[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 212 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1341-E1342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING JESSICA GARRELS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 8, 2021

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an essential member 
of our team who helped us identify--and eventually evacuate--vulnerable 
Afghans after the fall of Kabul, Ms. Jessica Garrels of Michigan State 
University.
  For nearly a decade, Ms. Garrels has worked in project management, 
including direct oversight and implementation of humanitarian 
assistance programs. Through her work, she's helped vulnerable 
communities around the world--growing their institutional and human 
capacity, building resilience, and expanding school nutrition and 
education initiatives. Community organizing is ingrained in Ms. 
Garrels' DNA--she's also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, a 
director with the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, and senior 
manager with Catholic Relief Services in places like Burkina Faso, 
Mali, and Laos.
  It's this knack for finding solutions that led her to play such a key 
role in our mission to evacuate Afghans affiliated with Michigan State 
University when Kabul fell to the Taliban. In early August, she was 
part of the team that submitted initial visa applications for staff and 
scholars associated with the university's Grain Research and Innovation 
(GRAIN) program. However, when the evacuation window shrunk from a few 
months to a matter of days, she sprang into action. With desperate 
pleas for help flooding her inbox, she turned them into an outreach 
campaign to contact Members of Congress and anyone else who could help.
  Thankfully, Ms. Garrels was able to join our ragtag effort--whereupon 
she immediately set out to gather critical information from GRAIN 
scientists and their immediate families. When our group of evacuees 
made it onto a caravan of buses and began their perilous journey to 
safety, Ms. Garrels worked around the clock to handle bureaucratic 
obstacles as they came up. I have no doubt that thanks to her quick and 
efficient response, lives were saved that would have otherwise been 
lost.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Ms. Jessica Garrels 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 skill in handling logistical challenges as they came up and for 
fast-tracking the requests for funding that allowed vulnerable MSU-
affiliated Afghans to make it on the flight, I submit these words--

[[Page E1342]]

may they stand as a tribute to her dedicated service when the moment 
called for it most.

                          ____________________