[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 53 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING MR. BRENDEN SHIPLEY WITH THE 2017 CONGRESSIONAL AWARD

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 27, 2017

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to honor Mr. Brenden 
Shipley of West Palm Beach with the Congressional Award of Bronze and 
Silver Medals. Since 1979, the Congressional Award has inspired our 
nation's youth to set and achieve personally challenging goals that 
build character and foster community service. Recipients are committed 
to bettering themselves and to giving back to the communities in which 
they reside. It is the fulfilling of that commitment, which makes these 
young people so extraordinary.
  Mr. Shipley took on the challenge of earning two medals: Bronze and 
Silver. Earning these awards requires a minimum of 400 hours of 
community service. He served his community by volunteering at the Kids 
Cancer Foundation, tutoring kids in math, cleaning the football field 
at school, and helping one of his friends move into his new home. In 
addition, he learned how to build a house and commercial buildings, and 
improved his physical fitness for his senior year football season by 
weightlifting and boxing. Furthermore, Mr. Shipley planned a seventeen 
day trip to France, England, Ireland, and Wales to immerse himself in 
an unfamiliar culture and to develop a spirit of adventure.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that: ``The 
function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think 
critically. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true 
education.'' I believe that Mr. Brenden Shipley is a remarkable young 
man who exemplifies that true character. I am honored to present him 
with the 2017 Congressional Award for Bronze and Silver Medals, and to 
recognize him for all of his hard work in the West Palm Beach 
community. I wish him much success in all of his future endeavors.

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