[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CORTLAND ZONTA CLUB NAMES WOMAN OF THE YEAR

                                 ______


                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 29, 1996

  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me today in 
congratulating Ute Gomez from Cortland, NY, who will be honored on 
Sunday, April 14 as the Zonta Club of Cortland Woman of Achievement for 
1996.
  My personal esteem for Mrs. Gomez is based upon her positive attitude 
in a dire situation. She turned a personal health scare into a learning 
experience for many other women. In 1992, she was diagnosed with breast 
cancer after a self-exam and mammography. Since then she has created a 
support group and counseled scores of women with breast cancer.
  Three-and-a-half-years-later, after a lumpectomy, a modified radical 
mastectomy, chemotherapy, countless visits to homes and hospital rooms, 
Mrs. Gomez was quoted in the Cortland Standard about being named the 
Zonta Woman of Achievement:
  ``I am embarrassed by this,'' she said. ``Not my breast cancer, but 
being honored. But if one woman can see this and do a self-exam, or get 
a mammogram done, or reach out for help, I feel I've accomplished 
something.''
  Ute Gomez is an outstanding civic leader who meets that definition by 
caring for others and putting that love to work. She is involved with 
the Breast Health Partnership Committee of Cortland County, a State and 
federally funded program. She has taken it upon herself to arrange 
mammograms, counsel, and otherwise assist women who need her help.
  My mother died a victim of breast cancer. I have tried in my public 
and private life to help in eradicating the disease and bringing 
comfort to those who suffer with it. I pledge further help now, and 
look forward to continuing to work toward those goals with Mrs. Gomez 
and others who have given so selflessly of their time and spirit.

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