Christopher John

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Linda Pendergast from Baton Rouge, Louisiana--my nominee for the 2004 Angels in Adoption Award.

Dr. Pendergast is a reunited birthmother who has devoted a large part of her life in volunteer service to the adoption community of Louisiana. As a member of the Catholic Community Services Adoption Advisory Board, she has provided prenatal education and support to pregnant teens in residence at Sanctuary House, a ministry of Catholic Services in Baton Rouge. She also has conducted behavioral/temperament assessments of infants placed for adoption through Catholic Community Services as a post-adoption strategy to foster family cohesiveness, parental satisfaction with the parenting role and optimal infant development.

Dr. Pendergast is a coordinator and facilitator of a search and support group for adult adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive parents. She also serves as an advisor to Louisiana Adoption Advocates--a legislative group dedicated to adoption reform. A member of the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Bd. Inc., Dr. Pendergast has served 4 years as Board secretary and is in her second term as Vice Chair in addition to numerous other involvements in scholarship and volunteer programs.

Her fight for Louisiana's children is a personal one. The happiness of her reunited family is a bright example of her commitment. It is individuals like Dr. Pendergast and her colleagues on the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board who are truly making a difference in our communities.

This week the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute is honoring Linda and hundreds of devoted volunteers like her in ceremonies in Washington, DC. I am proud to honor Dr. Pendergast as one of Louisiana's Angels in Adoption.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume, although I will not take all 5 minutes. But I did think it was important for me to come here and talk about this amendment to this legislation.

I am offering this amendment, and I have worked with the ranking member, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), and also the chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), about trying to work through this in conference, but I thought it was very important that we talk just a little bit about this piece of legislation.

The amendment that I have at the desk is an amendment today to fully fund a piece of legislation that was passed out of this body last year and that was signed by the President of the United States. It is called the Mosquito Abatement for Safety and Health Act, the MASH Act. The MASH Act has the support of the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and also Senator Gregg, who have joined together to support this piece of legislation along with the National Association of Counties.

This amendment offers protection for our constituents from mosquito- borne diseases like the West Nile virus. This year alone, Mr. Chairman, over 1,100 human cases of the West Nile virus have popped up, and over 30 deaths have been reported in all but three States and the District of Columbia. Last year alone, this country faced over 9,800 human cases and 264 deaths from the West Nile virus which is spreading across our country.

Of course, countless Americans, mainly our young and our elderly, are very susceptible to the West Nile virus, but it can be kept under control.

I guess many of us outside of the deep South consider that Labor Day has passed and that summer is over, so the mosquitoes go away. But I can tell my colleagues that the infected mosquitoes are continuing to spread well into the months of November and even into some of December.

What this piece of legislation does is establish a one-time matching grant through the CDC, Center for Disease Control, to enable counties to begin to improve their mosquito abatement programs. Funds can be used for laboratory equipment, purchase of equipment, conduct outreach, educational programs, the kinds of things we need to do to protect our constituents from mosquitoes and this bad disease.

Currently the CDC offers some educational programs, but they do not have real assistance to our counties and to our parishes to make sure that we have the proper funds. Abatement programs are handled through the local government in many instances. So the Federal Government, I believe, because of the West Nile virus and it being spread throughout the whole continental United States, needs to get involved in this to protect our constituents.

I certainly would ask both the chairman and the ranking member to work through this in conference committee, because I feel that this is not just a Louisiana problem, it is certainly a national problem. And I am prepared to withdraw the amendment at the proper time.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to thank both the ranking member and also the chairman for working on this with me. This is a new disease, and we do not know much about it. This can

go a long way in understanding and gaining some information and education about it and also in stopping the spread of this disease.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. Speaker, our local employers are dedicated contributors to our local economies. Each day our local manufacturers not only produce valuable products in our communities, they employ the skills of area workers and resources to get the job done. Manufacturers like the one I am recognizing today are committed to success, and their success directly benefits our communities.

One such local manufacturer is Baker Oil Tools located in Lafayette, Louisiana. Baker Oil Tools is a leader in oilfield services and today they are being honored by the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana (MEPoL) with the first-ever Platinum Award for Continued Excellence (PACE Award).

MEPoL--a non-profit business resource based at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette--has a distinguished history of providing business and technical assistance to manufacturing firms throughout the State of Louisiana. They have worked with over 550 Louisiana businesses--including Baker Oil Tools--since 1997 to increase the productivity and profitability of their clients.

MEPoL educated, encouraged and empowered Baker Oil Tools to embrace the principles of `Lean Manufacturing,' a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste in the manufacturing process through continuous improvement. This efficient approach enabled the organizational advancements that led to the receipt of this prestigious award.

Thanks to a committed workforce and leadership dedicated to excellence, Baker Oil Tools has made significant advances in driving productivity, quality and technology throughout their organization. Baker Oil Tools is a local manufacturing leader and this award is an outstanding achievement.

Congratulations to Baker Oil Tools on receipt of MEPoL's first annual PACE award and to their long standing commitment to the people and prosperity of our community.