Grace F. Napolitano

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the patriotism of Jordan Ramirez.

Jordan Ramirez resides in La Puente with his parents and older sister. He and his family started participating in 5K races when Jordan was 4. Their first race was at Disneyland, where Jordan dressed up as Captain America because he loved superheroes and would often talk about showing support for firefighters, police and military members.

Jordan broke a world record by doing seven marathons in seven continents by the age of 10. As he's gotten older, Jordan's mindset about showing his support to military and first responders has remained the same. When races were canceled due to the pandemic, Jordan found the walks to be another way to express that support.

When Jordan first began his appreciation walks in September 2020, his father, Dimas Ramirez, created an Instagram account to document the journey, called ``thankyouforyourservicewalk.''

The account has connected Jordan with many of the departments they have honored, and continues to be a means for other first responder departments' requests to build morale.

Jordan's purpose behind the walks is two-fold: to thank first responders for their service, and to show appreciation and respect for what they do. The walks are different from the marathons he's run because with those, he would ``usually just run for the fun of it, but the walks . . . it's doing something else for our military and first responders.''

Most of these walks are in southern California, but the walks have also taken him to San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Jordan is currently a high school sophomore and working on his next goals: earning a nomination to the Naval Academy to become an officer in the Marine Corps and then to become a firefighter.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in recognizing the incredible contributions and patriotism of Jordan Ramirez.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished and long career of John D. Freshman, whose unwavering commitment to ensuring clean water for the United States spanned over fifty years.

After graduating from Middlebury College in Vermont, John began his career working for Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania, followed by Governor (and then Senator) Robert Stafford of Vermont. When Senator Stafford joined the Senate, he was appointed to the Public Works Committee, and it was here that John found himself in the heart of the 1972 Clean Water Act conference. In a 2003 interview with Bates College, John recalled the significance of that experience, saying, ``This is the most interesting, stimulating, important thing I've ever seen in my life. This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.''

John's passion for the Clean Water Act continued with his service on the National Commission on Water Quality, chaired by Nelson Rockefeller, with Senator Edmund Muskie serving as one of the vice chairs. John became Senator Muskie's right hand on the Committee, working tirelessly on the Clean Water Act, including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

After his distinguished service in Congress, John continued his work in public service under President Jimmy Carter. He first contributed to the President's Reorganization Project, focusing on emergency preparedness, natural resources, and economic development. John later served as the Associate Director for the U.S. Regulatory Council and as Special Advisor to the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working closely with Administrator Douglas Costle.

Throughout his career, both in and out of government, John remained dedicated to advancing clean water initiatives and investments. He worked with communities in California and across the nation to ensure access to clean water, building on the protections and principles established by the Clean Water Act.

It has been a great privilege to work with John Freshman over the years. His partnership and perseverance in ensuring that communities have access to clean water and his tireless efforts to protect the principles of the Clean Water Act will have enduring impact. I thank John for his lifelong service and unwavering commitment to clean water and to our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the trail-blazing, prolific swimming career of Nancy Hunt Weiman.

Clearwater Beach, Florida, two weeks after the second devastating hurricane in a matter of days, hosted the 2024 Master's National Artistic (Synchronized) Swimming Championships. More than 300 Master's swimmers competed, the largest number of participants--all

ages--for this Master's meet since the Master's program was first established some five decades prior. Nancy Hunt Weiman competed in five events and medaled in all five.

Immediately after Labor Day, Nancy went to San Francisco to train and to prepare for the competition. Daily workouts--in the pool and land drills--with her Redwood Empire teammates (some of whom Nancy swam with back in 1969 to 1973). She decamped in Pacifica with her current duet partner and fellow member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Margo McGrath.

Nancy began her synchro career in St. Paul, Minnesota when she was nine. In 1969, Nancy moved to San Francisco to swim with the nationally and internationally famous San Francisco Merionettes. Four years later, in 1973, she ``retired'' after some 15 years of amateur competition. She got hitched a year later and moved to Washington, D.C. A year later, in 1975, now some 49 years ago, Nancy was one of the founders of Master's Synchronized Swimming. At that first meet, she performed ``triple duty'' as a swimmer, coach and Judge.

At the time, the Master's program was a step-child in the Synchro world. As such, few judges were willing to attend a ``Master's Meet.'' So, at that very first meet, held in Reading, Pennsylvania, Nancy was needed to judge. She wore ``Judge's whites'' as required, but had her swimsuit on underneath it. When it was her turn to compete, she took off her Judge's uniform, went on deck, waited for the whistle and then swam her event--scores provided by the remaining judges. As soon as she completed her routine, still wet, she put her on her judge's whites and climbed back on the judge's chair to continue judging. Nancy also wrote the first set of official rules that governed that competition. Over the past 49 years, Nancy competed in almost every national and criss- crossed the globe for international competition, doing so in six different age groups from in her 20's to now, in her 70's.

Along the way, Nancy has met wonderful people from around the world and had a few ``unique'' experiences. A year ago, after preliminaries in Japan at the World Master's Championships, the meet was halted for several days as a typhoon roared through. Nancy's flights home were canceled and to get home, she was routed to Tokyo, Paris, New York, and then back to D.C. She flew around the world to attend, compete, medal, and then work her way home. Luggage, phone and medals arrived about a week after she did.

Today, there is one major difference when she competes: she swims with two new hips and a new knee. Her surgeon's office keeps a framed photo of Nancy in their waiting room. Synchro, now Artistic Swimming, has come a long way since Reading. So Nancy is still practicing, still swimming and still competing. Meets in Canada and Singapore are now on the schedule in 2025 and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in recognizing the contributions Nancy Hunt Weiman has made to Synchro (now called ``Artistic'' Swimming).