[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 65 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S4959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                 GEORGE J. MITCHELL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, as our world continues to face 
unprecedented challenges, now more than ever, we must work with our 
allies and friends. I support the work of the George J. Mitchell 
Scholarship Program which seeks to strengthen relations between the 
United States and Ireland. Like the great man it is named after, the 
George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program fosters connections between 
future generations of American leaders and their Irish counterparts, 
regardless of ancestry. It seeks to further the education of American 
students through post graduate studies while building bonds between the 
Mitchell Scholars and the Irish and the Northern Ireland communities in 
which they live and study.
  Like many Pennsylvanians, my family can trace its ancestry to 
Ireland. Through the generations, our connection with and affinity for 
the Emerald Isle has deepened. However, with fewer and fewer Irish 
moving to America, it is critical that we encourage all Americans, not 
just those with Irish ancestry, to forge connections with the Irish 
people. While Irish Americans have become Mitchell Scholars, so too 
have young Americans from different backgrounds.
  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will soon be welcoming Alexandra 
Chirinos, who will work as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable 
Legrome Davis in the Federal Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
Alexandra was born in Mexico and graduated from the University of 
Texas, Austin. Her college thesis explored the factors that cause 
migrant women to endure domestic abuse and examined the reasons why 
existing abuse prevention programs were ineffective in migrant 
communities. She founded the UT Bilingual Mentoring Program as well as 
the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Chapter dedicated to providing 
academic and service opportunities for students of all backgrounds. As 
a Mitchell Scholar, she obtained her MA in human rights law from the 
National University of Ireland Galway and Queen's University, Belfast. 
She then graduated from Harvard Law School, where she was the executive 
editor of the Latino Law Review, the copresident of the Latin American 
Law Society and one of the founding members of the Harvard Immigration 
Project.
  Alexandra's journey and commitment to intellectual achievement, 
leadership, and public service is just one example of the many young 
Americans participating in and being inspired through the George J. 
Mitchell Scholarship program. The bond between Pennsylvania and Ireland 
will only deepen as Dan Rooney of Pittsburgh, PA, is the President's 
nominee to become the next U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. In that 
capacity, I fully expect Dan to advance the cause of peace among the 
Irish people and to continue developing relationships between the 
United States and Ireland like those created through the George 
Mitchell Scholarship Program.

                          ____________________