Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Salome Jarvis and her service to the health care community.

Salome has a long and distinguished career dating back 20 years. She received her certificate in Gerontology from Chaffey College in California in 1985 and also took numerous nursing courses at San Bernardino Community College. After working in a California hospital for nearly 15 years, Salome moved to the Las Vegas Area in 1991 and began working at the Boulder City Hospital. She subsequently obtained her National Certification as an Activities Director. The professional affiliations of which she is a member include the National Association of Activities Professionals and the Southern Nevada Activity Professionals Associations, both of which she serves as an officer of the board. Salome is also very active in the community primary working with programs designed to promote positive change for youths.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Salome Jarvis for her distinguished record of service to the health care community. I wish her the best with her future efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Don English, who died Tuesday April 18, 2006.

Don was the man behind many of the iconic photographs of Las Vegas taken over the last four decades. Many of his photos shot over the last 40 years went out on the wire services, and he was even awarded the Life Magazine picture of the week. Don's reputation was such that he was the only photographer allowed in at Frank Sinatra's wedding to Mia Farrow. And he was one of the few that were able to shoot Elvis's wedding to Priscilla Anne Beaulieu at the Aladdin in 1967.

His ingenuity helped perpetuate the public's fascination with Las Vegas for decades, and his images will continue to be admired by people around the world for decades to come. He was truly one of the unsung heroes behind the development of Las Vegas.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor the life and career of Don English. His contributions to Las Vegas commercial development and public image are immeasurable. He will be surely missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 85th birthday of John Patrick McFadden, and the anniversary of the McFadden Insurance Agency, which John started 25 years ago.

John McFadden was born July 23, 1921 in Butte, Montana. Born to Irish immigrants, John was educated in a one room school house in Boulder City, Nevada, where the family resided while John's father worked construction on the Hoover Dam. John later attended Las Vegas High School, and graduated in 1940. In 1942, after the start of World War II, John joined the United States Navy. He went to boot camp in San Diego, California, and after completing his training he was assigned to the destroyer minelayer, the USS Shea out of Lido Beach, New York. On May 5, 1945, the ship was struck by a Japanese kamikaze plane off the shores of Okinawa, Japan. Two-thirds of the crew of the destroyer were killed and many more wounded; John's injuries were also significant, having sustained 13 pieces of shrapnel in his left leg, severing a nerve and leaving the outside of his foot numb. His right leg, rear end, and head were also full of shrapnel. The shrapnel in his head caused temporary blindness, but after treatment in Saipan, his sight returned. John was not able to return to active duty and was honorably discharged.

In 1951, John was hired at Mercury, Nevada now known as the Nevada Test Site, to set up warehousing in both Camp 1 and Camp 3. In 1953 he was asked to go to Saudi Arabia to work in warehousing and supply and aided the building of dormitories and air strips for the U.S. Air Force, which were used by our country in Operation Desert Storm. During his tenure in Saudi Arabia, he met his wife, Rose. John and Rose subsequently moved back to Las Vegas and were married in 1957.

John trained to be an insurance adjuster, handling property claims, and with a partner formed Key Adjustment Company. He later agreed to manage Horsey Insurance, which later became Harrington-Horsey Insurance. In 1981, after managing the agency for 17 years he decided to form his own agency, now known as McFadden Insurance. This agency is now in its 25th year. During his years with the agency John served as the President of the Nevada Independent Insurance Agents for 2 years, and then served 2 terms as the State National Director for the Nevada Association. He was named ``Man of the Year'' by the Nevada Independent Insurance Agents in 1986. Even on the eve of his 85th birthday, he has no plans to quit working, and still comes into the office and continues to be a vital asset to the agency.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor John P. McFadden for his heroic service to America and for his personal and professional successes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Gerald Burkin and Lynn Mayers-Gerry who are American Medical Response ``Star of Life'' recipients.

The American Medical Response ``Star of Life'' is a special program. Its sole purpose is to publicly recognize and celebrate the achievements of all people working in the selfless and heroic world of ambulance service providers. The ``Star of Life'' Program seeks to honor outstanding individuals as a thank you for the service, sacrifice and inspiration they bring to all of us.

Gerald and Lynn are heroes in many ways, they have both served as mentors to new employees and have promoted positive changes in the local health care community. Gerald and Lynn have also risked their own safety in the line of duty. While Gerald, Lynn, and an intern were setting up some warning devices, another vehicle struck Gerald and Lynn and they both sustained serious injuries. Even pinned between the ambulance and the vehicle, they maintained contact with the dispatch center via radio and cell phone.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Gerald Burkin and Lynn Mayers-Gerry for their being awarded the American Medical Response ``Star of Life''. Gerald and Lynn are also to be commended for their sense of duty and dedication to improving the local health care community. I wish to congratulate and thank them both.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lieutenant William ``Bill'' Brown for his over 21 years of dedicated service with the Boulder City police force.

Bill has truly acted in all capacities in the Boulder City Police Department. Having started as a ``beat cop'' of the street he rose through the ranks to serve as fill-in chief. Greatly respected by the community and his fellow officers, Bill was an asset to the department and performed his duties with skill and professionalism. He was so well respected by his fellow citizens that he was often called while off duty for advice and counsel.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor the career of Lieutenant William ``Bill'' Brown. He epitomized what it is to be a community oriented public servant. Bill's dedication to his fellow officers and the community as a whole truly reflect the best of how First Responders serve. I wish him the best in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Boulder City High School Varsity Cheerleading Squad for their win at the Inaugural Silver State Spirit Championship this past March.

The championship consisted of four divisions: 1A through 4A, and teams in each division performed a three minute routine judged on originality, appearance, smiling, difficulty, precision and recovery. This event is the only State high school cheerleading championship offered in Nevada.

The members of the Boulder City High School Varsity Cheerleading Squad are to be commended for their success and hard work. Cheerleading is a rather unique athletic event, whereas most high school sports compete in only one season, cheerleading encompasses two. Their time and dedication is reflected in their success.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor the Boulder City High School Varsity Cheerleading Squad for their win at the Silver State Spirit Championship. I applaud them for their victory and wish them the best in future seasons.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Earl and Mildred Burris for 70 years of marriage.

Earl and Mildred were married in 1936, and over the course of 70 years have raised a family that now includes two children, five grandchildren, and seven great grand children. Earl and Mildred's marriage dates back to the days when Franklin Roosevelt was in the White House, and the Berlin Olympic Games preceding Hitler's march through Europe. During their time together, they have witnessed such historic events as the landing on the moon and the construction and destruction of the Berlin Wall.

They raised their children in an age where they did things together as a family and instilled in them the values of service, community, and charity. In 1990, the couple moved to Boulder City, Nevada. Since that time Earl has been very active in water-related citizens committees, and both Earl and Mildred have been active in the church.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Earl and Mildred Burris for their 70 years of marriage. Their commitment to each other is admirable, and should serve as a lesson to us all. I commend and congratulate them, and wish them many more anniversaries together.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Argu, an artist of remarkable skill who has contributed greatly to the community.

Argu, a self taught artist, was born in Mexico City, and has gained far reaching recognition for his works depicting Mexican culture and history. Argu most recent work is the Centennial Mural, titled ``A Rose in the Desert'', honoring Las Vegas' centennial. This mural, the only mural on a city of Las Vegas facility, is also one of the largest in the city. ``A Rose in the Desert'' joins more that 100 centennial murals, and serves as an icon in the community.

Argu moved to Las Vegas several years ago from New Mexico, and, in that time, has significantly contributed to the artisan community. His style is described as ``hypr-realist'', uses varieties of technique and has a broad range of inspirations. His unique style has earned him extensive acclaim and his works are showcased throughout Southern Nevada.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Argu for his artistic prowess and considerable contributions to the community. He is truly a master, and his works both inspire and impress his audience. I wish him continued success and look forward to seeing his future works.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Zelvin ``Zel'' Lowman, who died February 28, 2006. Mr. Lowman was a former Nevada Legislator who held office between 1967 and 1977 and served as the Majority Leader and Chairman of several committees.

In the early 1950s, he and his young family moved to Las Vegas where he began work at a company that would become Nevada Power Company. He had a long career at Nevada Power and retired in 1978 as director of public relations. He later worked in real estate as a broker-salesman at Mary Lowman Realty and served as court administrator for the 8th Judicial District of Nevada. Mr. Lowman was a dedicated husband and father, always interested in his children's education and activities. This led him to a lifetime of community service. He was most proud of his work with the Boy Scouts of America, Las Vegas Area Council. He was a 50-year member of the council. He served as chairman of the board and almost every other voluntary position in the council.

Mr. Lowman was always active in youth and education arenas. He was a perennial moderator of the Sun Youth Forum. During the decade of the 1960s, he was presented the Heart Award of the Local Variety Club and was given the Meritorious Service Award of the Secondary School Principals for outstanding service to education. In 1993, an elementary school was named Zel Lowman Elementary for his service to youth.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Zelvin ``Zel'' Lowman for his extraordinary career and exemplary service to the community. His death is a profound loss to the community and he will be greatly missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Leah Bryant as she retires from the Southwest Homebuilding Industry after 28 years in the business.

Leah Bryant began her tenure in the homebuilding industry in 1978 as a loan expediter for Lewis Homes in Las Vegas. Since then Leah has distinguished herself as a prominent and respected leader in her trade during her 28 years with KB and Lewis Homes. Leah was known for her contributions in the areas of quality assurance and customer service.

Leah was the regional general manager for KB Home's Southwest region, which includes Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson. In 2004, her region delivered nearly 7,000 homes. Leah was the driving force behind the company-wide satisfaction initiatives of 2003 and 2004, and launched and directed the company's Customer Satisfaction Task Force which has helped the company achieve the No. 3 ranking in 2004 by the J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey of home builders.

Leah has served as President of the Las Vegas division of KB Home, which is the largest homebuilder in Southern Nevada and was an active member of the board of directors of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. Her leadership earned her a spot on Nevada Business Magazine's Women to Watch list. In her retirement, she plans to continue living in Las Vegas, and devoting herself to family and personal activities.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize Leah Bryant on the floor of the House. I commend her for her contributions to the homebuilding industry and thank her for her service to southern Nevada.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Karen Knisley for her 30 years of service to the Boulder City Hospital and for her being granted Emeritus Board Member Status to the hospital.

Karen was born in California to Ray L. Knisley, a Nevada Legislator, and Florence Richardson Knisley. At a young age she moved to Beowawe, Nevada and has spent the majority of her life in the state. Karen has held a variety of jobs beginning with her early years; she voluntarily worked with the Boulder City Fire Department and later she was hired by Boulder City Hospital to work in Radiology. Karen has also been active in a variety of community service projects and was active in many organizations. She has served as both a corresponding Secretary and Trustee for the Boulder City Library, as well as on the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce. Karen has also served as a member of the Boulder City Long Range Planning Committee as Chairman of the ByLaws Committee, and was a Boulder City Hospital Trustee and Co-Chairman. Karen retired from Boulder City Hospital's Board of Trustees in December 2005.

Karen has served her community continuously throughout her life and Boulder City Hospital has been privileged to benefit from her knowledge and service for the past thirty years. For her years of dedicated service, Karen was recently granted Emeritus Board Member Status to Boulder City Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Karen Knisley for years of service to the Boulder City Hospital and the Boulder City community. Her efforts in both professional and private life are to be commended, and we all thank her for her service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Jelindo Angelo ``J.A.'' Tiberti, who died on Wednesday, May 3, 2006.

J.A. was a piller of the Las Vegas construction industry, patriarch of Tiberti construction and a civic leader. J.A. came to Las Vegas from California in 1941 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the runway at what is now Nellis Air Force Base. He formed Waale, Camplan and Tiberti Construction Co. in 1947 and developed Bonanza Village on Bonanza Road, before venturing out on his own in 1950. Among his many prominent works in Las Vegas are the Las Vegas Club, Palace Station, Sunset Station, Club Bingo and the Gold Coast. He built schools, hospitals, and public buildings. Not only was he a great craftsman, he was also a benevolent member of society. J.A.'s charitable contributions include a $1 million donation to help create the UNLV College of Engineering in 1979, and he provided the funds to build Camp Potosi for the Boy Scouts Boulder Dam Area Council. He was also appointed to the Las Vegas City Planning Commission in 1953 and served six consecutive 4-year terms. J.A. received a number of professional awards as well, such as the Southern Nevada Engineer of the Year award in 1972, and the State's Most Distinguished Nevadan in 1987.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor the life of Jelindo Angelo ``J.A.'' Tiberti. His professional success and philanthropic nature should serve as an example to us all, he will surely be missed by the community.

Mr. Speaker, over 2,400 brave men and women have paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting the War on Terror and the great State of Nevada has lost 19 heroic sons, 9 of which, are in my district. Just last week, on May 5, First Sergeant Carlos N. Saenz of Las Vegas died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle.

As we continue to fight the War on Terror, it is imperative that we protect America's fallen heroes by ensuring that they are treated with respect, while being laid to rest.

As a member of Congress, and a parent, I understand the importance of ensuring that families are able to provide a meaningful and proper burial for their loved ones. As we protect the constitutional rights of those who disagree with the war, we must also protect the rights of our fallen heroes and their families.

The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which bans all demonstrations 60 minutes prior to and after funerals taking place at Department of Veterans Affairs' national cemeteries or the Department of Army's Arlington National Cemetery, seeks to protect the families right to grieve in peace.

The National Cemetery Administration's (NCA) vision is to serve all veterans and their families with the utmost dignity, respect, and compassion and to ensure that every national cemetery will be a place that inspires visitors to understand and appreciate the service and sacrifice of our Nation's veterans. In order to ensure that the NCA and the Department of Veterans Affairs are able to keep their commitment to America's veterans and their families, I am in full support of this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker and my distinguished colleagues, I offer my full support for this important piece of legislation and I support your efforts to protect the rights of America's fallen heroes and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and friend from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) for bringing us to together as a caucus that is focused on, I think, issues that are impacting a lot of moms and dads across this country, especially in a part of the country, suburbia, where a lot of these folks are busy taking their kids to school, getting off to work and do not necessarily have a lot of time to show up for congressional hearings.

If we look back through the history, our leadership has been very supportive. I appreciate Mr. Hastert and Mr. Boehner for allowing us this time tonight on these key issues.

If we look back in time, about 40-some years ago, when I was a young man in a small Catholic grade school in the Midwest, in the community of Humbolt, Ohio, a number of challenges for teachers and challenges for parents and students had a lot to do with spitwads. Maybe showing up on time for class, making sure we are on time and making sure we got good grades, of course, was a priority; but think how things have changed. In those days, in my little Catholic grade school, we could not wear blue jeans with rivets because we were afraid we would scratch the desks.

Let us fast forward today into suburbia. Today, we have children in the classroom that are trying to deal with drive-by shooting drills. They have drive-by shooting drills in certain schools across the country. We have children that need our special help more than ever, with an environment that is ever-changing, and it is not about rivets and blue jeans. It is about worrying about the Internet, worrying about predators, worrying about predators that stalk our students, that hang around the playgrounds.

If you look at suburbia and inner city and communities around the country, if you look at police files, you will see that on maps they put dots and marks where sexual predators live and they frequent schools and hang around classrooms and hang around the ball fields.

Well, being a parent myself, and having two children that graduated from the public school system in the community of Nevada and southern Nevada, I trust that when our schools open and when our schools hire teachers, that they are going to have the best tools available to screen teachers, to make sure that we hire the best and the brightest to take care of our children.

We are very fortunate that the bulk of all of our teachers across this country are absolutely some of the finest. They care about their children, they care about the school, and they care about educating our precious resource, that is, our kids.

I cannot imagine the pain of a parent or a child that has been molested or taken advantage of by a teacher or a faculty member at a school somewhere across the country. We pick up the paper every day, and there is a story about someone that slipped through the system, a teacher or a faculty member somewhere that has applied and has found a job and is employed with our children and teaching our children. I will be honest with you, I cannot imagine the pain if my child or a friend of mine's child was molested or assaulted.

In the late 1990s, 1998, this Congress in its wisdom passed legislation to allow for complete background checks on teachers. That was in 1998. Unfortunately, as we fast forward, that bill which was to provide, again, complete knowledge, complete background checks to make sure that our teachers are safe, to date, to 2006, only 26 States are able to use the law that we passed in 1998. Again, that law was passed as a reason to make sure our principals, our administrators have the right tools to check the backgrounds of teachers. Like I said, fortunately, 26 States today are using it; 24 are not. So almost half are not using this tool that is available.

We use Nevada as an example. Clark County School District in southern Nevada hires around 2,000 new teachers a year, another 3,000 or 4,000 faculty members, close to 6,000, 7,000 people a year. You go across the State, you look at our growth, we are one of the fastest growing States in the country. We need to build 2\1/2\ new schools each month. We also need about 2,500 new teachers, but we have run into some problems.

Unfortunately, since 1998 only 26 States are using the background check that is available due to constitutional challenges within their States, due to bureaucratic challenges in their States. We want to make sure in Nevada that when we check the background of a teacher that we have the most up-to-date, up-to-the-minute information without barriers.

Well, again, unfortunately, that tool has not been available to all the States. So I proposed legislation, and it is H.R. 4894, the School Safety Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, and what it does is allows every State to have access to information, both Federal and State information, on criminal background checks on teachers. Again, unfortunately, some of the States that we checked with, and we are trying to hire new teachers, due to different reasons are not able to provide the information that we need. So I encourage that we pass H.R. 4894.

It does a couple of things. One, it gives the tools to all the States to check backgrounds through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, through all that information so they can feel comfortable that they are getting the latest up-to-date information. Number two, it streamlines the process. Some States now, although they are doing background checks, it could take weeks or months to get information on hiring a new teacher.

So the bill really does two things. It provides immediate access so there are fewer barriers so our administrators can have the proper information to make sure our students are safe, and it provides for those States that cannot currently follow the act of 1998 to gather that information.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity. There is no more precious resource than our children. We want to make sure that our parents, our administrators and our teachers and, most certainly, our children have the best available to them through the teachers that we are hiring; and with that, again, I appreciate the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Miss Amy Arnaz for her outstanding service to the community of Boulder City as the owner and operator of Dance Etc. Dance Studio. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Boulder City Ballet Company. Miss Amy, as she is known to the community, will retire from her service of Boulder City on May 27, 2006.

Miss Amy began her ballet career at age 7 under the direction of English Ballerina Christina Carson. She attended college at San Diego State University, where she danced with the San Diego Ballet Company. After traveling to New York to study with the Joffrey School Ballet, she returned to Las Vegas and joined the Sulich's Nevada Dance Theater. In 1979, Miss Amy purchased Dance Etc., and she continues to teach ballet, tap, jazz, and exercise to this day.

In 1997, in cooperation with her husband Desi Arnaz Jr., she founded the non-profit Boulder City Ballet Company. While serving as the company's Executive Director, Miss Amy has brought joy to the lives of the children who live in the small town of Boulder City.

Miss Amy has been trained to teach the Royal Academy of Dancing System used by the Royal Academy of England. Her students are also exposed to various types of dance through guest instructors and special workshops. She is certified through the American Council on Exercise, and continues to train in order to remain at the top in her field. Miss Amy and her valuable efforts to bring dance to the community will be very missed by the city of Boulder City; however, she will not be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize Miss Amy Arnaz on the floor of the House. I commend her for her contributions to Boulder City and thank her for her continued service to the children of southern Nevada. I now yield the remainder of my time.