[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 178 (Thursday, November 17, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8548-H8549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING LEWIS SMITH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Tenney) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my dear friend, 
Staff Sergeant Lewis Smith, affectionately known as Slugger and also 
very affectionately known as the Mayor of Washington Mills, who 
recently passed away at the age of 99.
  Lew was born in Washington Mills, New York, in 1922 and graduated 
from Sauquoit Valley Central School in 1940.
  After the terrible attacks on Pearl Harbor, Lew immediately signed up 
to fight for our country in the United States Air Force, with what at 
the time was known as the 13th Army Air Corps 307th Bombardment Group 
in the South Pacific.
  A member of the Greatest Generation, Lew honorably served our country 
in World War II, completing 50 combat missions in the South Pacific 
with, as I said, the 13th Army Air Corps 307th Bombardment Group.
  He wrote a wonderful book chronicling his experience in the war, 
which I highly recommend to everyone who is interested in finding out 
what it was really like to just be an average member of the Air Force, 
enlisting and learning and growing and sacrificing.
  After the war, Lew came home to Washington Mills and married the love 
of his life, Jane, on May 5, 1945, after moving to Denver to complete 
Lew's military service.
  The couple moved back to Washington Mills, where they would live 
together for 76 years until Jane's passing in 2021.
  Upon moving back to Washington Mills, Lew worked as a welder for 
Utica Structural Steel before taking over his father-in-law's service 
stations with his two sons. Later, Lew would take on positions as a 
maintenance man for the town of New Hartford highway and police 
departments.
  On top of his service as a mechanic, Lew also served our community as 
one of the founding members of the Willowvale Fire Company Inc., 
serving since 1950, and as the leader of the Clonan Post 1000 American 
Legion.
  Lew was a wonderful person, a dear friend, and a tremendous community 
servant. I thank him and his family for their friendship and for the 
lifetime of service and commitment to our community by the entire 
family.
  He was truly a special gem in our community like no other person. 
Probably my greatest inspiration, other than my own father, Lew was a 
person of great integrity, great honesty, who gave wonderful, sage 
advice to everyone he met. He was also one of the kindest people and 
one of the most caring, giving people I have met in my life.
  I thank him and his family and his wonderful wife, Jane, for all the 
wonderful times and, actually, great experiences I had and their 
support of our community and all those people who serve in the fire 
service and police service and serve our Nation in uniform.
  He truly embodied our Greatest Generation, and he is sorely missed by 
our community.


                        Honoring Edward Bradley

  Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Edward Bradley of 
Chadwicks, New York, who passed away earlier this week.
  Edward was a lifelong resident of the Utica area and dedicated his 
life to serving our community and his family. He worked for several 
companies in the area, including James Donovan Roofing and Mohawk 
Containers, where he worked for 40 years. Incidentally, James Donovan 
was one of our New York State senators from our region.
  On top of his work, Edward was also a 50-year member of the 
Willowvale Fire Company, where he served previously as president and 
vice president. He also served as a member of the Oneida County Fire 
Police and the State director of the New York State Fire Police 
Association, and he was honored by the Willowvale Fire Company with the 
very prestigious Ironman Award.
  Edward was also a member of the Utica Elks Lodge and was nominated by 
the United Way of the Mohawk Valley for the 100 Heroes of the Mohawk 
Valley, recognizing his tremendous and honorable, dedicated service to 
our community.
  Edward, thank you for your lifetime of service, and may your memory 
continue to be a blessing to all of us and the new generations of 
people that come after us.
  We will never forget your commitment to our region, and your family 
remains in our thoughts and prayers. Your department is in great hands. 
They learned from truly the best.

                              {time}  1030
         NATIONAL SURVIVORS OF HOMICIDE VICTIMS AWARENESS MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for 5 minutes.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  November 17, 2022, on page H8548, in the third column, the 
following appeared: 1030 The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair 
recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. SCANLON) for 5 
minutes.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: 1030 NATIONAL 
SURVIVORS OF HOMICIDE VICTIMS AWARENESS MONTH The SPEAKER pro 
tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania 
(Ms. SCANLON) for 5 minutes.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I rise today during National Survivors of 
Homicide Victims Awareness Month, a time when the pain and grief of 
loss should be honored with action, to read the words and the plea of a 
heartbroken mother and a Pennsylvania 5 constituent, Molly Collington, 
who lost her son, Sam, to gun violence a year ago on November 28, 2021.
  By all accounts, Sam Collington was a remarkable young man who left 
an outsized impact on our community.
  His mother, Molly, shared her story with me earlier this fall when I 
met with her and her colleagues at Delaware County's Moms Demand Action 
chapter. I was deeply moved by her advocacy in the face of unimaginable 
loss and grief, and I am sharing her words with her permission now.
  ``My name is Molly Collington. I am Sam Collington's brokenhearted 
mother.
  ``Sam was the best son any mother could ever ask for. He was kind, 
smart, reliable, and without a doubt, one of the funniest people to 
ever walk this Earth.
  ``Sam was murdered on November 28, 2021. The day began with Sam 
loading up his father's car with clean laundry, some leftover turkey, 
and supplies to carry him through the rest of the semester.
  ``He was returning to his apartment at Temple University after the 
Thanksgiving weekend. He planned to drop the items off at his 
apartment, then return home to watch HBO with me, sleep in his own bed, 
and then take the train back to school Monday morning. That did not 
happen.
  ``Because on his street, near his apartment, was a career criminal 
with an illegal gun waiting to steal the car of the next person that 
drove down the street. The next person was my Eagle Scout son, Sam. Sam 
was shot four times and died less than 30 minutes later at Temple 
Hospital.
  ``Sam was so knowledgeable about our country and all its history. He 
knew every single President and could talk for hours about politics. So 
it was no surprise when he told his father and I that he wanted to 
study political science at Temple University after high school. His 
fervor for politics and government started very young. He proudly 
served as his high school's president for his junior and senior year.
  ``During his time at Temple, he served as the president of the 
Political Science Society, never missing an opportunity to make each 
day count.
  ``He planned to attend law school and study constitutional law. He 
was an activist.
  ``He campaigned for local politicians and interned at city hall where 
he worked with elections. He was responsible for getting hundreds of 
people

[[Page H8549]]

registered to vote, on and off campus. He was a poll watcher.
  ``He even went on a `Bernie Journey' where he rode with fellow Temple 
students on a schoolbus to North and South Carolina to campaign for his 
favorite politician, Bernie Sanders.
  ``Sam truly believed in the `not me, us' mantra, which is why he was 
so outspoken in his love of politics and striving for a better world.
  ``Sam had a larger-than-life personality. As one of his professors 
pointed out: `It is impossible to be involved in the Political Science 
Department and not know Sam Collington.'
  ``He became known on campus as `Poly-Sci Sam.'
  ``To lose a child is the greatest pain any parent can ever 
experience. Every day, my heart breaks all over again. To lose a child 
like Sam, knowing that he was destined for something big, is absolutely 
soul-crushing. How his father, sister, and I are still standing seems 
impossible to believe. He made us better people just by knowing him. We 
are destroyed without him, his cheerfulness, his wit, and his 
intelligence.
  ``One of the hardest parts is knowing my son's murder was 
preventable. Our children should be able to go to school safely. We 
should not have to worry about making sure they know where the closest 
exits are at the movie theaters, supermarkets, concerts, and churches.
  ``I implore our elected officials to do more to keep guns out of the 
wrong hands.
  ``We must do better. We have to do better. We are failing our 
children.
  ``They say time heals all wounds, but I can tell you without any 
doubt whatsoever, not this one.''

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