[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 129 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE TO CARMEN ARELLANO LEE 2012 SPIRIT OF MATER AWARD RECIPIENT

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 21, 2012

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Carmen Arellano Lee, a 
1954 graduate of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Menlo Park, 
California. Carmen is being honored on October 20, 2012, with the 
coveted Spirit of Mater Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni who 
``radiate Mater's spark of divine spirit and who employ life in a 
manner representative of the Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton Goals and 
Criteria. Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a 
personal and active faith in God, a deep respect for intellectual 
values, a social awareness which impels to action, the building of 
community as a Christian value, and personal growth in an atmosphere of 
wise freedom.''
  Carmen Lee founded the Peninsula Network of Mental Health Clients, an 
organization composed of clients receiving care provided by public 
mental health providers and serves as advocates for them. In 1990 
Carmen secured funding and began the Stamp Out Stigma (SOS) program to 
put a human face on mental health patients and issues and dispel the 
myths and stereotypes surrounding patients and their illnesses. Since 
1990 SOS has delivered more than 2,000 public presentations. Carmen is 
a committee member for the California State Mental Health Planning 
Council, People in Recovery for the United States Psychiatric 
Rehabilitation Association and the Federal Government's Task Force on 
Suicide Prevention.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this 
tireless, fearless woman who knows of what she speaks. She has felt the 
stigma and works to stamp it out. She has experienced the curse of 
mental illness and works as an advocate for others afflicted by it. If 
we could clone Carmen Lee, communities across our nation would be 
better places for those suffering from mental illness.

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