[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING RUSSELL ``ROOSTER'' VALENTI

  (Ms. WILD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize an extraordinary 
constituent, a man who, in my community, is known only as Rooster. He 
really needs no other name, but his given name is Russell Valentini.
  Rooster has worked in the Allentown School District for a very long 
time. His title with the Allentown School District is Home and School 
Visitor, but it fails to capture the world of difference he has made in 
the lives of homeless children and families.
  For 35 years, Rooster has served as the lifeline for the 600 to 800 
students experiencing homelessness in the Allentown School District at 
any given time. The poems he has written over the years about the 
children he has encountered reflect the ways that the children have 
touched his life and in which he has touched theirs.
  Even now, Rooster still grows emotional when telling the story of the 
father who doesn't know if he will be able to get his paycheck in time 
to make the rent, the family who has lost their home, the child with no 
bed to sleep in at night.
  Rooster, for these many years, has provided school supplies, 
uniforms, and hygiene items, as well as food, to help these students 
and their families.
  Everywhere in my community there are people whose lives are 
immeasurably better today because of Rooster.
  Rooster prepares to retire at the end of this school year, and I want 
to congratulate him. We will miss him. We should all draw inspiration 
from the powerful example he has set.

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