[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ST. JUDE'S CHARITABLE AUCTION

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, for 50 years, the St. Jude Children's 
Research Hospital has been one of the leading facilities for 
researching and treating catastrophic diseases in children. Every year, 
nearly 8,000 children are treated at St. Jude. That's why I'm proud of 
a group of friends back in my hometown who, for 36 years, have been 
raising money for St. Jude through an annual auction.
  When the auction started, the first goal they set and reached was 
$10,000. Well, that has long since been eclipsed. This year was another 
record-breaking year. The Minden, Louisiana, St. Jude auction held 
earlier this month raised $1,065,235 to help the ongoing work of saving 
children's lives.
  So thank you to Melissa Brown and Christie Ruple, the cochairs of the 
Minden St. Jude auction. And thank you to Pete Treat who, after 
suffering the terrible loss of his 5-year-old daughter to leukemia, 
started the Minden St. Jude auction and now has had the privilege of 
watching that auction raise more than $1 million for the St. Jude 
Children's Research Hospital.

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