Recognizing Colorado Army National Guard Aviators
Floor Speech
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Colorado Army National Guard aviators who saved a life on one of Colorado's most challenging peaks.
Earlier this year, a hiker was stranded on Crestone Peak, more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Flight for Life cannot reach that altitude. Ground crews could not reach this hiker. The mission fell to our Colorado Army National Guard aviators.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mike Antinora and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Josh Friederichs flew their Black Hawk helicopter at the limits of its capabilities, hovering at 14,380 feet, while Sergeant Noah Jordan and Staff Sergeant Jake Beehler worked the hoist, lowering 180 feet of cable to reach where no one else could.
They brought that hiker home safely.
This is what our National Guard does not just in combat overseas but here at home when no one else can answer the call.
I am proud to recognize Chief Warrant Officer Antinora, Chief Warrant Officer Friederichs, Sergeant Jordan, Staff Sergeant Beehler, and rescue technicians Gerrit Padgham and Steven Gosselin. Colorado is safer because of their service. Recognizing C & J Cafe
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Juan Agredano and his family, owners of C & J Cafe in Delta, Colorado, a community institution that has served Western Slope families since the 1980s.
When I visited last month, I was welcomed the same way every customer is: like family. This is no accident. It is the culture that Juan; his wife, Robin; and their daughter, Jennifer, have built through decades of showing up for their community day after day.
C & J Cafe is the kind of place that doesn't just feed people. It brings them together.
Whether it is the legendary cinnamon rolls, said to be the largest in Delta County, or simply the warmth at the door, the Agredanos have made their restaurant a cornerstone of community life.
When the challenges of COVID threatened restaurants across the country, Juan and Jennifer kept showing up. They kept serving their neighbors, and their neighbors never forgot it.
I am proud to represent a district with families like the Agredanos whose hard work, generosity, and commitment strengthen the communities they call home. Recognizing Grand Valley Power
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Grand Valley Power as it celebrates 90 years of keeping the lights on in Colorado's Third Congressional District.
In 1936, a small group of farmers in the Grand Valley could not get electricity. The costs were too high, and the power lines simply didn't reach that far. So, they did what western Coloradans do: They came together to solve the problem themselves.
Neighbor by neighbor, they built what became Colorado's first, and today its oldest, rural electric cooperative. Within a year, electricity reached 250 homes and farms for the very first time. What many Coloradans already took for granted transformed lives across Mesa County.
Today, Grand Valley Power serves more than 18,000 members across the county. It remains not for profit, member owned, and rooted in the same cooperative spirit that inspired its founders nine decades ago.
Ninety years is a testament not only to a successful electric cooperative but to the enduring power of neighbors working together to strengthen their communities.
I am proud to recognize Grand Valley Power and everyone who carried that mission forward. Recognizing Dennis Webb
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dennis Webb, who is retiring after nearly 20 years of covering the environment and natural resources for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
Out West, public lands are not an abstraction. They shape how people work, ranch, hunt, and live. Dennis helped the people of the Western Slope understand the policies that shaped those lands, from water rights to grazing to wildfires and wildlife management.
His reporting earned the respect not only of readers across western Colorado but of legislators and officials in Denver as well as here in Washington, D.C.
Good journalism doesn't tell people what to think. It helps them understand the issues well enough to think for themselves. Dennis did that with clarity, fairness, and a deep understanding of the West.
Thoughtful local journalism is increasingly rare, and western Colorado is better because Dennis Webb devoted his career to getting the story right.
I wish Dennis a well-earned retirement, and I thank him for his service to readers on the Western Slope. Recognizing Patrick Morrissey
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Patrick Morrissey, a Colorado Hall of Fame wrestler whose great achievement came long after the wrestling mat.
Patrick was a Colorado State champion and an All-American, but in 2019, at just 48 years old, he was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's disease. Rather than retreat, he leaned into the same determination that defined him as an athlete.
In June 2024, Patrick joined a four-man crew to row 2,800 miles across the Pacific Ocean, from California to Hawaii. For 41 days, he battled towering waves, relentless winds, and the daily challenges of Parkinson's before reaching the shores of Kauai.
Patrick became the first person with Parkinson's to row the mid- Pacific. Along the way, he and his teammates raised more than $41 million for Parkinson's research.
Patrick's story reminds us that courage is not measured by the obstacles that we face but by our determination to keep moving forward.
I am proud to represent Patrick Morrissey and his family, whose example has inspired countless others.
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