congressional_record: CREC-1998-12-17-pt1-PgE2337-2
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CREC-1998-12-17-pt1-PgE2337-2 | 1998-12-17 | 105 | 2 | TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN ROMAN PUCINSKI | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | TRIBUTETO | E2337 | E2337 | [{"name": "William O. Lipinski", "role": "speaking"}] | 144 Cong. Rec. E2337 | Congressional Record, Volume 144 Issue 153 (Thursday, December 17, 1998) [Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 153 (Thursday, December 17, 1998)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E2337] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN ROMAN PUCINSKI ______ HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI of illinois in the house of representatives Thursday, December 17, 1998 Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Roman Pucinski, who represented the northwest side of the City of Chicago in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1973. From the start of his tenure in Congress, then Representative Pucinski mounted a one-man effort to require airlines to install crash- proof cockpit voice recorders in airplanes. Despite organized opposition from the major airlines, Pucinski kept the pressure on and in 1964 the Federal Aviation Administration issued an order requiring air carriers to install crash-proof cockpit voice recorders in their aircraft. Commonly referred to as the ``black box'', cockpit voice recorders are now a critical component of aviation safety. Black boxes provide vital information about the final minutes of airline disasters to accident investigators and have helped determine the cause of several plane crashes. As a decorated Air Force pilot, Pucinski knew that a recording of last minute cockpit conversations would provide vital clues to the cause of airline tragedies. As an Air Force pilot, Pucinski led his bomber group in the first B-29 bombing raid over Tokyo during World War II. He flew 48 other combat missions over Japan and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with Clusters. From his own personal experience as a pilot, Pucinski understood that, in the last few minutes preceding an air tragedy, the cockpit crew are far too busy trying to save their passengers and aircraft to radio formal reports to a ground station. However, a crash-proof tape recorder operating automatically during flight preserves a record of everything said in the cockpit for accident investigators. Because of Roman Pucinski's dedicated and courageous leadership in the establishment of crash-proof tape recorders in commercial airliners, accident investigation and aviation safety have been significantly advanced in the public interest, and outstanding results for the national aviation system have been achieved. For this reason, on December 18, 1998, former Congressman Roman Pucinski will be honored by the Federal Aviation Administration with a Silver Medal of Distinguished Service. I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating Roman Pucinski. His tireless advocacy of cockpit voice recorders is one of the most important contributions to airline safety in the history of aviation. Roman Pucinski has made a lasting contribution to aviation safety and he greatly deserves this special honor from the Federal Aviation Administration. ____________________ |