[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E15]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD OF 
    SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELING AND EDUCATION BY CARMEN F. AMBROSINO

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MATT CARTWRIGHT

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2014

  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Carmen F. 
Ambrosino, who recently retired from a career of public service as the 
Chief Executive Officer of Wyoming Valley Alcohol & Drug Services, Inc. 
Over the last four decades, Ambrosino has made tremendous contributions 
to efforts to combat substance abuse and addiction at the local, state, 
national and international levels.
  Since 1973, Mr. Ambrosino has dedicated his entire career to help 
others battle to overcome addiction. As a leader in the field of 
substance abuse counseling, he has received numerous awards and 
accolades for excellence in his profession and leadership in his 
community. He was the founding member of the first Chapter of National 
Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors in Pennsylvania and 
was a National Board Member representing the Commonwealth for two 
years.
  For 40 years, Mr. Ambrosino worked tirelessly to educate people about 
the dangers of drug use. He has contributed hundreds of articles to 
newspapers on drug and alcohol abuse and related issues, and he wrote a 
weekly column for six years in Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice and 
Pittston Sunday Dispatch. During his distinguished career, Mr. 
Ambrosino made over 2,600 presentations on chemical dependency. He also 
authored a role-play presentation entitled, ``A Family in Conflict'', 
which has been presented to over 250 groups in Pennsylvania and New 
York and was awarded a National MARKIE Award for excellence in 
alcoholism communication.
  As a current member of the adjunct faculty of Wilkes University and 
King's College and a past faculty member of Misericordia University and 
Penn State University--Wilkes-Barre, Mr. Ambrosino is invested in the 
education of future drug and alcohol counselors, and has drafted drug 
and alcohol policies for many institutions. At Wilkes University, he 
developed an innovative graduate course for educators on early 
detection, identification of high risk behavior children, intervention/
confrontation techniques, codependency, and other topics. He also 
developed a five-course curriculum for students focusing on chemical 
dependency at Misericordia College, which was adopted by other colleges 
and universities as a chemical dependency model for use in sociology 
departments.
  Today, I am proud to applaud Carmen Ambrosino's lifetime of service 
to Wyoming Valley Alcohol & Drug Services, myriad institutions of 
higher education, and to all those struggling with addiction. He has 
dedicated his life to educating the world about the dangers of 
substance abuse and to helping others battle addiction. On behalf of 
the 17th district of Pennsylvania and the many individuals and families 
he has touched, I thank him for all his work making our community a 
safer, healthier, better place.

                          ____________________