Floor Statements

Mr. President, Ella Winter famously remarked to author Thomas Wolfe, ``Don't you know you can't go home again?'' The remark, in abbreviated form, became the title of one of his most famous books, published after he died. The two writers never met Martha D. Nathanson, who grew up in Park Heights, went to Indiana University in Bloomington to earn her bachelor's degree and J.D., and then returned home and dedicated her life to making Baltimore a better, safer, healthier, and happier place.

Martha is retiring from LifeBridge Health, where she has been responsible for government relations, focusing on legislative and regulatory policy at all three levels of government, covering all aspects of healthcare delivery and community and economic development in the areas surrounding all of LifeBridge Health's facilities, including Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Martha's expertise, political skills, finesse, and natural ability as a community organizer have made her a formidable force for bringing better healthcare and other vital services to underserved communities, including Lower Park Heights. I don't know whether LifeBridge's Northwest Hospital would be the outstanding facility it is today without Martha's tireless advocacy.

Before Martha joined LifeBridge some 25 years ago, she was director of risk management and legislative and regulatory affairs for Kirson Medical Equipment Company, where she developed legal, regulatory, and joint commission--JCAH--compliance programs and drafted and negotiated contracts with providers. She also worked as an attorney advisor at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and as an associate attorney at Ober Kaler in Baltimore. I have relied on and am grateful for Martha's wise counsel on healthcare and community and economic development issues in Baltimore over the years.

Martha's vocation and avocation are one and the same. In addition to her professional career, she serves on the board of CHAI--Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc.--served as chair of the Board of Park Heights Renaissance and is a founding member of the Northwest Baltimore Partnership. She also serves on the board of advisers of the University of Maryland School of Social Work and the Safe Streets Community Advisory Board. She has bought, renovated, and sold houses in her neighborhood and is active in CREW Baltimore, which promotes the business interests and professional advancement of women in all disciplines of the commercial real estate industry by providing educational and networking opportunities and contributing resources to support the local community. Given all of this, it is no surprise that Martha was named as one of Maryland's 100 Top Women by the ``Daily Record'' in 2017.

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Martha Nathanson has given so much to her beloved hometown, and Baltimore is so much better for her tireless efforts. Since she is not the ``retiring'' kind, I know she will stay active in community affairs. But now, she will have more time for biking and trekking and environmental causes and, most important, for her family. I know that she is especially ``over the moon'' about being a grandmother. I want to thank her for her service and friendship and wish her all the best as she begins the next chapter in a wonderful life of service.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I rise today in strong support for the confirmation of Dilawar Syed to fill the long vacant role of Deputy Administrator for the Small Business Administration.

After more than 2 years since President Biden first nominated Mr. Syed, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship finally reported Mr. Syed's nomination out of the committee earlier this year.

Mr. Syed was nominated to fill a position that has been vacant for nearly 5 years. The vacancy has caused harm to small business owners throughout our Nation who depend on the SBA to be fully staffed in order to access capital, contracting opportunities, and entrepreneurial development training.

In an entrepreneurial career spanning over two decades, Mr. Syed has experience starting businesses and advocating for inclusion entrepreneurship at the international, Federal, and State level.

He currently serves as the Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the United States Department of State, where he advances trade, commercial, and economic policies through commercial advocacy.

Prior to his position at the State Department, Mr. Syed was CEO at Lumiata, a healthcare technology company, and president at Freshworks, where he helped scale the software company's products to reach thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses.

Mr. Syed has also held a number of civic positions. In the Obama administration, he served as chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Economic Growth. And in California, he chaired the California Entrepreneurship Task Force under Governor Gavin Newsom's Office of Business and Economic Development.

With experience at the State Department as Special Representative and leadership roles in business, entrepreneurship, and public service, he is very well-positioned to help the SBA meet this critical moment small businesses face across the Nation.

As our small businesses continue to recover from the pandemic while facing new challenges, it is essential that the SBA is fully equipped to meet their needs.

During the pandemic, the Agency provided relief to millions of existing small businesses. Now, record levels of new businesses are being created under the Biden-Harris administration. SBA has the unique opportunity to foster the continuation of this small business boom, making sure that entrepreneurs have the resources, assistance, and capital that will create economic prosperity for communities across the country.

While the SBA has worked tirelessly to provide this assistance, the pandemic exposed a clear need for modernization, technical upgrades, new resources, and reforms at the SBA. That is why we need a Deputy Administrator today more than ever. The skills and qualifications Mr. Syed possesses are a perfect fit for the SBA's needs. He has broad support from dozens of small business organizations that understand the needs of entrepreneurs.

They know that Mr. Syed is an individual who will endlessly continue to advocate for and support our small businesses. Allowing the position of Deputy Administrator to remain empty for so long is a great disservice to our Nation's small business owners.

His confirmation process has been fraught with unacceptable delaying tactics, unfounded accusations, and unrelated controversies.

Throughout it all, however, Mr. Syed has shown only patience and perseverance. I am honored to stand here today, finally, to support his nomination for the position of SBA Deputy Administrator. I am confident that America's small businesses and the communities they support will benefit from him in this role.

I urge all my colleagues to support his confirmation. This is what our small business community needs. I would urge my colleagues to ratify his nomination.

With that, I would yield the floor.

Madam President, I would ask consent that we proceed with the vote immediately.

Mr. President, I rise to congratulate Kenneth Paul Reichard on his retirement and to thank him for his 17 years of outstanding service as my Montgomery County district director and his career of selfless service to the residents of the county and all Marylanders. This Monday, the city of Rockville will officially recognize Ken--a lifelong resident--for his service. On April 14, Representative Jamie Raskin interviewed Ken for one of his weekly ``Local Hero'' podcasts. The accolades Ken is receiving are well- deserved. As Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass stated, ``Ken has been a terrific advocate for Montgomery County! We are all beneficiaries of his grace, good humor and leadership.'' Ken is a local hero to Maryland and a personal hero to me. For the better part of two decades, Ken has been a lifeline to Montgomery County, helping to make sure that no citizen is left behind.

Ken was born at the original Montgomery General Hospital in Olney, MD, on August 17, 1943. His parents were Kenneth Henderson Reichard of Guilford Township, Franklin County, PA, and Gladys Lydia Martin Reichard of Reid, Washington County, MD. He is a descendent of a Revolutionary War soldier, George Barnard Reichard, from Pennsylvania, who fought from 1777 to 1780. He grew up in a union household on Horners Lane in Rockville with an older brother, Lee. Ken graduated from Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, in 1961. While he attended high school, he started working part-time at the Safeway grocery store on Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda. He quickly joined the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union--UFCW--and became the local's youngest business agent ever when he was just 21, winning his first election by 87 votes. He traveled to other stores around the State, and it wasn't long before Ken was handling labor grievances and negotiating contracts. By the time he finished his career with UFCW, he was executive assistant to

the president of the national union, director of government affairs, and senior vice president. Then-Governor Parris Glendening tapped Ken to serve as assistant secretary and commissioner of labor and industry at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. After that, he cochaired Senator John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaign in Maryland with Heather Mizeur, who went on to serve as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2007 to 2015, representing the 20th District in Montgomery County.

Given Ken's extensive knowledge of the issues, politics, and people of Montgomery County and beyond, my campaign contacted him and convinced him to serve as my metropolitan Washington-area representative when I first ran for the Senate in 2006. Ken has been with me ever since, and I am so grateful. He has met with countless constituents, businessowners, and elected officials; joined or represented me at field events; served as my liaison to organized labor; and handled special assignments. He has done it all with grace and insight and a quiet competence.

Ken married Sandra Lee Wiley on February 23, 1964, in Rockville, MD. Ken, now widowed, has three children: Cassie, Eric, and Paula; seven grandchildren: Lindsay, Caitlyn, Sampson, Tyler, Amanda, Sydney, and Drew; and two great-granddaughters: Maya and Stella. Ken was a member of Crusader Lutheran Church for a number of years and held several positions on the church counsel. Over the years, Ken has enjoyed volunteering for political campaigns and serving on several boards within Montgomery County, traveling in his motorhome, camping, building and fixing anything for the home, tending to an orchard of fruit trees, and appreciating classic cars.

There are few Marylanders--and even fewer Montgomery County residents--who have not benefited in one way or another from Ken's lifelong service to others. Ken has lived up to Douglas Adams's--author of ``The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''--maxim, ``To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.'' I want to thank Ken's family for ``sharing'' him with the people of Montgomery County and all Marylanders. Above all, I want to thank Ken himself for his wise counsel and friendship over the years. While he no longer works for me in an official capacity, I will continue to rely on him unofficially in the weeks and months ahead while hoping that he spends more time with his family and friends and recreational pursuits.

Mr. President, I rise to express my disappointment in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to curtail the Clean Water Act, the principal law governing pollution control and water qualities of our Nation's waterways.

The narrow interpretation now supported by the highest Court will remove Clean Water Act protection for the majority of wetlands in the United States.

Let me just repeat that. Wetlands--we all know how important that is to water quality in America. We know that wetlands act as a sponge for runoff. It traps pollution that otherwise would end up in our waterways. And it is critically important to our habitat. This narrow interpretation will remove protection from a majority of wetlands in the United States.

At a time of rightly intense attention to avoiding a default crisis, this attack on clean water protection must not escape notice.

This past weekend, we honored the sacrifices of our military servicemembers. Often, these celebrations of the lives and legacies of our fallen soldiers and their loved ones take place outside in community green spaces. Our parks need clean water.

The Sackett v. EPA decision is detrimental to national parks, where two-thirds of park waters are already impaired with much of this pollution linked to out-of-park upstream activities.

Under the Sackett decision issued on May 25 of this year, a slim majority of the Court, led by Justice Alito, incorrectly concluded that the Clean Water Act extends only to wetlands that have a continuous surface connection with waters of the United States.

This result does not mean the Court unanimously endorsed this new test. In fact, this decision was, to put it mildly, complicated. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined. Justice Kagan filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Justices Sotomayor and Jackson joined. Justice Kavanaugh filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson joined.

Put another way, four members of the Supreme Court--Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Brown Jackson--agreed that the Clean Water Act does not apply to the wetlands of the Sacketts' property, but they disagreed with the majority's reasoning.

In an opinion joined by the three liberal Justices, Justice Kavanaugh contended that ``[b]y narrowing the Act's coverage of wetlands to only adjoining wetlands, the Court's new test will leave some long-regulated adjacent wetlands no longer covered by the Clean Water Act, with significant repercussions for water quality and flood control throughout the United States.''

Justice Kavanaugh specifically noted that the health of the Chesapeake Bay would be at risk under the Court's new test. Our national treasure--the largest estuary in the country--was one of two examples given, along with efforts to control flooding along the Mississippi River.

In its opinion, the majority claims that the Clean Water Act repeatedly uses ``waters'' in contexts that confirm the term refers to bodies of open water. Despite this convenient fallacy, the waters of the Bay are by no means limited to open water. In fact, the Chesapeake Bay receives half of its water from a network of 110,000 streams and 1.7 million acres of wetlands, most of which are non-navigable tributaries and nontidal wetlands that drain to those tributaries.

The watershed's roughly 1.5 million acres of wetlands are critical to restoring the Chesapeake Bay in its tributaries across six States and the District of Columbia.

Wetlands are essential to water quality. They trap pollutants that are running off farmland, suburban parking lots, and city streets before they can reach the 111,000 miles of local streams, creeks, and rivers that empty into the Bay.

Entering the Atlantic hurricane season, it is worth noting that wetlands also protect flood-prone communities by absorbing storm surges and flood waters like sponges. Wetlands also mitigate slow onset climate change effects like sea level rise and ``sunny day'' flooding that threatens lives, businesses, and properties in waterfront cities like Annapolis.

Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have State regulations that could offer backstop coverage for wetlands that are adjacent to, but not adjoining, the Bay and its covered tributaries EPA can no longer protect. But we should not be abdicating this shared responsibility just to our States. Nationwide, more than 111 million acres of wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide are estimated to face the essential threat from the loss of Federal protections.

Justice Kagan also wrote a brief opinion of her own, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, in which she criticized what she characterized as ``the Court's appointment of itself as the national decision-maker on environmental policy.''

In her view, which I share, Congress deliberately drafted the Clean Water Act with a broad reach to ``address a problem of `crisis proportion.' '' Although the majority disagrees with that decision, she wrote, it cannot ``rewrite Congress's plain instructions because they go further than'' the Court would like. But that is precisely what the majority did here, she concluded, just as it did last year when it curtailed the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Sackett is the latest in an alarming series of rulings to undercut the Agency's mission to protect human health and the environment. This one happens to hit especially close to the statutory home of the Chesapeake Bay program partnership.

For now, to assert jurisdiction over an adjacent wetland under the Clean Water Act, a party must establish ``first, that the adjacent [body of water constitutes] . . . `water[s] of the United States' [i.e., a relatively permanent body of water connected to traditional interstate navigable waters]; and second, that the wetland has a continuous surface connection with that water, making it difficult to determine whether the `water' ends and the `wetland' begins.''

This arbitrary new definition strikes at the heart of the Chesapeake Bay Program--science-based decision making.

Moreover, as Justice Kavanaugh notes, the Court's new test ``is sufficiently novel and vague'' that it will create precisely the type of regulatory uncertainty that the majority roundly criticized.

The decision muddies the waters for a clear, workable waters of the United States definition. After years of uncertainty, the rule of the final ``Revised Definition of `Waters of the United States' '' rule the EPA and U.S. Army Corps announced in December established a clear and reasonable definition.

The commonsense approach the EPA must now defend recognizes that pollution upstream can have downstream impacts, so we must protect the system to safeguard downstream communities in our environment.

The rule this opinion invites opponents to challenge also maintained longstanding Clean Water Act permitting exceptions for routine farming and ranching activities. Basically, complied to what we thought the rule was before the Supreme Court decisions almost a decade ago.

In addition to the indirect costs of regulatory uncertainty, the loss of clean water protections will have significant economic consequences for outdoor recreation, which supports $788 billion in consumer spending and more than 5 million jobs in the United States annually. Wetlands do not just provide habitat for wildlife and trail and fisheries that enhance outdoor recreational opportunities; they also clean water for farmers that drive our economy through production of food.

In order to protect our resources in our new reality, we must enforce the Federal authorities left that protect clean water, support States strengthening their own laws and regulations, and take action to restore protections. In addition, clean water infrastructure grant programs such as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and nonregulatory coastal habitat restoration programs like the Coastal Program offer resources to support States, Tribes, and NGOs, restoring wetlands in their own best interests.

Water pollution has never respected political boundaries. Our constituents all rely on clean water for drinking, swimming, fishing, irrigation, and more. I urge my colleagues to consider the seriousness of this setback and let us work together to mitigate the damage of this decision.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Each May, we celebrate and remember the many contributions that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have made to our history and continue to make today.

As a nation, we have made significant progress with respect to the inclusion and representation of the AAPI community across the many facets of our society, from actress Michelle Yeoh's barrier-breaking accomplishment this year as the first Asian-American winner of the Oscars' Best Actress award to Maryland's very own Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, who was sworn in just a few months ago as Maryland's first immigrant and first Asian American to be elected to statewide office.

AAPI children are finally getting to grow up seeing faces that look like theirs in film, music, sports, politics, and every other arena of public life.

This progress didn't just happen overnight; it is the fruit of labor of generations of AAPI activists and leaders, along with their allies. A labor that, in some cases, cost them their lives.

I think of the Chinese laborers, for instance, who played a critical role in building America's first transcontinental railroad, yet they were met with discrimination and exclusion at every turn.

They faced hardship, hard working conditions, and were paid only half as much as their White counterparts.

In June of 1867, 3,000 Chinese railworkers began a highly organized strike, demanding equal wages and shorter hours. Though they were initially unsuccessful in their demands,

the strike demonstrated that the Chinese workforce could not be taken for granted. Over the next few months, the rail company began raising railworker wages.

This is just one example of a historic legacy of the AAPI activism against discrimination, whether perpetrated by the U.S. Government, as with the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, or by individuals like the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin in 1982, which ignited the modern Asian-American civil rights movement. But there is still much progress we need to make.

Stereotypes like the ``model minority'' myth continue to perpetrate the idea that the AAPI community is a monolithic, hard-working, and successful racial bloc, which served as a model for how other minority groups should ``pull themselves up by their bootstraps--if they just try hard enough.'' Stereotypes erase the diversity within the group we refer to as the AAPI, which has the highest income inequality across ethnic groups of any race in America.

Today, AAPI women are still earning, on average, 85 cents for every dollar earned by a White male. If you break that down into just Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the number drops even further to just 60 cents for every dollar.

The ``model minority'' myth attempts to pit AAPI people against Black and Latino Americans by blaming these groups for their own struggles, rather than acknowledging the role of discrimination in America's socioeconomics and racial inequality.

In spite of all of this, there is a great historical legacy, rarely taught in our classrooms, of Asian-Black and Asian-Latino solidarity. Frederick Douglass, renowned abolitionist, writer, and Marylander, gave a speech in 1867--the same year as the Chinese rail strike--opposing restrictions on Chinese immigration in a time when xenophobia and racism toward Chinese workers was rampant.

He said--and, remember, this was in 1867:

There is such a thing in the world as human rights. They

rest upon no conventional foundation, but are external,

universal, and indestructible. Among these is the right of

locomotion; the right of migration; the right which belongs

to no particular race, but belongs alike to all and to all

alike. It is the right you assert by staying here, and

your fathers asserted by coming here. It is this great

right that I assert for the Chinese and Japanese, and for

all other varieties of men equally with yourselves, now

and forever.

I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of

humanity, and when there is a supposed conflict between human

and national rights, it is safe to go to the side of

humanity.

Human rights has been a key focus of mine during my entire congressional career. Imagine, Frederick Douglass, over 150 years ago, proclaimed the very same rights that we are still fighting for today. He was truly a man ahead of his time.

In the 1960s, 100 years after Douglass's speech, Filipino-American Larry Itliong led the Delano Grape Strike alongside Mexican-American labor icon Cesar Chavez. Their efforts led to raises, healthcare benefits, and pesticide protections for the striking grape workers, who were primarily of Filipino and Mexican descent. These examples show that there is power in solidarity towards a common goal.

Even as we celebrate the historic accomplishments of these and many more members of the AAPI community, we must also maintain a sense of urgency about how we as members of Congress and as Americans are meeting the needs of this community today.

Just a few months ago, many East and Southeast Asian communities who were celebrating the Lunar New Year with their families suddenly had to fear for their safety following the back-to-back mass shootings targeting Asian elders in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.

What should have been a time of celebration became a time of fear, anguish, and grief, instead. And these shootings were just the most recent in a string of violent crimes motivated by anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a study led in part by Janelle Wong, a University of Maryland professor of Asian-American studies, 16 percent of Asian-American adults and 14 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults reported experiencing a hate crime in 2021. These statistics are appalling and unacceptable.

Over 500,000 Asian Americans and 11,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders join me in calling Maryland their home. They are a vital part of our State's economy and our communities, and Maryland is better off because of them. I particularly want to highlight the AAPI community in Frederick County, MD. In the fiscal year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill, I was proud to work with my colleague, Senator Van Hollen, to secure a $375,000 earmark for the Asian American Center of Frederick. The AACF provides vital services to lower-income, minority, and immigrant groups in their community--services including health insurance enrollment, interpreter and translation services, English as a Second Language, citizenship classes, business development services, and so much more.

Because of the funding, Senator Van Hollen and I were able to obtain, the center will be able to increase programming for language- appropriate and culturally relevant early childhood education.

This is crucial in a county like Frederick, where 13.5 percent of the residents speak a language other than English at home. Research shows that high-quality early childhood education increases the children's readiness for school and narrows the achievement gap by half. And I am inspired every day by the AAPI-run organizations like the AACF who are fighting for the futures of their children.

There is still work to be done. I am committed to the ongoing movement for the AAPI equality and justice, in Congress and beyond. I hope the Senate will use this Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as an opportunity to recognize this community's many accomplishments and to continue to work hand in hand towards equality and justice for all Americans.

American Wetlands Month, World Migratory Bird Day, and Endangered

Species Day

Mr. President, I rise to celebrate wetlands and the many species they sustain. This past Saturday, May 13, was World Migratory Bird Day. This year's theme is ``Water: Sustaining Bird Life.'' World Migratory Bird Day is officially celebrated on the second Saturday of May in Canada and the U.S. and the second Saturday of October in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean as part of a global campaign to raise awareness of migratory birds and the need to protect and conserve them.

Migratory birds rely on water and its associated habitats--lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, marshes, and coastal wetlands--for breeding, resting, and refueling during migration; and for wintering. Yet increasing human demand for water, along with climate change, pollution, and other factors are threatening these precious aquatic ecosystems.

Global headlines are sounding alarms: 35 percent of the world's wetlands, critical to migratory birds, have been lost in the last 50 years. May is American Wetlands Month. Observing it helps draw attention to our wetlands. We cannot afford to lose them. Wetlands provide some of nature's most valuable ecosystem ``services.'' They serve as nurseries and habitat for wildlife, mitigate hurricane damage, and sequester carbon.

Wetlands also remove excess nutrients, toxic substances, and sediment from the water that flows through them, helping to improve downstream water quality and the overall health of waters in our communities. They are so effective at improving water quality, scientists refer to them as the ``kidneys'' of a watershed. Wetlands can absorb excess rain or river water, so they protect against flooding. We haven't idly stood by as wetlands--and the services they provide--disappear. Instead we are investing in programs to protect and restore them. It is imperative that we strengthen the resilience of our natural infrastructure, particularly in my State of Maryland, which has over 3,000 miles of coastline. Last month, Vice President Harris announced that the Department of Commerce has recommended $15.2 million for projects across Maryland to make communities and the economy more resilient to climate change.

Across Maryland, four projects will create jobs and boost economic and environmental outcomes for coastal communities. The awards were made under the Biden administration's Climate-Ready Coasts initiative funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law--BIL--with additional funds leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act, IRA. These projects are part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's nearly $6 billion total investment under BIL and IRA. These investments will have a ripple effect. The Middle Branch: Patapsco Delta Sustainable Fishery and Ecosystem Resilience Project--``MBRI''--in Baltimore City, for instance, will restore marsh habitat in an urban ecosystem. The MBRI is part of a larger project called ``Reimagine Middle Branch,'' which is a community-led initiative to reconnect South Baltimore residents to the nearby Middle Branch River.

The NOAA investments will help, but wetland loss is challenges that requires an interagency response. I am proud to have reintroduced the Coastal Habitat Conservation Act with Senator Graham. Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation would authorize the U.S. Fish and Wildlife--FWS-- Coastal Program. The Coastal Program was first established in the Chesapeake Bay in 1985 to address wetlands degradation and the resulting impacts to fish and wildlife. Since its inception, the program has expanded to 2 dozen priority coastal areas in all coastal States.

Today, the Coastal Program is a voluntary, partnership-based, habitat conservation program focused in 24 priority coastal areas along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, and in the Caribbean, including the Chesapeake Bay.

Within these areas, a national strategic plan guides FWS conservation efforts, integrating Service priorities with the shared goals of conservation partners and stakeholders. These goals often include preserving biodiversity and preventing species loss.

On the third Friday in May--this Friday--we celebrate National Endangered Species Day, which highlights the importance of protecting species such as the threatened eastern black rail. This secretive marsh bird is the smallest of its kind in North America and is part of Maryland's unique identity that we risk losing to climate change. Over the past 10-20 years, 75 percent of the eastern black rail population has declined. Primary causes of declination include rising sea levels, tidal flooding, and habitat loss and destruction.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, ESA. We should be strengthening implementation of the law, including on critical habitat. For each threatened or endangered species, the Services may designate ``critical habitat.'' Scientists have identified these areas as crucial to the species' recovery and are the focus of conservation efforts. This concept is particularly important as species are forced to adapt.

Even our marshes themselves are on the move. The Global Change Research Wetland located at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD, is dedicated to unraveling the complex ecological processes that confer stability on coastal marshes as they respond to global environmental change. This 2,650-acre brackish marsh, which contains 15 miles of protected shoreline along the Rhode and West Rivers--two embayments of Chesapeake Bay--is home to several long-term experiments designed to predict what the future holds for coastal wetland ecosystems as they cope with accelerated sea level rise.

Trying to anticipate and prepare for a future shaped by climate change is the reason I recently opposed S.J. Res. 23, a Congressional Review Act--CRA--joint resolution disapproving the National Marine Fisheries Service--NMFS--rule relating to ``Regulations for Listing Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants and Designating Critical Habitat.''

On June 24, 2022, the NMFS and the FWS issued a joint final rule to rescind a Trump administration rule on designating critical habitat under the ESA. The Trump rule included a restrictive definition of ``habitat'' that limited where the Services could designate critical habitat. Specifically, it barred designating critical habitat in areas that are not currently suitable habitat, even if those areas could become suitable in the future. Such a restriction would limit the Services' ability to designate critical habitat based on the best available science. For example, the Services would not be able to designate critical habitat in areas where species are expected to shift to as a result of natural disasters, in response to climate change, or after environmental restoration.

I regret that the Senate passed S.J. Res. 23 by a vote of 51-49. I am relieved that President Biden intends to veto the resolution, and I am confident Democrats in the Senate will sustain the veto. I was particularly disappointed in this attack on the Services' mission, given the popularity and economic activity of wildlife refuges in my State and across the Nation.

I am pleased the FWS proposes to create a new National Wildlife Refuge to conserve currently unprotected, high-priority fish and wildlife habitats across southern Maryland. In collaboration with landowners, outdoor enthusiasts, conservation partners, and local communities, the Service proposes to identify lands for protection as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System in southern Maryland. These lands would be incorporated into a new National Wildlife Refuge that encompasses portions of Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, Prince George's, and Anne Arundel Counties.

A wide-ranging, collaborative effort over the past 15 years demonstrated that currently unprotected habitats in these counties support significant populations of fish and wildlife appropriate for protection under the National Wildlife Refuge System, primarily threatened and endangered species like the black rail, waterfowl, and migratory birds of conservation concern. These species face habitat loss from land use changes, climate change, competition from invasive species, and other stressors. Collaborative land management is a primary reason why Maryland has an excellent track record of recovering species. We have demonstrated we can solve wildlife challenges on a bipartisan basis. Knocking out the critical habitat rule--and any future rule like--is not the answer.

The Delmarva fox squirrel was federally listed as an endangered species in 1967, but thanks to conservation efforts, it was removed in December 2015. Loss of habitat is believed to be the major reason for the Delmarva fox squirrel's demise. By the early 1900s, it was extirpated from all States except Maryland. In 1967, its range was narrowed to only four Eastern Shore counties: Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, and Dorchester--less than 10 percent of its former reach.

Efforts to restore the population began in 1945 when the Maryland Department of Natural Resources purchased LeCompte Wildlife Management Area in Dorchester County as a refuge for the Delmarva fox squirrel. Through an active reintroduction program in the 1970s through the early 1990s, several additional populations of Delmarva fox squirrels were established in Caroline, Kent, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties in Maryland and at a few locations in Delaware and Virginia. Natural expansion of the population has also occurred on the Delmarva peninsula. Today, the Delmarva fox squirrel exists in numerous small pockets of suitable habitat.

Bald eagles have staged such a remarkable population rebound and recovered to the point that they no longer need protection under the ESA. The Chesapeake Bay region today is home to more than 3,000 mating pairs, which represents the largest concentration of eagles in the lower 48 States. They may actually be doing a little too well. According to Chesapeake Bay Magazine, they seem to be running out of room in the bay region. The typical number of chicks per nest has declined since 1999 from two to one, as the male eagles in a breeding pair are forced to stay home and protect their nest from ``floaters'' without a nest of their own; as a result, they bring less food back. Not to worry, however; scientists don't see a problem with fewer young eagles being produced in the bay's tidewater region, nor do they see a need for human intervention as the eagles reach equilibrium.

The population is going to remain large because the bay can support it. The bay is one of the most productive aquatic ecosystems in the Nation, thanks in large part to its wetlands.

That is something I take pride in and call on my Senate colleagues and all Americans to celebrate this month, American Wetlands Month.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to June Zhu of my staff during today's session of the Senate.

Mr. President, last month was National Minority Health Month. Senator Scott of South Carolina joined me in introducing a Senate resolution commemorating National Minority Health Month. We couldn't quite get it over the finish line before the end of April, but I am pleased the Senate is poised to pass the resolution now.

National Minority Health Month has its origins in National Negro Health Week, which Booker T. Washington established in 1915 to address the poor health status of African Americans in the early 20th century.

The commemorative month is helpful because it improves the public's awareness of the health challenges that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. It helps us to celebrate the progress we have made in addressing health disparities. Most important, it is a measure to recommit ourselves to tackling the longstanding health disparities that still exist.

Today, because of historical and contemporary injustices across our society, including those in the healthcare system, communities of color continue to face health disparities that result in poorer quality of life and lower life expectancies when compared to their White counterparts. For people of color who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender--LGBT--these disparities are often exacerbated.

Disparities in healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes are significant for a variety of reasons. Most important, these disparities limit the health of the Nation overall. The U.S. population today is more racially and ethnically diverse than at any other time in our history. According to the 2020 census, nearly 4 in 10 Americans identify with a race or ethnic group other than White. In a nation as diverse as ours and one that is meant to treat everyone equally, it is immoral for certain populations to receive inadequate, inaccessible, or poor medical care.

In addition to ethical considerations, health inequities result in significant costs to our economy. According to a recent analysis, racial disparities amount to approximately $93 billion in excess medical care costs and $42 billion in lost productivity per year, as well as additional economic losses due to premature deaths.

For the health of our families, communities, States and Nation, it is critical that we work to advance policies that will move in the direction of achieving health equity.

In recent years, we have faced a variety of serious public health challenges that have clearly highlighted health disparities. Whether we are discussing the COVID-19 pandemic, the outbreak of monkeypox last summer, or the spread of respiratory illnesses like the flu and RSV this past winter, these public health challenges have shown that we must respond appropriately and in a timely fashion to ensure that vulnerable communities receive the resources and care they need.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, public health data has shown that people of color experienced a disproportionate share of cases and deaths due to this disease. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--CDC--released in December 2022, American Indian or Alaska Native adults are 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalized and twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than White individuals. Similarly, Black and Hispanic adults are more likely to be hospitalized and more likely to die from COVID-19. Racial disparities were also found in access to COVID-19 vaccination for the first few months of vaccine deployment.

At the time, I fought for additional outreach and better data to close the vaccination rate gap. Thanks in part to a strong focus on these efforts, the gaps in COVID-19 vaccination rates finally narrowed several months after vaccine deployment initially began, but they should not have existed in the first place.

The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated our Nation's behavioral health crisis as social isolation contributed to spikes in anxiety, depression, substance abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. Adults and children across all groups continue to experience increased behavioral health issues, but the burden on minority populations is heaviest.

For American Indian and Alaska Native adults, the death rate from suicide is about 20 percent higher than the White population. In 2019, suicide was the leading and second leading cause of death for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and African Americans aged 15 to 24, respectively. High school-aged Asian American males were 30 percent more likely to consider attempting suicide than White male students. This is why I continue to work with my colleagues to improve access to behavioral healthcare for everyone.

Prior to the pandemic, people of color and other underserved groups faced longstanding disparities in health, and today, many of these inequities continue to persist. Across a variety of health measures, including infant mortality, pregnancy-related deaths, overall physical and mental health status, and prevalence of chronic conditions, minority groups continue to fare worse than white individuals. Life expectancy is another area where racial and ethnic disparities are clearly apparent. Today, life expectancy among Black people is nearly 6 years lower than White people, with the lowest expectancy among Black men.

When we consider chronic diseases like diabetes, minority populations also fare worse than White people. Diabetes rates for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native adults are all higher than the rate for White adults. These disparities can often be exacerbated for people of color who identify as LGBTQ, who are more likely to experience certain health challenges like substance abuse, mental health conditions, violence, and sexually transmitted infections at increased rates. I could go on and on.

To address health inequities, we must tackle their underlying causes, many of which are born out of inadequate access to care for minority populations, high costs of healthcare, and other social, economic, and environmental factors, which are known as ``social determinants of health.'' Factors like one's income level, as well as access to transportation, education, and housing play a key role in health and well-being.

Accessible and affordable health coverage is key to addressing health inequities. I am proud of the work we did to pass the Affordable Care Act--ACA--which expanded health coverage to millions of Americans across the country. I am also pleased that we built on the success of the ACA through the American Rescue Plan to extend care to an additional 5.8 million Americans, including 181,000 Marylanders. We have unfinished business, however, as recent Census Bureau data show that minority groups are still less likely to have health insurance than their White counterparts.

I am proud of the work that the National Institutes of Health--NIH-- based in Maryland, and NIH's National Institute for Minority Health & Health Disparities--NIMHD--are doing to advance the field of scientific research into health disparities.

The evidence-based research that NIMHD invests in at institutions throughout the country is expanding the scientific knowledge base and informing practice and policy to reduce health disparities. Some recent work of NIMHD has focused on the benefits of Medicaid expansion for young adults; the prevention, treatment, and management of co-morbid chronic diseases; and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy within communities of color. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build on this progress.

As we recognize April as National Minority Health Month, let us rededicate ourselves to ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare and renew our pledge to do everything possible to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity once and for all.

Mr. President, I rise to recognize the sacrifices and dedication of our Nation's law enforcement personnel. I am proud to cosponsor the resolution offered by Senators Durbin and Graham recognizing May 14 through May 20 as National Police Week. This bipartisan resolution recognizes the critical role that law enforcement officers play in keeping our neighborhoods and communities safe. It also calls attention to the importance of ensuring enforcement officers have the equipment, training, and resources necessary to perform their duties. Finally, the resolution pays tribute to fallen law enforcement officers, including three Marylanders whom I would like to recognize in particular. These names will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, located in Judiciary Square near Capitol Hill.

Deputy First Class Kenneth ``Kenny'' Olander served the Sheriff's Office of Frederick County, MD, for 32 years. He worked as a patrol operations deputy, school resource officer, and most recently as a community deputy. He had previously served in the Army for 6 years and worked as a military police officer. He passed away in March of 2022 after contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Corporal Gregory Bednarek served with the Maryland Transportation Authority Police for 19 years. A lifelong Marylander, Gregory was born in Baltimore and attended the University of Maryland, College Park. He died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty.

He is survived by his wife, stepdaughter, stepson, parents, sister, two nephews, and niece.

Wicomico County Deputy First Class Glenn Hilliard had served with the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office for 6 years and had previously served with the Berlin Police Department for 10 years. He was shot and killed in July of 2022 while attempting to arrest a man wanted on multiple felony warrants. Hilliard had bravely pursued the suspect on foot as he attempted to flee. He is survived by his wife and three children.

The sacrifices of these Marylanders will not be forgotten, nor will their decades of faithful service to keeping their communities safe. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families left behind.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this week is Public Service Recognition Week--a week we have set aside each year since 1985 to recognize and honor public servants. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep, heartfelt gratitude to America's 20 million Federal, State, county, and local public servants. From astronauts to astrophysicists, caseworkers to court clerks, detectives to doctors, soldiers to superintendents, teachers to transit workers, America's public servants comprise one of our Nation's most critical and often maligned assets.

Men and women serve in harm's way to defend our Nation. Other public servants support them. Public servants teach our children, deliver the mail, administer our elections, keep our streets and communities safe and clean, guide air traffic, protect our natural resources and food and drug supplies, respond to natural disasters and other emergencies, conduct pioneering basic research, provide healthcare, interpret and enforce our laws, ensure that seniors and veterans receive the benefits they have earned, and represent our Nation's interests in foreign posts. I could go on and on. The work that public servants perform affects each and every one of us on a daily basis, making our lives so much better.

The public sector workforce--particularly at the Federal level--tends to be older, better educated, and more experienced than the private sector workforce. So many public servants could earn higher salaries in private sector jobs, but their motivation is more than pecuniary gain; it is a sense of duty and a love of their community and country that compel them.

President Biden issued a proclamation this week that says:

At a time when public servants are facing threats and

hostility simply for doing their jobs, their continued

willingness to serve is even more meaningful and important.

We have an obligation to support them and to recognize and

value their commitment and sacrifice. Our Nation's future

depends on ensuring our public servants have good jobs with

competitive pay and benefits, along with the resources they

need to accomplish their work. It also depends on the next

generation of smart, dedicated people answering the call of

public service and joining their ranks, helping deliver the

promise of America to more of our citizens.

I couldn't agree with the President more.

Just 7 percent of America's Federal workers are under the age of 30. I join President Biden in urging young Americans to consider careers in public service. We need your talents, your energy, your ideas, and your idealism to ensure that America remains prosperous, secure, and a beacon of liberty for all humanity.

Each year, in conjunction with Public Service Recognition Week, the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service announces the finalists for the prestigious Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals. The awards are named after the partnership's founder and benefactor and highlight excellence in our Federal workforce.

I am proud that Maryland is home to 12 finalists.

They are, in the field of science, technology, and environment, Dr. Adam Phillippy, Dr. Sergey Koren, and Dr. Arang Rhie, Investigator, Associate Investigator, and Staff Scientist respectively at the National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, and the Telomere to Telomere Consortium, which Dr. Phillippy cofounded in 2018, having cracked the last 8 percent of humans' genetic code.

Their research into understanding the most difficult parts of our DNA has

enabled scientists to discover more than 2 new million variants in our genetic makeup, many of which can cause serious health problems. We will make leaps and bounds in understanding Down syndrome, autism, and cancer, and devising effective gene therapies for a host of diseases.

Dr. Phillippy put it this way:

It is really easy to get up and go to work in the morning

because our work is making such a difference.

What a dedicated public servant.

In management excellence, Megan Meacham, Allison Hutchings, and Sarah O'Donnell, Director, Deputy Director, and Team Lead respectively at the Department of Health and Human Services' Rural Strategic Initiatives Division under the Health Resources and Services Administration, created the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program to provide grant funding for a wide array of innovative and effective opioid use prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

The program, which they established 5 years ago, has served more than 2 million people each year in more than 1,800 rural counties across 47 States and 2 territories. As Megan Meacham has stated, ``We are here to help and passionate to serve. Even when we hit a roadblock, we find a way around it.''

We know the challenges of opioid addiction. Our public servants are answering the challenge.

In management excellence, Gloria Morgan Shepherd, Executive Director, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, is one of three DOT senior managers being honored for helping to craft and implement the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

We were proud to pass that bill. It wasn't so easy to implement it. Dedicated public servants at the Department of Transportation are making sure our legislation carries out its intended purpose. Thanks to their work, DOT initiated 1,887 transportation projects last year that were awarded nearly $10 billion in discretionary funds on top of $82.3 billion in formula funding that will help modernize the Nation's highways, bridges, shipping ports, railroads, and airports.

Gloria Morgan Shepherd and her colleagues implemented 76 new or expanded grant programs and initiated bridge repair programs, a national electric vehicle charging network, and a host of safety initiatives. That is what we intended. Our public servants at DOT are carrying that out.

In management excellence, Rear Admiral Nancy Hann, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Commissioned Corps and Director of NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, has implemented policies to curb sexual harassment, assault, and bullying among employees aboard NOAA's marine fleet and aircraft, creating a safer workplace and changing the organization's culture.

Admiral Hann, who has been with NOAA for 26 years, said:

It is really important for everyone to have a voice and to

feel comfortable physically, emotionally, and mentally in the

workplace. I have the responsibility to be the voice of the

people who don't feel like they have a voice or are too

scared. I take that responsibility very seriously.

We are all better off because of Admiral Hann's work.

The Paul A. Volcker Career Achievement Award: Dr. Eric J. ``Rocky'' Feuer, Chief, Statistical Research and Applications Branch, Surveillance Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, has developed new methods to estimate the chances of individuals being diagnosed with cancer at different times during their lives.

Over the past four decades, he has designed a sophisticated system using statistical analysis to understand national cancer trends better, leading to significant prevention, screening, and treatment options that have benefited millions of Americans.

In 2000, he created the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network, allowing statisticians and scientists to address critical cancer-related questions collaboratively. He has stated that the statistical analysis he has engaged in over the course of his career is ``backbencher type of work,'' but added it has helped ``move people to action'' and improve healthcare.

Yes, we are dealing with cancer challenges in our communities, and people like Dr. Feuer are making a huge difference.

Safety, security, and international affairs: Lisa Hsiao, Assistant Director, Consumer Protection Branch, Department of Justice, has protected the public from harmful or misleading trade practices by businesses across a wide range of industries, including Altria, R.J. Reynolds, Facebook, and Dish Network, securing some of the largest fines in U.S. history and requiring the disclosure of important safety and privacy information.

As Dr. Lisa Hsiao has said, ``I'm proud that through these cases we have created law that can be built upon. As a lawyer, it's pretty rare to be able to make precedent that both protects the public and effects good public policy.''

Protecting consumers, protecting the public, that is what public servants do.

Management excellence: Robert Gorman, Senior Trial Attorney, Department of Transportation, is one of three DOT officials in the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection who has led an aggressive campaign to require airlines to compensate air travelers for airfare and other related costs for canceled or significantly delayed flights due to circumstances within the airlines' control. The campaign has produced a record $8.4 million in fines and more than $1 billion in passenger refunds.

Robert Gorman and his colleagues looked for patterns to determine if an airline were repeatedly being unresponsive or noncompliant with respect to consumer complaints, leading the Aviation Consumer Protection Office to issue two regulatory notices, launch investigations, bring enforcement actions, and in some instances, reach settlements for travelers to be reimbursed.

Thanks to Robert Gorman and his colleagues, the skies are finally friendlier for fliers.

Science, Technology, and the Environment: Dr. Sarah Nelson, Director of Defense Programs Office of Experimental Sciences, National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy, played a leading role in overseeing scientists who, for the first time in history, produced a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it required, a breakthrough with enormous implications for abundant clean energy and national defense. When harnessed and expanded to utility scale, fusion energy will produce reliable electricity without releasing greenhouse gases or producing radioactive waste.

Dr. Nelson started as an intern at the NNSA's Lawrence Livermore research laboratory.

She said:

It was a tremendously influential experience for me, but I

had no idea that I'd be sitting in this chair 20 years later

when such a scientific breakthrough would be accomplished. If

we are able to use this technology someday to enable clean

energy, [it would be a game-changer].

She is right on that.

So we can debate the proper role and size of our government, but I hope we can all agree that we want the best and brightest to serve. These individuals and their fellow honorees represent the best our Federal workforce has to offer. But we should be grateful for all public servants who go to work each day determined to make a positive difference for their fellow Americans, and we should be grateful all year long.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, I would like to take this occasion to congratulate Mike Rock on his retirement last month from the American Hospital Association--AHA. For 39 years, Mike was a valued member of the AHA's Federal Relations team and proved to be one of the most knowledgeable, effective, and indefatigable healthcare lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

Mike came to Washington in 1975 from Nebraska. He started working in the mail room of Senator Roman Hruska and then joined the staff of Representative Charles Thone of Nebraska. From there, he went to work for Representative Virginia Dodd Smith as a legislative assistant, handling tax, education, and defense issues.

After 9 years on the Hill, Mike joined the AHA in December 1984. Shortly after Mike started at the AHA, his mother Marilyn paid a visit, where his colleagues informed her that their nickname for him was ``Cool Breeze.'' For nearly four decades, Cool Breeze Mike played an integral role in the AHA's advocacy activities and so many of its successes, including expanding access to healthcare for millions of Americans. I have been on the receiving end of Mike's advocacy work for my entire time in Congress. During my tenure on the House Ways and Means Committee and now as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I relied on Mike's subject matter mastery of healthcare and tax policy, his political astuteness, and his intuitive grasp of what Congress might be able to achieve to improve the Nation's healthcare system. It was always a joy to welcome him into my office.

At the AHA, Mike met his future wife Renee Blankenau, and they have two grown children: Clare and Paul. I am glad Mike will have more time to spend with his family and his avocations: cycling and swimming. I am truly grateful for our friendship and wish him many more happy miles and adventures in his retirement.

Madam President, I would like to take this occasion to congratulate the Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary tomorrow at MGM National Harbor. Since 2003, the roundtable--a nonprofit, nonpartisan business alliance of chief executives whose companies employ nearly 60,000 people--has worked to improve the county's political and economic landscape and enhance the county residents' quality of life.

Nearly 200 years ago, in ``Democracy in America,'' Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, ``In America I encountered sorts of associations of which, I confess, I had no idea, and I often admired the infinite art with which the inhabitants of the United States managed to fix a common goal to the efforts of many men and to get them to advance to it freely.'' Voluntary associations, de Tocqueville observed, were one of the building blocks upon which our democratic self-governance rests.

The roundtable is a perfect example of such an association. Its members participate voluntarily, hosting community forums on crime and education, creating a VisionFramework to help residents imagine a bright future for the county, and producing a Quality of Life Index to gauge the county's progress toward that future. The roundtable established and runs the Andrews Business and Community Alliance, which promotes Joint Base Andrews, the home of Air Force One, the 459th Air Refueling Wing, and one of the county's two largest employers. All these activities and efforts are done collaboratively, with input from residents and in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. As the roundtable's home page states so eloquently, ``We believe that business is more than just adjusting overhead or the bottom line. We believe that by giving of our time, our expertise and our inherent sense of altruism, we will help to bring about a better home for all Prince Georgians.''

I want to thank Jim Estepp, the roundtable's president and chief executive officer; Doyle Mitchell, Jr., the roundtable's board secretary and treasurer; Michael Chiaramonte, the board chair; the other board members; and all roundtable members for their indefatigable efforts to make Prince George's County a better place to live and work in. I have been privileged and please to work with the roundtable on so many initiatives these last 20 years. I congratulate the roundtable, confident in my expectation that the next 20 years will bring even more success.