[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E527-E528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING JAMES J. KEELER, 2009 HONOREE OF THE SOCIETY OF THE 
           FRIENDLY SONS OF ST. PATRICK OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 3, 2009

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask you and my esteemed 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to pay tribute to James J. 
Keeler, of Clarks Summit, Lackawanna County, who was selected to 
receive the prestigious ``President's Award'' from the Society of the 
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County for the year 2009.
  Mr. Keeler has proudly and successfully served the people of 
Lackawanna County for many years in a wide variety of ways.
  He has served as administrator of the Social Security Administration. 
He was the first chairman of the Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose 
Stadium Authority. And he has been a political science instructor at 
Marywood University and at the University of Scranton.
  A native of the City of Scranton, Mr. Keeler began his career in 
Harrisburg in 1969 as an assistant to then Auditor General Robert P. 
Casey.
  He joined the Social Security Administration in Baltimore, Maryland, 
in 1971 as a legislative analyst and served on the task force that 
implemented the Supplemental Security Income, SSI, program. He also 
worked in Washington DC on Capitol Hill at the Congressional Research 
Service.
  In 1976, Mr. Keeler and his wife, the former Elaine O'Malley, of 
Scranton, returned to Lackawanna County where they raised their three 
children: Jimmy, Ellen and Paul in Clarks Summit.
  In 1991, Mr. Keeler was recognized by the United States Secretary of 
Health and Human Services with a national Honor Award for an innovative 
outreach program that found over 200 low income aged and disabled 
Lackawanna County residents who were eligible for the SSI program.
  Mr. Keeler is the author of ``Our Team! Insights From the Publicly 
Owned Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons,'' a book based on his doctoral 
dissertation at the University of Southern California's School of 
Public Administration.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in congratulating Mr. Keeler for his 
many years of service to the Lackawanna County community. His 
commitment to public service has vastly improved the quality of life 
for many throughout northeastern Pennsylvania and, for that, Mr. Keeler 
has earned our respect and admiration.

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