[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 134 (Thursday, September 22, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        NATIONAL OPTICIANS MONTH

 Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, January 1995 will be celebrated 
throughout the United States as National Opticians Month. The Opticians 
Association of America and its member State societies sponsor this 
observance, and I am pleased to note that one of my constituents, R. 
Emil Hagman of Columbus, is president of the national association.
  Mr. Hagman, his wife Karla and his father, Bob, and their colleagues 
nationwide are part of a system that assures our citizens the best in 
spectacles, contact lenses and low vision aids. As opticians, they have 
made it their life's work to bring technological advances to bear on 
the problem of seeing well while looking good. At some point in our 
lives, almost every American will need help to make the best use of our 
eyesight, and technology has brought us literally thousands of possible 
combinations of eyeglass frames and lenses, and a wide variety of 
contact lenses and low vision aids to make that possible.
  Dispensing opticians are eyewear experts, specializing in fitting 
eyeglasses, contact lenses and other aids to good vision. Through 
formal education programs, voluntary national certification and 
mandatory licensing in many States, including Ohio, dispensing 
opticians acquire the skills and competence to guide eyewear consumers 
in their choices and to correctly, efficiently, and effectively fill 
the eyewear prescriptions written by eye doctors. As important members 
of our Nation's small business community, retail dispensing opticians 
are the competitive balance that keeps good vision within the reach of 
all.
  I am glad to have this opportunity to recognize the work of 
dispensing opticians in the cause of good vision for all Americans. I 
applaud their efforts and congratulate Emil Hagman and his members on 
their successes.

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