Floor Statements

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

I would like to recognize Cindy Cleghorn of Tujunga, California, whose involvement in the Sunland-Tujunga community is truly remarkable.

Cindy began her volunteer career early. As a young girl in La Crescenta, California, she went door-to-door raising funds for the March of Dimes, and was a member of several organizations that promoted leadership development, including Job's Daughters, Eastern Star and Camp Fire Girls. This involvement gave her not only experience in giving back to her community, but also fostered her business and entrepreneurial skills.

In 1982, Ms. Cleghorn founded her company, C&M Printing, in Glendale, a small business that provides personalized service for nonprofits, businesses and organizations with their printing, copying and mailing needs, serving the greater Los Angeles area. She has been a leader in many business organizations, including the California Association of Business Printers, serving as President, the National Association of Women Business Owners-Los Angeles Chapter, where she received the Member of the Year Award in 1993, the Kiwanis Club of Glendale, where she served as Vice President, and Women Impacting Public Policy. In 1995, Cindy received the distinct honor of being elected to serve on the White House Conference on Small Business.

Cindy became active in the Sunland-Tujunga community when she moved her business to Tujunga. She helped to organize the certification of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, an advisory body to the city of Los Angeles, served as a member of the Board of Directors, served as President and Secretary and is currently serving as Vice President of Outreach. In addition, Ms. Cleghorn spearheaded the restoration of a business area in Tujunga which is now designated as Historic Olde Towne Tujunga. Selected by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Cindy served as a City Commissioner on the Neighborhood Council Review Commission. Currently, she is on the executive committee of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils where she works with nearly 100 neighborhood councils in Los Angeles as Chair of the Congress of Neighborhoods, and the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce, where she is President.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring a truly remarkable woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Cindy Cleghorn.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the outstanding contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

I would like to recognize an exceptional woman, Ceci Dominguez. A resident of Elysian Valley for 41 years, Ms. Dominguez has been an advocate for clean air and creating green areas in our community. She has helped not only plan, but also establish the Jardin Del Rio Community Garden, the Marsh Street Park, and the Marsh Skate Park.

Currently, Ceci serves as President of the Elysian Valley Seniors, and serves on the boards of the Sotomayor Learning Academies ArtLab School Site Governing Council, and the Cornerstone Theater Company, where she received the Community Visionary Award. She also serves as the President of the Park Advisory Board at the Elysian Valley Recreation Center, where she co-organized the Health and Holiday Fair in 2010 and the first Mammogram Social for women in 2011, where health services were provided free of charge to the public. She is also involved with community organizations such as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Friends of the Los Angeles River, and Elysian Valley Girl Scouts of America.

Previously, Ceci served as a Board Member of the Elysian Valley Riverside Neighborhood Council. She also co-founded the NorthEast Residents for Clean Air in 2011. Along with her late husband, Rey Dominguez, Ceci raised two wonderful children, Laura and Rey, and is the proud grandmother of Ricky.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring a truly extraordinary woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Ceci Dominguez.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule. At the outset, let me say that the cyber threat is real and its damage already devastating. And I very much appreciate the work that the chair and ranking member of the Intelligence Committee have done on this bill, and I appreciate that we have made and are continuing to make improvements.

But as the bill currently stands and as it will stand even after the amendments allowed by the rule are adopted, the bill simply does not do enough to protect the private information of Americans. Most importantly, I'm disappointed that the proposed rule does not allow an amendment that I offered with Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Holt, and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi. My amendment would fix an issue specifically cited by the White House in its Statement of Administration Policy in explaining why the President's advisers would recommend a veto of CISPA without important change. It would require the companies that share cyber threat information either with the government or with another private company to make reasonable efforts to remove personally identifiable information.

As the administration stated in its veto threat, the administration remains concerned that the bill does not require private entities to take reasonable steps to remove irrelevant personal information when sending cybersecurity data to the government or other private sector entities. Citizens have a right to know that corporations will be held accountable--and not granted immunity--for failing to safeguard personal information adequately.

The requirement of government-alone efforts to safeguard or minimize personal information is simply not enough. This is most apparent when, under the immunized conduct in the bill, private entities can share information with each other without ever going through the government. In those circumstances, how can the government minimize what it never possesses? So government-side minimization alone, which is all this bill includes, is not enough.

We have responded to the concerns of industry by making sure that when we ask them to take reasonable efforts to remove personal information, they can do so in real-time through automated processes. The witnesses who testified before the Intelligence Committee said that often the private parties are in the best position to anonymize the data. This is something they're doing anyway. And it's more than reasonable to require them to do that, particularly if we want to give them a broad grant of immunity.

Mr. Speaker, without an amendment to ensure that companies remove private information when they can do so--when they can do so through reasonable efforts--I cannot support the underlying bill. I believe that Members of both parties who support this change deserve the chance to vote on it. I suspect that because that issue would have gathered broad support, it is not being brought up for a vote here on the floor, and that is very disappointing. Accordingly, I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule, and I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I thank the gentleman for yielding the additional time.

And just to respond to my colleague, I'd be interested to know if there is anything you can point to in those 17 amendments that governs or requires the private sector, when it shares information with other private sector entities, to remove personally identifiable information. Because under the bill, the only minimization that's required is being done by the government; and in the case of private-to-private sector sharing, there is no government role. So this is the big hole.

While there are many private sector companies that may support the bill because it gives them broad immunity without any responsibility, that doesn't mean it's good policy, particularly when private companies have said they would make reasonable efforts. They're willing to do it; they can do it; they have the capacity to do it; we're just not asking them to do it or requiring them to do it. And we're giving something of great value to them, and that is we're giving them broad immunity. I think with that immunity ought to come some responsibility; and it shouldn't be too much to ask that that responsibility take the form of a reasonable effort, not a herculean one, not an impossible one, but a reasonable effort to ensure that Americans' privacy interests are observed and they take out that information when they can.

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in opposition to the overall measure.

There are three concerns that have been raised by the administration about this bill that I share.

The first is that it does not include a provision requiring the private sector to make reasonable efforts to remove personal information before they share it with each other or before they share it with the government. This is a bedrock necessity for those who are concerned about the privacy of Americans who may be implicated in this cyber sharing.

Second, it's very important that a civilian agency, like the Department of Homeland Security, be the main intake--really, the sole intake--for this domestic data.

There was one form of amendment offered in Rules to try to address this problem yesterday, yet another form of that amendment that was ultimately adopted by Rules, and yet a third form of that amendment that was adopted here this morning. None of us know exactly what it does because it has been a moving object. But it is very unclear whether this amendment would make a civilian agency, such as DHS, the sole intake for this domestic data. It should not be a military agency. We shouldn't have the private sector interacting directly with a military agency when it comes to domestic data that may involve the privacy of the American people.

Finally, the immunity provisions are very broad and need to be reined in so as to encourage the private sector to take reasonable steps to make sure it

does not compromise privacy interests when it is not necessary to do so to protect cybersecurity.

Those three issues still must be addressed.

I want to compliment the chairman and the ranking member for the work they have done. They have made a very good-faith effort to make progress on many of these issues and in fact have made progress, but the bill still falls short and I must urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our Nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my congressional district.

I would like to recognize an exceptional woman, Sylvia Sutton of Burbank, California, who for many years, has been educating our community about the Holocaust and other human rights violations.

Sylvia received her B.A. in Psychology from UCLA and her MBA in Marketing and Program Management from West Coast University. Sylvia's early community efforts included volunteering on the David Starr Jordan Middle School Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and the William McKinley Elementary School PTA, where she received an Honorary Life Membership Award, and as a Girl Scout Leader.

Ms. Sutton's volunteer activities have included the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Burbank Branch, where she served as President, the UCLA Alumni Scholarship Committee, and the League of Women Voters, Glendale/Burbank. Currently, she is the liaison between the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council and the City of Burbank, the Coordinator and Presenter of the annual Burbank Days of Remembrance Commemoration of the Holocaust, and has been the presenter of Holocaust speakers in the eighth and tenth grade classrooms of every Burbank middle and high school since 1991. Sylvia is also a volunteer at the Skirball Cultural Center, as well as the Parliamentarian on the Burbank Coordinating Council. In addition, she works as the secretary for Temple Beth Emet of Burbank.

Sylvia has received a number of accolades for her extensive community service, including the Burbank City 1999 Outstanding Senior Volunteer Award, the 1998 Zonta Woman of the Year for Cultural Awareness Award, and the 1991 Burbank Human Relations Council Distinguished Service Award.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring a truly remarkable woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Sylvia Sutton.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

I would like to recognize Rahla Hall Lindsey of La Canada Flintridge, an extraordinary leader, educator and volunteer in her community.

Rahla earned her B.A. in Speech Communication, M.A. in Cross- Cultural Communication, Secondary Teaching Credential in Speech and English from California State University, Los Angeles and her Ph.D. in Organizational Communication from the University of Southern California (USC). Her diverse professional career has included being Vice- President, U.S. Region, for the AFS International Intercultural Programs, the administrator of Broadview nursing facility, a volunteer instructor at the Center for Nonprofit Management, the Executive Director of the YWCA of Glendale, a teacher at Elderhostel, and a professor at USC's School of Public Administration and School of Policy, Planning and Development. Currently she is the president and a consultant for RHall and Associates.

In her volunteer career, Ms. Lindsey broke barriers as the first female President of the Verdugo Hills Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and first female member of Rotary International's Glendale Chapter. She has served on numerous committees and boards, including California Literacy, Inc., the City of La Canada Flintridge Foothill Boulevard Design Options Committee, Assistance League of Flintridge, Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Organizing Committee, La Canada Flintridge Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and the U.S. Air Force Academy Parent Support Group. Currently, she is active in the Rotary Club of Crescenta-Canada, Verdugo Hills Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Los Angeles County Bar Association as a volunteer lay arbitrator, First Church of Christ, Scientist, and a reader to second grade students at Richardson D. White Elementary School, where she is known to the children as ``Gramma Rahla.''

Rahla has received many well-deserved honors, including the 2001 James E. West Fellow and 2006 Silver Beaver Service Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the 2009 Continuing Service Award from Richardson D. White Elementary School.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring a truly remarkable woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Rahla Hall Lindsey.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

Today, I stand to laud the tireless efforts of Paula Devine of Glendale, California. Upon her retirement from a 33-year teaching career, Paula remains a vibrant member of the Glendale community, where she volunteers as a women's advocate.

Paula's accomplishments in the community are many. She has served on the City of Glendale Commission on the Status of Women for seven years, where she has been both Vice Chair and Chairperson. Through her unparalleled leadership, the Commission has not only gained great status in the community, but has also raised significant funds through fundraisers and grants to support their programs. With the support of her colleagues, Paula developed a program called ``Commission Status Rescue,'' which provides annual funds to the Glendale Police Department for offering temporary emergency shelter to individuals who have been victims of domestic violence. Paula is a member of the Board of Directors of Glendale Healthy Kids and the Glendale Police Foundation, and a member of the Advisory Board of both the Glendale Adventist Medical Center and the Desi Geestman Foundation, which raises funds to help families deal with financial burdens while their children are receiving cancer treatment at the City of Hope in Duarte.

In addition to her leadership roles, Paula is a dedicated member and volunteer for organizations such as the Glendale Historical Society, Soroptimist of Glendale, Women's Civic League, and the Glendale Latino Association. Paula has been an influential member of the Bully Me Not Coalition and the Safe Family Task Force, and has worked on creating a Teen Dating Violence Curriculum in the Glendale secondary schools.

I ask all Members to join me today in honoring an outstanding woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Paula Devine, for her exceptional service to the community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

I would like to recognize an exceptional woman, Mel Culpepper of Los Angeles, who for many years has worked with non-profit organizations and has made a profound impact on the families in our community.

Ms. Culpepper has served as the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood, BGCH, since 2007, where she manages the Club's annual budget, spearheads fundraising efforts, and serves as the liaison to government and community agencies. During her time as Executive Director, Mel has introduced development strategies and cost- saving concepts that have greatly contributed to the success of the organization.

Prior to Ms. Culpepper's work for the BGCH, she worked as Director of Residential Treatment Services for Stanford Home for Children in Sacramento, where she managed the budget and developed new programs for children with mental illnesses. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Director of the Central YMCA of San Francisco.

Mel has contributed to our community by creating partnerships and relationships with other Hollywood businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals, which benefit the Club and its members and the community. For example, she created a partnership with the Hollywood Community Housing Corporation,

HCHC, and collaborated on a successful plan to shuttle HCHC children from their housing units to the BGCH for after-school programming. Today, the BGCH provides free annual BGCH membership, free year-round shuttling to and from HCHC facilities, and free hot lunches and snacks. In addition, these at-risk children receive tutoring, computer training, and homework assistance. Another partnership Mel created involved Ross Dress for Less, which provided clothes, shoes, and supplies to members of the Club for the 2010-2011 school year. Additionally, Mel partnered with Toyota of Hollywood for an annual holiday Toy Drive, and as a result of this partnership, Toyota donated a portion of their December sales to the BGCH.

I ask all Members to join me today in honoring an outstanding woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Mel Culpepper, for her exceptional service to the community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

I would like to recognize an exceptional woman, Mary Gant, of La Crescenta, California, a true leader in the La Crescenta-Montrose and La Canada Flintridge communities.

Mary was active in the Mountain Avenue Elementary School Parent Teacher Association, PTA, in La Crescenta, receiving their Honorary Service Award, and the Rosemont Middle School PTA in La Crescenta, serving as President, where she was honored with the PTA Continuing Service Award.

Well-known throughout the area for her energetic, friendly and positive attitude, Mary has organized many key events for various charitable organizations. She coordinated the silent auction for the La Canada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce's annual meetings, was a Chamber Ambassador and serves on the city's Fiesta Days parade committee every year. A driving force in many Kiwanis Club of La Canada projects, Mary co-founded the ``Wine and Gourmet Food Tasting'' event in coordination with the La Canada Flintridge Educational Endowment Fund, and helped with the Kiwanis Club's Soap Box Derby event registration process for many years. Ms. Gant was also President of the La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association, served on the fund-raising committee for the Crescenta-Canada Family YMCA and assists with the YMCA's Annual Prayer Breakfast.

Mary is devoted to her church, the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church. She served as a Sunday School Superintendent and teacher, was active in the Youth Program, is on the Personnel Committee and is an ordained Deacon and Elder.

Some of the awards Ms. Gant has received include the Kiwanis Club of La Canada's Distinguished Service Award, the Gil Smith Award, and the La Canadan of the Year Award. In addition she received the Chamber's Volunteer of the Year Award and the Les Tupper Community Service Award from the La Canada Flintridge Coordinating Council.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring a truly remarkable woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Mary Gant.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

I would like to recognize an exceptional woman, Grace Yoo of Los Angeles, California, whose tireless efforts have benefited her community and beyond. Grace received a B.A. in

political science from the University of California, Riverside, and is a graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law.

Ms. Yoo is the Executive Director of the Korean American Coalition in Los Angeles, KAC, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which represents the interests of the Korean American community in the Los Angeles area. She is very involved in working with a diverse set of communities throughout Los Angeles, where she helps mediate differences and fosters awareness of the needs of the Korean American community. Grace is a certified mediator, who works with leaders of every cultural background to resolve tension and conflict and bring about a more harmonious Los Angeles. Grace is also involved in international efforts to help refugees and through ``Topple Hunger in North Korea'', T.H.I.N.K., a KAC run program, she became deeply involved in the North Korea Child Welfare Act. This Act was signed into law on January 13, 2013, by President Obama. Prior to her career with KAC, Grace served as the Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Along with being a successful career woman, Grace has been a selfless volunteer for several organizations since her high school days. Her volunteer work includes being active in several professional organizations to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the law and being a driver for SAFE RIDES. In 2008, Ms. Yoo was nominated by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to serve as a Los Angeles City Commissioner for the Department of Transportation. Currently, she serves as the President of the BOB Fund for Children.

I ask all Members to join me today in honoring an outstanding woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Grace Yoo, for her exceptional service to the community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Women's History Month. Each year, we pay special tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding women who are making a difference in my Congressional District.

Today, I rise to commend Dr. Armine G. Hacopian of Glendale, California, whose tireless efforts have benefited her community and beyond. Dr. Hacopian moved to the United States at the age of sixteen. It was evident that she was committed to receiving a higher education, and keeping the promise she made to her ailing father, an Armenian Genocide survivor, who did not have the opportunity to receive a formal education. Her father continuously reminded his children, including Armine, about the importance of learning, and Armine attended Alhambra High School, went on to receive a B.A. in Art Education, two M.A.s in Art Education and Supervision and Administrative Services from Cal State University, Los Angeles, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership.

Armine's unparalleled commitment to education has benefited many. In 2001, Armine was elected to the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees, where she is currently serving as the Board President. Through her hard work, dedication, and support of her co-trustees, the Glendale Community College-Garfield Campus construction plan received an additional two million dollars in funding. In addition, she was instrumental in helping pass a $98 million dollar bond measure for capital improvements at Glendale Community College.

For the past two decades, Armine has assisted many girls and women who have been victims of rape and domestic abuse with finding safe homes. Many of these women eventually landed on the path of a successful career, and to this very day, keep in touch with Armine to inform her of their new accomplishments.

Armine has also served as department chair, counselor, teacher and as coordinator of the Even Start Family Literacy program, through which she was able to work closely with Head Start and provide parenting classes. She was also an ESL, English as a Second Language, specialist, where she helped teachers improve their skills as they worked with students whose primary language was not English. Armine is also a consultant in the areas of sexual harassment prevention, career transitions and communication and conflict management.

I ask all Members to join me in honoring a remarkable woman of California's 28th Congressional District, Dr. Armine G. Hacopian, for her exceptional service to the community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special recognition to Bolton Hall in Tujunga, California as it celebrates its one-hundredth anniversary.

Shortly after the turn of the century, the Glorietta Heights area of Rancho Tujunga came to the attention of Marshall Hartranft, a land developer who engaged William E. Smythe to publicize the upper slopes of the area. Mr. Smythe was the founder of the ``Little Lands'' movement, a utopian movement that believed that families settling on an acre or two of land could support themselves and prosper. Settlement of the lots by Smythe's ``Little Landers'' began in 1913 and in April of that year, Marshall Hartranft donated land and financed construction of Bolton Hall for the new colony. The edifice was designed by ``Nature Builder'' George Harris, who used rocks gathered from local hillsides and the Tujunga Wash to create a building that harmonized beautifully with its setting between the Verdugo Hills and the San Gabriel mountains. The structure was first called The Clubhouse, but was later named in honor of Smythe's friend, author Bolton Hall. Dedicated in August 1913, the hall quickly became the center of all community activities, including church services, dances, town meetings, socials, and the San Fernando Valley's second library.

Though the ``Little Lands'' movement declined by 1920, Bolton Hall continued to serve the community, becoming Tujunga's City Hall and town jail after the town was incorporated in 1925. Following the annexation of the city to Los Angeles in 1932, Bolton Hall housed Los

Angeles' Department of Building and Safety as well as its Health Department and local police. The city eventually built a new municipal building, and the old stone structure was boarded up in 1957. For the next twenty years, members of the newly-formed Little Landers Historical Society and others fought to save the historic building from demolition and worked toward restoration. Starr Von Fluss, past president of the Little Landers Historical Society served as campaign chairwoman to raise funds for the restoration. With the acquisition of additional funds by Roberta Stewart and L.A. City Councilman Robert Ronka, the campaign to save and restore the building was a success, with restoration work beginning in February of 1980 and its official re-opening celebration held on June 27, 1981.

Today artifacts, photographs, documents and memorabilia of Sunland, Tujunga and the foothill areas are displayed, ranging historically from the village of the Tongva Indians, through the Mission and Mexican Land Grant periods, to the development of Sunland Tujunga and the rescue of Bolton Hall. The building also serves as the office for the Little Landers Historical Society. Along with John Steven McGroarty's home, now the McGroarty Cultural Art Center, Bolton Hall is one of ten historical monuments in the Sunland Tujunga area and is also included in the National Register of Historic Places.

I ask all Members of Congress to join me today in recognizing Bolton Hall's historical importance and celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, this week marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the pogrom against people of Armenian descent in the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. The three-day massacre in the winter of 1988 resulted in the deaths of scores of Armenians, many of whom were burnt to death after being brutally beaten and tortured. Hundreds of others were wounded. Women and girls were brutally raped. The carnage created thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees, who had to leave everything behind to be looted or destroyed, including their homes, cars and businesses.

These crimes, which were proceeded by a wave of anti-Armenian rallies throughout Azerbaijan, were never adequately prosecuted by Azerbaijan authorities. Many who organized or participated in the bloodshed have gone on to serve in high positions on the Azeri government. For example, in the days leading up to the massacre, a leader of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Hidayat Orujev, warned Armenians in Sumgait: ``If you do not stop campaigning for the unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia, if you don't sober up, 100,000 Azeris from neighboring districts will break into your houses, torch your apartments, rape your women, and kill your children.'' In a cruel twist, Orujev went on serve as Azerbaijan's State Advisor for Ethnic Policy and later as head of State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations.

The Sumgait massacres led to wider reprisals against Azerbaijan's ethnic minority, resulting in the virtual disappearance of Azerbaijan's 450,000-strong Armenian community, and culminating in the war launched against the people of Nagorno Karabakh. That war resulted in almost 30,000 dead on both sides and created more than one million refugees in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In the years since the fighting ended, the people of Artsakh, the region's ancestral name, have struggled to build a functioning democratic state in the midst of unremitting hostility and threats from Azerbaijan, as well as sniper fire and other incursions across the Line of Contact between the two sides. Hatred towards Armenians is both inculcated and celebrated in Azeri youth, as exemplified by the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army captain who had confessed to the savage 2004 axe murder of Armenian army lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, while the latter slept. At the time, the two were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise in Budapest, Hungary. After the murder, Safarov was sentenced to life in prison by a Hungarian court and imprisoned in Hungary.

Last August Safarov was sent home to Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Instead of prison, he was greeted as a hero by the Azeri government and promenaded through the streets of Baku carrying a bouquet of roses. President Ilham Aliyev immediately pardoned Safarov and he was promoted to the rank of major and given a new apartment and eight years of back pay.

In recent weeks, 75-year-old Akram Aylisli, one of Azerbaijan's most celebrated writers, has been subjected to a campaign of hatred. According to a report in the BBC, '[h]is books have been publicly burnt. He has been stripped of his national literary awards. And a high-ranking Azeri politician has offered $13,000 as a bounty for anyone who will cut off his ear. Aylisi's 'crime?'-- in his short novel Stone Dreams, he dared to look at the conflict between Azeris and Armenians from the Armenian perspective.

With these disgusting acts, the Azeri state reminded the whole world why the people of Artsakh must be allowed to determine their own future and cannot be allowed to slip into Aliyev's clutches, lest the carnage of Sumgait a quarter century ago serve as a foreshadowing of a greater slaughter.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to the Burbank Coordinating Council as it celebrates its eightieth anniversary.

Since 1933, the Burbank Coordinating Council--comprised of volunteers from city departments, businesses, PTAs, service organizations, and schools--has been dedicated to serving the needs of Burbank by creating numerous programs to benefit the community.

The Burbank Coordinating Council founded many programs to serve the community, including the school crossing guards program called ``Safety Sallies,'' community forums to allow the residents' voices to be heard regarding public issues, Senior and Youth boards to better understand the needs of seniors and youth, Foster Home Studies, and Books for Korea.

In 1936, the Burbank Coordinating Council began a program to provide scholarships to needy children from low-income families to attend a week of resident or day camp during summer. This camp experience gives children an opportunity to make new friends, build self-confidence, relax and, of course, ``just be kids.'' Today, the Burbank Coordinating Council sends anywhere from 50 to 200 children to camp each year.

Since 1946, the Burbank Coordinating Council has prepared and delivered hundreds of Christmas baskets to families in need throughout the City of Burbank. These baskets, filled with food and gifts, are assembled with love and with the goal of making a positive difference in peoples' lives. This effort has grown tremendously over time, from serving a few families when it first began to now serving over 550 families annually, in what is now called ``Holiday Baskets''.

This remarkable organization always lends a helping hand to those in need of food, shelter, counseling, or other assistance. The time, energy and resources that the volunteers of the Burbank Coordinating Council provide to the City of Burbank is extraordinary, and so many needy residents have benefited greatly from the generosity of the Burbank Coordinating Council. I ask all Members to join with me in commending the Burbank Coordinating Council for eighty years of dedicated service to the City of Burbank.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a constituent and philanthropist, George Aratani, who passed away last week.

Mr. Aratani was part of the Greatest Generation, and served his country as a member of the Military Intelligence Service, or MIS, during World War II. His service came at a time when tens of thousands of his fellow Japanese Americans were interned in camps scattered in the Western United States. He chose to serve and defend America with no guarantee that his own freedom would be defended in return.

I was proud to work to ensure that MIS members like George Aratani and all of the Go for Broke veterans received the credit and thanks they were due through the Congressional Gold Medal.

When he returned home, Mr. Aratani started and ran several businesses, and dedicated himself to Japanese American educational and cultural causes, including the Go for Broke veterans' memorial and foundation. George Aratani had a profound impact on our country and on his community, and he will be terribly missed.