[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 25 (Friday, February 8, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E154-E155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING DANIELA FLORES AS PUBLIC SAFETY HERO OF THE YEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 8, 2019

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor 
Emergency Medical Technician Daniela Flores, whom I have named a Public 
Safety Hero of the Year in Solano County, California.
  Ms. Flores was born in Santiago, Chile and immigrated with her family 
to Vallejo, California when she was five years old. She was raised in 
Vallejo and has been a member of our community for the past nineteen 
years. When Ms. Flores was fifteen, she found out she was undocumented. 
She had hoped to get a job and begin to earn her own money, but was 
unable to because of her documentation status. After she graduated from 
Vallejo High School, she began taking classes at Napa Valley College. 
When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program began 
accepting applications in 2012, Ms. Flores applied for a work permit 
through it, but was unsure of the career she wanted to, or could, 
pursue. She knew she wanted to find a path where she could help people, 
so she enrolled in an emergency first responder class. Emergency 
medicine quickly became Ms. Flores' passion. She took emergency medical 
technician classes and in February of 2019

[[Page E155]]

graduated from the Napa Valley College Paramedic Program.
  Ms. Flores is dedicated to emergency medicine and committed to our 
community. She was deployed to assist with the fires in Napa, Lake and 
Butte Counties last year. During her fourteen-day deployment, Ms. 
Flores evacuated hospitals, residences and nursing facilities. No task 
was too small for her. She did everything within her power to help 
residents and caregivers affected by the fire. She thrived in the high 
stress environment and used the uncertainty to drive her forward.
  Madam Speaker, we thank Daniela Flores for her dedication. For this 
reason, it is fitting and proper that we honor her here today.

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