Marie Newman

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Velazquez for all her great work on the Small Business Committee.

I rise in strong support of my bipartisan bill, the HUBZone Price Evaluation Preference Clarification Act. This legislation is designed to expand contracting opportunities to millions of small businesses located in historically underutilized business zones.

More specifically, it would clarify the program's price evaluation language to ensure adequate spending toward HUBZone small businesses, giving more communities the resources they need to build vibrantly. We must ensure that small business in every community is and can benefit from Federal contracting.

By passing this legislation, we will take a crucial step toward a more equitable distribution of resources to small businesses throughout our country. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the critical work by the Argo Community High School administration to promote equity in their school. Argo Community High School is making history by erecting a bronze sculpture honoring the life and work of Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till and a graduate of Argo Community High School. Mamie Till's brave decision to hold an open casket funeral following the brutal lynching of her son provided a spark for the civil rights movement and brought lynching to the forefront of social conversation.

Argo Community High School's efforts to implement this project will serve as a road map for other communities to infuse equity in education. Through collaboration with individuals such as Reverend Wheeler Parker and Ollie Gordon, Emmett Till's cousins, to design the sculpture, Argo Community High School has incorporated the surrounding community into their project. Additionally, students have been an integral part of the process, and are currently documenting stories of living Till family members as well as community members who knew Mamie and Emmett Till. I am proud of Argo Community High School's leadership to uplift our civil rights heroes as we educate the next generation of American leaders.

I commend the Argo Community High School administration for educating their students about our nation's history through the Mamie Till Memorial Sculpture. This sculpture will serve as a catalyst for immediate and continued education of students at Argo Community High School as well as members of the Argo-Summit community around the issues of social justice and civil rights. I thank Dr. William Toulios and Dr. Brandon Cotter for their leadership and am honored to have such outstanding educators in my district.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the selfless and heroic work of the nurses, doctors, and staff of MedGlobal, a humanitarian and health non-governmental organization based in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, on their recent medical missions to Ukraine. To date, MedGlobal, which is headquartered in Illinois' Third Congressional District, has helped train nearly 1,000 Ukrainian doctors in 8 hospitals in Lviv, Ukraine, and brought nearly $1 million worth of life saving medical supplies generously donated by the American people to help Ukrainians in need.

On March 9, 2022, the MedGlobal team of health care providers departed Chicago, Illinois, and arrived in Warsaw, Poland, the following day. The group brought with them desperately needed medical supplies and medications requested by Ukrainian doctors working at hospitals in Lviv. The team traveled by bus from Warsaw to the Polish- Ukrainian border and completed a nearly 45-mile trek through Ukraine to reach Lviv. After a successful mission, the providers made their safe return on March 13.

On April 4, 2022, another MedGlobal team deployed from Chicago to Lviv, and over the course of their mission provided training to Ukrainian doctors in mass casualties, chemical weapons, and management of trauma patients. After another successful mission, the team made their safe return on April 10.

During each trip, Lviv endured multiple bombings from Russian long- range missiles, causing the MedGlobal teams to seek refuge in bomb shelters several times in response to sirens. But this did not deter these individuals from taking the risk to discharge their humanitarian duty and complete their mission.

Madam Speaker, I wish to thank the following individuals who took part in these efforts and recognize their selfless acts of courage bringing vital access to care to Ukrainians caught in the horror of war. The members of the March trip include Dr. Hena Ibrahim, Azeen Ibrahim, Dr. John Kahler, Dr. Riley Jones, Dr. Irina Lelik, Dr. Susan Buratto, and Rita Vaitauskaite, RN. The members of the

April trip include Dr. Judah Slavkovsky, Dr. Nahreen Ahmed, Dr. Kathleen Galagher, Dr. Christopher Miller, Dr. John Peter McBryde, Dr. Tanya Bucierka, Dr. Mila Felder, Ismail Ajooka, Lauren Cohen, Tonya Sompalli, Erica Havelka, Tim Conley, Scott and Maria Ruden, and Jessica Szotak, RN. The teams were led by my dear friend, Dr. Mohammed Zaher Sahloul, the co-founder and president of MedGlobal and a respected leader in Chicago. Many of these health care providers also call my district home, while others live around the Chicago land region or other states. They reflect the very best of America, and I could not be prouder to represent many of them and recognize their service today.