[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 87 (Thursday, June 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BERG CONGRATULATES NORTH DAKOTAN DR. DORI CARLSON FOR BECOMING FIRST 
   WOMAN TO SERVE AS PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATION

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RICK BERG

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 16, 2011

  Mr. BERG. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Dr. Dori Carlson, 
who will soon be sworn in as the 90th President of the American 
Optometric Association, the first woman to ever serve in this 
prestigious position, at their 114th annual meeting in Salt Lake City, 
Utah, on June 18, 2011.
  The American Optometric Association represents approximately 36,000 
doctors of optometry, optometry students and optometric professionals 
and is centered on improving the quality and availability of eye and 
vision care. Doctors of optometry provide two-thirds of all primary eye 
care in the United States; optometrists serve patients in nearly 6,500 
communities across the country and in 3,500 of those communities are 
the only eye doctors.
  Dr. Carlson is a 1989 graduate of the Pacific University College of 
Optometry. Following graduation from optometry school, she completed a 
residency in hospital-based rehabilitative optometry at the American 
Lake and Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Tacoma and 
Seattle, Washington. In 1994, she was honored as the North Dakota Young 
Optometrist of the Year and as the Optometrist of the Year in 2003.
  She is a founding member of InfantSEE, a no-cost public health 
program developed to provide professional eye care for infants 
nationwide. Through this program, great strides are being made to 
ensure that potential eye and vision problems are detected early. 
Infant eye assessments have been available in North Dakota since the 
InfantSEE program launched in 2005, and Dr. Carlson has made it her 
mission to see as many infants as she can.
  Dr. Carlson is in private practice in Park River and Grafton, North 
Dakota, where she provides primary care to rural North Dakotans of all 
ages. Her advocacy on behalf of optometrists and their patients has 
earned her the respect of her colleagues, and it is a high honor to be 
recognized by her peers to lead the profession of optometry in the 
coming year.
  Today I join her family, friends and colleagues in congratulating her 
on this achievement and wishing her the best of luck in this endeavor.

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