[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 58 (Thursday, April 10, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IN HONOR OF THE OHIO PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 2003

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor and recognition of 
the Ohio Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), as they celebrate 
thirty years with PIRG's across the nation of unwavering crusades to 
reclaim and purify our nation's air, land and waterways.
  Like the PIRG in Ohio, these environmental groups are comprised of 
empowered citizens whose courageous chorus calling for a clean 
environment has resounded along our rivers, lakes, shores, and 
wetlands; their voices echo through our valleys, across our meadows and 
atop our mountains; and their voices rise as the day dawns, clear and 
bright.
  For three decades, this progressive group of individuals has 
understood the power of collective focus, and these soldiers for our 
environment know that their struggle to eradicate practices and 
processes that destroy our environment will determine our ultimate 
survival as individuals, and as our world as we know it.
  Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, please join me in honor and celebration 
of every member of the Ohio PIRG, as they celebrate thirty years of 
empowerment, education, awareness, action and achievement on behalf of 
a cleaner and safer environment, and on behalf of their vision of a 
world where flora, fauna and all humanity come one step closer to 
strike that significant balance between the advancement of humankind 
and the preservation of our natural environment. Moreoer, their work, 
lends to the vital notion that a handful of concerned citizens can 
restore a river and heal America's heartland--one speech, one letter, 
one meeting, and one law at a time. ``Never doubt that a small group of 
thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the 
only thing that ever has.''--Margaret Mead.

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