[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 21, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INAUGURATED

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 21, 1997

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity 
to express my best wishes to Secretary James Howell, M.D. MPH, and 
Executive Administrator Annie R. Neasman, R.N., M.S., as they assume 
the leadership of the State of Florida's new Department of Health.
  The Florida Legislature voted in 1996 to create the Florida 
Department of Health as a separate entity. The legislature charged the 
Secretary and staff with promoting and protecting the health and safety 
of all Florida residents and visitors in partnership with county 
governments.
  On February 3, Secretary Howell and the Florida Department of Health 
staff in Dade County will gather at Miami Dade Community College 
Wolfson Center with their local partners to inaugurate the department.
  I congratulate them on this day as they embark on their mission to 
make Florida healthier. I know that under the leadership of Secretary 
Howell and Administrator Neasman, their dedicated staff and their 
community partners will rise to the many challenges ahead.

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