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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I rise today to recognize Watco Executive Chairman Rick Webb, who recently was inducted into the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's Short Line Hall of Fame.

Watco is a transportation and supply chain service company headquartered in Pittsburg, KS, with a 40-year legacy of excellence in industrial transportation. Rick Webb has been, and continues to be, an integral part of that legacy.

Rick's father, Dick Webb, founded the company in 1983, and Rick began working on the Watco team while he was finishing his degree at the local Pittsburg State University.

He joined the family business full time after graduating in 1984, taking on a diverse portfolio of responsibilities including operations, marketing, hiring personnel, and raising capital.

In 1987, Watco purchased its first short line to primarily serve its own railcar repair shop. In 1998, Webb became Watco's chief executive officer, taking the reins from his father. After two decades of service as Watco's chief executive, Rick turned over leadership to Dan Smith and took on the role of executive chairman, where he continues to steward the growth of the business and the family's customer-first model of service.

Rick Webb has been with Watco from the beginning, and during his tenure with the company, it has grown from one facility to more than 190 locations operating in four countries. That growth is in no small part due to Rick Webb's leadership.

Rick is the kind of person you want to follow. He is the kind of person you can always take at his word. When I think about what it means to be a Kansan--a person of good character, strong integrity, authenticity--Rick is that person.

But I cannot talk about Rick's character without recognizing the person who played a tremendous role in shaping him. Kaye Lynne Webb, his mom, helped build Watco and raised a son of the highest caliber. She is an amazing woman and an integral part of the Webb family and the company.

Knowing Rick and the quality of his character, I was pleased to learn that he was inducted into the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's Hall of Fame on March 25, 2024.

An article in the Pittsburg Morning Sun notes that the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association established this award in 2020 to acknowledge ``visionaries and stars who through their dedication, commitment and achievement best exemplify the qualities of innovation, entrepreneurialism, perseverance and service that have advanced the short line railroad industry.'' Rick has met and continues to exceed this standard.

The same article highlighted the current Watco CEO Dan Smith's praise of Rick for his consistency as a leader. The article included the following description of Rick by Smith:

He's truly a great man. I would say that he's the best teammate I've ever had; he's the best coach I've ever had; he's the best friend I've had.

Throughout his time at Watco, Rick has been driven by an unrelenting desire to serve the best team possible to serve customers in the best manner. Rick has carried with him the belief that if you want to learn how to grow the top line, you listen to your customer, and if you want to learn how to grow the bottom line, you listen to your team.

Rick's business knowledge and Kansas work ethic have earned him many accolades over the years, including being named the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Central Midwest Region and winning the 2022 Railroad Innovator Award from Progressive Railroading magazine.

In addition to Rick's induction into the American Short Line Hall of Fame, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association has honored Watco with the Veterans Engagement Award for their dedication to veteran recruitment.

I want to congratulate Rick and the entire Watco team on their successful accomplishments and achievements. It is certainly nice to have a great businessman and a great business in Kansas called Watco, but even better, it is great to have a person of Rick's caliber, his character, and his interest in the community.

Many towns the size of Pittsburg, KS, and many communities in Kansas, generally, have a set of people who are always involved in whatever good happens in the community. Rick Webb and his family have been consistent in their support for the Pittsburg and Southeast Kansas communities and for their support for Pittsburg State University.

I look forward to seeing their business continue to flourish as they fulfill the mission of serving their customers, their employees, and elevating the standard for short line railroads for Kansas, our Nation, and the world. But I especially thank him for being the kind of person he is and how much difference he makes in Pittsburg, in Kansas, in the country, and the world.

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