[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 161 (Friday, October 3, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING DR. JAMES P. COMER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 3, 2008

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure and honor 
that I take this time to recognize one of the most influential and 
renowned individuals to emerge from Northwest Indiana. Dr. James P. 
Comer, M.D., M.P.H., has made many distinguished contributions to the 
field of child psychiatry throughout his prestigious career, and I take 
this time to welcome him back to Northwest Indiana, where he will serve 
as the keynote speaker for the 2008 Parent University on Saturday, 
October 11, 2008, at East Chicago Central High School in East Chicago, 
Indiana. This extraordinary event is sponsored by the School City of 
East Chicago, the City of East Chicago, the Lake Shore Chamber of 
Commerce, and Purdue University.
  Dr. Comer was born in East Chicago, Indiana. In 1956, he completed 
his studies at Indiana University and went on to receive his M.D. in 
1960 from Howard University College of Medicine. From there, he went on 
to complete his M.P.H. degree from the University of Michigan School of 
Public Health in 1964. Following this, he went on to Yale University, 
where he was trained in psychology at the School of Medicine's Child 
Study Center. Today, Dr. Comer serves as the school's Maurice Falk 
Professor of Child Psychiatry. As part of his preparation for his 
remarkable career, Dr. Comer also completed a one-year residency at the 
Hillcrest Children's Center in Washington, D.C.
  While his contributions to his field are many, Dr. Comer is quite 
possibly most well known for the founding of the Comer School 
Development Program in 1968. The goal of this program is to promote the 
collaboration of parents, educators, and the community to improve 
social, emotional, and academic outcomes for children that will help 
them to achieve greater success in school. His approach to focusing on 
teamwork has been utilized throughout the country at more than 500 
schools to improve their educational environments.
  As if his work in research and teaching, not to mention the founding 
such an influential program, were not impressive enough, Dr. Comer is 
also the author of nine books and the writer of more than 150 articles 
for Parents Magazine and more than 300 other articles on children's 
health and development and race relations. He has also worked as a 
consultant for the Children's Television Workshop, which produces 
Sesame Street. Throughout the years, Dr. Comer has also committed 
himself to service on many local, collegiate, and national boards, and 
he has been recognized with an abundance of prestigious awards and 
accolades for his work, including an astonishing forty-six honorary 
degrees.
  Madam Speaker, Dr. Comer has made extraordinary contributions to his 
field and to school systems throughout the United States. His 
dedication and devotion to the youth of our nation are to be admired. I 
respectively ask that you and my other distinguished colleagues join me 
in honoring Dr. James Comer for his lifetime of contributions to the 
American way of life through his work in the area of child psychiatry.

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