[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E237-E238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO ADA'S GIVE KIDS A SMILE PROJECT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ERIC CANTOR

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2005

  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, on Friday, February 4, 
the American Dental Association marshaled thousands of dentists and 
other volunteers across the country to provide dental services to 
hundreds of thousands of children who otherwise would not receive them.
  The year 2005 marks the third consecutive year for the ADA's Give 
Kids A Smile/National Children's Dental Access Day, a project the ADA 
and its 152,000 member dentists are committed to continuing until the 
nation's most vulnerable children have access to proper dental care.
  In what former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher called a ``silent 
epidemic,'' millions of American children suffer with painful, 
disfiguring and preventable dental disease. They cannot eat or sleep 
properly, cannot pay attention in school, cannot smile. They deserve 
better.
  ADA, its corporate partners and the thousands of individuals who 
participate in Give Kids A Smile are determined to wake the nation up 
to the extent and severity of untreated dental disease among 
disadvantaged children. I urge every member of this House to join them 
in that effort. One important way we can do that is to show our support 
by attending one or more Give Kids A Smile events in our home 
districts. You may be dismayed by the conditions some of these children 
live with, but you'll also be inspired by the spirit, energy and 
generosity of your constituent volunteers.
  Please contact your state or local dental association and show your 
support for Give Kids A Smile. Your doing so will lend momentum to the 
quest for long-term solutions and be a wonderful inspiration to the 
volunteers.

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