[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 106 (Thursday, July 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H8003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REPORT FROM INDIANA--BENNIE MAJERS/RACHAEL GINDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. (Mr. Barton of Texas). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. McIntosh] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McINTOSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to give my weekly report from 
Indiana. There are special people in our society who reach out and lend 
a caring hand to all who are alone in the world. These individuals make 
our community a better place to live. Every weekend when Ruthie and I 
return home, we meet good people who are doing just that. I call them 
Hoosier heroes, Hoosier heroes because they are generous in their acts 
of love, because they sacrifice and serve as an example for the rest of 
us in our community.
  Today I want to recognize Bennie Majers and Rachael Ginder, both of 
Madison County as Hoosier heroes. These two women shared their story 
with me during my visit with them over the Fourth of July break. I met 
with them because a good friend of mine, Judge Dennis Carroll had 
shared with me how much they had contributed as advocates for children 
in our community.
  For over 16 years, Bennie Majers has been investigating the 
accidental deaths of children that turn out to be homicides. She is 
able to pursue most of these unthinkable cases because of her own life 
story. As an abused child, Bennie witnessed her own father murder her 
young brother. Bennie is known throughout Madison County and around the 
country because of her determination and hard work to uncover similar 
heinous crimes. She told me she does it in the memory of her young 
brother because she wants to make sure that other young people do not 
have that happen to them.
  Her reputation as a victims advocate has earned her national 
appearances on the Oprah and the Geraldo shows. Certainly Bennie is one 
of those people who is helping out our community. She works with the 
sheriff's office in Madison County and develops profiles to indicate 
where a murder may have occurred of a young child. Her heart is filled 
with love and hope, and her impressive resume is full of efforts to 
help children. Her commitment is indeed commendable.
  The story of Rachael Ginder is also one of those that deserves 
mention and special recognition. Rachael and her husband Ron have 
provided foster care for nearly 150 children, many of whom are 
difficult and hard to place. Rachael shared with me that often those 
children have come back to them as adults and thanked Rachael and Ron 
for the love that they provided them and gave them a chance for a 
better life.
  Many of the children that they have had are severely retarded, 
mentally handicapped. The doctors often say that some of the children 
have very few months of live or only days. But the Ginders have been 
willing to love them and to never give up hope on those children who 
enter their home. In their hearts, their thoughts and their prayers, 
they feel that it is their special gift to love these children, to give 
them a home where they can be nurtured.
  One particular story involves a young girl named Melissa, who was 
born with no brain tissue, only a brainstem. The doctors gave her only 
a few days to live. She came to the Ginders when she was 15 months. 
They have adopted her as their own child, and now she is a young girl 
of 15 years who enjoys listening to music, the piano and the flute, and 
she continues to be a joy for all those in her house.
  With the strength and hope in their hearts and God to guide them, the 
Ginders continue loving these children, like Melissa, unconditionally. 
The Ginders open up their hearts to these children, children who 
desperately need them, and they shower them with love. The Ginders seek 
to be more Christlike in their approach as they continue to give to 
those who are least fortunate in our society.
  So today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to lift up Ron and Rachel Ginder 
and Betty Majers and her husband as Hoosier heroes in the true sense of 
the word. They have made sacrifices in their lives so that young people 
who are less fortunate than they were have a chance for hope and a 
better life in the future.

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