Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I think this is a good time to reflect on a couple of things. One is certainly Iran. The other is certainly Ukraine.

I think that the American people obviously have a very important stake in what is going on in both countries. In Ukraine, in Kiev, we see people marching for freedom, demanding the kinds of freedoms that we, in the United States, are used to, the freedoms that we hold so dear in our country; and we saw the people initially being countered by brutal police attacks on them.

But you know, Mr. Speaker, the right prevailed, and the people in the streets won, and they clearly said that they don't want to have Russian domination; but, instead, they want to look toward the West, rather than look East.

The European Union has been negotiating with Ukraine for some time, and their president, now deposed, said that he would rather work with Russia into the Russian Customs Union, which is sort of, in my opinion, a rekindling of the old Soviet Union. That angered many people in Ukraine, and they took to the streets.

I hope that the European Union continues to make overtures to Ukraine. I think now is a very, very critical moment, in that the United States has a role to play with our European allies, to try to tell the people of Ukraine that we would like them to look Westward and that, in looking Westward, there will be opportunities for their country.

I am concerned that if there are too many stringent rules and regulations put up before a country can affiliate with the EU--and at the same time, Putin is saying here are these billions and billions of dollars, which makes it seem like it is a lot easier to go with Putin.

This is one of those rare visceral moments where I think action by the United States and our allies in the European Union will make the difference for generations to come; and I would hope that we would deal with Ukraine in a benevolent manner, so that they would be able to say: yes, we want to look Westward, and it is going to help our economy, it is going to help our people.

There are serious problems in Ukraine. Their economy is in shambles. And, of course, there has been a total lack of freedom and democracy, and the people of Ukraine demand no less.

I think that Secretary Kerry was absolutely right and the President was absolutely right in telling Russian President Putin that he had better think twice before he considers any kind of military intervention in Ukraine.

That is not something that can be or should be tolerated, and Russia must understand that it cannot be business

as usual, that if they make any military moves into Ukraine, it is going to cost them a great deal in their relationships with the United States and with our European allies in the European Union.

It can't be business as usual--which leads me to Iran. We are in very delicate negotiations with Iran right now. The one thing that everybody in the P5+1 agrees on is that, at the end of the day, Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

I have been very critical of the Iranian regime through the years and continue to be so. What irks me especially is that, while they are negotiating with us, they are continuing to wreak havoc in all different parts of the world. Iran remains the leading supporter of terrorism throughout the world.

In fact, if we look just next door into Syria--and we know the Syrian civil war is a real mess. We have jihadists pouring into that country, even more so than they poured into Iraq at the height of the Iraq war. We have all kinds of foreign fighters.

Assad was on the verge of being kicked out of power by his own people. He was losing the civil war. We had the Free Syrian Army, who are the people who really are for democracy in Syria, and Assad was losing that war.

Then what happened, Mr. Speaker, Iran unleashed its proxy--its terrorist proxy--Hezbollah into Syria; and Hezbollah entered the war in Syria on the side of Assad; and that turned the war, unfortunately, to Assad's favor.

So now, we are in a position where Assad doesn't want to negotiate, doesn't want to sue for peace, certainly doesn't want to negotiate his own exit from power in Syria, which we all thought was imminent just a few months ago; and he feels he has the upper hand because his ally, Iran, has changed the course of the war in there by unleashing their proxy, Hezbollah, a terrorist group, to fight on the side of Assad.

So Assad has essentially become an Iranian puppet in his own country, and that is Iran continuing to do all kinds of mischief while they are negotiating with us, ostensibly, so that they would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon at the end of the day.

We know that the Israelis have taken matters into their own hands, and when they see weapons are being transferred to Hezbollah, they will do what they need to do to protect their own security.

So I think--the way Putin must understand that he cannot have it both ways, I think that the Iranians need to understand that as well. Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. They are a theocracy, and I think that we all believe that their having nuclear weapons would cause a proliferation of nuclear weapons all throughout the area, the Middle East.

Certainly, if Iran were to have a nuclear weapon--and that must not happen--Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, so many other countries would feel the need as well to get nuclear weapons; and we would start a chain of events that--who knows how it would end? So I believe that we have to be very, very crystal-clear.

I hope that these negotiations of the P5+1 with Iran bear fruit, but I think Iran must understand that we are not backing off, we are not going back, that nothing short of their not being able to produce a nuclear weapon is acceptable; and Iran must dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

That is not something that just the United States wants. That is something that the negotiations are really and truly all about.

I have said before that it troubles me that, while we are negotiating with Iran, Iran continues to enrich uranium. It would seem to me that if Iran had good intentions, it would at least understand that if the purpose of the negotiations is that, at the end of it, Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, then it didn't seem so great for me to say to Iran, while we are negotiating, while we are talking, and while we are talking about you not having a nuclear weapon, you need to stop enriching while the talks are going on.

Now, Iran refused to do that because they wanted a loosening even further of sanctions if they were to stop enriching, and to me, it shows a malevolent intent on the part of Iran.

So I just think that, in our negotiations, we have to be resolute, and we have to be clear that, at the end of the day, Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. At the end of the day, Iran must dismantle its program, and at the end of the day, we have to make sure that there is no light between us in terms of the P5+1 and that we are all demanding the same thing from Iran.

I think that we are united on this. I believe that everyone understands that, for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, it is totally and absolutely unacceptable.

The United States has many interests in the Middle East; and I think it is very important that we work closely together with our partners-- Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and others who also believe very strongly that Iran must never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

So, Mr. Speaker, I think it is important, as these negotiations are going on, that we set these parameters and that Iran must understand that it is unacceptable for them to have a nuclear weapon.

We may have negotiations. They may have a new president. He may be a little softer than the previous president; but let's remember, he was allowed to run in the Iranian elections, and that means that, as moderate as some people would like to believe he might be, six hard- liners were allowed to run.

He may be the most moderate of all the hard-liners, but he is hardly a moderate. All the moderates were disallowed to run for office, and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei clearly calls the shots.

So everything is very delicate, and we hope and pray that these negotiations work well. I support the negotiations. I support the administration. But the bottom line, again, is that Iran must never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

I see that our minority whip is here, and I would like to invite him to join me.

(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 447, a resolution I authored supporting the democratic and European aspirations of the people of Ukraine.

I would first like to thank my original cosponsors, Chairman Ed Royce and Representatives William Keating, ranking member of the Europe Subcommittee; and Marcy Kaptur, Sandy Levin, and Jim Gerlach, of the Ukraine Caucus, for their invaluable help in crafting this bipartisan resolution.

I also thank my friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for his remarks and agree with everything he said.

The United States has been a staunch supporter of a democratic, prosperous, and sovereign Ukraine. At this moment we must stand with the people of Ukraine more than ever before.

As the world has watched, over the past several months, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainian citizens have turned out in Kyiv and cities throughout the country to exercise their democratic rights and express their views.

The initial impetus for the demonstration was the Ukrainian Government's unexpected rejection of an offer from the European Union for closer political and economic ties. This rejection represented a reversal of government policy and, in the view of a great many Ukrainians, a lost opportunity for Ukraine to strengthen democratic institutions and values and increase economic opportunities.

In addition, the demonstrators have turned out not only in support of closer relations with Europe, but also more fundamentally in support of democracy, good governance, human rights, and basic human dignity. The fact that they have done so in an overwhelmingly peaceful manner is very, very impressive. It is also inspiring.

Sadly, there have been exceptions to the peaceful nature of the protests. These include police violence on several occasions late last year, the disturbing pattern of beatings and abductions of journalists and civil society activists, and the most recent and tragic violence in January.

Following this dramatic increase in tensions last month, the most recent developments in Ukraine give some cause for hope. I welcome the fact that meaningful talks appear to have begun between the government and opposition leaders.

I would also like to applaud the admirable efforts of the Obama administration and our European partners to deescalate tensions and support this dialogue.

Nevertheless, the situation in Ukraine remains highly volatile, and it is imperative that we actively support a peaceful, negotiated end to this crisis.

This resolution advances to that goal by strongly condemning all acts of violence, irrespective of their perpetrators. Let me also take this opportunity to condemn all acts of extremism in Ukraine, all acts of hatred, and all acts of anti-Semitism.

Moreover, the resolution calls on all individuals to behave responsibly. In particular, it calls on the Ukrainian authorities to respect and uphold the democratic rights of the citizens of Ukraine.

It also states that those who authorize or engage in violence should be held personally accountable for their actions, including by targeted sanctions, if appropriate. This is why I welcome the recent actions by the Department of State to revoke the visas of several individuals linked to the violence.

The resolution further urges the Ukrainian Government to bring to justice those responsible for violence against peaceful protesters, journalists, and civic activists, and to take additional steps to deescalate tensions.

Finally, the resolution urges all parties to continue the substantive and sustained dialogue to peacefully resolve the crisis and address the legitimate desire of millions of Ukrainian citizens for a democratic, European future looking West, not East.

In sum, the passage of this resolution would send a strong message of support to the people of Ukraine. At this critical moment, they should know that the United States and the United States Congress stand with them as they seek to build a democratic, prosperous, and secure Ukraine, respecting human rights and dignity and anchored firmly in Europe.

I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 447.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a very distinguished member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Madam Speaker, how much time do I have?

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the cochair of the Ukrainian Caucus, an original cosponsor of this resolution, and she and I had the opportunity many years ago to travel together to Ukraine.

Madam Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), a very distinguished member of both the Budget and Ways and Means Committees and a member of the Ukrainian Caucus as well.

I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Madam Speaker, I want to continue to urge my colleagues to support the resolution. As anyone can see, this is a very bipartisan resolution. It is very important.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert my statement into the Record in support of extending unemployment insurance for 1.6 million Americans. We really have to have compassion for people. People are starving. We need to help them. That is what Congress should be all about.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 3824 to end the Republicans' unconscionable refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect 137,315 workers in my home State of New York.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, January 12, 2014, at 4:53 p.m. marked the fourth anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake that rocked the island nation of Haiti, the poorest country in our hemisphere. Though much has been written about it, it is difficult to describe the devastation left by the quake. I travelled to Haiti soon after it struck and can scarcely describe it myself. Casualties numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and an even greater number of dwellings were destroyed. Haiti's already poor infrastructure was decimated.

The international community did respond, with the U.S. leading the charge. Our initial disaster relief was nothing short of heroic, and prevented significant further harm in the days and weeks following . Relief eventually gave way to recovery and then reconstruction. Four years out, the U.S. remains heavily involved and engaged in the process of building Haiti back better.

The Foreign Affairs Committee, where I am ranking member, has been active in this process. We commissioned a GAO report to give us an assessment on U.S. assistance, which found, among other things, that the administration was not providing sufficient information to the Congress to fulfill its oversight role. We then sent a bipartisan staff delegation to look into specific problems GAO found, and soon after held a full committee hearing on the matter.

Capping that oversight process, this past December the House overwhelmingly agreed to bipartisan legislation to address some of these issues, and sent the bill to the Senate. The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2013 is authored by a recognized champion advocating on behalf of the people of Haiti, Barbara Lee of California. It enjoys strong bipartisan support, such as from Foreign Affairs Chairman Royce. It seeks to fill the information gap by requiring the State Department to report on various aspects of our assistance program, and includes a Statement of Policy that articulates the direction we believe that assistance program should take.

The reality is that a multi-year and multi-billion dollar commitment, borne of the generosity of the American people, calls for ongoing vigilance --- both in terms of accountability as well as policy direction, and I believe H.R. 3509 goes a significant way to achieve that goal.

I intend to work with my colleagues in the Senate to see that this legislation becomes law in the next few months. I believe the Haitian people, who have endured more than their fair share of misery at the hands of this horrific natural disaster, deserve nothing less.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 3527, the Poison Center Network Act.

Mr. Speaker, this important legislation, which passed the Energy and Commerce Committee by unanimous consent in December, reauthorizes the national toll-free phone number, media campaign, and grant program which have helped make poison centers an incredibly successful program.

First passed in 2000, national poison center legislation was championed by our current Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, Mr. Upton, and our former colleague, Ed Towns. Since then, the national poison center legislation has been reauthorized twice, and I am proud to say it remains a very bipartisan product.

Chairman Terry, thank you for your leadership on this issue over the years and your hard work on this reauthorization. This is a good, bipartisan bill, and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to work on it with you.

Poison exposure is a leading cause of unintentional injuries in the United States, and it was the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in 2010. According to a recent Lewin Group report, poisonings accounted for over 2.1 million emergency room visits and 438,000 hospitalizations in the year 2009 alone. I think most of us with children remember either having a magnet on our refrigerator or a sticker on our phone providing the contact information for the poison center in our area.

The experts that staff our Nation's network of 56 poison centers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In 2012, poison centers handled, on average, 9,200 cases per day for a total of almost 3.4 million cases over the course of the year. Over 90 percent of calls into poison centers were due to a poison exposure in someone's home, and approximately half of all cases involved children under the age of 6 who were exposed to toxins in their home.

In my home State of New York, we have two poison centers that, between the two of them, field over 164,000 calls per year. The New York City poison center found that 88 percent of all exposures to a dangerous substance occurred within someone's own residence. Many of these calls were related to the accidental ingestion of various cleaning products or detergents, but in 2012, the New York City poison center also fielded over 2,000 calls regarding prescription painkillers.

For the upstate New York poison center in 2012, 85 percent of calls were related to unintentional poisonings, 62 percent involved children under the age of 5, and, most importantly, 82 percent of cases could be managed over the phone and did not require a visit to a doctor or a hospital if hospitalization is necessary.

In 2011, poison centers helped avoid an estimated 1.7 million unnecessary health care visits and have been shown to decrease the amount of time an individual spends in the hospital. While a visit to the emergency room can cost hundreds of dollars, and a hospitalization can cost thousands, a phone call to a poison center only costs around $30, which shows poison centers continue to be a smart public health investment.

I think it is also important to note that poison centers are an incredibly valuable resource to health care providers. Poison centers provide access to board-certified medical toxicologists which can assist with the triage, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with known or suspected poisoning.

Poison centers are a true partnership between Federal, State, and local governments, as well as in the private sector. In 2011, poison centers obtained only 13 percent of their funding from Federal grants, while 62 percent came from State and local government and 25 percent from private funders like hospitals and insurers. Adequate funding from all sources is important in order to continue to provide high-quality experts and services in the name of poison prevention for our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, by all accounts, poison centers have been an incredible success and a program that we should all be proud to be a part of. In addition to my gratitude towards Mr. Terry, I would also again like to thank Chairman Upton for his leadership on this issue, as well as Ranking Member Waxman, Chairman Pitts, and Ranking Member Pallone for their assistance in bringing this bill, first, before the Energy and Commerce Committee and to the floor today.

As the lead Democrat on this bipartisan legislation, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I have no further speakers, Mr. Speaker, so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Dennis S. Rodman of NBA fame has announced that he and 10 or so other basketball players are going to North Korea, he said, to visit his friend, the notorious butcher and dictator, Kim Jong Un of North Korea.

Bringing American basketball to North Korea, a rogue state which has nuclear weapons, which starves its own people and imprisons them and throws them in jail, bringing American basketball there and sitting down with a dictator like Mr. Kim would be the equivalent of taking Adolf Hitler to lunch. This is really a terrible thing, a terrible idea, and it makes us gloss over the terrible suffering of the North Korean people and just ignore it and say, Well, we are going to play basketball and we are going to make this guy look legitimate.

In a rambling discussion today on one of the networks, Rodman said that

he didn't even care that an American, Mr. Kenneth Bae, was imprisoned in North Korea. At the very least we would hope that this American who is imprisoned for no reason by this brutal dictator would be released.

We should not be clinking glasses or playing basketball with this dictator. We should be demanding that an American citizen who committed no crime be released.

Mr. Speaker, Devlin L. Hodges came to Yonkers from Richmond, Va., where he was born via New York City. While in New York, in 1975, he became a Police Department Associate and was assigned to the Lower East Side of Manhattan during one of the worst times in the city's crime era. After three years he joined the New York State Department of Correctional Services and two years later joined the City's Department of Corrections.

There he blossomed, becoming a Captain in 1988, and an Assistant Deputy Warden before retiring in 1998. He currently is a Security Officer with the Jewish Home and Healthcare Organization.

He is a member of the James H. Farrell Lodge of the Masons since 1994, starting as a Junior Steward and then appointed as Secretary of the Lodge. In 2007 he was elected to the esteemed office of Worshipful Master and while serving in that capacity he was elected President of the Masters and Wardens Council of the Third Masonic District.

From there he returned to the office of Secretary of the Lodge, a position he has held since.

In 2008 he received his thirty-second degree of Freemasonry when he became a member of Pentecost Consistory #98 of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Masons, Prince Hall Affiliated of the Northern Jurisdiction. In 2009 he was appointed District Deputy Grand Lecturer of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity and Accepted Masons, serving in that position since.

He has served in many positions of responsibility in the Masons and it is through his leadership that the Luther V. Garrison, Sr. Masonic Foundation was formed. He has served as president of the Foundation from its founding in 2008.

Devlin Hodges has served his community wisely and well for many years and I am proud to join the Luther V. Garrison, Sr. Foundation in honoring him as Man of the Year.

Mr. Speaker, the Scarsdale Medical Group began in 1957 when Kenneth Roth, MD, joined Herman Tarnower, MD, and John Cannon MD, both of whom had been associated since World War II, to start a practice of medicine in Scarsdale Village.

After his return from military service in the late 1950s, Tarnower purchased land near the ``five corners'' in Scarsdale and erected a two-story medical building at 259 Heathcote Road. He envisioned a six- member medical group of internists with varying subspecialties. The building was finished in 1960 and its roster of six physicians was completed by July 1961, with the addition of Roderick A. Granzen, MD, and James L. Carvelas, MD--internists who had been in practice in White Plains--and Marvin M. Lipman, MD, fresh out of a research fellowship.

That nucleus remained intact for nearly 15 years, when three more doctors joined. In 1980, tragedy struck when Tarnower, who had achieved international fame as the author of The Scarsdale Medical Diet, was murdered.

Over the following years five of the original members left and five others joined. Of the original members only Dr. Lipman remains.

With the start of this century SMG grew exponentially, adding 31 physicians in 10 years.

By 2007, the need for expansion was acute. Space was leased on Mamaroneck Avenue in Harrison, allowing the Heathcote Road property to be temporarily vacated for needed repairs.

SMG's growth was steered by a committee of several members of the partnership and the executive director, Maria Trusa. She joined SMG in 1987 as a medical assistant, advanced to manager by 1992, and was named Executive Director.

Over the 57 years, SMG has served Scarsdale and the surrounding community, growing from the original six physicians to its present complement of 39. SMG expanded to treat patients after hours and on weekends and holidays. For urgent care, no appointment is necessary. SMG renders primary care, plus dermatology, neurology, nutrition and podiatry services as well as virtually all of the subspecialties of internal medicine, and obstetrics/gynecology services.

In 2012, SMG was awarded the designation of Medical Home by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Department of Health and Human Services.

I congratulate the Scarsdale Medical Group on its decades of medical service to the community and celebrate the reopening of their Heathcote Road offices, allowing even more services for Scarsdale and its environs.

Mr. Speaker, Jeffrey A. Moerdler is being honored by the Riverdale Jewish Community Relations Council for his extraordinary work on behalf of Riverdale's Jewish community, including his 27 years of service on the Riverdale Y Board, his past service as President of the Y, more recently of the Y's President's Advisory Council, and his work as a Vice President of the Riverdale Jewish Community Council.

More significant on a basic level is his commitment to Hatzalah, the largest volunteer ambulance service in the United States, as an Emergency Medical Technician responding to 150-200 emergency medical calls per year, principally in Riverdale. He is also a Coordinator (co- president) of the Riverdale Hatzalah chapter and is a member of the Executive Board of the Citywide Hatzalah organization. He was part of the aid response when Captain ``Sully'' Sullenberger landed his airplane in the Hudson River. Most significantly, he has six ``saves,'' four in cardiac arrests and two in chokings, as well as having participated in the delivery of one baby in the field.

In his day job, Mr. Moerdler is head of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.'s Real Estate and Communications practices in New York. He has been recognized as a New York Super Lawyer for real estate in the New York Times every year since 2006 and in Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate in 2013-14.

He is a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Vice Chair of its Audit and Security Committees and its Insurance Working Group, and takes an active role as the lead board member on many of its largest real estate transactions at the World Trade Center site.

Plus, he does a substantial amount of pro bono legal work for a variety of Jewish and community service organizations.

Jeffrey Moerdler has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to his community and his fellow human beings for three decades. I

am proud to join with the Riverdale Jewish Community Relations Council in honoring him with its Community Service Award.

Mr. Speaker, citizens groups are the backbone of a democracy, banding together to make their lives, their neighborhoods, their country a better place.

I am privileged to have one such extraordinary group in my district, the Wakefield Taxpayers and Civic League, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. It was formed in 1913 to ``maintain the integrity of the community'' and is one of the oldest such organizations in New York City.

The League involves itself in improving their community by, for example, getting the outer walls of P.SW. 1 repaired; getting the retaining wall abutting a playground on Carpenter Avenue, in danger of falling, fixed; advocated successfully for the closing of `topless' bars in a residential neighborhood; initiated a study to change zoning regulations that allowed motels to be built in residential areas; and fought illegal construction and illegal rentals in two- and three- family homes.

The League maintains a lively and deep interest in politics and I have appeared before them many times seeking their endorsement, as have any other person seriously seeking to represent them.

Wakefield is a beautiful community because its residents work hard to keep it so. The League works closely with the District Attorney's Crime Assistance unit and has a Wakefield Civilian patrol to deter crime. It has stopped crimes in progress, alerted the Fire Department to fires, and saves lives by bringing medical attention to accident scenes.

The Wakefield Taxpayers and Civic League is a model of what citizens can accomplish by working together in their neighborhoods. I am proud to be associated with them and congratulate them for 100 years of building and maintaining a model community.

Mr. Speaker, Houses of Worship have been central to American communities since the founding of our country. One such House of Worship, the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, is now celebrating its centenary.

In 1913, a group of 19 gathered to worship in a portable chapel borrowed from the Presbytery of Hudson River and set on the corner of Walworth Avenue and Fenimore Road. The Reverend George Smyth helped that group organize Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, build a sanctuary, organize the Sunday School, Women's Guild, Missionary Society and Women's Prayer Group.

In 1949 Dr. Smyth retired and the Reverend Dr. Robert W. Youngs was installed as senior pastor. By then increased attendance necessitated two worship services each Sunday.

In 1959 the Reverend James S. Stewart became senior pastor and served until 1972. During these years the Weekday School was begun and the three women's organizations merged to form the Guild, and in 1991 became the Presbyterian Women of Hitchcock.

The Reverend J. Scottie Griffin became senior pastor in July 1975 and served until 1982. The growing Asian population in this area stimulated the development of the Living in America program to serve the international community.

In September 1983 the Reverend Robert S. MacLennan became senior pastor and served until December 31, 1992. During his ministry there was increased dialogue with the local Jewish community. In 1984 Special Ministries to Japanese, an interdenominational ministry to Japanese- speaking people in the metropolitan area, began holding Japanese language worship once a month.

In 1986 a fire destroyed the sanctuary building but not the program or the mission of Hitchcock Church. The rebuilding was completed and a sanctuary dedicated on October 7, 1990.

In May, 1995 the Reverend Donald J. Steele became the pastor. During his 10 year ministry, the church became very active in mission work and supported ``Beyond Borders''--a literacy program in Haiti.

The congregation called The Rev. Dr. John W. Miller of Dallas as new pastor and he began his ministry in 2008.

In congratulate the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church on the celebration of 100 years of serving its congregants. The church has contributed enormously to its worshippers and I wish it many more years in our community.

Mr. Speaker, Eileen Mason arrived in Larchmont in 1968 in pursuit of a good local school for her three year-old daughter, Alison, and later a son, Gregory. Eileen was very active in the PTA. As Health and Safety Chair at the Murray Avenue School, she spearheaded the drive which although failing to reinstall the traffic light, resulted in the school system's first school crossing guard.

From 1972 to 1983 she worked to create after school clubs for ``latch-key kids'' and help mainstream students with disabilities. In 1980, she was chair of the Middle States High School Evaluation team for School and Community.

Eileen became interested in the cable franchise proposals in the late 'seventies while doing publicity for several local organizations including the Girl Scouts, The Garden Club of Larchmont, the Woman's Club of Larchmont and the PTA. Offering news to the community has been the focus of her thirty years with LMC-TV.

Her own original programs started with ``It's Your Community'' and the establishment of water control measures at the Reservoir and coastal zone management and environmental concerns. She produced a series on Save the Sound, a Connecticut organization based in Stamford, as well as programs for the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.

Other organizations benefitting from her coverage are the League of Woman Voters, Summit, Cancer Support Team, Girl Scouts, Kemper Memorial Park Preservation, Hispanic Resource Center, Mamaroneck Library's Children's Department and Larchmont Public Library's Friends, Rye Arts Center, Memorial Day and Holocaust Memorial events.

For the past twelve years she has produced monthly programs for Larchmont-Mamaroneck Interfaith Council. I congratulate Eileen Mason who is being awarded the Special Recognition Award for her extraordinary contributions to LMC-TV productions as a volunteer.

Mr. Speaker, I extend my congratulations to the Alpha Epsilon Pi International Fraternity on the celebration of its centenary. With more than 177 active chapters across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel, and over 9,000 undergraduate brothers, there is certainly much to celebrate.

The fraternity is celebrating the largest event in its history--the Centennial Celebration on August 8th honoring the first 100 years of its existence and its success in cultivating generations of Jewish leaders on college campuses across the world.

The first 100 years are said to be the hardest, but the success of Alpha Epsilon Pi is a wonderful start.

I wish the fraternity every success in the future and look forward to seeing more leaders from Alpha Epsilon Pi take their place in the world.

AEPi was founded in 1913 at New York University, initially as a brotherhood of young men from similar backgrounds, but expanded in time with the goal of giving them the best college and fraternity experience. Since then approximately 100,000 men have been members of the fraternity.

More important is the leadership training provided by AEPi. Its members include Wolf Blitzer, Mark Zuckerberg, former Florida Congressman Ron Klein, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, James Brooks, a producer/director of The Simpsons, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, and architect Frank Gehry, plus numberless more.

Celebrating a Centennial is a rare event. AEPi has contributed to the nation and the world for 100 years and if past performance is any indication, this will continue for many generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, the Yonkers Commission on Human Rights is celebrating 50 years of working to affirm the rights of all citizens to full equality before the law as part of its commitment to eliminating racism and to empowering women.

The Commission on Human Rights was created on October 1, 1963, by the City of Yonkers with a charter that delineated the need for protection from human rights violations and the essence of human rights education for Yonkers residents and businesses alike.

The organization actively promotes human rights awareness and outreach in the Yonkers community through special events and activities, serving as a model for dialogue, discussion and coalition building to eliminate racism and intergroup hostilities.

The Yonkers Human Rights Commission fosters mutual respect and understanding among all racial, religious, and ethnic groups in the community, and strives to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on sex or age. It undertakes studies that aid in improving relationships among groups. It inquires into incidents of tension and conflict among or between various racial, religious, and nationality groups, and takes action to ease such tensions and conflicts.

The Human Rights Commission not only seeks to alleviate tensions but to actively promote goodwill among neighbors and communities.

For a half century the Yonkers Human Rights Commission has worked for equality for all in employment, housing, public accommodation, credit, and education. It is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished locally to enhance all of our lives. I am proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Yonkers Commission on Human Rights, and congratulate it for the work done for our community.