Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Rotary Club of Pasadena Sunrise upon the occasion of its seventieth anniversary. The Rotary Club of Pasadena Sunrise is a group whose members are active contributors to the community, both locally and nationally.

Over the past seventy years, the Rotary Club of Pasadena Sunrise has exemplified the Rotary motto: ``Service Above Self.'' The club's nonprofit foundation has raised several hundred thousand dollars to benefit the community.

For over a decade, the Rotary Club of Pasadena Sunrise has ``adopted'' Field Elementary School in Pasadena and has donated to the school's library and landscaping. Annually, the club also recognizes outstanding Field Elementary School students. Minigrants are awarded annually to Pasadena Unified School District school teachers to meet needs that are not funded by the district.

Internationally, the club has done much volunteer service in Mexico, including building houses for the homeless, donating a fire truck and emergency vans to small towns, and sending medical supplies to villages. The club also provides funding for overseas projects in nations such as Uganda, Nigeria, and Liberia. In addition, the club is sponsoring a project in India, where a child care center and a computer/vocational center will be created in the village of Chahalka, India.

For their extraordinary commitment to making both the local and the international community a better place, I ask all members of Congress to join me in congratulating the members of the Rotary Club of Pasadena rise upon their seventieth anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Black History Month. The theme of this year's Black History Month is ``Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism.'' Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson was a brilliant African-American historian, educator, author, and publisher. Born in 1875 to former slaves, Dr. Woodson grew up working on railroads and mines in Virginia. At the age of 20, he had finally earned enough money to afford to attend high school. He went on to college, and became a teacher in the U.S. and Philippines. In 1912 he graduated from Harvard, and after W.E.B. Du Bois, became the second African-American to receive a Ph.D.

Dr. Woodson advocated for education reform to empower African- Americans to unite around shared history. He wrote, ``Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.'' Thanks to Dr. Woodson, we have a record of the accomplishments of our African- American forebears, and we are continually inspired by our knowledge of their biographies and history.

This month, we call to our memories the triumphs of Dr. Woodson himself, as the ``Father of Black History.'' His efforts to research, teach, and celebrate African-American history gave us our current celebration of Black History Month. In 1926, he established Negro History Week, held during the second week of February to honor the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, this annual celebration expanded and became Black History Month.

Celebrating Dr. Woodson's accomplishments inspires us to examine our present work toward racial justice and equal opportunity. Today, African-Americans serve our country in myriad ways. For example, 2.4 million military veterans are black. The U.S. has about 1.2 million black-owned firms, generating around $88 billion annually. Paving the way for our future, 2.3 million college students are African-American, an increase of over 1 million students over the last 15 years.

Congress must continue to work to improve the lives of all Americans. Last year, it took the important step of raising the federal minimum wage to $5.85/hour, which will increase this year to $6.55/hour and in 2009 to $7.25/hour. Congress also strengthened the middle class by making college educations more affordable, such as by investing $510 million over five years in minority-serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges. The House introduced legislation to provide $410 billion in the federal marketplace to small businesses. By passing the Energy Security Bill, Congress lowered energy costs for consumers, reduced global warming, and created hundreds of thousands of new jobs. The Economic Stimulus Package, recently passed by the House, will put money back into the hands of 117 million American families to reinvigorate the economy. We have made great strides, but we must continue our commitment to serving the American people.

Writing almost 100 years ago, Dr. Woodson possessed the insight to understand the immense benefits of nationally celebrating black history. The path he forged paved the way for our great African- American leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Thurgood Marshall. As we celebrate all African-Americans this month, let us specially recognize Dr. Woodson. May his memory inspire us to continue our work to achieve racial justice and to ensure equality of opportunity for all Americans.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a well-respected and dedicated leader in the 29th Congressional District and a role model in the Asian community, Chi Mui, mayor of the city of San Gabriel. It is with great pride that I introduce a resolution today to pay tribute to Chi Mui, with what may be the first honor of its kind for a Chinese- American, by naming the San Gabriel, California Post Office for him.

Born in Toisan, China, on October 26, 1952, Chi Mui was a man of humble origins whose early experiences enabled him to relate and connect to the Asian community in California. His parents, a seamstress and a cook, left for the United States in 1963 when Chi Mui was 10 and moved to New York City's Chinatown. It was in New York City that Mui learned to speak English and graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Polytechnic University of New York in 1980.

After moving to Southern California in 1980, Chi Mui began working to better the lives of immigrants in the region. Chi Mui's immigrant roots and experiences gave him special insight, wisdom and the ability to connect with the experiences of generations of people who have come to this country and to San Gabriel for a better life. Mayor Mui always recognized, and never failed to pay tribute to, his parents for their sacrifices and encouragement of their children's education and aspirations for the future.

Mui was a key player in the development of 600 units of affordable and senior housing for Chinatown and taught citizenship to help hundreds of legal residents become United States citizens. He led the effort to save the 50-acre ``Cornfield'' in downtown Los Angeles as open space, was instrumental in organizing the Chinatown Yard Alliance, and successfully obtained $35 million from the state in 2001 to build the first urban state park and community facilities on the Cornfield.

An avid runner and athlete, Chi Mui co-founded the Los Angeles Chinatown Athletic Association Volleyball Club where he coached young people in teamwork and sportsmanship. He also worked to expand existing recreational facilities in the Chinatown community. In recognition of his leadership, he was elected president of the Los Angeles Chinese American Citizens Alliance--twice. The Alliance was founded in 1895 to advocate for equal political, economical and educational opportunities for Chinese-Americans.

Active in local politics early on, he was a field representative for Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) when she was in the Assembly, and he worked for former Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) and State Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles). In March 2003 he made history as the first Asian and Chinese-American to be elected to the San Gabriel City Council since its incorporation in 1913.

In a city where one in every two residents is Asian, Mayor Mui often played an important role as a liaison between the city government and the Asian community and he worked diligently to improve the lives of all residents. As

a city councilmember, Chi Mui led the effort to maintain better hours at the county public library in San Gabriel to provide greater access to residents and students without increasing costs. An advocate of parks and open space, the `greening' of San Gabriel was a personal passion, to which he brought considerable connections and resources. He was instrumental in helping the City obtain an additional $50,000 for the master plan and redesign of Vincent Lugo Park.

Mayor Mui passed away on April 27, 2006 after a courageous battle with cancer. The loss is still being felt by the communities he served and those that had the privilege of working closely with him for the betterment of the region. Although we cannot know how Mayor Mui might have continued to shape lives in the Los Angeles area, I can say with confidence that his work and contributions will always be cherished. Please join me in honoring this devoted public servant by dedicating the San Gabriel Post Office in his name.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the late Gladys Joy Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy was a devoted and active member of the Pasadena community.

Gladys Joy Kennedy was born on June 1, 1965, the beloved child of Thomas Foster Kennedy, now deceased, and Leola Sudduth Kennedy of Pasadena, California. Gladys, a twin, was the ninth of ten children. A Pasadena area resident all of her life, she attended Cleveland Elementary School, McKinley Junior High School, and Blair High School.

Gladys was active in many churches in the Pasadena area, including Holy Deliverance Church and Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church. She was a proud and devout member of the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Altadena, where she was an enthusiastic and devoted volunteer. Gladys also volunteered extensively for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Pasadena Branch, and assisted with numerous local political campaigns.

Gladys Joy will be greatly missed, and I extend my sincere condolences upon the untimely and very sad loss of Gladys Joy to the extended Kennedy family.

Madam Speaker, last year the President and the Director of National Intelligence pushed for legislation that would make it easier for the NSA to collect intelligence on Americans and groups abroad. Among other things, the administration's legislation would allow warrantless eavesdropping of virtually all communications of Americans with anyone outside the U.S., so long as the government declared that the surveillance was directed at people reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S.

I opposed the bill when it was considered by the House and instead joined with Chairman Conyers and Chairman Reyes in support of a responsible alternative that would have met the needs of the Director of National Intelligence

without compromising the privacy of law-abiding Americans in ways that don't improve our security. The proposal included robust oversight and audit provisions designed to determine the impact of these changes on Americans. Unfortunately, Congress was forced hastily to pass the administration's version before adjourning in August. Nonetheless, Congress provided the law would sunset in 6 months to ensure that modifications were quickly made.

Over 2 months ago the House returned to this debate by passing the RESTORE Act, legislation that updated FISA, provided these effective surveillance tools while ensuring robust oversight. Importantly, the RESTORE Act also provided protections to ensure that communications of U.S. persons were not acquired without some court involvement or supervision, provisions that were left out of the proposal passed in August.

The other body has also drafted legislation aimed at modifying the bill that passed out of the House in August to provide oversight and additional protections. Unfortunately, they haven't completed their work. Some very thoughtful proposals like that by Senator Dianne Feinstein offer fresh ways to break the impasse over some very difficult issues. The proposals that they are debating and attempting to finalize have a number of notable departures from the House-passed version. With the August bill set to expire in 3 days, it's necessary for us to seek a temporary extension in order to ensure this House has a role in crafting its revision. The impending deadlines necessitate an extension, and I'm proud to support that very modest extension.

Madam Speaker, it is with a mixture of anger and sadness that I rise today to honor the 1-year anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink, the courageous Armenian-Turkish journalist, who was murdered by a Turkish extremist.

Mr. Dink founded the bilingual newspaper Agos in 1996, giving a voice to Turkey's Armenians. He acted on his beliefs of building community and acknowledging the past, for which he was persecuted, prosecuted and eventually forced to pay the ultimate price. Clearly, however, his life's work was not in vain; at his funeral, approximately 100,000 people marched behind his coffin, chanting, ``We are all Dink. We are all Armenians.''

Before Mr. Dink's untimely death last January, the Turkish government constantly tried to limit his freedom of speech. It confiscated copies of Agos on many occasions and on the flimsiest of pretenses. In 2004, Mr. Dink wrote an article stating that Turkey's first woman pilot was an Armenian orphan adopted after 1915. The government convicted him of insulting ``Turkishness'' under Article 301 of the Penal Code, a law specifically designed to prevent discussion of the Armenian Genocide. He received a 6-month suspended sentence. This was just one of several such prosecutions against Mr. Dink.

Mr. Dink's courage to confront the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide cost him his life. He continually received threatening telephone calls, e-mails, and letters. He reported this terrorization to the police, but they failed to protect him. On January 19, 2007, an extreme nationalist teenager shot Mr. Dink three times outside the Agos offices in Istanbul, killing him. Court hearings continue, but Mr. Dink's family stated that the investigation of his murder was conducted in secrecy and is incomplete.

Turkish prosecutions under Article 301 increased in 2007 and continued to affect Mr. Dink's family. Arat Dink, his son, published an interview in which Mr. Dink said that the 1915 to 1917 Armenian massacres constituted genocide. Last October Arat Dink received a 1- year suspended sentence for publishing this interview. Punishing Mr. Dink's son for publishing his murdered father's words is a travesty and exposes the lengths to which Ankara will go to hide the truth about the Armenian Genocide.

Mr. Dink's death was devastating to the democratic principle of a free and unfettered press and to the efforts of a handful of Turkish intellectuals who have been fighting to expose the crimes of Turkey's Ottoman predecessor. Denying the Armenian Genocide harms Turkey and imperils the future of this important nation. As the world marks the anniversary of Dink's murder, I reiterate my call for Turkey to honor the memory of Hrant Dink by repealing Article 301, and to acknowledge the truth of the Armenian Genocide.

Together with his family and colleagues, the Armenian community in Turkey, and his admirers around the world, we remember Hrant Dink, heroic defender of speech and human rights, on the 1-year anniversary of his murder.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3998, ``America's Historical and Natural Legacy Study Act.'' At the outset, I want to thank Chairman Rahall and Chairman Grijalva for bringing this bill to the floor and for their work in crafting a broad package of studies that will help us to preserve our natural and historical heritage.

In particular, I am pleased that the Chairmen included a study of the Rim of the Valley Corridor in southern California. This bill is an important milestone in my 7-year effort to direct the Department of the Interior to study alternatives for protecting the mountains and canyons in southern California that are part of the Rim of the Valley Corridor, as designated by the State of California.

This environmentally sensitive area is located in one of the most densely populated areas in the United States. The greater southern California metropolitan region has the Nation's second-largest urban concentration; about 1 in every 10 Americans lives in this region. At the same time, this area has one of the lowest ratios of park-and- recreation-lands per thousand-population of any area in the country. So this rapidly growing urban region is extremely underserved in terms of open space needs. Unless action is taken soon, this situation will only worsen as the region continues to grow.

The Rim of the Valley Corridor is an ecologically significant, contiguous region that consists of parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Susanna Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, Verdugo Mountains, San Rafael Hills, and adjacent connector areas to the Los Padres and San Bernadino National Forests. This corridor system is an example of the world's most endangered habitat area, the Mediterranean chaparral ecosystem.

Parts of the Rim of the Valley Corridor are already managed within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and the Angeles National Forest. Yet, with increasing development and population pressures, the future of the Corridor is threatened. It is in danger of becoming reduced to isolated pockets of open space, irreversibly destroying its connectivity. The contiguous nature of these open spaces is potentially critical to help preserve the integrity of its ecosystems.

The State of California has adopted the Rim of the Valley Master Plan, and local governments within the Rim of the Valley Corridor have made significant progress toward protecting the unique natural and recreational resources of the area. However, these efforts have been hampered by a lack of financial resources, technical assistance, and resource management expertise that can only be provided by the Federal Government.

Since Congress set aside the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Areas in 1978, federal, state and local authorities have worked in remarkable cooperation to manage what is the world's largest urban park. Now, nearly three decades later and in the face of tremendous projected population growth and development pressures, Congress, by passing this bill, again will have the opportunity to study ways to help safeguard and supplement the existing state and local parks, open space and recreational opportunities in southern California.

I hope that the Congress will seize the opportunity to order the Department of Interior to study of alternatives for protecting some of the most beautiful land in southern California for future generations of Americans to enjoy. The Rim of the Valley is a special place and we owe it to our children to develop a long-range plan that will balance preservation, recreation, and the needs and rights of those living in and around the area to be studied.

Again, Chairman Rahall and Chairman Grijalva, thank you for your support for the Rim of the Valley Corridor study and for all of your work to preserve America's natural splendor.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1759, the Managing Arson Through Criminal History Act, or the MATCH Act. This is legislation that my colleague, Congresswoman Mary Bono, and I introduced earlier this year to create a national registry of arsonists that would give law enforcement officers an important tool to track arsonists and share information across jurisdictions.

I want to thank Mrs. Bono for her leadership on this issue. I also want to thank the chairman of our committee for moving this bill through the committee and the majority leader for bringing it before us today.

In October of this year, the Nation saw the destruction caused by fires in southern California. Over 1,500 homes were destroyed, half a million acres of land burned, seven people died, and more than 85 were injured, including 61 firefighters. These brave heroes put their lives on the line every day to protect people, homes and wildlife.

The MATCH Act would create a national registry and require convicted arsonists to report where they live, work, and go to school. And the database would include photographs, fingerprints, vehicle information and other information on the arsonist. The length of time that an arsonist would be required to register is based on how many acts of arson they have committed: 5 years for one offense, 10 years for two, and lifetime for a serial arsonist who has committed three or more offenses. The information would only be made available to law enforcement agencies, not the general public. Most important, when a convicted arsonist updates his or her information with a change of residence, notification would be sent to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

When arson has occurred, it's critical to find and find quickly the individual involved to prevent future acts of arson and to prosecute the one responsible. Frequently arsonists use the same trademark tools, such as a unique incendiary device, a manner of starting a fire, or similar targets, such as houses of worship or even auto dealerships. In a case where the arsonist may have come from one place or a State to commit the act of arson, the information in the database will give law enforcement an important tool to identify convicted arsonists that may be connected to the very similar act of arson. Most importantly, the registration can also prevent future acts of arson by requiring convicted arsonists to update their information when they move or change jobs or schools. In addition to putting law enforcement on notice, this also lets the convicted arsonists know they can't hide from law enforcement for the purpose of committing another act of arson.

When I was a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles, I worked on an arson investigation that really brings to mind for me the merit of this bill. That case demonstrates how an arsonist registry would be of great benefit. This was a situation where someone was setting a string of fires in the San Bernardino forest. The individual used a unique incendiary device that he could throw in the brush and drive far away before the brush would be ignited. They couldn't catch the culprit in the act and eventually succeeded in tracking him down through the use of video surveillance and a complex investigation. The suspect was arrested and interviewed and admitted to setting fires in the taped interview. However, the tape recording malfunctioned and the confession was lost along with most of the case. As we pursued the investigation, we found a probation officer of the suspect from many years earlier who found his records in his basement storage. The file on the suspect detailed that many years earlier he had set fires using the same incendiary device. When confronted with the evidence, the suspect pled guilty. If we had a national arsonist registry at the time, we would have known of convicted arsonists who lived in the region. We would have known their modus operandi. We may have been able to stop him before he committed several later fires. Keeping your records in the basement is not a successful law enforcement strategy; the national arsonist registry created through the MATCH Act is.

Again, I want to compliment my colleague Mary Bono. Thank you very much for your leadership on this. It's very important to all Californians.

And, Mr. Chairman, we are very grateful for your moving this bill through committee so quickly in such a bipartisan spirit.

I thank the chairman for yielding and for his leadership.

Over the last 2 years, I have worked with my Republican colleague Jeff Flake of Arizona to ensure that the government has all the tools necessary to pursue al Qaeda and all the other terrorists who would seek to harm our country while ensuring that the requirement of court approval of surveillance of Americans on American soil is met.

I am pleased that the committee has included many of the items we proposed, including reiterating FISA's exclusivity, providing robust oversight reporting, requiring FISA Court involvement when U.S. persons are involved, and clarifying that the interception of foreign-to- foreign communications does not require a court order.

To address a concern raised by Mr. Flake, our language makes clear that a court order would not be required for electronic surveillance directed at the acquisition of communications between persons that are not known to be U.S. persons and are reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S., without respect to whether the communication passes through the U.S. or the surveillance device is located in the U.S.

We have also placed additional safeguards to ensure this section is not abused and used to acquire communications of U.S. persons.

I am pleased to yield the balance of my time to my colleague.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Gevork Arzoumanian, a resident of Glendale, California and a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. Mr. Arzoumanian was born in 1907 in the village of Sulduz, modern day Naghadeh, northwest Iran, bordering the Republic of Turkey.

The children's cries and the groans of the elderly still haunt Gevork today, 92 years after the atrocities. His lips quiver and his hands shake when he retells those bitter memories to his grandchildren.

Once the Ottoman forces had begun their massacres and deportation of the area's Christian Armenians and Assyrians, Gevork's family marched toward the village of Rezaiye (Orumieh province) leaving behind their home and cotton farm. Along the way, Gevork witnessed the murders of his father (Arzooman), mother (Arpik), sisters (Asdghik and Satenik) and brother (Ashod). As a young boy, Gevork also witnessed the pillage of people's houses, the stealing of young girls and the horrible game of Ottoman Turkish soldiers throwing infants in the air and catching them with their swords. Those who survived the brutality ended up in the city of Hamadan, Iran and were divided into two groups; one would be headed to Beirut and the other to Tehran. Gevork was in the latter. He was taken to the St. George Church, temporarily cared for by an Armenian couple, who later sent him to the city of Babol by the Caspian Sea, where he was cared for by Mr. Garegin and Verjin Harotoonian. He later became a truck driver.

Mr. Arzoumanian has lived through an incredibly difficult period in history. Nevertheless, he worked hard and persevered. In 1940, Gevork married Laura and had two children, a

daughter, Marda and a son, Norik. Gevork is thankful that after all that happened to the Armenians at the turn of the 20th century, Armenia is now an independent country.

I am proud to honor Gevork Arzoumanian of California's 29th Congressional District and I ask all Members of Congress to join me in paying tribute to this inspiring individual and honor all victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay special recognition to the Glendale Public Library upon the celebration of its One Hundredth Anniversary.

Services at the Glendale Public Library were first provided in 1906 when the members of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, a social and philanthropic organization, raised money through a series of lectures to fund a library collection. The library opened in a renovated poolroom with seventy books, and became a municipal library the next year. The Central Library building opened in 1914 with the help of a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Corporation. By 1923, the City's 35,000 residents were borrowing about 150,000 books a year. The Casa Verdugo Branch was established in 1926 as the library system's second neighborhood library and in that same year the Central Library building was enlarged to twice its original size.

Throughout its one hundred year tenure, the growing Glendale Public Library has been committed to serving the community from the Library's collections of almost 700,000 books, over 25,000 music CDs and almost 14,000 movies. The library offers a large collection of non-English materials, particularly in Armenian, in order to better serve Glendale's diverse community. Among its wide array of services, the library comprises a Genocide Memorial Collection, which it hopes will encourage research in this field. The Glendale community has also greatly benefited from the technological advances at the Glendale Public Library. The addition of wireless Internet and the ability to download literally thousands of magazine and newspaper articles make the Library and its Web site--open 24 hours, seven days a week-- valuable community resources

I ask all Members to join me today in honoring the Glendale Public Library upon the celebration of its One Hundredth Anniversary. The entire community joins me in thanking the Glendale Public Library for the outstanding services that it has provided for California's 29th Congressional District.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Representative Michael T. McCaul be removed as a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 228. Mr. McCaul was listed as a cosponsor due to a clerical error.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Typecraft Wood & Jones, a family-owned business, which is celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of Wood & Jones Printers and the sixtieth anniversary of Typecraft, Inc.

Wood & Jones Printers was founded in 1907 in Pasadena, California by Bert Wood, a pressman from New England and Fred Jones, a typographer from Canada. Bert's son, Richard Wood, introduced offset lithography to the business in the 1940s. Chris Wood, Bert's grandson, introduced phototypesetting and added a drive-through photocopy division to the business in the 1980s. Richard operated and expanded the business in partnership with Bert's nephew, David Wood into the 1980s, and in 1987, Hanna Wood, granddaughter of Bert, assumed responsibility for the business.

Typecraft, Inc. was formed in 1947 by Emer Bates, and Len Jasmin, former publisher and former manager of the Pasadena Independent Newspaper. In the 1960s, Harry Montgomery joined Typecraft, Inc., partnering with Len Jasmin.

J.J. Gish, whose father Jerry Gish was a 50-year employee of Typecraft, Inc., purchased Wood & Jones Printers in 1994 and became partners with Harry Montgomery, Emer Bates' son-in-law in 2000. Typecraft, Inc. and Wood & Jones Printers were merged at that time into one company.

Both Typecraft, Inc. and Wood & Jones Printers separately and together have kept abreast of the latest technologies, creating quality printed materials for businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, museums, and fine art museums. Typecraft Wood & Jones is the annual print sponsor for AIGS Los Angeles, the Professional Association for Design.

Over the last century, Typecraft Wood & Jones has supported a variety of worthwhile local organizations and institutions such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pasadena, Boy Scouts of America, the Pasadena Library Foundation, Aids Service Center, Huntington Memorial Hospital, Zonta Club, John Marshall Fundamental School and the Pasadena Senior Center. In addition, Typecraft Wood & Jones also contributes to the Pasadena Art Alliance, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena Playhouse, Armory Center for the Arts and Pasadena City College School of Fine Arts.

It is my great honor to recognize Typecraft Wood & Jones upon the combined one-hundred sixty years of dedicated service to the community of greater Pasadena. I ask all members to join me in commending their efforts.

Madam Speaker, today I would like to take a moment to honor the memory of a good friend and a community leader, Rabbi Carole Meyers. Rabbi Meyers died at the age of 50 on Thursday, July 26, after a brief battle with bone cancer. She served as Rabbi of Temple Sinai in Glendale, CA, from 1986 to 2001.

Over the 15 years Rabbi Meyers served at Glendale's Temple Sinai the congregation nearly doubled in size, boosting its education programs for both children and adults.

Rabbi Meyers significantly raised the profile of the temple through her extensive work in the community. Rabbi Meyers was involved with Habitat for Humanity and the Glendale Community Foundation. She served on the Mayor's Task Force on Hate Crimes, helping to craft a citywide response plan to fight hate crimes. Rabbi Meyers also trained as a chaplain for the Glendale Police Department and helped to create an annual AIDS Awareness Prayer Service with other Glendale religious leaders.

After retiring in 2001 to spend more time with her family, Rabbi Meyers remained active in our community serving on the board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, developing curriculum for Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and presiding at marriages and bar and bat mitzvahs.

In 2001, shortly after the tragic events of 9/11, Rabbi Meyers had the distinction of delivering the opening prayer in the House of Representatives. In such a sad and somber time Rabbi Meyers's prayer was uplifting and life-affirming. Her words helped console our nation. And her words that day still ring true today as we try to find answers to her untimely death.

On this floor in November 2001, Rabbi Meyers prayed,

It takes courage to pray meaningfully in the wake of events

shaping our lives.

It is not that we do not turn to God, we do. We come with

our praise and with our entreaties, but we strain to hear an

answer, to sense God's presence radiating back to us, over

the abyss that grief and fear have created.

Shall we this morning, just for a moment, stop speaking to

God, asking God, about God, entreating God, and instead make

an effort to find once again that experience of God's

presence that grounds our faith.

Come with me to that place. Perhaps it was when you

witnessed the birth of your child, new life so precious and

pure, perhaps when you saw your soul reflected back at you in

the eyes of someone whose love was infinite. Perhaps in the

tangle of pain and darkness when somehow there was a presence

to call, to let you know you would move forward. Perhaps when

a piece of music shook you to your core, bringing an

exquisite awareness of the depth of human experience.

Perhaps when you truly saw the miracle of nature

surrounding us, the sun rising and setting, day after day of

nature in its magnificent order, there was a moment when you

knew that an Other exists before whom we stand in awe and

whose greatness we strive to reflect in the actions of our

lives.

Eternal God, be with us as we move through this time of

uncertainty. Help us know that we can lend Your presence and

use our lives to reflect it. Then we will have the faith to

bring light and joy, peace and comfort, justice and goodness

to this magnificent world God has created. Amen.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Orange Grove Monthly Meeting of Religious Society of Friends in Pasadena, CA.

The Orange Grove Monthly Meeting of Friends was founded in 1907 by a group of 20 Eastern Quakers who had moved to Pasadena. Quakers have played leading roles in working for peace and an end to war, promoting racial and gender equality, and supporting environmental and other social justice causes. After World War I, the Meeting members supported the American Friends Service Committee, AFSC, which engaged in post-war relief efforts in Western Europe and Russia, and also helped establish AFSC's Pacific Coast branch.

During World War II, the Meeting house served as a hostel for Japanese-Americans being sent to internment camps, and aid was sent to those already interned. The Meeting members provided hospitality and financial support to area conscientious objectors and their families, and after the end of the war, hosted families displaced by the war and its aftermath.

Meeting members have frequently led the way in civil rights and social justice movements. Meeting members took part in efforts to desegregate the Pasadena school system, participated in freedom rides in the South and attended the Selma, AL, protests.

The Orange Grove Monthly Meeting of Friends founded educational institutions that provide a nurturing educational environment for children. Pacific Ackworth Friends School (1942) and Pacific Oaks School (1945) were established by Meeting parents. In 1961, Mara Moser, an Orange Grove Friends member, established Mothers' Club to support families of men in prison. Mothers' Club later evolved into a child development and family center serving low-income families.

Members of the Orange Grove Monthly Meeting of Friends are active participants in the community. Meeting members routinely provide dinner for the homeless at Union Station in Pasadena, participate in many prison visitation programs and allow the meeting house to be used by local groups for activities such as a tutoring program for elementary school children.

It is my pleasure to recognize the Orange Grove Friends Meeting of Pasadena on its 100th anniversary of active participation in the life of our community. I ask all members to join me in extending a hearty congratulations.