E2 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks January 6, 2009 

Mr. Bliden holds a bachelors degree in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and after earning a law degree 

from the University of Maryland School of Law 

in 1973, began his career in government as a 

legal intern at the State’s Attorney’s office in 

Prince George’s County. By 1974, Dave was 

an Associate County Attorney, serving as a liaison to the Maryland Association of County 

Civil Attorneys. Serving as Deputy County Attorney in the Office of Law for Anne Arundel 

County form 1984–1991, Dave served as the 

County Executive’s liaison to the General Assembly, Governor’s staff, and the Maryland 

Association of Counties. 

In 1991, Mr. Bliden was appointed Executive Director of the Maryland Association of 

Counties. As executive director, Dave managed the trade association which represents 

Maryland’s twenty-four political subdivisions. 

He has served as MACo’s primary representative to the Maryland General Assembly, the 

Governor’s office, and the Local Government 

Insurance Trust. Throughout his tenure, he 

was a proactive communicator and was always conversant in emerging trends with local 

issues. 

Dave’s willingness to look at each county in 

Maryland individually, as well as part of one 

great state provided the backbone for Maryland’s continued success. Although times are 

tough today in Maryland, they could be considerably worse were it not for the talents, persuasiveness, and dedication of Dave Bliden. 

Madam Speaker, I ask that you join with me 

today to honor David S. Bliden in his retirement from the position of Executive Director of 

the Maryland Association of Counties. His legacy as a brilliant and competent director will 

be forever remembered in his service to one 

of Maryland’s largest associations. It is with 

great pride that I congratulate Dave Bliden on 

his exemplary legal career and his outstanding 

leadership at MACo. 

f 

IN HONOR OF MICHELLE L. SMITH 

HON. MICHAEL N. CASTLE OF DELAWARE

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Mr. CASTLE. Madam Speaker, I rise today 

to recognize and pay tribute to the late 

Michelle L. Smith. On Monday morning, December 22nd, the Delaware City Fire Company was informed of the tragic loss of Firefighter Michelle L. Smith, who succumbed to 

the traumatic injuries she sustained on December 20th. Michelle was assisting with the 

care of a critically injured motorcyclist at the 

scene of an accident on DuPont Highway 

when she was hit by a passing car. This is the 

first death in the line of duty for the Delaware 

City Fire Company in its 121-year history. 

Michelle L. Smith has served the Delaware 

City Fire Company and the Delaware City Ladies Auxiliary for over five years, holding the 

position of Secretary with the Ladies Auxiliary. 

She also served with the Volunteer Hose 

Company of Middletown, DE. 

Michelle will be greatly missed by her family, friends, and coworkers. She exemplified 

the honor and dedication that all firefighters 

throughout Delaware and across the United 

States strive for on a daily basis. The President of Delaware City Fire Company, Wally 

Poppe stated that, ‘‘Firefighter Smith typified 

Delaware City Fire Company as a firefighter 

and as a member of the Ladies Auxiliary. She 

took great pride in her numerous contributions, 

including emergency response, fire prevention 

and community awareness.’’ 

Michelle L. Smith will be greatly missed and 

her heroism, dedication, and selflessness will 

serve as an inspiration to all those who knew 

her. 

f 

HONORING MILES HOCHARD 

HON. SAM GRAVES OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Mr. GRAVES. Madam Speaker, I proudly 

pause to recognize Miles Hochard of Weston, 

Missouri. Miles is a very special young man 

who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active 

part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 

1249, and earning the most prestigious award 

of Eagle Scout. 

Miles has been very active with his troop, 

participating in many Scout activities. Over the 

many years Miles has been involved with 

Scouting, he has not only earned numerous 

merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. 

Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join 

me in commending Miles Hochard for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the 

highest distinction of Eagle Scout. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO TEAM LETTERKENNY 

HON. BILL SHUSTER OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Mr. SHUSTER. Madam Speaker, I rise 

today to salute the service of a distinguished 

group of American citizens. This dedicated 

group has worked for many years to enhance 

the military value of Letterkenny Army Depot 

and sustain the installation’s work to increase 

support to our military. Each of these individuals has professionally served our Nation with 

great distinction. 

Mike Ross has aggressively led Team 

Letterkenny from the start. Mike has sacrificed 

countless days, night and weekends to ensure 

that Letterkenny projects move forward and 

Letterkenny is prepared to meet worldwide 

military priorities. Mike has led numerous team 

visits to Washington and Harrisburg to ensure 

that we understand the importance of 

Letterkenny and support their initiatives. Mike 

has also focused his Franklin County Area Development staff to work countless individual 

projects to modernize, expand and promote 

the depot. Mike Ross’s professional leadership 

and hard work have significantly increased the 

military value of Letterkenny Army Depot and 

dramatically increased community understanding and support for Letterkenny. 

Dave Sciamanna and Commissioner Robert 

Thomas serve as co-chairs of the local component of Team Letterkenny. Dave is also 

President of the Greater Chambersburg 

Chamber of Commerce and Bob is the President of the Franklin County Commissioners. 

These dedicated community leaders have 

many high priority community responsibilities, 

but they always find time to work on initiatives 

to support Letterkenny’s military mission. Dave 

and Bob are instrumental in marketing 

Letterkenny’s capability, and they aggressively 

partner with Letterkenny to show potential 

workers the highlights of working at 

Letterkenny and living in Franklin County. Despite their busy schedules, Dave and Bob are 

always ready to adjust their calendars and do 

whatever is needed to support Letterkenny 

and our military. 

John Gray chairs the depot component of 

Team Letterkenny. His brilliant leadership and 

professional focus have dramatically increased 

the community’s understanding of Letterkenny’s importance to our military services. He 

has consistently dedicated countless off-duty 

hours to expanding community support for the 

depot and raising awareness of military contributions to the economy of the State. John 

Gray consistently provides thought provoking 

ideas and focuses the organizational energy 

on the best way to turn ideas into reality. 

Stacy Gregson and Joe Spielbauer chair the 

State component of Team Letterkenny. They 

have worked tirelessly to obtain Pennsylvania 

resources to support Team Letterkenny initiatives and they can always be counted on to 

actively support all of the team initiatives. 

They have done an outstanding job educating 

Commonwealth leaders on the importance of 

Letterkenny to our military and our State. 

I am proud of the work of these fine Americans, and I ask that my colleagues join me in 

honoring this team for their long and honorable service to our great Nation. 

f 

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS 

DAY 

HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I share with 

our colleagues moving remarks that 19-yearold Ti-Anna Wang, a U.S. citizen, delivered at 

a press conference on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. 

She had recently returned from China where 

she visited her father, Dr. Wang Bingzhang, 

who is serving a life-sentence in a Chinese 

prison for his pro-democracy activities. His ordeal bears the markings of so many Chinese 

dissidents who have been robbed of their freedom and endured severe hardship at the 

hands of their captors. 

One thing we learned from President Ronald Reagan in his dealings with the Soviet 

Union is that it both inspires hope in the oppressed and shames the oppressors when we 

raise the individual cases of political and religious prisoners, like Dr. Wang. 

I would like to start by thanking everyone 

here, on behalf of my family, for taking the 

time to come to this event. Since I started 

my work in DC, I’ve been lucky enough to be 

surrounded by supportive, generous and kind 

people who are genuinely concerned about 

my father’s case. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in his fight for freedom. More specifically, I would like to thank Dr. Yang, Congressman WOLF, Congressman SMITH, Congresswoman ROS-LEHTINEN and Senator 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with REMARKS