Recognizing Tru Most
Floor Speech
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Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Tru Most, a freshman at Mark Morris High School, who recently placed first in the YETI Junior World Finals of Barrel Racing in Las Vegas.
Competing against 164 other teams, Tru and her horse, Rockette, dominated the field with a run of 14.722 seconds. Her success is the result of years of hard work. She started racing when she was just 8 years old.
I am so proud of her success and for making a name for southwest Washington, and I am so excited to see what is in store for her. Her talent and her work ethic make our community proud. Tunnel 5 Fire
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Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the pressing issue that has ravaged my district in southwest Washington, the Tunnel 5 wildfire.
We have all become sickeningly familiar with the feeling of your heart stopping when you get the call that there is another wildfire in your community.
Over the Independence Day weekend, I and so many others in my community got that call. To my neighbors who lost their homes, my heart breaks for you.
My team and I stand ready to help you in any way that we can, whether you need to get another passport issued or you need advice navigating FEMA. If you are trying to get your military records reissued, we stand by to help you.
I thank the firefighters who chose to spend their summers felling trees, digging lines, and sleeping in tents in sweltering heat.
When I visited that fire line, I saw firsthand there is a lot of gray hair out there. Thank you to the folks who choose to spend their retirement not in Cabo but fighting wildfires in places like Skamania County. Your experience is invaluable and your self-sacrifice an example to us all.
Finally, I thank the volunteer firefighters, first responders, and linemen from our PUDs. We are all so proud of them.
I hope they are all able to take some time off, go to a swimming hole, and relax with their families. The path to rebuilding is long, but folks like them are the reason that our community is worth the fight. Steigerwald Restoration
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Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Steigerwald Restoration Project in my district. In 1960, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a levee along the Columbia River to protect communities from flooding.
In doing so, they cut off Steigerwald Lake and created flooding from Gibbons Creek and destroyed a wetland. This wound up decimating the ecosystem and introducing new floods.
In 2013, the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership began the Steigerwald Restoration Project. This project took 10 years. It was a massive undertaking. The team removed miles of the existing levee and built two new setbacks to protect the community from floods.
Thanks to their painstaking effort, port and city infrastructure, State Route 14, and nearby private residences are no longer at risk of flooding, and the natural habitat has been restored.
A few weeks ago, I was able to visit and see how the area was transformed. It is now being used as a recreational space.
I appreciate any chance to get my boots a little muddy and plant a couple of trees. Investments in our ecosystems are investments in our future. Recognizing Small Community Banks
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Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize small community banks. Small community banks often serve as lifelines for local businesses and individuals.
Banks like Raymond Federal and Security State Bank have a finger on the pulse of their community and are often able to lend to members in the community when the big guys can't see the value these guys provide.
These small community banks are also able to respond quicker to local events, like a strike at a local lumber mill, by offering automatic loan modification to striking workers.
Small banks are facing a number of pressures like high interest rates and capital consolidations that benefit the big players in the financial world such as big banks, insurance companies, and companies like Apple and Amazon entering the banking space.
That is why I believe when we talk about supporting rural areas, we need to add regional community banking to the list of critical services to protect. Recognizing NASCAR Driver Eric Johnson, Jr.
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Ms. PEREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Eric Johnson, Jr., a 20-year-old race car driver from Woodland, Washington, who made his NASCAR debut in early June.
Eric placed 10th at the Portland NASCAR Xfinity Series. He competed in a field of 24 racers, most of whom were older and had years of experience on him.
Inspired by his father who was a former NASCAR driver, Eric began exploring his passion for racing and cars.
Eric actually started driving race cars before he started driving on normal residential streets, going 100 miles per hour on the racetrack before going 20 miles an hour in a neighborhood. Eric began building cars when he was just 15, before he got his driver's license.
As an auto repair and machine shop owner myself, I know this meticulous, hands-on work requires a lot of attention to detail and creativity.
I congratulate Eric on his impressive debut at such a young age. I look forward to seeing where his career takes him.
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