Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Cleveland, Ohio's famous boxer, Mr. Jimmy Bivins.

Bivins was born in Dry Branch, Georgia on December 6, 1919. He moved to Cleveland at the age of three and attended Central High School, where he was an honor student. Weighing only 112 pounds, Bivins began his boxing career in 1936.

Bivins' professional boxing career began in 1940 and lasted until 1955. He boxed in 112 professional fights, accumulating 86 wins and 31 knockouts. Between June 22, 1942 and February 25, 1946, he went unbeaten in 26 consecutive bouts. During his fifteen year career, Bivins defeated eight of eleven world champions and four of the seven fellow Hall of Famers he faced throughout his career. Although he was never able to compete for the world title, Bivins remains the only boxer to date that has ranked as the No. 1 contender in both the Light Heavyweight and the Heavyweight divisions.

In 1999, Bivins was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. That same year, Sports Illustrated said that Bivins may have been the greatest modern heavyweight who never got a shot at the title crown. He was best known for his powerful left jab.

Following his boxing career, Bivins joined the Teamsters and drove bakery and snack trucks around the City of Cleveland. He was active in the community, spending time at the gym with local kids teaching them how to box, telling them stories and giving them fatherly advice. He also cooked food for them every Sunday to make sure that they did not go hungry as he had in the past.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring the life of Jimmy Bivins.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Mr. Howard R. Maier, who is retiring after 23 years as Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, better known as NOACA. He is being honored on July 12, 2012, on his retirement at the City Club of Cleveland.

As the region's Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, NOACA serves Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties in Northeast Ohio, including all of Ohio's 10th Congressional District. NOACA prepares the region's Long Range Transportation Plan and the Transportation Improvement Program. NOACA also conducts water quality and air quality planning.

Mr. Maier has overseen an annual budget of $6.5 million, a staff of 42, and a governing board of 44 elected and appointed officials. Under Howard's leadership, NOACA has received awards from the National Association of Regional Councils, the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and Eco- City Cleveland, among others.

Howard Maier is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and his Masters in City Planning from Ohio State University, Howard earned his Master of Science in Public Management from Case Western Reserve University in 1974.

He was Director of Planning and Development for the City of Cleveland Heights and the Principal Planner for the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission before joining NOACA. He was asked by the NOACA board to step up as Acting Executive Director in 1989 when there was a leadership crisis at the agency. He was then appointed as Executive Director in 1991, where he served until his recent retirement in June 2012.

Howard Maier has distinguished himself with many awards and honors during his years with NOACA, including Honorary Membership in the American Institute of Architects, Mayfield High School Hall of Fame, Ally of the Year for the Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope, Distinguished Alumnus of Ohio State University's College of Engineering, and NOACA's ``Wally,'' the Walter F. Ehrnfelt Award for Outstanding Regional Contribution.

Mr. Speaker, and distinguished colleagues, please join me in honoring Howard Maier as he enjoys his well-earned retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember Leonard Ronis who passed away on July 4. Mr. Ronis will long be remembered in the Greater Cleveland area for his more than 6 decade career in public transportation. Leonard Ronis was born September 5, 1921, grew up in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland during the Great Depression, and graduated from Glenville High School. He studied industrial psychology at Western Reserve University where he received his bachelors and masters degrees. He volunteered with the US. Army during World War II where he served in the Infantry, Foreign Language Training (Russian) and the Signal Corps. He finished his service as Officer in Charge of the Civilian Personnel Department of the Philadelphia Signal Depot.

Leonard Ronis began his career in transit in 1946 upon leaving military service in World War II. He started in the Personnel Department at the Cleveland Transit System (CTS) and worked his way up to Personnel Director, Operations Manager and Assistant General Manager before becoming the last General Manager for CTS on November 1, 1974. At that time, he was a founder and past president of the Ohio Public Transit Association, an organization that played a significant role in developing the state legislation which allowed regional transit authorities to be created.

As a Cleveland City Councilman and Council's representative in the negotiations which enabled the creation of a regional transit authority in 1974-75, I had the privilege of working with Leonard Ronis on the transition from a city-owned transit system. Leonard was a dedicated public servant who was a strong negotiator with only the best interest of the people who use and pay for public transit in mind. When the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) was created, he took the helm as General Manager and led the RTA through its first 7 years. Under his leadership, he won more than $320 million in federal funding for operations and capital expenses. He also saw ridership increase 70 percent under his administration. Upon retirement in 1982, Leonard Ronis continued to apply his expertise in transit as a consultant for Parsons Brinckerhoff, a nationally known transit engineering firm based in New York City.

In 1990, Leonard was named to the American Public Transit Association (APTA) Hall of Fame. In 2005, he received an award from the APTA for his sixty years of achievement and dedicated service in public transportation. In addition to being a founder and president of the Ohio Public Transit Association, he was a Member, Institute of Transportation Engineers; Board Member, Case Western Reserve University Alumni; Member, Visiting Committee of Cleveland State University College of Urban Affairs; and Board Member, Retired Senior Volunteer Program.

Mr. Speaker, and respected colleagues, please join me in remembering Leonard Ronis, an esteemed public servant who dedicated his life and career to making public transportation better for the people who use it and depend on it to get around.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the 31st attempt to roll back health care coverage for American families.

Before the bill was passed, the House and Senate debated it for well over a year. It was debated on the House and Senate floor, in several committees, in the media, in town halls, on the World Wide Web, in living rooms; indeed, it was hard to escape the debate during that time. The bills received dozens of votes, including committee votes. It passed the House and Senate. It was signed into law. Since then, it has continued to be debated; the House alone has devoted 43 hours of scarce floor time to it. Now, it is being implemented and American families are already benefitting from the law. It has been through the courts-- all the way to the highest court--and it has been found to be constitutional. It has been upheld.

Instead of trying to accelerate our economic recovery, the primary concern of American families and businesses, we are spending hours of valuable time on the House floor debating yet again whether to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I would be enthusiastically supportive of a debate about whether to continue forward progress by moving toward a single payer system which would provide higher quality health care for everyone in the U.S. without paying a dime more than we are currently paying. That is a debate worth having. But today's debate is not about moving forward; it is about moving backward. We can't move forward with our eyes glued to the rear view mirror. This is not governance.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Judge Patrick F. Gallagher, who spent nearly 20 years as a judge for the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court.

Born on September 1, 1918, Judge Gallagher was raised in the City of Cleveland. He graduated from St. Ignatius High in 1936. Before enrolling in college, Judge Gallagher served with the U.S. Army for four years in England during World War II. He was discharged, having earned the rank of master sergeant.

Upon returning home, Judge Gallagher graduated from Case Western Reserve University and earned his law degree from Cleveland Marshall College of Law. In 1956, he joined the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court as a legal consultant. He would eventually become the Juvenile Court's chief clerk.

Judge Gallagher was first elected as a Judge for Cuyahoga Court Domestic Relations Court in 1972. He was subsequently reelected for two additional terms and retired after 18 years on the bench.

I offer my condolences to his wife, Eileen; children, Patrick (Cynthia), Dr. Michael (Catherine), Dr. Timothy (Lynn), John and Captain Colleen Gallagher Thomas; grandchildren, Molly (Kevin), Kate, Mary Catherine, Brian, Kelly, Amy, Jaci, Timothy, Erin, Daniel, Bridget and Brendan; and great-grandson, Jack.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Judge Patrick F. Gallagher.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I cannot support a tainted process. Congress generally, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee specifically, has the duty and obligation to provide effective oversight. Congress should not be interrupted in that process, but neither should that process be sullied.

Under the Constitution, Congress has the authority to compel testimony and issue subpoenas. When the President of the United States exercises the right of Executive Privilege and there is a dispute over whether that exercise is a valid one, the matter should then be referred to the courts. I have stated this publicly and frequently. While Congress has the authority to compel the information being protected by the Presidential exercise of privilege, the process by which H.R. 706 has been brought to the floor has been tainted.

I voted for the Motion to Refer brought by Congressman John Dingell which called for a real investigation. The Majority on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform rejected all Democratic witnesses. They would not allow Michael Mukasey, former Attorney General, and Kenneth Melson, former director of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to testify before the Committee. While Congress has the authority take this to the courts, it is premature to use this authority before a full investigation has been conducted.

Secondly, I cannot support the injudicious context in which H.R. 706 finds its way before us today. This could be a meritorious process, but it has been tainted with partisan vitriol. This takes a fundamental right of Congress and propels it into a realm of partisan action with wild charges and abuse of power. There have been charges of Presidential cover-up, despite the Chairman of the Committee admitting there is no such evidence.

Both parties should have been able to work this out before we got to this situation. This is not how Congress should have proceeded. I cannot dignify a tainted process. I have joined my colleagues in abstaining from voting, on H.R. 706 as well H.R. 711.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the Italian Cultural Garden, a Cleveland landmark that will be dedicating a statue of the great author Dante Alighieri and celebrating the 66th anniversary of the Republic of Italy on June 29, 2012.

The 254 acre piece of land that constitutes Rockefeller Park was donated to the City of Cleveland by John D. Rockefeller in 1896. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens were founded in 1926 to create a memorial area for the diverse ethnic groups that shape the region, and to serve as a space for reflection on peace, cooperation and understanding. The Cultural Gardens are currently a collection of 26 gardens which include African-American, American Indian, British, Chinese, Czech, Estonian, and Slovenian gardens, among others.

The Italian Cultural Garden was established in 1930 ``as a symbol of the contribution of Italian culture to American democracy.'' It lies in Rockefeller Park among 35 other cultural gardens representing the diverse ethnic populations of Cleveland. The Italian Garden is the most-visited of all the gardens and is the venue of various free concerts.

The Italian Cultural Garden has been in the process of a massive restoration since 2007. The garden was enhanced with new historic lampposts, new fountains and new statues. More renovations are planned for the future.

Currently, the garden honors noteworthy figures in Italian history, including Giotto, Michelangelo, and Guglielmo Marconi. The addition of Dante Alighieri, the author of The Divine Comedy and a master of the Italian language, will pay tribute to this outstanding Italian and symbolize the contributions of Cleveland's Italian community. The ceremony will be hosted by the Italian Cultural Garden Foundation.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring the Italian Cultural Garden, a historic landmark and tribute to Cleveland's beloved Italian community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Cleveland City Councilwoman Dona Brady, who has admirably served the residents of Ward 17 since 1997.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Councilwoman Brady has been a leader in the Greater Cleveland community for years. She attended Cleveland State University Levin College of Urban Affairs where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, Cum Laude, in Urban Studies with a major in neighborhood revitalization. She is also a graduate of CSU's Leadership Academy.

Before she was elected to Cleveland City Council, Brady worked for the Office of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William D. Mason, Judge Raymond L. Pianka and for the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals.

Throughout the past 15 years, Councilwoman Brady has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life in Ward 17 of Cleveland, which includes the West Boulevard and Clifton historic districts. She has worked toward promoting economic development, improving public safety, maintaining the ward's housing stock and developing additional recreational opportunities for families. Brady serves as the Chair of the Public Service Committee, Vice-Chair of Public Safety, and as a member of the Council's Finance and Community and Economic Development Committees.

Councilwoman Brady is also involved in Cleveland's Albanian-American community and has been named Cleveland's Ambassador to Albania. She has been a constant in revitalizing the Albanian Cultural Garden in Rockefeller Park and instrumental in building an international trade relationship with Fier, Albania.

Throughout the years and her career, Councilwomen Brady has been honored by numerous organizations. She is the recipient of the 2005 Outstanding Elected Official's Award from CSU Leadership Academy's David C. Sweet Alumni Society. Additionally, she has been inducted into the Golden Key National Honor Society, and recognized by Jobs with Justice, the International Services Center and American Nationalities Movement.

Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, please join me in honoring Councilwoman Dona Brady for her years of service and commitment to the Greater Cleveland area.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Joseph's Home, a safe, supportive environment for homeless individuals transitioning from local hospitals and other social service agencies following a period of illness or surgery.

Cleveland has had a long history of organizations stepping up and caring for the less fortunate. The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine (CSA) arrived in Cleveland, Ohio from France in 1851 to serve as the city's first public health nurses, laying the foundation for what would become Joseph's House. The CSA quickly began providing the health and educational needs of Cleveland's most impoverished and vulnerable residents. Over the past 160 years, the CSA has remained dedicated to addressing the root causes of poverty and meeting the needs of the communities they serve.

A group of CSA Sisters, led by founding Sisters Joan Gallagher and Regina Fierman, noticed that Greater Cleveland's homeless community transitioning from local hospitals and other social service agencies following a period of illness or surgery did not have access to a safe and supportive environment. With a legacy of responding to the unmet needs of the community's most vulnerable residents, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine opened the doors of Joseph's Home in June 2000.

Joseph's House has helped over 400 men transition back into the world and has provided them with a second chance in life. Each year, around 50 men are helped; the house has a capacity of 11 men at any given time. The people served by Joseph's House, leave it with the confidence and support that helps them succeed. Joseph's House provides its residents with job opportunities, educational advancement and more importantly, a place to call home.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Joseph's House for its years of service and dedication to improving the lives of the less fortunate.

I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota, Congressman Ellison, for his leadership in the Progressive Caucus and to thank him for yielding me some time to talk about this momentous decision by the Supreme Court. First of all, a little bit of context.

I represent Cleveland, Ohio. There are many people in Cleveland who are uninsured. There are many people in Cleveland who could not afford health care. There are many people who are working who can't get their families covered.

This issue of health care reform is one of the defining issues in our country, and it's one that we finally grappled with in 2010 to come up with a bill that not everyone agreed with. As a matter of fact, as Mr. Ellison will remember, I didn't agree with this. I was not satisfied with health care reform within the context of a for-profit system because I wanted a not-for-profit system. Yet, while we had a for- profit system, one of the things we needed to do was to make sure children with preexisting conditions would be covered; to make sure all of these lifetime caps on the amount of money that people could claim for expenses were removed; and to make sure that people were given a fighting chance with the insurance companies.

What's happened is the Affordable Care Act finally took a step in the direction of reform. It's an important step, and the Supreme Court has said you can do that under Congress' taxing authority, but it's just a step.

All of us understand that there are still millions of Americans who are finding health care out of reach, even with the help that the Affordable Care Act offers. That's why at the State level there are still States, such as Vermont, that are looking at how they can go forward with a single-payer plan within their State.

Keep in mind that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act essentially would stop States from going forward, so we asked basically for a waiver of that. The amendment would have provided for a waiver so States would have no legal bar to pursue a single-payer system. That was essentially passed in committee and then stripped out.

The point is we can enable it. Congress can facilitate that. The passage of affordable care, plus the Supreme Court saying Congress can move on health care, Congress can take a step, finally puts us in a position where we can elevate health care to the highest level of public concern.

Every American who is out there tonight who's worried about whether they would be able to get access to affordable health care suddenly realizes that it is possible. For those poor people across America who are wondering whether they are going to be shut out by one aspect of the Supreme Court decision, now it's up to the States to reaffirm the position of the State in the life of their citizens by saying, if you're a poor person, we're not going to use the Supreme Court decision to block you from having access to the resources of the government with respect to health care.

I think that we need to recognize that we've taken a big step here. As someone who wasn't sure at first, as someone who, in a sense, reluctantly voted for the Affordable Care Act on the hope that by proving we could have reform within the context of a for-profit system, that it would open the door for further reforms, I'd say this is a great day. It shows that it's possible to reform that for-profit system.

I'm hopeful, as we're celebrating today, that we look down the road to what we're going to do in the future, which is to restart our efforts here, restart the effort for a single-payer system, knowing at least that we have the assurance that more people are covered, that you don't have to worry about your child 26 and under, whether they are going to be covered under the policy, that you don't have to worry about a child with a preexisting condition, that you don't have to worry about long-term caps, that you don't have to worry about if you're a senior where that doughnut hole is going to cause your budget to get crushed. What you have now is the government finally taking the side of the people and putting us in a position where we now are able, with integrity and with drive, to move towards the future where someday we're going to keep working for that single-payer system.

The gentleman is right. The gentleman is correct. When you think of how many people--most bankruptcies, they're connected to people not being able to pay hospital bills. Any single family has known the dread of having one individual get ill in the family, and everything people worked a lifetime for, they lose.

Oh, that's right.

Think about this now. You can have insurance, and if you run up against lifetime caps on coverage, you're out of luck. So many Americans have gotten in trouble financially because, even though they have insurance, they can't pay the bills. The bills have sent Americans into poverty.

We need to realize that we've taken a step in the direction of a substantial support for the American people and their health care with the Affordable Care Act, but it's not the final step.

Again, I am here to share with you, Mr. Speaker, my willingness to continue the effort towards a universal single-payer, not-for-profit health care.

You know what? Now that we've proven that reform of health care is possible, now that we have proven that health care is no longer the third rail of American politics, now that we have proven that the Court will uphold an effort by the Congress to move towards health care reform, well, now that we've proven that, we can say it is possible to go to a place where we can have health care for all under a not-for- profit system.

I thank the gentleman for his leadership, and I look forward to working with you as we chart a new course in America for health care for all. Thank you.

I thank the gentleman. Thank you very much.

Mr. Speaker, I submit a timely op-ed from Former President Jimmy Carter on the ramifications of drone strikes on America's human rights record.

[From the New York Times, June 24, 2012]

A Cruel and Unusual Record

(By Jimmy Carter)

Atlanta.--The United States is abandoning its role as the

global champion of human rights.

Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be

assassinated abroad, including American citizens, are only

the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nation's

violation of human rights has extended. This development

began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has

been sanctioned and escalated by bipartisan executive and

legislative actions, without dissent from the general public.

As a result, our country can no longer speak with moral

authority on these critical issues.

While the country has made mistakes in the past, the

widespread abuse of human rights over the last decade has

been a dramatic change from the past. With leadership from

the United States, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

was adopted in 1948 as ``the foundation of freedom, justice

and peace in the world.'' This was a bold and clear

commitment that power would no longer serve as a cover to

oppress or injure people, and it established equal rights of

all people to life, liberty, security of person, equal

protection of the law and freedom from torture, arbitrary

detention or forced exile. The declaration has been invoked

by human rights activists and the international community to

replace most of the world's dictatorships with democracies

and to promote the rule of law in domestic and global

affairs. It is disturbing that, instead of strengthening

these principles, our government's counterterrorism policies

are now clearly violating at least 10 of the declaration's 30

articles, including the prohibition against ``cruel, inhuman

or degrading treatment or punishment.''

Recent legislation has made legal the president's right to

detain a person indefinitely on suspicion of affiliation with

terrorist organizations or ``associated forces,'' a broad,

vague power that can be abused without meaningful oversight

from the courts or Congress (the law is currently being

blocked by a federal judge). This law violates the right to

freedom of expression and to be presumed innocent until

proved guilty, two other rights enshrined in the declaration.

In addition to American citizens' being targeted for

assassination or indefinite detention, recent laws have

canceled the restraints in the Foreign Intelligence

Surveillance Act of 1978 to allow unprecedented violations of

our rights to privacy through warrantless wiretapping and

government mining of our electronic communications. Popular

state laws permit detaining individuals because of their

appearance, where they worship or with whom they associate.

Despite an arbitrary rule that any man killed by drones is

declared an enemy terrorist, the death of nearby innocent

women and children is accepted as inevitable. After more than

30 airstrikes on civilian homes this year in Afghanistan,

President Hamid Karzai has demanded that such attacks end,

but the practice continues in areas of Pakistan, Somalia and

Yemen that are not in any war zone. We don't know how many

hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed in these

attacks, each one approved by the highest authorities in

Washington. This would have been unthinkable in previous

times.

These policies clearly affect American foreign policy. Top

intelligence and military officials, as well as rights

defenders in targeted areas, affirm that the great escalation

in drone attacks has turned aggrieved families toward

terrorist organizations, aroused civilian populations against

us and permitted repressive governments to cite such actions

to justify their own despotic behavior.

Meanwhile, the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,

now houses 169 prisoners. About half have been cleared for

release, yet have little prospect of ever obtaining their

freedom. American authorities have revealed that, in order to

obtain confessions, some of the few being tried (only in

military courts) have been tortured by waterboarding more

than 100 times or intimidated with semiautomatic weapons,

power drills or threats to sexually assault their mothers.

Astoundingly, these facts cannot be used as a defense by the

accused, because the government claims they occurred under

the cover of ``national security.'' Most of the other

prisoners have no prospect of ever being charged or tried

either.

At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe,

the United States should be strengthening, not weakening,

basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of

making the world safer, America's violation of international

human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends.

As concerned citizens, we must persuade Washington to

reverse course and regain moral leadership according to

international human rights norms that we had officially

adopted as our own and cherished throughout the years.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, is the founder of the

Carter Center and the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace

Prize.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor David Stein on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his interior design business, Plantation Home. Located in downtown Lakewood, Plantation Home offers a unique selection of home furnishings, gifts and accessories. At a time when scores of companies have closed their doors due to turbulent economic upheaval, Plantation Home has weathered those hardships and continues to be one of Lakewood's most successful and community driven companies.

Mr. Stein has graciously committed himself to the betterment of the Lakewood community in which he has lived since 1989. Stein has been a sponsor of the Lakewood Relay for Life, contributes to the Beck Center for Performing Arts, opened his home for the Lakewood Historical Society Home and Garden Tour and served on the City of Lakewood Community Relations Board where he designed a program to establish modern and artistic bus stops. He is the current board President of the Downtown Lakewood Business Alliance where he directs efforts to revitalize and enrich the merchant environment with efforts including a City Wide Street Sale, Spring Stroll and Fashion Show, Streetwalk, Chocolate

Walk, Gingerbread House Tour and Scavenger Hunt and ``Light Up Lakewood'' during the holiday season--an effort to create beautifully decorated storefront windows reminiscent of Cleveland's downtown department store windows of years past. Annually, he awards a $500 scholarship to one boy and one girl, the king and queen of the Light Up Lakewood festival, to put toward college, asking only that they dedicate 20 hours of community service to Lakewood in return.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Mr. Stein for his leadership, loyalty, civic pride and above all, caring for his community and what he and his business has meant to the City of Lakewood and Northeast Ohio for the past ten years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Mr. Joseph M. Gaul, the former Mayor of Fairview Park, Ohio.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio to Leroy and Gertrude Gaul, Joseph was a lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio. He attended Cathedral Latin High School and graduated from John Carroll University in 1957. Between graduating from high school and attending college, Mr. Gaul bravely served his country during the Korean War with the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953, during which time he was stationed in Panama.

In 1958, Mr. Gaul moved to Fairview Park and became active in politics. He was elected Ward 2 Councilman in 1965 and served until he was elected Councilman-at-Large in 1969. In 1971, Mr. Gaul was elected Council President and served in that role for four years. Mr. Gaul was elected the Mayor of Fairview Park in 1975 and would be reelected twice. He ended his career after more than thirty years in 1992. During his tenure as mayor, Mr. Gaul was instrumental in developing Willowood Manor, Fairview Park's Senior Citizens residential complex and in annexing RiverEdge Township.

In addition to his political accomplishments, Mr. Gaul also served as the Vice Chair of the RTA Board of Directors and worked as sales manager for Wolverine Express, Central Transport, Inc. He was a parishioner at St. Angela Merici Church for more than fifty years and was member of the Parish Council. In 1996 the Ohio State Senate named Mr. Gaul the ``Irishman of the Year.''

I offer my condolences to his former wife of 46 years, Joan Adler; brothers, William and Leroy; children, Joseph Jr. (Meg), Patty, Eileen (Bart), Brian (Kathy), Kathleen (Mike), John (Marybeth), Michael (Julie), and Megan; and twenty-two grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring the memory of Mr. Joseph M. Gaul, who bravely fought for his country and valiantly served the residents of Fairview Park.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of H.E. Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, who is ending his tenure as the Arab Republic of Egypt's Ambassador to the United States of America.

Born on October 20, 1952 in Cairo, Egypt, Ambassador Shoukry is a second generation diplomat. He graduated from Ein Shams University in 1975 with a law degree and specializes in disarmament and non- proliferation issues. Just a year later, in 1976, Ambassador Shoukry joined the Egyptian Diplomatic Corps. Throughout his more than 30-year career, he has served in the Egyptian Embassies in London, Buenos Aires and the Permanent Mission of Egypt in New York.

Prior to being appointed Egypt's Ambassador to the United States in September, 2008, Ambassador Shoukry served as Egypt's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Egypt's Ambassador to Austria and as Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna. He has also served as the Director of the Minister of Foreign Affairs cabinet and led the department of the United States and Canada in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring H.E. Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, the Arab Republic of Egypt's Ambassador to the United States, as we bid him farewell.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize WIRE-Net, Cleveland's West Side Industrial Retention and Expansion Network, on the event of its annual meeting on Wednesday June 27, 2012.

WIRE-Net is a premier business-led organization, one of the few that focuses on the shared interests of manufacturing companies and urban communities. Its mission focuses on providing programs and services that strengthen manufacturing to create healthy communities and fuel economic growth.

WIRE-Net is a membership organization with 260 members. WIRE-Net was organized in 1988 to help manufacturing businesses--and jobs--stay in the community at a time when plant closings and downsizing were commonplace. Its staff went straight to the source, visiting almost 200 companies to better understand their challenges. WIRE-Net found that even though manufacturing companies, most with fewer than 100 employees, provided about 60 percent of the community's jobs, they had been overlooked and under-appreciated as community assets. WIRE-Net helped businesses get organized to win attention from federal, state and local government, and built relationships between business leaders and public officials. This effort helped get streets repaved, improved neighborhood safety, and led to new programs like Cleveland's Industrial Retention Initiative (CIRI) to support manufacturing. WIRE- Net also effectively blocked efforts to weaken industrial zoning on Cleveland's west side.

At this year's annual meeting, WIRE-Net recognizes its Executive Director, John Colm, for his 25 years of service to the community through the organization. WIRE-Net will also present its 2012 Mission Builder Award for plant expansion, new business growth, and/or creating jobs to: Electric Cord Sets; Miceli Dairy Products; Nestle Professional--L J Minor Division; Norlake Manufacturing; National Safety Apparel (NSA); and Philips Healthcare. This year's keynote speaker is Rob Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, who will discuss his work promoting U.S. based manufacturing and organizing the American Manufacturing Charter, which is supported by a broad coalition of labor, business, and economic policy leaders.

Mr. Speaker and respected colleagues, please join me in recognizing WIRE-Net, its long-time Executive Director John Colm, the winners of its 2012 Mission Builder Awards, and its influential speaker Rob Atkinson at WIRE-Net's Annual Meeting on June 27, 2012.