Harriet M. Hageman

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Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Shreve for his words. In summary, I think that the message to be taken away this evening, Mr. Speaker, is that we all have an enormous amount of respect for our trucking companies and our truck drivers who make this country run. I have just a few anecdotes about Wyoming. We are the least populated State in the Nation. We became a State in 1890. I have had the opportunity to meet with several family-owned businesses in Wyoming, family-owned trucking companies. One of them was one of the very first trucking companies that was ever formed in the State in the late 1800s. They used horses and wagons to haul goods from the oil fields to their destination. This is a family-owned business for over 130 years. Another interesting tidbit about Wyoming is that we can have terribly treacherous roads. I-80 crosses Wyoming. It is one of the longest continental highways in the United States. It goes from the East Coast to the West Coast. In Wyoming the very highest point is between Cheyenne and Laramie, and it is over 8,000 feet. There are many occasions when highway I-80 is closed because of the snow and the wind, and it is non-traversable. We have truck drivers who are some of the first ones on any scene of an accident, and they are the ones who continue to move the goods across this country. That is also one of the reasons why it is imperative, as so many have spoken about this evening, that we have people who are well-trained, that understand our English language, that can read our variable speed and variable signs as they drive down the highway in Wyoming and other States. Again, that is why I so appreciate our trucking companies and our truckers for the work that they do. Oftentimes, they take their own lives in their hands when they are crossing Wyoming to deliver goods from the East Coast to the West Coast, and they provide a valuable service. Mr. Speaker, in this Trucker Appreciation Week, one more time, I thank the men and women who have made this profession their own for the work that they do. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.