[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 14 (Friday, February 6, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUE TO LINDA WEST

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN P. MURTHA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 6, 2004

  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with you and my 
colleagues a tribute to a lady from southwestern Pennsylvania who has 
made a difference in the lives of countless veterans.
  When Linda West was in junior high school in Uniontown, in 
Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, she began visiting the 
homes of housebound veterans as part of a community-service project. 
This effort marked the beginning of a mission that would lead a 
coalition of veterans and community organizations in Las Vegas, NV, to 
honor her with a Lifetime Achievement Award last December.
  As a student at the University of Cincinnati, Linda worked with 
veterans in Uniontown during semester and summer breaks. After 
graduation, she relocated to Las Vegas and formed new relationships 
with veterans there to match those she had found so rewarding in 
Uniontown. She visited veterans in hospitals, delivered food to their 
homes, assisted with burials and arranged honor guards. In recognition 
of her efforts, the Chapel of Four Chaplains more than 20 years ago 
confirmed her as an assistant Nevada State chaplain, the first female 
lay clergy in the organization. She receives no pay or reimbursement 
for expenses.
  She is a national service officer of Veterans of the Vietnam War, 
where she has helped veterans with their medical, spiritual and health-
care benefits needs for more than 15 years. When necessary, she has 
practiced suicide intervention with these veterans, especially those 
suffering from the effects of Agent Orange.
  She worked with a Vietnam veteran to ensure passage of the first 
increase in Nevada's veterans' property tax exemption in the 48 years 
since the bill was passed in 1953. The legislation, including added 
benefits for veterans who were more than 60 percent disabled as a 
result of their service, was intended as a thank-you to the State's 
veterans but had become nearly meaningless over the years.
  She also worked with a veteran to derail legislation that would have 
ended the teaching of American Government and history in Nevada's 
public schools, instead adding a mandate for the teaching of the Bill 
of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.
  Here in the 12th Congressional District, we're grateful to Uniontown 
native Linda West Myers for the generous contributions she has made to 
our Nation's veterans.