[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H7176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     INTRODUCTION OF GUEST CHAPLAIN

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege and honor to welcome 
and introduce to the House of Representatives our guest chaplain this 
morning, Father John Putka.
  I have known Father Putka for quite a long time. He was a teacher of 
mine when I was a high school student at Moeller High School in 
Cincinnati. He also was a professor at the University of Dayton school 
I also attended. He has also been in the classrooms of St. Joseph in 
Cleveland, Chaminade in Mineola, and many other schools around the 
country.
  Father Putka's Ministry has taken him far and wide. Not only has he 
preached throughout the State of Ohio and surrounding States, but his 
ministry also takes him to my State of Colorado at least once a year, 
also to the State of Wyoming. He is well-known and respected by a great 
number of people, but, more than that, he has inspired those who have 
had an opportunity to sit and observe and participate in the masses 
that he has led and listened to his homilies.
  As a professor of political science at the University of Dayton, 
Father Putka is one who has trained his students to consider their role 
in the world through the broad context of a properly trained 
conscience. He is joined at the University of Dayton by Dr. Jason 
Pierce and others who work on a day-by-day basis to try to deliver the 
best education possible to the students before them. Father Putka is 
one who is trained and preaches in the Marianist tradition.
  Again, he is one who I have known for quite a long time; and let me 
just finish by saying that, for me personally, this is really a 
blessing for him to be here today. It was 6 years ago that I was sworn 
into Congress. Father Putka was here to wish one of his former 
students, me, well as I was sworn in. And as I enter the last few weeks 
of my congressional service here in Washington, it is very nice that he 
is here today to be a part of this important day in congressional 
history.

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