[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 120 (Thursday, September 4, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1686-E1687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO VA VOLUNTEER DOROTHY PATRICK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 3, 2003

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 
Dorothy Patrick, a constituent of mine who has selflessly given her 
time to the veterans of my Fifth Congressional District for more than 
15 years.
  My district is home to thousands of our Nation's veterans and has the 
fourth-largest concentration of American heroes in the Nation. So it is 
only natural that at our veterans' clinics and hospitals there's never 
a shortage of things to do and never a time when additional helping 
hands are not desperately needed.
  It was once said that, aside from love, the most precious thing a 
person can give another person is labor. Dorothy has given over 11,000 
hours of her labor to help the veterans of Florida's Fifth 
Congressional District--and that is truly something to be honored.
  Volunteering at both the Gainesville VA Medical Center and at the 
Inverness VA Clinic for 15 years, she has given her time to veterans 
for longer than many people stay at a single job!
  David Gilmer, Administrative Officer for the VA's Inverness Community 
Base Outpatient Clinic, has said of Dorothy ``She not only provides 
valuable assistance to the veterans who receive care at the Inverness 
Clinic, but leadership to the other volunteers who help support the 
VA's mission here in Inverness.''
  She's given to the veterans of the Fifth Congressional District as 
nobly and as altruistically as they've given to all of us. Her service 
is a testament to the value and virtue of helping others.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in commending Dorothy for her 
efforts. I am honored to be her representative in Congress. She is one 
of the reasons that I am so very proud to represent the Fifth 
Congressional District of Florida in the House of Representatives.

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