Senate Floor: ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

Mr. President, Delaware, officially called "the First State" is sometimes called, "the Diamond State" and "the Small Wonder" because of the amazing quality Delawareans bring and have brought to this Nation. One of the gems in the Diamond State is a company hidden near the center in the small town of Frederica, DE. That company is "ILC Dover." ILC is best known as the sole designer, developer, and manufacturer of the Apollo and Shuttle Space Suits.

The man who has outfitted America's astronauts for 40 years and helped make manned space flight possible -- serving the past 17 years as president and general manager of ILC -- is retiring. Homer Reihm, better known to his friends and co-workers as "Sonny," is a local legend. It was Sonny Reihm who was ILC's program manager for the Apollo program on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong wore ILC's space suit on the Moon.

ILC has continued to be true to its space heritage by making the suits worn by astronauts in the Shuttle and Space Station missions. As America has gone further into space, so has ILC, most recently by producing the Pathfinder Airbags that landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. In 1998, in recognition of ILC's history of excellence in the service of America's space missions, Sonny Reihm accepted NASA's top quality award -- known as the George Low award -- honoring ILC's 100 percent mission success in planetary and space environments.

While Mr. Reihm's career has paralleled the NASA space program, under his leadership ILC has gone much farther to produce important advances for the military including the M-40 series protective masks used by our soldiers since the end of Desert Storm, the Demilitarized Protective Ensemble, Aircrew protective mask systems, collective protection Chem- Bio shelters, and lighter-than-air Aerostats used for monitoring and detection. ILC has leveraged these initiatives into commercial applications of protective suits, flexible containment devices for the Pharmaceutical industry, and advertising airships like the blimps seen so often at ball games.

Sonny Reihm is a Delawarean through and through. He was born and raised on a farm in the Middletown/Odessa/Townsend area of Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1960. Upon graduation, he joined ILC as a project engineer when ILC was bidding on the Apollo program. After leading the effort to successfully field the Apollo Space Suit, Mr. Reihm became the general manager of ILC in 1975. His mandate was to diversify the company to survive the post-Apollo mission, while still holding true to ILC's tradition of serving America with its unique technical knowledge. Almost ten years later, in 1984, after meeting the diversification challenge, Sonny became President and general manager of ILC. From 1975 to today, he helped build ILC from a 25-employee corporation, to a major business player in our State and Nation. With 450 employees today, ILC continues to provide needed innovations for NASA, for the military, and for other American businesses.

As outstanding as it has been, Sonny Reihm's business success is only one portion of his larger commitment to public service. He has served local and national communities throughout his life through his involvement in the University of Delaware Board of Trustees, the Delaware Manufacturing Association, the National Defense Industrial Association, the Soldier Biological Chemical Command Acquisition Reform Initiatives, the USO in Delaware, and the United Way.

On a more personal note, I am proud to call Sonny and his wife Nancy dear friends. After his long, prodigious -- indeed astronomic -- career, Sonny has earned many years of enjoyment in his retirement with his wife, two daughters and grandchildren. He exemplifies the commitment to excellence and the national good that make Delaware the Small Wonder and keep this Nation strong. It is my honor today to salute him and his many years of business and community service.