vera Sturns life. Raised in rural east Texas near Henderson, Mrs. Sturns later moved to Fort Worth with her husband, the love of her life, Vernell Sturns. She attended the University of Kansas and later served as a drug and alcohol counselor with Tarrant County Mental Health and Mental Retardation. In addition to her professional life, Vera was involved with a number of various community organizations. She was a longtime member of the Twilight Temple Elks Lodge and a member of Community Christian Church and its Christian Women's Fellowship. Mrs. Vera Jean Sturns is survived by her sons Robert and Michael Sturns and her daughter Paula Sturns, as well as four grandchildren. I join in mourning the loss of Mrs. Sturns and extend my deepest sympathies to her friends and family. She will be deeply missed and her service to her community will always be greatly appreciated.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give tribute to Mr. Perry Bass of Fort Worth, Texas, for his lifelong contributions to his community and to his fellow citizens. Born in Wichita Falls, TX, on November 11, 1914, Mr. Bass attended prep school in Pennsylvania and in 1937 received a science degree, specializing in geology, from Yale University. Mr. Perry died the morning of Thursday, June 1, 2006, at the age of 91. Mr. Bass began his career in the legendary oil fields of Texas, where he worked with his uncle beginning in the 1930s. In 1942 Perry Bass joined the armed services as a naval architect designing torpedo boats before later continuing his career in oil and gas. Perry Bass's professional exploits are only a small part of his life- long success. Throughout his career Mr. Bass and his family donated generously to a wide variety of charities, learning institutions, the arts and hospitals. As a former chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, he championed a law to preserve the population of redfish and spotted sea trout in the Texas coastal waters and worked to preserve the natural beauty of the State of Texas. The Bass family's investments have changed the landscape of downtown Fort Worth, transforming aging and often-vacant buildings into trendy restaurants, hotels and clubs, all anchored by the $65 million Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall. He was a dedicated civic pioneer and outspoken philanthropist, and it was my honor to know him and to now represent part of the great city of Fort Worth that he helped develop into one of the best places to live in the United States. He leaves behind a legacy of generosity and encouraged others do to the same. His wife, Nancy, and four sons, Sid, Lee, Edward and Robert, have continued that legacy of philanthropy and public works. I extend my deepest sympathies to his family and friends. He will be deeply missed and his service to his community will always be greatly appreciated.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the courageous actions of Adrian Munoz, Gabriel Munoz, and Paula Bustos, who, in the early morning hours of Friday, May 26th, aided in the rescue of their neighbors Mary Moore and Charles Butler from a fire in their home. At 12:30 a.m. on Friday morning, an over-heated extension cord sparked a one-alarm fire in the home of Mary Moore and her husband Charles Butler. From across the street, the Munoz brothers and their cousin Paula noticed the fire. Acting quickly, Adrian rushed to the hose and started spraying the house. He moved into the house, stretching the hose as far as possible attempting to keep the fire from moving towards Mary Moore's room. Following Adrian into the house, Paula Bustos moved to help Ms. Moore as Adrian and Gabriel pulled Mr. Butler from the fire and out of the house. The fire department arrived soon after and helped bring Ms. Moore out of the house. The heroic actions of Adrian and Gabriel Munoz, and Paula Bustos serve as an example to and inspiration to others. I stand here today to recognize their actions and I am proud to be their representative in Washington and to call them fellow Texans.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give tribute to Elinor Musick Anderson, from the 26th Congressional District of Texas, for her lifelong contributions to her community and to her fellow citizens. Mrs. Anderson was born in Galveston, TX. She graduated from Ball High School in Galveston and attended Rice University. As the wife of a career officer, she traveled extensively both within the United States and abroad. One of her proudest achievements was when she gained her pilot's license. When she decided to pursue her longtime goal to be a writer, Elinor Musick Anderson attended Tarrant County Junior College majoring in journalism and served as the editor of the college magazine ``The Reflector.'' After graduation she joined the staff of ``New Woman'' magazine and served with that publication the entire time it was published in Fort Worth. She was also the founding editor of ``Fort Worth Woman'' and edited ``Colonial Columns'' for a number of years. Mrs. Anderson also founded and served as the writer-editor for her own company, ``Monarch Media,'' and was the first editor of the Woodhaven Association monthly newsletter and yearly edited the directions for that association and the Woodhaven Woman's Club. Mrs. Anderson was an active member of the Women's Club of Fort Worth and served in numerous leadership roles with the Historical Preservation Trust Committee, the Roundtable, Sydnor Bridge Study Club and the Tuesday Sun Parlor Contract Bridge Club. Elinor Musick Anderson passed late Saturday, May 27, 2006 at a Fort Worth hospital from complications due to a pulmonary embolism. Her husband, daughter, son, granddaughters, a grandson and numerous other family members were with her when she passed. I join in mourning the loss of Elinor and extend my deepest sympathies to her friends and family. She will be deeply missed and her service to her community will always be greatly appreciated.