Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, due to a cancelled flight and another flight with mechanical issues, I was unable to cast my vote for legislation considered on the House floor today. Had I been able to be present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall 559--Motion to Table H. Res. 829, ``yea'' on rollcall 560--H. Res. 559, ``yea'' on rollcall 561--H.R. 340, ``yea'' on rollcall 562--Motion to recommit to H.R. 4364, ``nay'' on rollcall 563--Final Passage of H.R. 4364, and ``yea'' on rollcall 564--Adoption of H. Res. 773.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga, California, as it celebrates its centennial anniversary.

The McGroarty Arts Center is named after the late John Steven McGroarty, former Congressman and Poet Laureate of California. Born in 1862, McGroarty moved to the Los Angeles area in 1901, settling in the Verdugo Hills of Tujunga. That same year he began his 40-year career as a journalist and editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, penning the ``Seen from the Green Verdugo Hills'' weekly column.

The McGroarty home, known as ``Rancho Chupa Rosa,'' was constructed in 1923 on the surviving foundation of the burned-down house of John and Ida McGroarty. It served as their home during the latter portion of Mr. McGroarty's distinguished career in writing and politics.

Upon Mr. McGroarty's death in 1944, Rancho Chupa Rosa went to his niece, Miss Margaret McHale who sold the property and surrounding acres in 1953 to the City of Los Angeles. The City's Department of Recreation and Parks managed the McGroarty home until 1974, when the supervision was transferred to the Department of Cultural Affairs, a few years after the home was declared a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Since 1995, when the center was privatized, it has been operated by the non-profit organization, the McGroarty Arts Center in partnership with the City's Department of Cultural Affairs.

A thriving community arts complex, the center offers access to arts and history by providing a variety of creative events, comprehensive arts instruction, and the cultural and historic venue for artists to show their work in a multitude of forms. The McGroarty Arts Center has hosted countless events, workshops, and exhibitions over the years in the beautiful, historic home that is deeply cherished by the members of the community. Events include the annual Ceramics Juried Open Exhibition, the annual Chili Bowl Fest and Art Craft Faire, Hanukkah in the Foothills and Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga celebrations, as well as drawing, ceramic, piano, tai chi and watercolor classes.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring McGroarty Arts Center upon the celebration of its Centennial Anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Whitley Heights Civic Association of Los Angeles, California.

The Whitley Heights Civic Association, founded in 1923 as a garden club, has represented the members of the Whitley Heights neighborhood for 100 years. This notable achievement also earns the association the honor of being one of the longest continually operating civic associations in Los Angeles.

The Whitley Heights community was established when major land developer Hobart Johnstone Whitley commissioned architect Arthur Barnes to begin the design and construction of a new Mediterranean-style neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills. The arched doorways and windows, iconic red-tiled roofs, and balconies were new to Los Angeles, inspired by Barnes' tour of the Mediterranean; in particular, Italy and its historic hillside towns. With many of the homes constructed between 1918 and 1928, Whitley Heights was one of the first Hollywood developments. The style and aesthetic of the homes as well as the secluded hillside setting, attracted many prominent residents, including Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Bette Davis, William Faulkner, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In fact, the neighborhood's design was so highly regarded that many exterior features became popular in other contemporary Los Angeles developments.

Preservation of this iconic neighborhood has been a challenge in the decades since the initial development. Construction and alteration of the Hollywood Freeway divided the original development in the 1940's and 1960's, during which almost 50 homes were demolished. In the 1980's, after the demolition of a historic bungalow to make space for potential tract homes, actor Brian Moore, president of the civic association, began advocating for the historical preservation of Whitley Heights; this resulted in the neighborhood being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and later, into a Los Angeles Historical Preservation Overlay Zone. The civic association works with the residents, city agencies and elected officials to ensure the preservation of this beautiful neighborhood.

It is an honor to recognize the Whitley Heights Civic Association for its commitment to preserving a historic neighborhood of Los Angeles, and I ask all Members to join me in congratulating this organization upon their centennial anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Barbara Poppy Kwong of Silver Lake, a unique neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Barbara Poppy Kwong has been a Silver Lake resident since 1960. A true native of Silver Lake, Barbara is a graduate of Micheltorena Elementary School, Thomas Starr King Middle School and John Marshall High School. She went on to graduate with a degree in zoology from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Care of the environment has long been a passion for Barbara. Wherever she is and wherever she goes, Barbara responds to her surroundings with an innate sense of caring and desire for improvement. Barbara can be seen picking up trash on her neighborhood walks, cleaning the street and sidewalks around MATS Gym in Hollywood and gathering trash and recyclables in Griffith Park. Over the last 3 years she has personally removed over 4,000 pounds of trash from the streets of Los Angeles.

During a 31-year career at Disney she was the unofficial ``Recycling Queen'' of her department, separating out anything from office waste that could be recycled or reused--from batteries to bubble wrap to aluminum cans--delivering thousands of pounds of material to proper sites for disposal. Barbara encouraged co-workers to recycle by creating competitions with prizes which included her fantastic baked goods. She collected packing materials that would otherwise be thrown out and donated them to local non-profits for re-use in their shipping departments.

In addition to her environmental causes, many cultural institutions in the local Los Angeles landscape have benefited from Barbara's volunteer efforts. She is a lifelong supporter of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC), the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), the Los Angeles Tanabata Festival, the Los Angeles Zoo, and has become a very active volunteer at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants.

Her dedicated, selfless spirit and decades of generosity in service of community have earned Barbara Poppy Kwong recognition as a Woman of the Year from Silver Lake.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Barbara Poppy Kwong.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Chanchanit Martorell of the Park La Brea neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Ms. Martorell was born in Thailand and raised in Los Angeles. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles where she received a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in urban planning. She was also conferred an honorary doctorate degree in social work from Pacific Oaks College.

For over 3 decades, Chanchanit has been involved in social activism. In the early 1990s, she documented the demographics and human and social service needs of Thais in Los Angeles in a landmark community needs assessment study to advocate for more resources in underserved communities. Currently, Ms. Martorell serves as Executive Director of the Thai Community Development Center (Thai CDC). She established this non-profit organization in 1994 with the goal to improve the lives of Thai immigrants through services that promote economic self-sufficiency and cultural adjustment. In 1999, Thai CDC, under Chanchanit's leadership, played a role in the 8-year long community organizing campaign which raised community awareness and led to the designation of the first Thai Town in the country in East Hollywood.

Devoted to social and economic justice, Chanchanit actively serves in an array of capacities, including the Los Angeles County District Attorney Asian American Pacific Islander Advisory Board and Los Angeles Food Policy Council Leadership Circle. She is also the co-founder of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, the Rotary Club of Thai Town, the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program, the Asian Pacific Islander Human Trafficking Task Force, and the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development. Ms. Martorell is most notably known for her work on more than 6 major human rights cases involving more than 2,000 Thai victims of human trafficking who were discovered working in conditions of slavery in the United States. Her advocacy on behalf of the victims and the success of each case led her to become an in-demand spokesperson and leading expert on the issue of modern-day slavery.

Chanchanit has received numerous awards and honors for her exceptional service to the community, including the Asian Americans for Equality ``Dream of Equality'' Award, KCET Unsung Hero Award, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Distinguished Service Award, Los Angeles Women's Foundation Mentor Award, Phenomenal Woman Award from California State University, Northridge, the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Award, and the Royal Decoration of the Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn from His Late Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Ms. Martorell has been married to her husband, Esteban Martorell since 1994 and has 2 grown sons.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Chanchanit Martorell.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Delores Shine Kerr of the Miracle Mile/Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Delores is an extraordinary woman whose remarkable life and diverse career as an educator, performer and humanitarian has spanned nearly 7 decades.

Born in Alabama, Delores received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), where she was crowned Miss Tuskegee in 1957. She obtained her teaching credential at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her illustrious career in the health care field began in a Los Angeles hospital in the late 1950's as a Cardiac-Medical Staff Nurse, Psychiatric Nurse, and Psychiatric Treatment Instructor, followed by employment at another hospital where she was Head Nurse of Pediatrics, Assistant Director of Nursing, and an Emergency Room Nurse. In 1968, she began

working as a nurse educator, advisor, and counselor for the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she continued for over 3 decades.

In addition to her nursing educator career, Ms. Shine Kerr was a fashion model for decades, and has been featured on the runways for shows in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Delores and her husband, Ben are currently models for Everybody World. An accomplished singer and performer, Delores has appeared on television, radio, and in magazines, billboards, and newspapers numerous times, whether as a co- host, a singer, or with the 1984 Olympics Organizing Committee.

Delores' humanitarian efforts over the decades have been nothing short of amazing. She has founded many significant organizations, including Mentors for Youth and Adults Worldwide, a rubella clinic, AMVI International Humanitarian Development, and the People for Family Planning support organization. Other non-profit organizations she has held leadership positions in include the California Science Center, Afro-Americans for LA Opera, the Music Center of LA County, the Opera League, Chi Eta Phi Sorority, the Los Angeles Tuskegee Alumni Association, and McCarty Memorial Christian Church. Ms. Shine Kerr has received numerous awards and recognition in her lifetime including from the Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, California State Assembly, NAACP, and President Ronald Reagan.

Delores and her husband, Ben Oliver Kerr, have 2 children, Mark Steven Kerr and Karen Benae Kerr, and a granddaughter, Jade James.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Delores Shine Kerr.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Barbara Meltzer of West Hollywood, California.

Barbara Meltzer has had an illustrious career, which began in her hometown of New York City, where she worked on NBC-TV's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for a decade as Assistant to the Producer. She went on to serve as Associate Producer of several ABC-TV comedy specials, and later moved to Los Angeles to rejoin The Tonight Show for a brief period, before becoming Director of NBC-TV's Creative Services Department, where she oversaw major corporate and affiliated station special activities and events. Barbara went on to open her own public relations and marketing agency, specializing in non-profit organizations and aging related projects and programs, and joined the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, where she served as vice president of the Board of Directors.

Ms. Meltzer is passionate about serving and advocating for people who are 50 years of age and older. She is a longstanding member of Life Planning Network, an organization committed to shaping the future of aging through information, dialogue, and expertise. In 2007, she was appointed as a Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults, where she serves to this day, and has been honored several times for her outstanding volunteer service for Los Angeles County's older adult population. Most recently, Barbara was appointed to serve on the American Society on Aging's Ageism & Culture Advisory Council. Based upon Barbara's suggestion, the Council launched the nation's first Ageism Awareness Day, which was on October 7, 2022, and the Council is currently making plans for Ageism Awareness Day for October 7, 2023.

Over the years, Barbara has selflessly dedicated her time to serving West Hollywood in several capacities. In 2010, she produced a half-day symposium for the city, titled Pathways to Positive Aging: Creating Communities for a Lifetime. In 2013, Barbara was appointed to the Human Services Commission, where she currently serves as chair. In addition to overseeing the city's provided services and programs, the Commission at that time was given the lead in the planning and implementation of the West Hollywood Aging in Place/Aging in Community Initiative, to support the quality of life, well-being, and health of older adults. Devoted to raising awareness about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Ms. Meltzer was instrumental in creating a West Hollywood community event titled Matters of the Mind: A Community Forum on Understanding and Responding to Alzheimer's and Other Types of Dementia. She also serves as Vice President of the Friends of the West Hollywood Library's Board of Directors.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Barbara Meltzer.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Patricia Lombard of the Larchmont Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Patricia Lombard has worked as a communications consultant and writer since moving to Los Angeles in 1988. She served as a contributor to the Larchmont Buzz an online newspaper covering news from Hancok Park, Larchmont Village, and the Greater Wilshire areas of Los Angeles, since the inception of the site in 2011. In 2015, Ms. Lombard along with Elizabeth Fuller, acquired the Larchmont Buzz from founders Mary Hawley and Julie Grist, and over the years have produced thousands of local news stories. Patricia is currently the editor and co-publisher of the Larchmont Buzz which has given her the opportunity to highlight the work of neighborhood leaders and city officials regarding important local issues.

Ms. Lombard has been a tireless and dedicated volunteer in local civic affairs. She has served on the Fremont Place Association board of directors for over 15 years, and represented the Association on the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council until she joined the Larchmont Buzz.

Since 2007, Patricia has been an active member of the Hancock Park Garden Club, where she served as president from 2009 to 2011. She is a member of Larchmont Village Business Improvement District, Wilshire Rotary club of Angeles, Larchmont Boulevard Association, and The Ebell of Los Angeles, a women's nonprofit organization established in 1894, where she served as the organization's 64th president from 2020 to 2022.

For nearly 20 years, Patricia was involved with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where she served as a Trustee and was inspired to pursue local history. The Natural History Museum Seaver Center for Western History Research provided a key image of Larchmont that motivated her to research the story of this unique street. Patricia's book, ``Larchmont,'' was published in 2015. Patricia and her husband, William D. Simon, live in Fremont Place, and they have 2 daughters, Emily, and Alexandra. Emily and her husband Dan live in the Larchmont Village area, and Alexandra is currently planning to move to San Francisco, California to pursue a career in social work.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Patricia Lombard.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman,

Carolyn Ramsay of the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Born in Philadelphia, Carolyn is the youngest of 5 children of Jean and Jack Ramsay. She attended the University of Oregon and received a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1981. Carolyn worked as a journalist from 1986 to 2006 including as a magazine writer for Los Angeles Times Magazine, Buzz Magazine, and SELF magazine, correspondent for People Magazine, and staff writer at the Stamford Advocate.

Following her career as a journalist, Ms. Ramsay served as the communications director and deputy chief of staff for the late Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge from 2006 to 2011, thereafter serving as the Los Angeles Program Director for the Trust for Public Land from 2011 to 2012, before returning to work for Councilman LaBonge as Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2014. In 2018, Carolyn went on to serve as the Executive Director for the Los Angeles Parks Foundation. Under her leadership, many parks in Los Angeles were improved and expanded for people to enjoy in the years ahead. After 5 years with the organization, Carolyn recently retired from her position.

In addition to her illustrious career, Ms. Ramsay has always found the time to volunteer and give back to the community. She served on the board of trustees of Temple Israel of Hollywood, board of advisors of Hollywood Wilshire YMCA, and as board president of the Windsor Square Association from 2002 to 2005, where she led the organization during the planting of hundreds of street trees and was instrumental in the efforts for the historic preservation of Windsor Square.

She has received several awards including Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society's Leadership Award, Wilshire Community Police Council's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2023 was named Nonprofit Executive of the Year for a medium sized organization by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Carolyn is married to her husband, Andy Goodman, who is a public interest consultant. Their son, Daniel Goodman, is a podcast producer for iHeartRadio in Los Angeles, and their daughter, Olivia Goodman, is about to begin her third year of medical school at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Carolyn Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman. Evelyn Serrano of the Sunland- Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Evelyn is a Cuban immigrant, artist, educator and community volunteer working at the intersection of creative activism, placemaking, land stewardship, memory, and community engagement, and her employment and volunteer activities are indeed a reflection of her collaborative, artistic nature. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art and Integrated Media from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), a Master's in Education from Alliant International University, and her teaching credential from the University of California, San Diego.

Ms. Serrano is a co-founder of Sunland Tujunga Forward (ST Forward), a non-profit organization that focuses on equity, anti-racism, intersectional feminism, land stewardship, and transformative relationships through collaborative action. ST Forward organizes an annual Indigenous Peoples Day, monthly land restoration events at Big Tujunga Canyon, an annual Pride Festival, and native plantings and curriculum at local schools.

She served as Co-Artistic Director of Nuestro Lugar: North Shore, an innovative large-scale resident-designed, culture-driven community development project in a rural community on the Salton Sea, and she co- founded Nomad Lab, an award-winning non-profit arts organization that worked with Canyon Country and Newhall residents and city officials to develop art-centered initiatives and inclusive spaces for learning, community organizing, and grassroots change through the arts. Ms. Serrano is the co-founder of I.D.E.A. Wave Co-lab, a project that creates open-source tools for coalitions, organizations, schools, and communities to support their journeys of transformative justice healing. She has worked in partnerships with visual and performing artists, policy makers, writers, educators and students, community organizers, non-profit organizations, and diverse communities nationally and internationally, and her curatorial projects have been featured in Los Angeles, Miami, Baltimore, and in Mexico, Uruguay, and Israel.

Evelyn has taught courses on activism, the arts and community engagement at CalArts and has led workshops and lectured in Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and Baja, California. She is the lead artist of El Acercamiento/The Approach, a transnational art project with U.S. and Cuban artists and, is an Arts for Advocacy Fellow and the Director of Arts Integration and Visual Arts Specialist at the California Creative Learning Academy. In addition, Evelyn is training to become a seed keeper with a Mohawk leader, working to develop nature spaces and curriculum for growing and rehydrating our connection to the Earth, seeds and all creation. Ms. Serrano has been recognized and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Evelyn Serrano.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Dr. Marie Levine of Pasadena, California.

Marie arrived in Pasadena in 1982 from France to attend the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she received a master's degree and a Ph.D. degree in engineering. Upon graduation, she joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where she is still working to this day.

As a Principal Engineer, Marie's work has focused on formulating and developing extreme precision space observatories for NASA Astrophysics science missions. On her latest project, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), she guided the integrated modeling and simulations required to predict the observatory's performance in space. Because of its complexity, JWST could not be fully tested on the ground prior to launch, and verification of the on-orbit imaging quality and stability had to be done primarily by computer simulations. This task was especially daunting because there were no flight precedents to build upon and new modeling techniques had to be developed for predicting motion stability to the accuracy of one thousandth the diameter of a human hair across the 6-meter telescope. The job also involved coordinating the work of hundreds of engineers from across the country, including from universities, NASA center, and aerospace contractors. The amazing images produced by the telescope are a testament to the many who contributed and Marie's outstanding leadership. This telescope will enable new scientific discoveries by looking back in time for how solar systems and galaxies formed after the Big Bang, and by detecting signs of life in the chemical composition of planets around other stars.

Integrated modeling is now being successfully implemented on NASA's next astrophysics observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and Dr. Levine is on NASA's Standing Review Board as the integrated modeling specialist. With other experts around the country, she is currently working on early formulation plans for a large space telescope mission to find and characterize Earth-like planets. For her remarkable achievements in her field, Marie has received many awards during her 32-year career at JPL, including the JPL Magellan Award and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

Active in her community and with a love of gardening, she volunteered with the Pasadena Water and Power Department to create a drought tolerant demonstration garden at the Sheldon Reservoir, which was recently acknowledged by the State of California Secretary of Natural Resources.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Dr. Marie Levine.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my congressional district. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Dr. Christina Ashjian Garabedian of Glendale, California.

Born in Hollywood, California, Dr. Christina Ashjian Garabedian attended Mekhitarist Fathers Armenian School and later, Providence High School in Burbank, California. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of the Pacific, completed her post-graduate residency at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, and then began her career at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center as a clinical pharmacist. After several years of practice, Dr. Ashjian Garabedian became a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist, a certification held by a small percentage of pharmacists, and became Providence Holy Cross Medical Center's Medication Safety Officer, working with the executives and leadership of the hospital to ensure safe medication practices.

Dr. Ashjian Garabedian's extraordinary efforts extend beyond her career as a pharmacist. From a very young age, she has been passionate about volunteering to make a positive impact in the community and throughout her time in school volunteered at local hospitals, pharmacies, and health fairs.

Over a decade ago, Dr. Ashjian Garabedian began volunteering for the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR), a nonprofit organization which helps individuals survive blood-related illnesses by recruiting and matching donors to those who require bone marrow stem cell transplants. She joined ABMDR's Board of Directors in 2016, became the organization's Walkathon Committee Chair, leading successful walkathons, and is part of the donor recruitment team and outreach committee.

In addition to her selfless dedication to ABMDR, Dr. Ashjian Garabedian strives to make a positive impact on future generations by participating as a judge for local high school science fairs, serving on the Board of Regents at Providence High School, her alma mater, and serving as a member of the Nerouj committee, a program under the leadership of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of North America.

Dr. Ashjian Garabedian currently resides in Glendale, California with her husband, Hovig Garabedian. The newlyweds enjoy traveling and hosting family and friends in their new home.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Dr. Christina Ashjian Garabedian.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Maria Herrera of the Elysian Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Born in 1965 in Jalisco, Mexico, Maria moved to the United States in the mid-1990's, settling in the Los Angeles neighborhood of

Elysian Valley, and since that time, she has spent many years building and improving her community.

Ms. Herrera's first civic engagement began while her three children attended Allesandro Elementary School, where she joined the Parent Council Board, which granted a space for guardians and parents to raise concerns directly with the school's administration. The council also attended to the needs of the community along with being a place of learning, and for Spanish speaking parents like herself, the council offered the opportunity to be involved with their children's education. This was extremely important to Maria--having only finished middle school in Mexico, she was adamant that her children and their classmates receive the high-quality education that she was denied.

Because of her work on the Parent Council Board, Ms. Herrera became aware of other like-minded justice and educational inclusion organizations, one of which was the Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ), now Students Deserve. In conjunction with a coalition of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders, Maria was one of the parent organizers that developed grassroots strategies to improve LAUSD for students from underserved backgrounds through actions such as canvassing, telephone banking, meetings with LAUSD officials and school board members, walkouts, and protests. As a CEJ leader, Maria was often seen pushing her children in a stroller while holding up a picket sign during a protest. The organization achieved many victories in making student learning more inclusive and equitable, including increases in funding for the most marginalized of LAUSD students and schools.

After Maria's children grew up, she began volunteering at the Northeast LA (NELA) Mercadito, a food bank that was created because of community members' need for fresh produce during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the last few years, Ms. Herrera has assisted in the distribution of healthy produce to over 200 residents. Selfless, kindhearted, and generous, Maria takes care of her elderly neighbors by checking in on them, preparing and making food, finding and delivering necessary resources--even physically cleaning up their yards if needed. She also enjoys beautifying her entire block by planting flowers, plants, and cacti along the sidewalks.

Maria and her husband, Armando, have 3 children, Dario, Mariana, and Armando, and two grandchildren, Sophia and Ruben.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Maria Herrera.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Dr. Joanna Chikwe of the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

After studying art for two years in Italy, Dr. Chikwe studied medicine at Oxford University and completed her cardiac surgery residency in the United Kingdom, where she was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons. She was the recipient of the 2006 Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Cardiac Scholarship, to assume a fellowship in mitral and aortic surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she then joined the faculty until 2019.

Just prior to the pandemic, Dr. Chikwe moved west, and is currently the Irina and George Schaeffer Distinguished Chair in Cardiac Surgery and Chairman of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Chikwe is also Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Department of Surgery for the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles. She is Editorin-Chief of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, editor of Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports, co-Chair of the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, and an editorial board member of Journals of the American College of Cardiology and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Dr. Chikwe's clinical focus is robotic mitral repair. She leads a cardiac surgery program that is rated among the top three on a national scale by U.S. News and World Report, and she also directs three affiliate cardiac surgery programs within the Cedars-Sinai Health System. The robotic cardiac surgery program, the heart and lung transplant programs, and the structural heart program are among the largest in the country. In terms of research, Dr. Chikwe concentrates on therapies for valvular heart disease, with more than 250 peer reviewed publications including contributions in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Dr. Joanna Chikwe.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women during Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would like to recognize a remarkable woman, Isabel Omero of Burbank, California.

Isabel has lived in or around the City of Burbank for over four decades and has been a proud homeowner in Burbank for the past 28 years. An out and proud transgender woman for the last four years, Isabel chose to call Burbank home, because it reminded her of her small-town birthplace in Ohio.

Long before her transition, Isabel attended the University of Cincinnati. She then had a 40-year career as a television script supervisor for music and comedy series, including all seven seasons of ``The Golden Girls.'' Isabel also produced and hosted music, art, dance, and fashion events. Her volunteer productions for the non-profit organization, Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, led her to curate live performances for Art Walk's block at Los Angeles's ``Night on Broadway.''

An avid supporter of non-profit organizations, Isabel was part of the founding advisory board for Trans Can Work, which is dedicated to advancing workplace inclusion through workforce development training strategies, where she also wrote material to help transgender employees and educate employers about workplace policies. She also wrote public service messages for The Trevor Project, an organization committed to ending suicide among LGBTQ youth. Isabel has been a speaker at the Burbank Community YMCA Social Impact Center, which offers a wide range of LGBTQIA+ programs and services, and has volunteered at multicultural events for Elevate Burbank, an organization which promotes the appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity through events and partnerships with the community.

Last year, Isabel spearheaded ``Family Pride in the Park,'' Burbank's first ever LGBTQIA+ celebration, where people gathered in a powerful display of support for the city's LGBTQIA+ community. In addition to being its sponsorship chair, Isabel worked with law enforcement, city government, and businesses to help create a safe and meaningful experience.

Isabel is a lifelong baseball fan and enjoys traveling the world and exploring the neighborhoods of Southern California with her partner, Susan.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well- respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Isabel Omero.