[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 5, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO DINA MANFREDINI

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LATHAM

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 5, 2012

  Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Iowan and 
supercentenarian Dina Manfredini on being named the most senior person 
in the world by the Gerontology Research Group. Dina is 115 years, 244 
days young and resides in Johnston, Iowa.
   Dina was born in April of 1897 in Italy before moving to the United 
States at age 23 where she would go on to marry and have four children. 
Ms. Manfredini has worked in Iowa to support her family since the 
1940's when her husband was injured in Des Moines' coal mine, even 
cleaning houses for additional income well into her tenth decade of 
life.
   Our world has changed a great deal during the course of Dina's 115 
years. Since her birth, we have revolutionized air travel and walked on 
the moon. We have invented the television, cellular phones and the 
internet. We have fought in wars overseas, seen the rise and fall of 
Soviet communism and witnessed the birth of new democracies. Dina has 
lived in three separate centuries through twenty U.S. Presidents and 
twenty-six Governors of Iowa. In her lifetime, the population of the 
United States has more than tripled and, as of today, none can claim to 
be older than Dina.
   Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct pleasure to honor Dina's amazing 
life. I invite my colleagues in the House to join me in congratulating 
Dina on reaching this incredible milestone, and wishing her even more 
health and happiness in the years to come.

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