[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 19 (Thursday, February 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO LYDIA MALDONADO DIAZ

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 13, 1997

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I want to introduce my colleagues to Lydia 
Maldonado Diaz. Ms. Diaz reflects the type of community commitment and 
civic duty that our society desperately needs.
  After residing in New York City for 32 years, she and her husband 
moved to the community of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, where she was 
confronted with a host of illegal activities. Lydia joined the local 
block association and began to make a difference.
  Today, Lydia is actively involved in the Community Coalition to 
Restructure P.S. 76, an abandoned school building on her block, and she 
has presided as the chairman of that organization.
  For 24 years she worked for the Cornell University Cooperative 
Extension as a community educator; a position from which she retired in 
April 1995. Throughout her personal and professional pursuits, Lydia 
has been guided by her strong spiritual convictions. She is the proud 
mother of four adult children, and the grandmother of six. I am pleased 
to recognize her positive contributions to the Brooklyn community of 
Cypress Hills.

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