[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO DIANA LEWIS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. L.F. PAYNE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 1996

  Mr. PAYNE of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Diana Lewis, an outstanding Virginian and a hard-work American. Ms. 
Lewis has overcome great personal odds and now serves in her community 
as a certified nursing assistant in Charlottesville, VA. On October 8, 
1996, she will be honored at the Annual Training Conference of the 
General Council of Industries for the Blind and National Industries for 
the Blind as the 1996 private sector employee of the year.
  The path to her well deserved recognition, however, has not been an 
easy one. Born with congenital cataracts, Ms. Lewis suffered additional 
setbacks as a child undergoing several eye surgeries resulting in her 
delayed entry to school. Undeterred, Ms. Lewis attended Romney School 
for the Blind in West Virginia, but left school before completing her 
education in order to marry, become a homemaker, and, eventually a 
mother of two sons.
  By 1986, Ms. Lewis' circumstances had changed dramatically. She had 
moved to Virginia and found herself an unemployed single mother with 
two young boys to support, lacking education or employment skills. With 
the help of training program through Virginia Industries for the Blind, 
a division of the Virginia Department for the Visually Handicapped, Ms. 
Lewis rose to the challenge confronting her by training for and 
mastering numerous sewing operations. Before long, she had become an 
accomplished seamstress.
  Her desire to seek new challenges and improve her circumstances 
inspired her to earn her GED and complete training as a certified 
nursing assistant. Ms. Lewis met her personal and professional 
challenges head on, in the face of long odds, and is now giving back to 
her community working in the skilled care unit of Westminister 
Canterbury of the Blue Ridge. As a certified nursing assistant, she 
selflessly gives comfort to elderly citizens who require constant care.
  Ms. Lewis credits her employment at Virginia Industries for the Blind 
with instilling in her an unquenchable sense of self-confidence, enable 
her to continually seek new challenges and responsibilities. For her, 
the future is full of promise, as she seeks to fulfill her goal of one 
day becoming a physical therapist.
  Ms. Lewis is truly representative of our country's ethic of service 
and its unfailing commitment to self-improvement.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Diana Lewis, the 1996 
private sector employee of the year.

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