[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E986-E987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNITION OF CARMEN SCIALABBA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN P. MURTHA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 2000

  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues the 
attached newspaper article describing an achievement award recently 
bestowed upon a long-time member of my staff, Carmen Scialabba, by his 
high school alma mater. It is a fitting tribute to an extraordinary 
individual and I hope you will take the time to read it.
  Many of you recognize or have gotten to know Carmen over the 24 years 
he has worked with me. He is a patient and tireless attendee of 
appropriations hearings and markups and has been absolutely 
indispensable in his role as Associate Staff, handling all manner of 
appropriations-related issues as well as a wide array of constituent 
services. He has been an indispensable aide, conceiving numerous 
economic development projects with me and overseeing them to their 
fruition, to the benefit of countless workers and families back home in 
Pennsylvania.
  Many of you probably do now know, however, the heroic story of how 
Carmen Scialabba has overcome the harshest adversities, beginning in 
his early childhood when the

[[Page E987]]

untimely death of his mother landed him and his brothers in an 
orphanage while his father went off to war.
  You may not know that he had enlisted in the Marine Corps and become 
a champion boxer before he was tragically stricken with polio and 
collapsed before a fight at the height of his career.
  You may not know how he overcame his debilitating illness to raise 
four daughters as a single parent after their young mother succumbed to 
leukemia; how he fought against appalling prevailing attitudes toward 
the disabled to be able to attend college, ultimately earning a masters 
degree; how he made a difference to hundreds of young students as a 
high school history teacher; how he then served his community as a 
local magistrate before he joined me in coming to Washington to help 
the people of Pennsylvania in yet another capacity.
  He has been fighting for years to eradicate institutional 
discrimination against the disabled. Whether it involves helping a 
single long-suffering Veteran to obtain needed rehabilitation services 
and regain self-sufficiency or developing partnerships with employers 
and vocational rehabilitation facilities to help employ people with 
special needs, he has been a tireless advocate for ``leveling the 
playing field'' for the economic, as well as the physically, 
disadvantaged.
  His passionate advocacy for `doing the right thing' and his blunt, 
no-nonsense demeanor have earned him a somewhat fearsome reputation 
befitting a champion prizefighter. They've coined an expression in 
Washington. It is known as being ``Carmenized,'' and they say you 
certainly know when it has happened to you. Yet to those who know him 
best he is a gentle soul with an enormous heart of gold.
  I realize such achievements and praise are usually only associated 
with high-profile public servants. Carmen has never been high-profile. 
A true product of the blue-collar hardscrabble steel and coal regions 
of Pennsylvania from which he hails, he has set about his extraordinary 
life with near-Biblical humility. He has never once lost sight of his 
guiding belief that his purpose in life is to serve others and that, 
although life is certainly not always fair, everyone deserves fair 
treatment by their government as well as their fellow man.
  Again, I am glad to be able to share the attached article with my 
colleagues and submit it for inclusion in the Congressional Record so 
that history will remember the life and work of this consummate public 
servant as staff to the United States Congress.

                     [From the Eagle, June 9, 2000]

 Polio Can't Keep '53 Grad Down--Carmen Scialabba Wins Prestigious BHS 
                                 Award

                         (By Shari Kitzmiller)

       Butler Twp--Base your life on what you can do for other 
     people, not what they can do for you.
       That's the doctrine that has gotten Butler alumnus Carmen 
     Scialabba where he is today.
       It's also the attitude that has earned him a prestigious 
     award from his high school alma mater.
       Scialabba was named the 21st recipient of the Butler School 
     District Distinguished Graduate Award during commencement 
     ceremonies Wednesday night.
       He is a 1953 graduate of the school.
       High school Principal Dale Lumley said recipients are not 
     invited to attend commencement because it usually is too hard 
     for those who no longer live in the Butler area to guarantee 
     they can make it.
       Winners are notified after the announcement is made public.
       A committee of students picked Scialabba from more than 50 
     nominees.
       Scialabba lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his second 
     wife.
       Scialabba's first wife, Janice Ann Collins, died in 1979. 
     She also was a Butler graduate.
       Receiving the award is an honor, he said, because a teacher 
     he admired--Margaret Puff--also won the award in 1986.
       Puff was a geography teacher in the district who sparked 
     Scialabba's interest in the subject, he said.
       ``Because of her, I got my master's in geography,'' he 
     said.
       Since that time, Scialabba has led a busy life.
       A current associate staff member for the U.S. House of 
     Representatives and a top aide to U.S. Rep. John Murtha of 
     Johnstown, Scialabba started his career in the House in 1975.
       Piror to that time, he served as a district magistrate in 
     Johnstown. He also was a junior high history teacher in the 
     Johnstown public school system.
       A former Marine, Scialabba once thought he was destined for 
     a professional boxing career.
       In 1956 he represented the U.S. Marine Corps in the 
     Southwest Olympic Trial. In 1959, he gained the ALL U.S. 
     Marine Corps Lightweight Boxing Champion title and 
     represented the Corps in the Pan American trials.
       He began his professional boxing career when he left the 
     Marines and was named Ring Magazine's Prospect of the Month 
     in August 1960.
       His career was cut short just a year later, however, when 
     he was diagnosed with polio. The illness left him paralyzed 
     from the waist down.
       But he didn't let his paralysis keep him from achieving his 
     goals. Told he would never walk again, he fought against 
     medical odds and learned to walk with leg braces.
       That was just the start of his fight for the rights of the 
     disabled.
       Scialabba has taken his personal experience and used it to 
     help others in similar situations.
       He is working to get rewarding jobs for Americans who 
     currently are receiving disability compensation because they 
     have been unable to get employment.
       ``I want to form a non-profit group to talk to industry 
     people to convince them it's wise to hire people with 
     disabilities,'' Scialabba said, ``I have a few members 
     already in place. We're getting there, but we're not quite 
     there yet.''
       He also has worked with engineers at Penn State University 
     to create what he affectionately calls the ``Lazy Carmen.''
       The invention, which he uses in this office at work, allows 
     him to turn 360 degrees in his wheelchair without having to 
     do it manually.
       ``It takes a lot of effort to turn this thing around,'' 
     Scialabba said of his wheelchair. ``(Lazy Carmen) saves a lot 
     of energy and a lot of time.''
       More information on the invention can be found on Penn 
     State's Web site at www.psu.edu.
 Scialabba said the invention is not yet ready to market, 
     but he is looking for a manufacturer for the product.
       Aside from his desire to help the disabled, Scialabba has 
     some advice for the graduating class at Butler High School.
       ``This may sound kind of corny, but work awful hard,'' he 
     said.
       He also encourages the graduates to help those who can't 
     help themselves because it builds good character.
       ``I've tried to frame my life around what I can do for 
     other people, not what they can do for me,'' Scialabba said.
       Also stay close to your family, he said, no matter where 
     you life takes you.
       Scialabba, who said his brother Nick helped him get into 
     college, is still an important part of his life.
       Nick and another brother, Anthony, still live in Butler.


                            Carmen Scialabba

       WHAT: 2000 Butler School District Distinguished Graduate 
     Award recipient.
       EDUCATION: 1953 Butler High School graduate; 1966 graduate 
     of the University of Pittsburg at Johnstown; 1965 history 
     department scholar; master's degree in the arts from Indiana 
     University of Pennsylvania.
       ORGANIZATIONS: Formed the Johnstown Boxing Club.
       EXTRA DUTIES: Serves on the Board of Directors for the 
     Governor's Council for the Office of Vocational 
     Rehabilitation; Operations and Planning Board member; New 
     Partnerships Task Force member for the Hiram G. Andrews 
     Center in Johnstown; Penn State University Review Board of 
     the Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technology; the City 
     Planning Commission of Johnstown; and the Governor's Council 
     for the Physically Handicapped.
       AWARDS AND HONORS: 1974 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
     Handicapped Person of the Year; 1975 inductee to the Butler 
     Area Sports Hall of Fame; National Guard Ben Franklin Award 
     for dedicated service to Pennsylvania; National Guard Patrick 
     Henry Award for distinguished patriotic service.

     

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