[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 64 (Thursday, May 9, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E751-E752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE VISION IMPAIRMENT CENTER TO OPTIMIZE REMAINING SIGHT 
                   [VICTORS] OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

                                 ______


                             HON. BOB STUMP

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 9, 1996

  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, it is a distinguished pleasure to announce to 
you that Mr. Joseph Maino, O.D. will receive the Olin E. Teague Award 
today on behalf of the Vision Impairment Center To Optimize Remaining 
Sight [VICTORS] team of Kansas City, MO.
  VICTORS is a Department of Veterans Affairs special medical program 
designed to provide optimum low vision rehabilitation services to 
veterans with visual impairments. The team members evaluate, diagnose, 
and rehabilitate veterans from a six-State area: Nebraska, Iowa, 
Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. More than twenty medical 
centers and outpatient clinics refer blind and visually impaired 
veterans to the program. The center has helped more than 1,500 veterans 
since it first opened in 1979. The team members' continuing creativity 
and dedication results in innovative methods and tools to combat the 
effects of severe vision loss. For this reason, our Nation's veterans 
live better and more fulfilling lives.
  The Olin E. Teague Award is the highest honor the VA awards in the 
field of rehabilitation. It is presented annually to a VA employee, or 
group of employees working as a team, whose achievements have been of 
extraordinary benefit to veterans with service-connected disabilities.
  Mr. Speaker, the name Olin E. Teague is synonymous with exemplary 
service to the Nation's veterans and is the reason this award bares his 
name. The late Congressman Teague served on the House Veterans' Affairs

[[Page E752]]

Committee for 32 years, 18 of those years as its distinguished 
chairman. He set the standards by which we can best serve all veterans.
  It is with pleasure that on behalf of my colleagues and myself, I 
offer our deep appreciation to the VICTORS team form their concern, 
dedication, and innovation in meeting the special needs of veterans. We 
congratulate them for the excellence of their work and for the 
distinguished award they will receive.

                          ____________________