[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 119 (Monday, July 21, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1509-E1511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
A TRIBUTE IN RECOGNITION OF THE EXTRAORDINARY AND HISTORIC
CONTRIBUTIONS OF TWO COMMERCE ATHLETES, BRENDA VILLA AND PATTY
CARDENAS, TO THE SPORT OF U.S. WOMEN'S WATER POLO
______
HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and
commend two extraordinary athletes who are members of the United States
Women's Water Polo Team competing in the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in
Beijing, China. In addition to being first-generation Mexican American
Latina trailblazers in the world of competitive water polo, both of
these exceptional women call the City of Commerce, in the 34th
Congressional District, their home.
As children, Brenda Villa and Patty Cardenas learned to play water
polo and hone their skills at the local swimming club, Commerce
Aquatics. Looking back on their introduction to the sport, Brenda, now
28, and Patty, 23, credit the City of Commerce and the club's dedicated
coaches for encouraging and developing their interest in water polo.
Today, in a $20 million facility built to Olympic specifications, the
city continues to encourage young people--the future Brendas and
Pattys--to participate and excel in water polo. In addition to
employing two full-time and three part-time youth water polo coaches
and allocating more than $250,000 a year on its programs, the City of
Commerce also covers participants' competition-related expenses. These
expenses might otherwise prevent the community's economically
disadvantaged youth from participating in tournaments.
After Commerce Aquatics, Brenda and Patty continued to play water
polo at Bell Gardens High School.
When Brenda entered high school in the fall of 1994, the school did
not have a girls water polo team. With Brenda competing alongside and
against the male players, the Bell Gardens Boys Water Polo Team won
four consecutive league championships and back-to-back California
Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division III championships.
In the fall of 1998, following Brenda's graduation, the younger Patty
entered Bell Gardens High School just in time to join the school's
newly-formed Girls Water Polo Team. At that point, CIF rules prohibited
Patty from playing on the Boys Water Polo Team. With Patty as part of
the high school's first girls team, the female players went on to win
four consecutive CIF Championships.
Following high school, both women would go on to realize their dreams
of playing competitive women's water polo in college and in the
Olympics.
At Stanford University, Brenda took a leave of absence to train with
the Olympic Women's National Team for the 2000 Olympic debut of the
women's water polo competition in Sydney, Australia. The team won the
Silver Medal. Two years later, Brenda was awarded the Peter J. Cutino
Award, an honor given annually to the top female collegiate water polo
player in the nation. In 2004, as a member of the U.S. Women's National
Water Polo Team at the Athens Olympics, Brenda and her teammates took
home the Bronze Medal.
Between Olympic Games, Brenda achieved another victory. In 2003, when
she graduated from Stanford with a degree in Political Science, she
became the first member of her family to earn a college degree.
Patty stayed closer to home after high school. She enrolled at Golden
West Community College in Huntington Beach, California. There, Patty
helped her team win the 2002 California State Championship. In 2005,
Patty transferred to the University of Southern California where, for
the past couple of years, she has trained on the U.S. National Women's
Polo Team.
The Summer Olympics in Beijing will be Patty's first Olympic
competition and Brenda's third. This time, with both Commerce athletes
on the same team, they hope to work together with their other teammates
to bring home the Gold.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the 34th Congressional District and the
state of California, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating
Brenda and Patty on their incredible achievements and extending to them
and their teammates our best wishes for a victorious trip to the
Beijing Summer Olympics. I can assure you, regardless of how the team
places, these two remarkable athletes will always be champions to their
many devoted fans in the City of Commerce. They are among our hometown
heroes, and we are very proud of them--in and out of the pool.
[[Page E1510]]
SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees,
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules committee--of the time, place,
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or
changes in the meetings as they occur.
As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, 2008 may be found in the
Daily Digest of today's Record.
MEETINGS SCHEDULED
JULY 23
9:30 a.m.
Environment and Public Works
To hold hearings to examine the Midwest floods, focusing
on ways to determine what happened and how to improve
managing risk and responses in the future.
SD-406
Veterans' Affairs
To hold an oversight hearing to examine the Department of
Veterans Affairs, focusing on responding to the needs
of returning United States National Guard and Reserve
members.
SR-418
9:45 a.m.
Energy and Natural Resources
To hold hearings to examine the status of existing
federal programs targeted at reducing gasoline demand,
focusing on additional proposals for near-term gasoline
demand reductions.
SD-366
10 a.m.
Finance
Business meeting to consider S.J. Res. 44, providing for
congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5,
United States Code, of the rule set forth as
requirements contained in the August 17, 2007, letter
to State Health Officials from the Director of the
Center for Medicaid and State Operations in the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the State Health
Official Letter 08-003, dated May 7, 2008, from such
Center, and S.J. Res. 41, approving the renewal of
import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom
and Democracy Act of 2003.
SD-215
Foreign Relations
To hold hearings to examine the nominations of James
Christopher Swan, of California, to be Ambassador to
the Republic of Djibouti, Alan W. Eastham, Jr., of
Arkansas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of the
Congo, and W. Stuart Symington, of Missouri, to be
Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda, all of the
Department of State.
SD-419
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To hold hearings to examine information sharing, focusing
on connecting the dots at the Federal, State, and Local
levels.
SD-342
Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine courting big business,
focusing on the Supreme Court's recent decisions on
corporate misconduct and laws regulating corporations.
SD-226
Joint Economic Committee
To hold hearings to examine skyrocketing household costs
and falling home prices, focusing on ways to help
American families out of this crisis.
SD-608
10:30 a.m.
Appropriations
To hold oversight hearing to examine the adequacy of
defense contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
SD-106
11 a.m.
Aging
To hold hearings to examine person-centered care,
focusing on reforming services and bringing elderly
citizens back to the heart of society.
SD-562
1:30 p.m.
Foreign Relations
To hold hearings to examine the nominations of Tatiana C.
Gfoeller-Volkoff, of the District of Columbia, to be
Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, Richard G. Olson,
Jr., of New Mexico, to be Ambassador to the United Arab
Emirates, David D. Pearce, of Virginia, to be
Ambassador to the People's Democratic Republic of
Algeria, and Michele Jeanne Sison, of Maryland, to be
Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon, all of the
Department of State.
SD-419
2 p.m.
Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine the nominations of J. Patrick
Rowan, of Maryland, and Jeffrey Leigh Sedgwick, of
Massachusetts, both to be an Assistant Attorney
General, Department of Justice, and William B. Carr,
Jr., of Pennsylvania, to be a Member of the United
States Sentencing Commission.
SD-226
2:30 p.m.
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Children and Families Subcommittee
To continue hearings to examine childhood obesity,
focusing on declining health of America's next
generation (Part II).
SD-430
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To hold hearings to examine the nominations of Carol A.
Dalton, Anthony C. Epstein, and Heidi M. Pasichow, all
of the District of Columbia, all to be an Associate
Judge of the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia.
SD-342
3 p.m.
Appropriations
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
Business meeting to markup proposed budget estimates for
fiscal year 2009 for the Department of the Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2009.
SD-124
Foreign Relations
International Operations and Organizations, Democracy and
Human Rights Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine United Nations peacekeeping,
focusing on opportunities and challenges.
SD-419
JULY 24
9:30 a.m.
Armed Services
To receive a closed briefing on Iran.
S-407, Capitol
Environment and Public Works
Business meeting to consider a committee resolution.
SD-406
Indian Affairs
To hold an oversight hearing to examine tribal courts and
the administration of justice in Indian country.
SD-562
10 a.m.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Disaster Recovery Subcommittee
To hold joint hearings with the House Committee on
Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency
Communications, Preparedness to examine ways to ensure
the delivery of donated goods to survivors of
catastrophes.
311, Cannon Building
Energy and Natural Resources
To hold hearings to examine current policy related to the
strategic petroleum reserve.
SD-366
Finance
To hold hearings to examine the Cayman Islands, focusing
on offshore tax issues.
SD-215
Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine crimes associated with
polygamy, focusing on the need for a coordinated state
and federal response.
SD-226
Joint Economic Committee
To hold hearings to examine small market drugs, focusing
on companies exploiting people with rare diseases.
SD-106
11:30 a.m.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To hold hearings to examine the nomination of James A.
Williams, of Virginia, to be Administrator of General
Services Administration.
SD-342
2 p.m.
Appropriations
Business meeting to markup proposed legislation making
appropriations for a second emergency supplemental
appropriations for fiscal year 2008, and Department of
the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and
the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2009.
SD-106
2:15 p.m.
Finance
Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine tax and financing aspects of
highway public-private partnerships.
SD-215
[[Page E1511]]
2:30 p.m.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Federal Financial Management, Government Information,
Federal Services, and International Security
Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine ways to improve federal
program management using performance information.
SD-342
Intelligence
To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence
matters.
SH-219
JULY 25
9:30 a.m.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Investigations Subcommittee
To continue hearings to examine financial institutions
located in offshore tax havens, focusing on ways to
strengthen United States domestic and international tax
enforcement efforts.
SD-342
JULY 29
9:30 a.m.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Investigations Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine the magnitude of outstanding
payroll tax debt, focusing on the policies and
procedures that are used to collect unpaid payroll
taxes.
SD-342
10 a.m.
Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine music and radio in the 21st
century, focusing on assuring fair rates and rules
across the platforms.
SD-366
11 a.m.
Appropriations
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies Subcommittee
Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee
To hold joint hearings to examine food marketing to
children, focusing on ways to make it safer.
SD-192
JULY 30
10 a.m.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
To hold hearings to examine ways to improve consumer
protection in the prepaid calling card market.
SR-253
Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine the White House and the
Environmental protection Agency (EPA), focusing on
impeding congressional oversight.
SD-226
2:30 p.m.
Energy and Natural Resources
National Parks Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine S. 1816, to authorize the
Secretary of the Interior to establish a commemorative
trail in connection with the Women's Rights National
Historical Park to link properties that are
historically and thematically associated with the
struggle for women's suffrage, S. 2093, to amend the
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a segment of
the Missisquoi and Trout Rivers in the State of Vermont
for study for potential addition to the National Wild
and Scenic Rivers System, S. 2535, to revise the
boundary of the Martin Van Buren National Historic
Site, S. 2561, to require the Secretary of the Interior
to conduct a theme study to identify sites and
resources to commemorate and interpret the Cold War, S.
3011, to amend the Palo Alto Battlefield National
Historic Site Act of 1991 to expand the boundaries of
the historic site, S. 3113, to reinstate the Interim
Management Strategy governing off-road vehicle use in
the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina,
pending the issuance of a final rule for off-road
vehicle use by the National Park Service, S. 3148, to
modify the boundary of the Oregon Caves National
Monument, S. 3158, to extend the authority for the Cape
Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, S. 3226, to
rename the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic
Site in the State of Kentucky as the ``Abraham Lincoln
Birthplace National Historical Park'', S. 3247, to
provide for the designation of the River Raisin
National Battlefield Park in the State of Michigan, and
H.R. 5137, to ensure that hunting remains a purpose of
the New River Gorge National River.
SD-366