[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 86 (Friday, June 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO COMPUTER CORE OF ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 23, 2005

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to congratulate the 
Computer Community Outreach and Education program, or Computer CORE, of 
Alexandria, Virginia, for celebrating its fifth anniversary. This 
wonderful non-profit program promotes the realization of better job 
opportunities through basic computer skills training. It is offered to 
unemployed and under-employed adults in Northern Virginia, who may have 
little or no experience with computers, but have something much more 
important to each of them: an insatiable desire to learn, achieve, and 
contribute to our society.
  These students come from a wide array of families and backgrounds, 
but all of them leave with the proficiency necessary to enter the 
workforce and contribute to the economic development of our nation. 
They leave Computer CORE not only with competence in keyboarding, word 
processing, and spreadsheets, but also with the ability to identify 
their own strengths and interests, set goals, develop resumes and cover 
letters, and pursue their goals and the American dream. In addition, 
they leave with a free refurbished computer of their own, allowing them 
to continue to develop their skills at home, as well as teach their 
families the valuable skills they have learned.
  None of this would be possible without the hard work of Debra Roepke, 
the executive director and founder of the program, as well as the staff 
of instructors who generously volunteer their time and energy to help 
these students acquire the skills they need to achieve the American 
Dream. Through hard work and education, the students of the Computer 
CORE classes are grasping their future and entering a new stage of 
life. After graduation, these students will find new job opportunities 
they never had before. Some will continue at institutions of higher 
education. Some will teach their families they skills they have 
learned. But all of them will have truly experienced the American 
dream.

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