Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the 2022 recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Woman in Sales Leadership Award, the IES Member of the Year, the Rising Sales Star Award, and the Sales Speaker of the Year presented by the Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development (IES).

IES was created to foster excellence in business sales and development practices to help sales professionals and organizations maximize their efforts. IES conducts a variety of workshops and programs to provide the tools necessary to advance the careers and growth of those who attend. Each year, IES recognizes individuals, teams, and organizations throughout the United States who demonstrate exemplary performance through leadership, risk taking, innovation, vision, and customer development. The Sales Excellence awards seek to promote corporate and organizational sales excellence by recognizing leaders in Enterprise Sales.

The recipient of the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award is Mr. Dave Rey, the President of Sales for the Global Public Sector at Salesforce. Over his nine-year career with Salesforce, he has driven the company's continued growth and facilitated public sector business across the continent. He has decades of experience supporting the public sector, and his expertise has been invaluable in performing much of our Nation's best work.

Ms. Jennifer Chronis, Senior Vice President of Public Sector at Verizon, is the recipient of this year's Woman in Sales Leadership Award. She has led a team of professionals to work with Verizon's federal, state, local, education, and public safety partners to deliver innovative technology solutions and services, including the Verizon Frontline platform for first responders.

The 2022 IES Member of the Year is sales consultant and author Mr. Vince Burruano. He has worked to recruit, coach, develop, and lead sales professionals across multiple industries, most recently as the Vice President of Sales for the Commercial Division of JK Moving Services. His experience in challenging paradigms has led to his trusted reputation, and his customer-centric approach sets a famously high bar.

Ms. Lauryn Scott is the recipient of the Jay Nussbaum Rising Sales Star Award due to her work as a dynamic sales leader at Cvent, providing software solutions at every stage of an event. Her growth mindset has contributed to the success of her account managers, with many exceeding annual quotas. Lauryn believes that anyone can sell if they are willing to learn, and I am proud of her accomplishments.

Lee Salz is the 2022 IES Sales Speaker of the Year. He has written two books, the most recent of which has become a bestseller. His inspirational story of finding a need in his community and meeting it perfectly embodies what it means to be an entrepreneur. He understands the value in what he sells, and shares that understanding with his community to ensure that everyone's needs are met. He teaches others how to differentiate themselves from those around them, celebrating individual identities and accommodating unmet needs.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dave Rey, Jennifer Chronis, Vince Burruano, Lauryn Scott, and Lee Salz for their exceptional dedication and leadership within the business community. Their dedication to bettering themselves, their organizations, and their communities has made the 11th District of Virginia better.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to recognize a leading figure in the practice of community and economic development, Mr. Paul Webster.

Mr. Webster serves as the Director of the Financial Management Division in the Office of Community Planning and Development for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Webster's commitment to public service is unparalleled, his five-decade-long career focused on creating resilient communities, suitable living environments, and economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income persons and families.

Mr. Webster joined the Department in 1972 and has served as Director since 1983. In this role, Mr. Webster oversees the Section 108 loan guarantee program, a transformational program and resource for low- income communities, including funding for critical economic development projects and facilitation of affordable housing solutions that would otherwise not be possible.

He spearheaded the expansion of the Section 108 program. Over the course of his career, Mr. Webster has overseen an unprecedented 2,000 loan guarantee commitments with a total value close to $10 billion. These numbers underscore his work to provide the much-needed resources that revitalize American communities and ensure everyone has a chance to succeed.

Mr. Webster also championed legislation that established the Economic Development Initiative (EDI), which provided grant funds to support and enhance the use of Section 108 loan guarantees and the subsequent Brownfields EDI to help address environmental cleanup efforts, returning contaminated property to sustainable use. His expertise also extended to long-term disaster recovery work and neighborhood stabilization activities targeted at addressing the effects of abandoned and foreclosed housing.

He is one of the leading experts on financial management and is happy to provide guidance and advice to individuals, organizations, and federal, state, and local partners for the Department. Equally important, Mr. Webster has been and continues to be a mentor to the next generation of community development and financial management professionals, reflected in the esteem of his colleagues, staff, and external partners.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring this remarkable public servant, whose expertise, tenacity, and creativity in economic and community development has helped to transform hundreds of communities for the better. Paul Webster has tirelessly dedicated himself to making life better for countless Americans. I hope his continuing legacy inspires us all to renew our commitments to serving our communities.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the lifetime of service that Joan and Donald Sacarob have dedicated to Hadassah, a non- profit organization that seeks to expand women's rights and their leadership capacity. Hadassah embodies Jewish values to advance health equity, fight antisemitism, and equip women with the tools they need to make a difference in their communities.

Hadassah's mission is to provide education, advocacy, and youth development opportunities to enhance the lives of those in their community. Their work extends to the Hadassah Medical Organization to research cutting-edge medical procedures and provide first-rate care for those who need it. To these ends, they connect and empower Jewish women to lead by example.

The organization traces its origins back to the extraordinary public service of Henrietta Szold, who dedicated her life to ameliorating disease and starvation that were disproportionately affecting Jewish people. She founded youth villages to house Jewish children who fled their homelands as Nazi troops invaded Eastern Europe. Her legacy of care has rippled outward for over a century. Hadassah was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for their work to offer world-class medical care to all, regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin, following their commitment to building a bridge to peace through medicine.

For 50 consecutive years, Joan Sacarob has served Hadassah with national portfolios focused on advocacy and philanthropy. Her husband Donald has served as the National Associate Vice President of Hadassah, the

men's branch of the organization. For decades, these two hardworking philanthropists and activists have committed themselves to the betterment of the Northern Virginia and Greater Washington Metropolitan Area Jewish communities.

Joan was a pivotal figure in the development of the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, and her friends and colleagues recognize her as a passionate and resilient force. She served for 20 years on the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and was honored for her distinguished service on the board in 2006. Her advocacy work has not dwindled since then, and I am honored to know such a fierce advocate for equity.

Joan and Donald have earned the respect and recognition of their peers. Their work has been instrumental in advancing the causes of health equity, women's leadership, and access to much needed resources. I wish them every success and comfort as they continue their work.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Joan and Donald Sacarob for their exceptional dedication and leadership within our community.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Dulles Chapter 1241 on its 50th anniversary. The Northern Virginia region is home to tens of thousands of federal employees and many retirees who have chosen to stay in the region. Throughout their careers, these dedicated civil servants have given their time and effort to serve their fellow Americans, and NARFE has consistently provided them with coordinated support.

Founded in 1921, NARFE is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the earned pay, retirement, and health care benefits of federal employees and retirees as well as their spouses and survivors. Dulles Chapter 1241 is one of more than 1600 NARFE chapters nationwide.

The Charter for Chapter 1241 was issued June 21, 1972. At that time, there were nine members. Today, the Chapter membership has grown to approximately 350 members with another 400 national members in the Dulles jurisdiction. Chapter members have had a strong voice in many national and local legislative issues affecting federal retirees, senior citizens, and the public at large. In 2015, following the dissolution of the Leesburg Chapter, the Dulles Chapter welcomed many of these federal employees and retirees into their ranks with open arms. Chapter 1241 has worked from their founding to represent federal employees, but also to better their community.

This chapter has supported Alzheimer's research for many years through regular drawings, the ``Red Pot'' for monthly donations, and the Alzheimer's Christmas Challenge. Additionally, the Dulles chapter has sponsored several food drives for Fairfax County food pantries, collecting resources for those who have been hit the hardest by misfortune. Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Dulles Chapter has seen its share of hardship, but these federal employees have still banded together to ensure that everyone's needs are met.

Over the years, members have also participated in health and community fairs, auto shows, and other outreach activities. Additionally, many members have been active leaders in the Virginia Federation of NARFE. These accomplished federal employees have earned the attention and praise of numerous bodies, from Virginia state legislators to NARFE national leaders, as well as travel, medical, insurance, tax, and law enforcement experts.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Dulles Chapter 1241 for 50 years of dedicated service to Northern Virginia's federal employees. These individuals are the lifeblood of our federal government, and I am grateful for their service and proud to represent such outstanding individuals. I wish them the best for their anniversary, and continued success in future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time.

We face two choices today in this body. One is to protect our children, to protect our houses of worship, to protect where we shop, to protect where we watch a movie from guns that exist for one purpose only--mass death inflicted efficiently.

Or we can listen to the other argument, which you have heard, in thrall to the gun manufacturers, to protect them at any cost, and you as a citizen are collateral damage at the altar of the gun manufacturers, and we will be bathed in blood forever.

It is time to act. It is time to end the madness and disenthrall ourselves from automatic weapons that are mass killers.

Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

This bipartisan amendment is the Preventing a Patronage System Act, H.R. 302, which was reported from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and which also passed the House as Title 12 of the Protecting Our Democracy Act.

The Preventing a Patronage System Act is prompted by attempts to eliminate expertise and acumen from our civilian civil service.

Since the inception of the civil service system in 1883 with the Pendleton Act, administrations have acted to create formal exceptions to the competitive service only five times.

These excepted service categories are created for limited positions that require unique hiring or operating rules, like for positions of a short-term political nature or positions in remote areas, or where there is a critical, technical hiring need so great that competitive civil service rules cannot meet the need.

In these limited cases, individuals hired into positions classified in excepted service are not vested with certain civil service appeal rights because they have not undergone the required competitive hiring process.

On October 21, 2020, the then President signed executive order 13957 to create a sixth and broad excepted service schedule, a new schedule, Schedule F.

This order undermined the merit system principles of our Federal workforce by requiring agency heads to reclassify broadly policy- determining,

policymaking, or policy-advocating positions to a newly created Schedule F category, removing the appeal rights of affected Federal employees.

One agency alone, the Office of Management and Budget, planned to reclassify 400 positions to Schedule F. That is 80 percent of its workforce.

On January 22, 2021, as one of the President's first executive orders, Executive Order 14003 revoked the creation of Schedule F.

The danger remains, however, that a future President could attempt to erode the foundation of our merit system principles, over 140 years old, by resurrecting something similar to a Schedule F.

The Preventing a Patronage Act stems from a bipartisan provision that would freeze Federal employee reclassifications to the five existing excepted service schedules in use prior to fiscal year 2021.

This amendment preserves congressional roles and prerogatives in determining which Federal employees are vested with civil service protections and which are not. Future administrations would simply be required to come to Congress for statutory authority before making sweeping changes to the Federal workforce.

This amendment seeks to preserve core principles of our civil service, the expertise and not political loyalty of our workforce.

The provision is endorsed by the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the Senior Executives Association, the National Federation of Federal Employees, and many other unions and good government groups.

I am proud this bipartisan amendment is cosponsored by my Republican friend from Pennsylvania, Brian Fitzpatrick.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, my friend from Georgia has it all wrong. He is right about the will of the people, but the will of the people does not elect a tyrant, a dictator, or a king. They elect a President to preside who is subject to the careful checks and balances of the Constitution of the United States.

For 140 years, this Congress, after passing the Pendleton Act, has insisted that our civil service should not be partisan. In fact, we passed the Hatch Act to regulate their political activities, unlike any other American, to ensure that the American people get fair, unbiased, and nonpartisan service from their public servants.

Schedule F that was proposed by the previous President upturned that and if it had been implemented fully, it would have politicized the civil service in an unprecedented way that would have returned us to the spoils system of the 19th century. That is what we are doing here.

The second thing we are doing, which my friend may or may not care about but many of us do, is to reassert the role of Congress, irrespective of who is in the White House.

Any President must come to this body before he or she proposes to create a new Cabinet office, dissolve an existing one, or change it fundamentally. That is what this simple amendment does. It is a bipartisan amendment. I urge its adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support amendment 495, an amendment that cuts red tape and removes burdensome requirements placed on art in embassies abroad; an amendment, by the way, that was offered by my Republican friends at last year's NDAA. That is why we are here tonight.

The Art in Embassies Program is a public-private partnership that exhibits American art in our diplomatic outposts throughout the world. The program engages over 20,000 participants globally, including artists, museums, galleries, universities, and private collectors and encompasses over 200 venues in 189 countries.

The program has promoted cultural diplomacy through art by way of artist exchanges and programs exhibiting a diverse group of American artists and international artists and artists from the host countries.

For example, in 2019, the African-American experience was the central focus of the AIE exhibit in Kigali, an exhibit that featured works by a number of African-American artists.

The Art in Embassies Program has a long track record of advancing U.S. public diplomacy through temporary and permanent art exhibits, publications, and cultural exchanges.

The Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, first envisioned this global visual arts program in 1953. President John F. Kennedy, who understood the value of art in diplomacy, formalized it as an important tool for our State Department back in 1963.

Unfortunately, the 2021 legislation placed unnecessary and repetitive reporting requirements on the program that threaten its viability. It limits the purchase to $25,000, and anything above that has to come to Congress for review.

These requirements require Congress to review all art that is purchased for the Art in Embassies Program beyond that limit. That places a tedious and gratuitous strain on our ability to run the program at all.

These attacks on cultural exchange programs are not new. Sadly, in the 1940s, in sort of a red scare moment in the United States, Members of Congress attempted to defund and delegitimize the works of modern American artists across the board.

The Art in Embassies Program not only showcases our fundamental respect for the basic right to free expression, pluralistic beliefs, and American creativity, it is also an important tool for the United States to advance our public diplomacy priorities and support influential cultural exchanges.

This simple amendment would sunset the requirement 1 year early from the 2-year sunset that is provided in the current law.

Maya Freelon Asante, an artist who has participated in the Arts in Embassies cultural exchanges, recently said it best: ``Art used as a form of cultural diplomacy is more important now than ever because art can transcend language and cultural barriers and helps us focus on positive and peaceful alliances.''

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the intolerance we just heard, referring to this amendment as ridiculous, coupled with the admission by the gentleman from Tennessee that he wants congressional review so that it is zero.

Art is a powerful tool fighting war. Look at Picasso's Guernica; maybe the most evocative anti-war painting ever.

I was in Madrid for the NATO Summit where I spoke about war and peace to the heads of state at NATO just 2 weeks ago. I visited the Prado, and I looked at one of the most powerful pictures I've ever seen by Goya about Napoleonic occupation of his homeland, Spain. He witnessed that horror, and he depicted it, and it drove him almost into madness, what he witnessed.

Maybe my friend thinks that art ought to be zero, but I believe millions of Americans would disagree, and so do I.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment and not to go the route of zero art in America, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairwoman and Mr. Keller, my colleague and friend from Pennsylvania, for their leadership on H.R. 7337, the Access for Veterans to Records Act.

The Access for Veterans to Records Act will help provide the National Archives and Records Administration resources desperately needed to address veterans' records requests.

The records center houses records that are essential for veterans to receive the service-related benefits they need, including medical treatment, unemployment assistance, and emergency housing.

The records center was already behind the curve when it came to investing in records digitization, creating a massive backlog. The pandemic then exacerbated that problem.

Although NPRC has reduced the backlog to 515,000 from a peak of 603,000, it is still preventing veterans from receipt of the records they need. It can't be an acceptable standard.

The Access for Veterans to Records Act requires NARA to submit a detailed plan for eliminating the backlog and authorizes $60 million to improve the situation.

This legislative effort works in lockstep with the National Archives and Records Administration's own efforts to secure funding from the Federal Technology Modernization Fund. At the urging of the chairwoman, myself, and others, the National Archives applied for and received a $9.1 million award from the Technology Modernization Fund to do just that.

Projects like this one at the National Archives are precisely why we created the Technology Modernization Fund. Proactive investments in effective technologies make Federal programs work and will serve our veterans well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the chairwoman of the full committee, and my friend, Mr. Keller from Pennsylvania, for their strong support for righting a wrong.

Federal firefighters and law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day for us. America depends on brave men and women to serve in these demanding, arduous, and hazardous duty positions. These individuals face the very real daily potential that an on-the-job injury could leave them disabled and unable to return to their previous service.

Given the hazardous nature of the job required of Federal first responders, Congress recognized that risk and created an accelerated retirement system for these positions and established a mandatory retirement age of 57.

Referred to as 6(c) for the section of the law in which this system was created, Federal first responders are qualified for an annuity after serving 20 years and reaching the age of 50. They pay a greater percentage of their salaries into this retirement system, and their annuity amount is calculated at a higher rate than other Federal employees recognizing the risks they take.

Unfortunately, not all Federal first responders can complete those 20 years of service. In cases where Federal first responders become injured and are no longer able to complete the essential functions of their jobs, they can be placed in civil service positions that don't qualify for 6(c) benefits. Any Federal first responder transferred to the FERS retirement system loses their eligibility to retire after 20 years of service no matter how many years they have got in the system or how much they paid into it.

Additionally, the employee is not reimbursed for the higher contributions required of them to be in the 6(c) system. The years of service are credited as if the Federal first responder who is injured had been in the normal 30-year retirement system for the Federal employees.

The First Responder Fair RETIRE Act offers a correction to current law and rights this wrong, authorizing Federal first responders to stay in 6(c) retirement if they are placed in a position outside of that system after returning to work from a duty-related injury. The bill also allows those employees to receive a refund of their accelerated contributions should they be separated from service.

The First Responder Fair RETIRE Act allows the Federal Government to uphold the retirement promise it made to its first responders. These first responders are Capitol Police officers, Secret Service agents, and other Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters across numerous Federal agencies.

For example, Bob Beckley was a smokejumper out West with the U.S. Forest Service. He parachuted out of a plane in 1985, and he landed in a tree in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area in Idaho trying to stop a blaze. The tree's branches broke, dropping Mr. Beckley 80 feet and breaking his back in five places. He died twice before he could be revived and evacuated.

After--thank God--his recovery, Mr. Beckley, 10 years into his firefighting career, chose to work for the Forest Service in another position, but the reward for his bravery, his injury, and his service was his removal from the 6(c) retirement system. He watched his firefighter brothers and sisters all retire with full benefits at the 20-year mark that he no longer qualified for.

I will also highlight the story of Justin Moore, a U.S. Capitol Police officer right here in the U.S. Capitol. He was severely injured by being beaten right here in this Capitol on January 6. I heard firsthand from Justin and his colleagues about their heroism defending each and every one of us from a violent mob. Justin was beaten from behind with a blunt object suffering severe concussions, contusions, and several crushed vertebrae in his neck. In just a few weeks, Justin will undergo what is likely career-ending surgery. He may no longer be physically able to perform his law enforcement duties. Seventeen years into his career, Justin--a veteran and father of three--will lose the retirement benefits he has paid into when he is reassigned to a civilian position just 3 years short of qualifying.

We want to incentivize our first responders to continue their service to this Nation. We shouldn't punish them for injuries they sustained protecting us, and we should reward their actions with continued inclusion in the retirement system they signed up for at the start of their service.

This bill is endorsed by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Fraternal Order of Police, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Treasury Employees Union, and the Senior Executive Association.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our 22 bipartisan cosponsors, and, in particular, my original cosponsors: Brian Fitzpatrick and James Langevin. I thank the chairwoman for her leadership and support on this important endeavor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman who has done so much on this issue for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

More than 15 years ago, I was chairman of Fairfax County when the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred. We buried six young people in my community that week--six. I am still in touch with those families, and the emptiness in their souls will never go away.

Today, we have an opportunity to choose: will we protect our children, or will we continue to persist in an abstract ideological commitment to an absolute reading of the Second Amendment which is false, and a false reading of the Constitution.

We can do something finally. America demands we do something. We need to disenthrall ourselves from the gun mythology and do the right thing: protecting our communities and our children.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the honorees of the 12th Annual Hylton Center Gala, Lovey Hammel and Denise McPhail, who have demonstrated incredible dedication and service to The Hylton Performing Arts Center. The Hylton Performing Arts Center serves to enrich, entertain, and celebrate the community through arts and educational programs. The Hylton Performing Arts Center provides a variety of cultural experiences for all ages, and we are thankful to have this Center in our community.

Lovey Hammel has served as the President of Employment Enterprises, Inc. for more than forty years, working to ensure everyone has the skills and opportunities they need to succeed in Northern Virginia. She worked tirelessly throughout her educational career and has given back to these institutions, including the Mason Board of Visitors, to which Governor Tim Kaine appointed her. Lovey has also served as the Chair of both the Prince William County Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

Her family has been dedicated to the Hylton Center before its conception. Lovey's mother, the late Jana Yeates, served as the Marketing and Outreach Committee Chair on the initial campaign to bring the Center into reality. As a display of their love for the performing arts and the work they put into creating the Hylton Center, Lovey's parents generously gave to the Center to name the Lovey Hammel Lounge in their daughter's honor. She and her family are landmark members of the Hylton Center's legacy.

Denise McPhail is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Creative and Performing Arts Center, Inc. (CAPAC), a position she has proudly held for years. CAPAC serves as a bridge to connect underserved communities with access to and inclusion in the performing arts. Under Denise's leadership, CAPAC has helped hundreds of students experience the thrill of performance.

After more than thirty years of civil service, Denise has retired, but her commitment to the Hylton Performing Arts Center has not wavered. She supported the Center before the ground was even broken, wowing audiences with CAPAC performances at the outset of Hylton's construction. As a current member of the Center's Executive Board, Denise continues to enshrine Northern Virginia's dedication to the arts, and this honor could not be more fitting for a woman of her commitment and expertise.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in commending this year's Hylton Center honorees. Lovey Hammel and Denise McPhail have dedicated themselves to making the arts accessible and remain invaluable members of the Northern Virginia community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend George Mason University's 50th Anniversary.

In 1957, George Mason College was established as the Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia. Mayor John ``Jack'' Wood and the then-Town of Fairfax were instrumental in acquiring the original 150 acres of land for the Fairfax Campus in 1958. Shortly after, Rector John ``Til'' Hazel, Jr., helped acquire an additional 421 acres of land to expand the Fairfax Campus in 1969.

Fifteen years after its inception, on April 7, 1972, a contingent from George Mason College met with Governor A. Linwood Holton in Richmond to sign House Bill 210, establishing George Mason University as a free-standing four-year public institution of higher education. George Mason University now operates three campuses in the Commonwealth--including the Fairfax campus that is located in Virginia's 11th District.

George Mason University is home to academically driven students and professors, as well as state-of-the-art facilities and programs. GMU Professor James Buchanan won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986 and Professor Vernon Smith won the prize in 2002, making them the Commonwealth of Virginia's first two Nobel Memorial Prize recipients. The university achieved R1 ``Highest Research Activity'' status in 2016, and 2018, from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

GMU has worked to provide opportunities for all and break down the barriers that often keep people from achieving academic success. In 2018, GMU and Northern Virginia Community College created the ADVANCE program, a partnership that assisted students as they transfer from a two-year program to earn a bachelor's degree, helping more than 2,020 students through the pathway program. During the pandemic, 61 percent of GMU students received some form of financial aid, including almost a third of Undergraduates who received Pell Grants. A quarter of GMU's undergraduate students are first-generation college students, and approximately 1 in 12 GMU students are affiliated with the military, including veterans, active-duty personnel, military dependents, reservists, and guardsmen.

George Mason University is the most diverse, fastest growing, and largest public four-year institution in the Commonwealth, serving 39,134 students with close to 11,000 staff and faculty. There are more than 215,900 GMU alumni, including 135,300 currently in Virginia. The hundreds of thousands of alumni are reflective of the 70 percent six- year graduation rate that has little to no disparity on ethnicity or economic status.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in commending George Mason University on its 50th Anniversary. GMU exemplifies the tremendous success that institutions of higher education can achieve when equity, diversity, and accessibility are of paramount importance.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 60th Anniversary of the Literary Council of Northern Virginia.

Founded in 1962, the LCNV is the oldest literacy program in the state and one of the largest literacy councils in the nation. Throughout its 60 years of service, the LCNV has adapted to the growing needs of the Northern Virginia community to serve adult learners at the lowest literacy level.

Not only are they celebrating a milestone of 60 years, but they are about to celebrate a milestone of serving 60,000 adult learners. By empowering tens of thousands of adult learners to better participate in their communities, LCNV is ensuring the economic success of hundreds of local families for a lifetime.

With the help of dedicated volunteers, LCNV has become one of the more efficient and effective community-based literacy organizations in the country. In FY2021, despite being in the middle of a global pandemic, LCNV's 436 volunteers were able to put in a total of 16,344 hours of service. LCNV was able to hold events to recruit and train volunteers, which helped the organization meet and work with 204 new volunteers. These new volunteers were critical as the organization had to pivot to virtual programming for the year. The volunteers were able to provide substantial remote support to help their students use the online learning platforms.

LCNV has spent the past six decades helping people from all over the world achieve their goals and better their lives with literacy skills. On average each year, their students come from 90 different countries and speak 50 different languages. Their commitment to meeting people where they are in their educational journey has allowed them to become a trusted resource in the community and a leader in adult education. In the fall of 2021, LCNV was called upon to help with literacy classes for refugees coming over from Afghanistan. While their fall session had already started, LCNV quickly adapted and added classes for the students that would not have been able to wait for the next registration period. To date, they have been able to help almost 170 Afghan refugees with English literacy skills.

Literacy is not just about being able to read, it's about being able to further your career, engage in conversations with family and friends, and become more civically engaged. LCNV helps students reach their goals like voting for the first time or getting a promotion at their job. The skills gained in LCNV classrooms, both virtual and in- person, allow learners to improve wellness and attain healthier lifestyles as well.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the 60th Anniversary of the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia. Its values of Integrity, Innovation, Respect, Collaboration, and Excellence have propelled it to success for the past 60 years and will continue to carry the Council through the next 60 years. I also want to express my gratitude to the LCNV staff, Board of Directors, and countless volunteers who dedicate their time and resources to empower neighbors of our community to develop basic skills of reading, writing, and speaking English.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the service of Fire Captain Kimberly Schoppa of Fairfax County, who recently passed away after a battle with occupational cancer.

Captain Schoppa joined Fairfax County Fire and Rescue in 2004. While serving her community, she quickly emerged as a leader among her peers. She was promoted to Captain of an engine at Station 27 in West Springfield and was a member of the Honor Guard at the time of her passing.

In her career, Captain Schoppa took on the dangerous work of fire suppression. Her talents were widely recognized, but when talk turned to a future as a battalion chief, Captain Schoppa insisted that she wanted to be on the front line. She wanted to fight fires and save lives. Captain Schoppa's peers knew that she would be happiest in the front seat of the fire truck, working firsthand to keep her community safe.

Though the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department has extensive protocols and mitigation techniques to prevent injuries and smoke inhalation on the job, Captain Schoppa's repeated exposure over the course of her admirable career tragically developed into ovarian cancer, which the Department considers an occupational illness. Her death is recognized as being in the line of duty.

Captain Schoppa's friends and colleagues have lauded her character and service during her career and since her passing. She has been called a ``valued friend,'' and an ``esteemed member of the department.'' I have no doubt that she will be missed as her service has touched so many lives. I know that Fairfax County is a better place now because we had a hero like Captain Kimberly Schoppa.

She is survived by her wife, Master Technician (retired) Kim Klaren, her parents Jan and Karl Schoppa, her brothers Chris (and partner Paul), and Brett (wife Amy and children Riley (fiance Anya), Abigail, and Maura); Klaren's mother Shirley, brothers Bobby (wife Andrea and children Bo, Cody, and Tyler), Matt (wife Kay and children Kyle (fiance Elyse), Kacie, and Cole), and sister Kara (husband Mike). I have no doubt that many more will miss Captain Schoppa, as her work and her heroism touched countless more lives.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the service and excellence that Captain Schoppa displayed throughout her career. Her heroism should remind us to take every chance to help others. May her leadership and passion inspire us all to serve our communities to the best of our ability.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Redella S. Pepper, the recently retired Councilwoman from Alexandria, Virginia, for her thirty-six years of dedicated public service.

Ms. Pepper, known to many as Del, won her first election to Alexandria's city council in 1985 after serving as an aide to Mayor Charles Beatley. Once she ran for and won her seat on the council, she treated her office as a full-time job. As other council members have served diligently while maintaining other commitments, Del Pepper's sole priority has been bettering her community for nearly four decades. She was on the council longer than any other incumbent and served as Alexandria's vice mayor from 1996 to 1997 and from 2003 to 2009.

Even before her involvement in Alexandria, Del Pepper found herself fighting for others. She worked on her father's city council campaign growing up in Omaha, Nebraska. In the 1960s, Ms. Pepper managed a regional headquarters during President Lyndon Johnson's campaign. This would be impressive today, but Del did it in a time when women rarely took on such prominent roles in politics. She moved to Alexandria in 1968 and hit the ground running with her desire to serve.

Del Pepper has been an outspoken advocate for compassion, and the residents of Alexandria recognize that. She has remained a voice for the West End, ensuring that her part of town has had representation in the council all along the way. Ms. Pepper has advocated for seniors, too, making Alexandria a more accessible place to live.

The residents of Alexandria have elected Del Pepper with more votes than any of the other at large councilmembers three times, leading to her recognition as vice mayor. She has voted in the best interests of her community, fighting for the environment by shutting down a coal plant and leading the charge to make Alexandria an Eco-City in 2008. Del even served on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' Air Quality Committee and Board of Directors.

Del Pepper also served beyond her City Council seat by working on Alexandria's Commission on Aging, ensuring that senior citizens have access to the resources needed to live full and independent lives. Additionally, she worked on the Facilities Naming Committee, where she ensured that our landmarks would honor those who deserved the praise. Del also worked with the Commission on Information

Technology to keep her community secure and equipped to meet her constituents' needs.

Personally, I was honored to work with Del on the Council of Governments, where she led as the board's president. Del has done the hard and thankless work that very few people often recognize. But the entire Washington metropolitan area is better off because of the tireless service she put in.

Ms. Pepper is a pillar of the Alexandria community, unafraid to speak her mind and vote with her conscience. She has been a comfort to her constituents and ensured that their voices were heard by the whole of Alexandria's city council. She has served her community since before some of her colleagues were even born. Del Pepper's dedication is unmatched, and I am proud to offer my congratulations to a treasured friend and colleague on a full, fearless, and caring career in service to the public.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in commending Ms. Del Pepper on her thirty-six years on the Alexandria city council. Ms. Pepper has set an example that all of us would do well to follow in fighting for what she believes, in giving a voice to her constituents in the decisions that affect them, and in being a resource to her community. She is a unique and invaluable member of her community, and I am proud that I have had the opportunity to get to know her, may we all strive to be more like her in our own service.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the service of retired Lieutenant Colonel Michael W.L. Yap as he retires from my District's Service Academy Advisory Board (SAAB) after 14 years of steadfast service, assisting in the nomination process. I want to thank him for his lifelong dedication to his country and the cultivation of the next generation of leaders.

Michael Yap was born in Honolulu, Hawaii during the Second World War and grew up involved in and admired by his community. From tennis team captain to valedictorian, he was a leader and a role model in everything he put his mind to, and he continued that excellence in his time at West Point. Michael was nominated by the late Senator Hiram Fong and became the only Chinese-American student in his class. He remained an active athlete, playing in the Corps Squad for both tennis and squash.

After graduating from West Point, Michael was commissioned into the Field Artillery. He served one tour in Vietnam and returned to the United States to teach nuclear target analysis. Michael went on to attend Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas and continued to serve as an atomic energy expert. He then obtained two Masters of Science from the University of Illinois, one in Physics and one in Nuclear Engineering.

Michael Yap has remained an active member of the West Point community. First on the Association of Graduates Advisory Council, and now he currently chairs a task force to make alumni events more accessible. Since 1987, he has coordinated all class events in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in his role as Class Vice President for the Capital Region. Michael facilitates quarterly brunches, an annual dinner, and a ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial every five years.

His influence has produced a number of significant initiatives for West Point. Michael introduced the Class of 2017 Affiliation Class and helped coordinate the Surviving Family Member program. His strong ties to the Academy have been a vital contribution to my office's annual nomination process these last 14 years. We have relied on Michael's thorough understanding of the rigor and community that make West Point unique in order to elevate candidates who will do us proud.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in commending the extraordinary service of retired Lieutenant Colonel Michael Yap as he retires from our Service Academy Advisory Board. His contributions have been paramount in ensuring the next generation of military leaders from Virginia's 11th District is a cut above the rest. And while we wish them well, they will have big shoes to fill in matching Michael Yap's legacy.