[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING DANIELA COOPER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2021

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a member of our 
team who was instrumental in the safe evacuation of Afghan allies and 
partners alike, Ms. Daniela Cooper.
  Service is ingrained in Ms. Cooper's DNA--she has honorably served 
our country as a Marine and as a Foreign Service Officer. True to her 
relentless grit and instinctive nature for problem-solving, she worked 
with a group of others to assist with the requests that were flooding 
in as Afghanistan started to fall. No one asked her to do this, no one 
tasked her to do this, but she was part of a team that knew that skills 
and resources needed to be combined to help vulnerable allies in their 
time of need.
  When we added Ms. Cooper to our ragtag band of individuals working to 
get Afghans out, it was the first time that I felt optimistic that we 
could find some success in the midst of a chaotic evacuation. When we 
got our group of buses in a caravan through the airport gates, Daniela 
worked through an entire night and countless obstacles to ensure that 
our group was able to get on a flight.
  Without her assistance planning the flight, our mission could not 
have worked out in the way that it did. Thanks to her efforts 
throughout a gauntlet of several days in late August, over 100 Afghans 
have a new lease on life and can now look towards the future with their 
families and feel hope. I will always believe we were fated to meet 
over breakfast two years ago so that we could do the work we did.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Ms. Daniela Cooper for her willingness 
to go above and beyond the call of duty in our effort to evacuate 
Afghan allies from Kabul and support them in their new life. For her 
work ethic, which earned the profound respect and admiration of our 
team, and for her refusal to give up until every last person in our 
group was on a flight to safety, I submit these words--may they stand 
as a tribute to her dedicated service when the moment called for it 
most.

                          ____________________