E68 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks January 13, 2009 

prospered for the last 16 years under the excellent leadership of James Shelby who was 

instrumental in raising the funds needed to 

build its current home. With the leadership of 

Mr. Shelby and chairwoman Susan Irwin, I am 

confident the Greater Sacramento Urban 

League will continue to provide invaluable programs for our community. 

Madam Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to the Greater Sacramento Urban 

League’s distinguished commitment to our 

community and Sacramento’s residents. The 

Greater Sacramento Urban League’s dedication to equality, civil rights and workforce development has helped thousands of 

Sacramentans when they most needed it. We 

all are thankful for their efforts. As the Greater 

Sacramento Urban League’s employees and 

partners gather to celebrate 40 years of service to the Sacramento region, I ask all my colleagues to join me in wishing them continued 

success in the future. 

f 

RECOGNIZING ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO 

DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST ATTACKS FROM GAZA 

SPEECH OF

HON. TODD TIAHRT OF KANSAS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, January 9, 2009 

Mr. TIAHRT. Madam Speaker, I rise today 

in support of H. Res. 34, a resolution recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United 

States’ strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. I 

applaud Speaker PELOSI and Leader BOEHNER

for bringing this resolution to the floor. 

We stand in solidarity with those praying for 

real and lasting peace and an end to the terrorism brought upon the people of Israel. I am 

confident the acts of aggression carried out by 

those seeking the destruction of the State of 

Israel will not end in success. Peace will come 

to the land of Israel once again. 

Born out of genocide and conflict, the modern State of Israel has developed into a free, 

democratic and prosperous country. I have 

been to Israel several times and I have seen 

how they make the desert bloom. I have witnessed their corporate compassion to take 

care of people in need. I have heard their 

pleas for peace. An unfailing ally of the United 

States, Israel is a beacon of freedom and religious tolerance in the Middle East. 

Israel understands the dangers of terrorism 

all too well. From suicide bombers to thousands of incoming rockets and mortar shells, 

the people of Israel have experienced mass 

casualties of enormous and unacceptable proportions. 

As Israel currently undertakes military efforts 

in Gaza, I stand with the Israeli Government 

and the Jewish community as they seek to establish peace and protect its citizens from terrorism. Hamas and radical Islam must be defeated. 

No nation can sit idly by while its people are 

killed, its children are traumatized, and the 

daily life of its people is severely disrupted by 

terrorism. Ask yourself, would America tolerate 

more that 3,000 rockets launched against our 

homeland in just 1 year? No, we would protect 

our people. Israel has the responsibility to protect its citizens, as well, and that is what it is 

doing in on-going operations in Gaza. 

Americans look forward to peace in Israel 

and the Middle East, but until Hamas and its 

terrorist allies relinquish its arms and renounce 

violence, the hope for peace can not be attained. 

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to 

support this important resolution. 

f 

CONGRATULATING GREGORIO 

KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN ON HIS 

ELECTION AS THE FIRST DELEGATE TO CONGRESS FROM THE 

COMMONWEALTH OF THE 

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 

HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO OF GUAM

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 

Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I rise 

today to congratulate Mr. Gregorio Kilili 

Camacho Sablan on his historic election as 

the first Delegate to Congress from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

(CNMI). His election comes twenty-two years 

after the U.S. Government first granted the 

residents of the CNMI U.S. Citizenship and 12 

years after my predecessor, Congressman 

Robert A. Underwood, introduced the first bill 

to provide for a CNMI Delegate in the 104th 

Congress. Born on the island of Saipan on 

January 19, 1955, Mr. Sablan graduated from 

Marianas High School and attended the University of Guam, the University of California, 

Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii at 

Manoa. 

Mr. Sablan has a long record of public service to the people of the CNMI beginning with 

his election to the third Commonwealth Legislature in the CNMI House of Representatives. 

While in that office, he worked with the Assistant Secretary of the Interior to secure funding 

for the CNMI. Mr. Sablan returns to the halls 

of Congress as a Delegate after previously 

working as a Special Assistant to Senator 

Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. Mr. Sablan then returned to the CNMI to work as a Special Assistant for Management and Budget under 

Governor Froilan Tenorio and most recently, 

he worked as the Executive Director of the 

Election Commission. 

This historic event for the people of the 

CNMI and the U.S. Congress marks the first 

time the CNMI will have representation in the 

U.S. House of Representatives. The 110th 

Congress passed legislation that was signed 

into law by the President on May 8, 2008, and 

that among its other provisions, authorized the 

election to Congress of a CNMI Delegate 

(Title VII of U.S. Public Law 110–229). The 

addition of the CNMI Delegate seat marks the 

first time membership in the House has expanded since Congress provided for the election of a Delegate to represent American 

Samoa in 1980. The addition of the CNMI Delegate seat brings the total number of Delegates representing the territories and the District of Columbia in the House of Representatives to six. 

As a neighbor in the Western Pacific and a 

fellow territorial Delegate, I welcome my new 

colleague, Mr. Sablan, to Washington, D.C. as 

the first Delegate to represent the CNMI in 

Congress. The historically close ties between 

the people of Guam and the people of the 

CNMI will provide for a solid foundation on 

which to work together toward common goals 

in Washington, D.C. I look forward to strengthening these ties with Mr. Sablan and working 

together toward sensible and effective Federal 

government in the Mariana Islands. This momentous occasion renews the promise of the 

founding principles of American democracy, 

that of representative government by its citizens. As we move forward in the 111th Congress, I extend my warmest welcome and congratulations to the people of the CNMI. 

f 

BAY PINES VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM RECOGNIZED NATIONALLY 

FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE 

HON. C. W. BILL YOUNG OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, the 

Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, which I 

have the honor and privilege to represent, has 

been honored by the Department of Veterans 

Affairs with the very prestigious Robert W. 

Carey Performance Excellence Award. 

This is the highest honor given to a medical 

facility by the Department of Veterans Affairs 

and recognizes organizational excellence 

which translates in the highest quality of care 

for our nation’s veterans and in this case 

those who receive their medical care through 

Bay Pines. 

This award confirms what I have always 

known—that the dedicated staff and volunteers at Bay Pines are the best in the VA system and provide our veterans with the quality 

of care we would expect and they so richly deserve. 

The Bay Pines VA Healthcare System is the 

4th busiest of the 153 VA Medical Centers 

and provides services to 94,000 veterans per 

year at the Bay Pines medical center and at 

nine linked clinics. Based on the VA’s performance criteria, including customer satisfaction 

surveys, Bay Pines ranks first among like 

sized facilities nationwide, first among Florida 

VA facilities, and fourth best in the nation for 

quality of care, access to care and customer 

satisfaction. 

Bay Pines is the only facility in Florida to receive the Carey Award, which is based on the 

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Criteria 

used by thousands of government and private 

organizations worldwide to assess and improve performance. 

Wallace M. Hopkins, the Director of the Bay 

Pines VA Healthcare System, leads a team of 

dedicated health care professionals and selfless volunteers who care for our veterans. 

They continually strive to improve the quality 

of care our veterans receive and are working 

on several projects which my colleagues and 

I on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs have supported. These include 

the opening of a new and larger emergency 

room that will more than double the capacity 

for emergency care for veterans including 

emergency mental healthcare; a new radiation 

oncology center to provide veterans with stateof-the-art cancer treatment; a mental health 

center of excellence to include inpatient, outpatient and PTSD programs; a new and larger 

eye care clinic; and a new and larger ambulatory surgery center. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with REMARKS