[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE OF RICHARD L. GLOTFELTY OF 
                     PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 19, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the House 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I rise today to recognize Richard L. 
Glotfelty, the Associate Executive Director for Veterans Benefits of 
the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) on his retirement this month 
after 23 years of distinguished service for this national veterans 
service organization.
  Mr. Glotfelty was born and raised in Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania. He 
began service with PVA in 1978 as a National Service Officer in the 
Pittsburgh PVA Service Office. He also served in chapter level 
positions at the Pittsburgh-based Tri-State PVA Chapter.
  Following his move to PVA's National Office in Washington, D.C. he 
served in a variety of senior management positions. In 1990, he was 
selected to direct PVA's entire veterans benefits operation, the 
organization's largest department. In this capacity, Mr. Glotfelty 
oversaw PVA's National Service Officer Program designed to provide 
local and regional support and assistance to PVA members and all 
veterans through 141 full-time staff located in 54 field offices 
nationwide.
  He was also responsible for the development of extensive training 
programs for PVA's professional corps of service representatives in 
both veterans benefits and medical services. These programs allow PVA 
representatives to provide VA benefits/claims assistance and to monitor 
the quality and quantity of health care services in VA's Spinal Cord 
Injury Centers across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, Richard Glotfelty served in the United States Air Force 
from 1966 to 1969. A crew chief on an Air Force C-130 aircraft, he 
sustained a spinal cord injury in the line of duty while conducting air 
support operations in Thailand during the Vietnam War.
  During the last 23 years, through Mr. Glotfelty's service and 
leadership, PVA's veterans service representatives have assisted 
hundreds of thousand of veterans, their dependents and survivors in 
applying for and receiving the benefits and medical services they have 
earned and deserve. He and Paralyzed Veterans of America can be rightly 
proud of this record of achievement in service to those who have served 
in defense of the United States of America.

                          ____________________