John Garamendi

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Susan Schwartz of Vacaville, California, who is passionate about helping young people grow, helping small businesses prosper, and helping in the community. Susan is known as the ``volunteer extraordinaire'' at the Vacaville Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club where she lives by the motto ``children don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.'' Her genuine concern for the club youth is evident in everything she does which earned her recognition as the organization's 2013 Volunteer of the Year and the 2016 Champions for Children Award by the Solano Kids Insurance Program. Ms. Schwartz has launched multiple projects at the club to include the Holiday Give Back for toys and donations for the needy, as well as the Garden Project that helps teach, grow, prepare, and consume meals from grown for themselves as well as the needy and homeless. Susan has taken her advocacy for children, and expanded it into the community by working as the driving force in a group to bring the Miss Representation Project to Solano County. Partnering with the Kroc Center and Brenden Theater, she helped sponsor the showing of the films The Miss Representation Project and The Mask You Live In. Ms. Schwartz's commitment to service has brought these films that raise awareness of gender stereotypes, and help young people better understand the issues we all face to over three hundred children and their parents.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sakari Lyons, a strong advocate for women in Solano County, California as a Fellow with the Essie Justice Center. A social worker by profession, Sakari embodies the qualities and the desire to advocate for women and families in need of compassion, empathy and guidance due to the incarceration of their loved one. Inspired by her own situation, Sakari worked full time for Health and Social Services providing resources to children and families when she joined the Essie Justice Center. Through the organizations Healing to Advocacy program, Sakari has helped many women find strength to heal from their wounds through guidance, compassion and faith. She empowers and encourages them to be advocates for themselves and their children. As a single parent of four children, Sakari was able to pursue her education and holds both a B.A. and M.S. degree.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Tracee Stacy of Vacaville, California, who is committed to serving her community and devotes her time to helping those who are most vulnerable. Ms. Stacy dedicates her time, talent, and expertise to improving the lives of seniors throughout Solano County. She works tirelessly to help particularly disadvantaged seniors facing disabilities, isolation, mental illness, and poverty. Ms. Stacy is an integral part of Solano County's ability to provide services to seniors in need, and her expertise is unparalleled. She is continuously working to make a positive difference for seniors in her community. Ms. Stacy is generous, passionate, dedicated, and acts with integrity. She is full of empathy and a fierce advocate for those in need. Ms. Stacy has left an indelible mark on senior services of Solano County, having already dedicated nearly 20 years of service and advocacy to seniors, youth, and Solano County. The positive difference Ms. Stacy has made in her community cannot be overstated.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I came here to talk about tax policy, and I will; however, having listened for the last 60 minutes to the most remarkable admission that Russia is meddling in America in many, many ways, even an admission that Russia somehow wants to influence America's elections--in this case, America's elections for the last year--I am pleased that my Republican colleagues are so adamant in pursuing Russian influence and, perhaps, controversial influence in the United States. I am pleased that they are doing that. I am also pleased that Mr. Mueller is continuing his investigations. I will note that there have been two indictments and one guilty plea that have already come forth from his investigation having to do with people that are very, very close to President Trump's administration. More will come of that, and I certainly hope our Republican friends will continue to focus on the fact that Russia is playing very serious and, quite possibly, illegal games or activities here in the United States. We will carry on. I firmly believe that Mr. Mueller is not about to resign or be fired. If he were to be fired, I would suspect that there would be far more serious consequences than the kind of yapping we just heard for the last hour here on the floor. Let me go back to my original point, which has to do with tax policy. As interesting as Russia might be, tax policy is going to be far, far more consequential in the long term. Whatever comes of the Russian situation in the election and conspiracies or other kinds of conflicts will bear themselves out over the next several years or months. Tax policy, however, is something that America is going to live with for a long, long time, were it to pass. There are many things we could say about it. One is that, yes, the top 1 percent of America's wealthiest people--you take 360 million of us Americans and take the top 1 percent--are going to get 50 percent of all of the tax cuts that are in this multitrillion-dollar tax cut legislation. So a trillion and a half dollars over the next 10 years to the top 1 percent ought to really drive up that problem that we call income disparity in the United States, you know, what we used to talk about: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, or that America has a real problem with the superwealthy controlling most of the wealth and the rest of Americans really left behind. So this tax bill is going to make it even worse. Now, that is really good. How does it do that? Well, let's see. By eliminating the estate tax. Yes, five members of President Trump's Cabinet, including the President, would benefit in the billions. You see, the estate tax would be eliminated in just 4 years, about the same time they would be leaving the administration. What does that mean? Well, if you have a billion-dollar estate and there is a tax on that, you can eliminate the first $10 million, $11 million of that, but you have a 40 percent tax on the remainder. Well, that is about $400 million in estate tax. Who would have a billion-dollar estate? The President, Mr. Ross, the Treasury Secretary, maybe the Education Secretary, maybe others. So who is going to benefit from this? The superwealthy, to the tune of millions upon millions or hundreds of millions of dollars of the estate tax itself. There is much more to that. American corporations would see their top rating from 39 down to 20. Who is going to benefit from that? Well, we heard the Treasury Secretary say the American workers will. Where is the evidence for that? There is no evidence for that, none at all; in fact, quite the contrary. The Treasury Department's own tax analysis section says that 70 percent of the after-profit taxes now go to, guess who. Stockholders and executives, not to the workers. It used to be that way back in the sixties and seventies. Maybe 70 percent went to the workers, went to increasing plants and equipment, investments in the United States. It is not that way anymore. Quite the contrary. The American workers will be left behind once again by those tax reductions. That is not to say we shouldn't reduce the nominal tax rate for corporations. Yes, we should, but we should do it in a way that actually helps American workers. It keeps investments in the United States. But, no, not this tax proposal. This one actually creates what is called territorial accounting for international corporations. Let's suppose that you have an international corporation located in Silicon Valley. We have some really big ones there. Territorial taxes would be that all of the earnings that that corporation has outside of the United States would be beyond being taxed by the United States, even though it is an American corporation that can manipulate the price of its goods and services to actually push, overseas, its profits. Brilliant. You want to bring jobs back to America? Don't do territorial tax reform. It doesn't work for the American worker. It works for the stockholders. Their stocks and stock prices will go up. They will be able to receive even more benefits. That is only $3 trillion over 10 years of reduction for corporation taxes. Who benefits? Wall Street corporate executives. Who loses? The American worker loses. One more thing that is on my mind is that I used to hear last year, the year before last, the year before that--in fact, for the last two decades--a lot of talk from about more than half of the Members of this House of Representatives who would talk about the horrible impact of the American deficit and that it would lead to ruin for the American economy, our grandchildren would be left to pay it off, and all the horrible things that the deficit would bring to the United States, ultimately leading to the collapse of the American economy. Well, there is some truth in that. The hyperbole was a little bit more than necessary, but, indeed, it is a problem to see our deficit ever increasing. Every now and then, we come up against the debt limit, and, oh, my goodness, the debate that took place here: We have got to stop it. We have got to stop deficit financing. We have got to bring our budget back into balance. Not a bad idea. In fact, it is the right thing to do. And, by the way, it was actually done during the Clinton administration. For 2 years, almost 3 years, the American Federal Government ran a surplus, and it was estimated that in the 2000 to 2010 period, if that surplus were to continue, it might lead to a significant and troublesome reduction in the American debt. That is a complex question as to why that would be troublesome, but, nonetheless, it was said. So what happened? George W. Bush came in, cut taxes, decided we would go to war, first war ever in America's history that was not financed by taxes but by borrowing, mostly from China, and the deficit began to explode. And then there was the great collapse in 2008, and the deficit went right through the roof. So we have been living, since that time of the George W. Bush tax cuts with a deficit, a structural deficit that has not been solved despite all the rhetoric from the deficit hawks. Now, I guess the deficit hawks, like the Canadian geese, have somehow migrated to the far south of Washington, D.C., because I don't hear any around here today. They have migrated somewhere far away from Washington. But what I hear from those previous folks that called themselves deficit hawks is that they want to drive up the American deficit, that they have a proposal to actually increase the American deficit. Oh, wonderful, they say, not to worry. We can increase the deficit by well over $1.5 trillion in the next decade and it will be lovely. We will create more jobs. I am going: Excuse me. I must have missed something in this debate. You just said a year ago that those deficits would somehow create a calamity for the American economy, that we would lose jobs, we would lose our competitiveness, that we would come to ruin, and now you are telling me I shouldn't worry about a $1.5 trillion increase in the deficit over the next decade? Wow, how does that work? How does that happen? I want to share something with you. I became--trying to understand what this was all about, how could it be 6 months ago or a year ago they were deficit hawks and they had to do away with the deficit and now they want to increase the deficit? What is this all about? So I asked my staff: Give me some numbers. Don't we have what we know as a structural deficit built into the budget of the United States tax revenues significantly lower than the expenditures, and therefore we have this structural deficit? Show me what those numbers are. So they did, and here they are. Structural deficit, 2018, the structural deficit is $567 billion. That is half a trillion. That is the structural deficit that exists today without any of this discussion about tax cuts. Next year, 2019, it is expected to be $689 billion, two-thirds of $1 trillion in 1 year--in 1 year. And it goes on. The structural deficit in 2020, $775 billion. That is the ongoing structural deficit in the Federal budget: revenue received, expenditures--expenditures $775 billion more than the revenue in 2020. This isn't talking about the new tax cuts that are being discussed now here in Congress. And so it goes. In 2022, it is $1 trillion annual structural deficit. So what does this tax cut mean? Oh, it is only $1.4 trillion or $1.5 trillion over a 10-year period, but that is on top of the existing structural deficit. So here you have it. This year, the existing structural deficit before any tax cuts, we are talking about $563 billion. Added to that, as a result of the Republican Ryan-McConnell-Trump tax cuts, we are adding $114 billion on top of $563 billion so that the structural deficit, should this new tax cut ever come into place, will be $677 billion--not millions, billions. Over the next 10 years, by the end of the 10-year period, as that tax cut, this new tax cut goes into effect, with the addition adding to the existing structural deficit, in the year 2027, 10 years from now, you can expect a $1.6 trillion structural deficit. This is a problem. It is a problem that is made even worse--even worse--by the fact that the benefit of the tax cut does not go to economic growth, but quite the contrary. It does not go to the working men and women, the middle class of America who really do need to have a better way, better wages, more money in their pockets, a better living, a better ability to take care of their family and their children, a better education, a better opportunity, and a better infrastructure. No. No. None of that will happen. Instead, what will happen as a result of the Republican tax cut is that the wealthy will get wealthier. Remember this: 50 percent of all of the tax cut benefits--and we are talking trillions here, as much as $3 trillion over a 10-year period. Fifty percent of that will go to the top 1 percent of Americans. We are talking the superwealthy here. That is not a better way. That is an awful way to run a government. That is an awful thing for an economy when you continue to skew the American economy to the superwealthy and leave behind the American worker, the American family struggling to do better, struggling to have a better opportunity for their children in school, a better road or a better bus or a better train on which to travel, a better transportation system. So here we are. Here we are in the House of Representatives debating in committee today how to make the deficit worse, how to increase the structural deficit over the next 10 years, how to literally run this country into bankruptcy. No, we are not going to go bankrupt, but what we will do, we will terminate key programs as we struggle to find ways of balancing the budget with so little Federal revenue available to us as a result of these tax cuts. I could probably go on for an hour and just work myself into a rage about the lost opportunity. We Democrats have proposed a better solution, a better way to deal with the tax policies, one that actually provides benefits to the working families of America, who, as our Republican friends like to say, sit around the kitchen table and worry about their debts. Yes, indeed, they do. They worry about it. We have a better way of providing for the infrastructure, a better way of providing for our national security, our education, and on and on. The architect of those programs that lay out a better way for the American economy and the American worker and the American family is with us here tonight, our minority leader, Ms. Pelosi. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Leader, if I might, you said SALT. It is like really pouring salt on a wound. But SALT is State and local taxes. So for California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and other States that have big populations, they collect this revenue, and it cannot be deducted. The numbers you have, I understand those came from the Department of the Treasury and the IRS.

Mr. GARAMENDI. We are going to drive this and make sure the American public knows what is coming down.

Mr. GARAMENDI. You were laying out, Madam Leader, our Republican colleagues from California who seem to ignore or want to not even think about the State and local tax deduction, and also the mortgage interest deduction. Trying to find a house in California that is for less than $500,000 or $700,000 is virtually impossible. Certainly in the bay area, much of southern California, and in the Sacramento region, it is almost impossible. So by reducing that mortgage interest deduction, together with State and local taxes, you are seriously increasing the tax burden on homeowners and on working men and women in California. You laid it out so very well. In the district directly to my south-- Mr. Denham's district--101,000 of his constituents currently have a $7,982 average deduction for State and local taxes, and for the mortgage interest. They will lose that, and they will wind up paying somewhere between 25 to 30 percent on that lost deduction. So let's say 25 percent of $8,000 is what, $2,000? New taxes right there.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Leader, you raised a very important point early on here about the way in which--I just heard you ask to reach out to Republicans to sit down and talk about how to structure a decent tax reform, not just a tax cut for the wealthy. My understanding is the Republicans have not even offered a moment--a second--to discuss these tax bills with any of us, nor have they had even one hearing on the most consequential economic policy that this Nation could put forward. Not a hearing at all, but rushing out secretly. Today, I understand they had a markup, but no witnesses, other than someone to answer questions as to the impact. And there has been discussion about the past major tax cut of Ronald Reagan's in 1986, in which we heard that there were 2 years of hearings all around the Nation and, I guess, more than 30 hearings in Congress before that major tax bill passed in 1986. But now here we are rushing this huge monumental and very detrimental tax bill through. Now, that is what I have heard, and I am not in the leadership, but, as far as I know, they haven't talked to you.

Mr. GARAMENDI. That is middle-income.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Madam Leader for joining us tonight. I remember here on the floor, when the debate occurred over the budget that did pass the House of Representatives a couple of weeks ago, you spoke eloquently on the floor about what this budget would mean, that it would open the door to some very bad public policies, in fact, public policies that would harm individual Americans as well as the American economy, and you were very passionate about it. You said that about the budget, which passed the House only on Republican votes, no Democrat votes.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Yes. Jeff Denham, Mr. McClintock, and the other Republicans from California included.

Mr. GARAMENDI. You laid it out. You made it very, very clear that it would lead to a tax bill that would be harmful. We had some ideas then what it would be, but we had no idea that it would be such a horrendous problem for the American economy and particularly for the American workers and middle class. You laid that out very well. You also laid out very, very clearly that in that budget was the blueprint for the evisceration of programs that Americans depend upon. You talked about Medicare and you talked about Medicaid, of which 60 percent of Medicaid goes to seniors in nursing homes across this Nation, and the potential cut that would come to Medicare. You also talked about how it would, as you just did, go after the education system, after research that we need for medical research, and economics, and all of the sciences. You talked about the infrastructure. You laid out that that budget bill was the template. We are now seeing that template come to reality on the floor of the House first with this tax cut. Probably within months, should this tax bill pass, we are going to see the rest of what you told us to watch out for. Watch out for the cuts coming to Medicare, watch out for the cuts coming to Medicaid, to education, to infrastructure, to the things that Americans depend upon in their daily lives, the Meals on Wheels program, and then the supplemental nutrition programs. Standing right here, I remember I was in the back of the room here, and I heard you speak about what would happen if that budget bill passed the House. It did. Now we are seeing the first step. There will be another step. They will come back after the Affordable Care Act and medical care and all of that. I wish you were wrong.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Tranine Chisom of Fairfield, California, who has dedicated her career to community service and improving support for people with mental health disabilities and those who experience housing challenges and homelessness. As the Director of Supported Housing of Caminar in Solano County, Tranine has tirelessly worked with property owners, and city and county officials to increase and leverage affordable housing resources for our most vulnerable citizens. Annually, Tranine and her team provide supportive housing services to over 100 residents who might not otherwise be able to obtain or maintain affordable housing on their own. Ms. Chisom also serves as the Board Chairwoman for Housing First Solano, a coalition of service providers in Solano County working together to end homelessness. She has been instrumental in the development and now the implementation of Solano County's Neighbors Helping Neighbor-Forward Together 5-Year Strategic Plan to address homelessness. Tranine is also active in the Solano Napa Habitat for Humanity program where she actively participates as a crew member on community building days, as well as serves on the Family Selection Committee to identify families most in need of a Habitat Home.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sheila Allen, a proven leader in the Davis, California community who embodies the qualities of a true public servant. Sheila is currently the Executive Director of the Yolo Healthy Aging Alliance. She has been instrumental in building an organization that serves as a vital voice for older adults in Yolo County and elected officials and community leaders consider her the expert in addressing senior issues. Sheila is credited with organizing the 2010 Aging Summit that recognized the need for sustained attention of older adults. Her leadership has enhanced the lives of countless older adults in Yolo County through educational programs, collaboration with over 80 providers of older adult services and is a faithful advocate for needed programs and services at every level of government. Working alongside County Supervisor Provenza, Sheila was instrumental in helping to advocate for a new Adult Day Health Care Center in Woodland as well as a Memory Center in Davis. Sheila also advocated for legislation to protect seniors from abuse and provide greater access to services in the community. She is currently working on a similar project in Winters, California. Sheila's community involvement includes, Trustee, Davis Unified School District, Board Member, First Five Yolo, Board of Director, Explorit Science Center, Board of Governors, Agency on Aging, Board of Directors, American Nurses Association, Board of Director, Golden State Nursing Foundation, Advisory Committee, Yolo County Home Supportive Services, Member, Yolo County Health Council, Member, City of Davis Human Relations Commission, and Advisory Committee, Unitrans. Sheila holds a B.S. in Nursing from University of Wisconsin, Masters and a PhD in Nursing from University of San Francisco.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Robin Dewey, a dedicated advocate for individuals living with disabilities in Davis, California, who is committed to serving her community. As President of Team Davis, a nonprofit organization established to help enrich the lives of children and adults with developmental, cognitive, and physical disabilities, Ms. Dewey has demonstrated her devotion to an underserved community. Thanks to her dedication, people with disabilities have been provided opportunities for experiences that give them a sense of accomplishment, purpose, and belonging. Ms. Dewey has brought to life the mission of her organization, helping disabled individuals build physical skills, a sense of camaraderie, and a stronger connection with the Davis community. For decades Ms. Dewey has served her community by advocating for equity, social justice, and opportunity for disabled individuals. Not only does she serve a typically isolated community with compassion, consistency, and authenticity, but she also ensures that her volunteers do the same. Ms. Dewey's service to her community does not end with the disabled people she helps, but continues with the compassionate service she teaches to everyone in her organization.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Ronda DaRosa of Woodland, California, who has dedicated her 33-year career to Education. Her broad educational experience includes 12 years of private and public classroom instruction at the intermediate to adult education levels, 21 years in an administrative role at schools and county office levels implementing programs focused on alternative and special education, developing curriculum for college preparatory and career technical programs, designing and implementing professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers and administrators, and facilitating school reform at the secondary and middle school levels. Dr. DaRosa currently serves as the Deputy Superintendent for the Yolo County Office of Education; a position that is well deserved. In her capacity as an administrator, she is committed to providing quality education and delivers a wide range of services to the children, parents and K-12 school districts in Yolo County. Dr. DaRosa holds credentials in the areas of Life Sciences, Introductory Mathematics, Language Development Specialist and Educational Administration. She received her master's degree in educational administration from Sonoma State University and her doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of Southern California.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Louise Walker of Dixon, California, who has been a strong leader in her roles in both private and public organizations. She consistently proves that she does not shy away from leadership roles. She is a valued partner of the Solano Economic Development Corporation, President and CEO of First Northern Bank. She serves as chairperson of the Solano EDC Board of Directors, and just completed her term as Chair of the California Bankers Association, making her the third woman to chair the association in the organizations 125 years. Ms. Walker also serves on the national Board of Directors for the American Banker Association. Ms. Walker also lends her considerable leadership expertise to several nonprofit organizations. She serves on the boards for both Valley Vision and the Yolo Food Bank, is a former President of Soroptimist International of Dixon, and a member of the Dixon Rotary Club. With her extensive leadership experience and skills, as well as her commitment to serving her community, Ms. Walker is an outstanding role model for women of every age.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Michalle Shown- Rodriguez of Fairfield, California, who has dedicated her career to community service and is a pillar of the community. Michalle currently serves as the Development Director for Child Haven, where she brings 30 years of experience in development, grant writing, and executive leadership. Michalle's work with non-profits began with the birth of her son and subsequent involvement in co-founding a support organization in Idaho that served families with medically fragile children. She has been involved with the National Foster Parents Association, the Sierra Association of Foster Families and Ronald McDonald House Charities. Being an adoptive parent of four elementary school-age children, she had a passion to serve in an education-focused environment where she can have a direct impact on children and their parents. Michalle's previous experience includes working for the Crisis Support Services of Alameda County where she was responsible for developing programs to support suicide prevention, crisis intervention and public education. Ms. Shown-Rodriguez holds a degree in social psychology and earned the Non-Profit Certificate at Stanford Graduate School of Business' Center for Social Innovation among other professional credentials.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kathleen Ramos, who has been a vibrant leader in the community since arriving in Vacaville, California with her young family in 1986. She quickly fell in love with the charm, generosity and spirit of Vacaville and immediately decided she would devote her time and talent to making Vacaville a great place to raise a family. Kathleen's passion to help others is evident through her community and public service. Throughout her two decades as a top realtor for Solano County, she's helped countless families find the home of their dreams. Her desire to help the community didn't stop there; Kathleen has held leadership roles in thirteen boards and commissions, including serving five consecutive terms as president and past vice-chair on the Community Services Commission for the City of Vacaville. She also volunteers in student education programs, was past president for the Solano Community Symphony League and is a Charter Member for 100 Women Who Care About Solano County and the Vacaville Soroptimists Twilight Club. Kathleen is married to her husband Steve; together they have three adult children and six granddaughters. She enjoys an active lifestyle and when she's not helping in the community, you can find her on the bike trails or racquetball courts.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mrs. Renee Tadlock of Fairfield, California, who is the Operations Director of The Leaven, a faith-based afterschool tutoring and mentorship program focused on serving the underserved youth in our high-risk communities with educational assistance, physical play, nutrition, and character development. Before becoming the Operations Director, Renee was a Leaven Site Director and served to help grow the Leaven Organization from one center in 2009 to sixteen different locations throughout Solano and Napa Counties and three sites in Southern California with more scheduled to open soon. Mrs. Tadlock's role at the Leaven has been vital to the organization's success and secondary positive impact of raising the quality of life within each neighbor served by a Leaven Center. Recognized by community leaders and law enforcement officials, Leaven Centers through their development of community relationships have proven over and over to positively impact crime rates, drive out negative influences, and empower residents to participate in neighborhood watch and re-vitalization programs. Renee developed her passion for education and serving our youth during her prior service as a pre-school teacher in Fairfield and a substitute para-teacher for Solano County Office of Education. Renee and her husband, Mike, serve as Pastors at Real Life Church in Fairfield where she also serves as an inspiring role-model to the church, youth group, and community members.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Michele Blake, a proven leader in the Yuba City, California community with a strong desire to make a difference. Michele currently serves as the Executive Director of the Sutter County Children and Families Commission, also known as First 5 Sutter. Michele has been a strong advocate and was instrumental in making positive changes in her role as executive director. She is responsible for ensuring children ages 0-5 reach their full potential by administering and coordinating community programs and activities that have a positive effect on their development. She has collaborated with Friends of the Sutter Library to implement a program which delivers books directly to preschool children's homes to increase literacy awareness; she has worked with the Sutter Sheriff's Department to implement a children's lifejacket loaner program which increases water safety; and working alongside healthcare clinics, she was instrumental in implementing breastfeeding friendly practices in existing Commission programs. Michele is also a strong advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and, together with her family, established the Nicole Bull Memorial Scholarship Fund. Michele's experience includes her previous work as the Health Education Director and Public Information Officer at the Sutter County Public Health Department where she planned, created, budgeted, developed, and implemented comprehensive health education programs and was instrumental in securing federal funding to develop IGNITE Yuba City, a program to help people make healthy choices. Michele continues to support the Yuba Sutter community and as a single mom finds time to contribute to the activities of her 8 and 12- year-old children.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Laurie Goodman of Meridian, California, who has dedicated herself to the education, health, and safety of children. As Superintendent and Principal of the Winship-Robbins Elementary School District, Dr. Goodman has worked to implement many programs designed to serve children in need. In partnership with Sutter County Public Health, she has implemented a nutrition education and obesity prevention program which aims to promote healthy eating and exercise habits in youth. Dr. Goodman was also an instrumental partner in the effort to establish the ``Food For Thought'' pilot project which works to minimize child hunger by providing families with healthy foods to take home over the weekend. Her efforts on behalf of these programs make a clear positive impact in the lives of children in her community. Dr. Goodman's passion and commitment to the students and families of Winship-Robbins Elementary School goes beyond academic success. Dr. Goodman is truly dedicated to the complete health and well-being of each and every one of her students, and never passes up an opportunity to provide them with any help they may need.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mrs. Lynn Jewell of Vacaville, California, who has been a vibrant servant of our community since coming from San Antonio, Texas as one of three young daughters of an Air Force Veteran. As a youth, Lynn was active in the Girl Scouts, church groups, and the Fairfield High School Scarlet Brigade Band before graduating from California State University, Sacramento with honors. After marrying Jeff Jewell, her service member husband, Lynn became active in supporting multiple local Veteran's Groups. Mrs. Jewell served as President of the Vacaville American Legion Auxiliary, Secretary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, and served at the Vacaville Veterans' Memorial Hall as secretary, treasurer, Bingo volunteer, and co-chair of the Annual Holiday Dinners for over 20 years. In 2006, Lynn became involved in the North Bay Homeless Veterans Standdown writing grants, raising funds, and serving as volunteer coordinator. Her passionate commitment to this program grew and she now serves alongside her husband on the Standdown Board of Directors. Lynn is the driving force of the North Bay Standdown and most everyone would say that without Lynn, the years of providing supportive services to our homeless veterans in the form of a ``hand-up, not a hand-out'' would not have happened.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Nancy Wells of Davis, California, who has dedicated her twenty-year career to education and exemplifies the true meaning of public servant, volunteer and advocate for school aged children, adults and senior citizens in the community. Nancy was instrumental in implementing many innovative programs during her professional career. She instituted ``Just for Kids,'' a program that matched at risk elementary students with adult volunteers, who would spend time helping students having difficulties with school subjects. She also started the ``Latch Key Program'' an afterschool program that provided a place for students to do their homework in a safe environment while their parents were at work. As director of Special Education, she was able to provide outstanding programs for children with special needs offering them academic training at a level in which they would be successful. Nancy is also involved in various community organizations. She was a founding member of the Dixon Family Services agency, where she started a Grief Intervention Program for children. She's also a member of the Dixon Advocates for Seniors as well as a member of Dixon's Community Care Home Auxiliary. Nancy is considered a kind, compassionate and devoted person who is always willing to volunteer wherever she is needed. Nancy serves on the St. Peter's parish leadership team and is a long-time community servant.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Miriam Miller of Woodland, California, who has spent many years serving her community and truly loves volunteering. In years past, Ms. Miller has worked to revitalize the Woodland Downtown area through a program called ``Main Street'' and helped facilitate renovations to the Woodland Opera House State Historic Park. While working to bring Woodland's facilities into the future, she also worked to ensure her community never lost sight of its history. Ms. Miller was instrumental in the running of the Yolo County Historical Museum, worked as a docent at the museum and historical Opera House, helped others research their own history, and to this day still helps put out the Woodland Historical Society newsletter. If there was an opportunity to serve the Woodland community, Miriam Miller seized it. Ms. Miller's service and volunteerism was not limited to her community of Woodland. She traveled the world with her husband as he served in the U.S. Navy and State Department, supporting him and caring for her family. During World War II, Ms. Miller became very aware of the injustice of Japanese internment camps, leading her to live a life in support of immigrants and social justice. Ms. Miller has housed refugees in her home and made them a part of her family. She continues to fight for immigrant and refugee rights. Ms. Miller is dedicated to the betterment of her community, locally, nationally, and internationally.