[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 96 (Monday, June 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2783]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MILLIE BROTHER

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Millie Brother, 
the founder of Children of Deaf Adults, also known as CODA. As the name 
implies, CODA is an international group that works to support children 
of deaf adults, including helping them pursue higher education.
  Millie grew up in Palo Alto, CA, where I first met her in high 
school. She was raised in a household with two deaf parents and a 
hearing sister. Describing her life moving between the deaf and hearing 
worlds, Millie said ``I felt comfortable in both but not fully immersed 
in either. The CODA world would become my third option where I felt 
balance between my Deaf and hearing cultural experiences.''
  After Millie finished her graduate program at Gallaudet University, 
she established CODA in 1983. It began its work to serve both the 
hearing and nonhearing community.
  Millie's vision and leadership has allowed CODA to grow from a small, 
grassroots organization to a worldwide entity with strong familial 
bonds reaching across global borders, international languages, and 
societal boundaries. It has become a respected, well-regarded, and 
vital resource for families that navigate both the hearing and deaf 
world.
  CODA works to connect children of deaf parents and support them by 
organizing conferences and retreats, as well as providing scholarships 
and financial aid. The Millie Brother Scholarship is an annual 
financial award given to hearing children of deaf adults to help them 
pursue their postsecondary education. Over the past few years, 
scholarships have been awarded to students pursuing postsecondary 
educational opportunities in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, England, New 
Zealand, Zambia, and the United States.
  I want to express my profound appreciation to Millie Brother for her 
life's work, dedication, and advocacy for CODAs around the world. The 
recent Academy Award-winning movie ``CODA'' underscored the numerous 
challenges facing families with deaf parents and hearing children. 
Millie Brother personally understood those challenges and used them as 
fuel to create a global organization that provides support, compassion, 
and friendship to CODAs everywhere.

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