[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 10, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE GREATER PRINCE GEORGE'S BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE ON ITS 20TH 
                        ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

 Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I would like to take this 
occasion to congratulate the Greater Prince George's Business 
Roundtable, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary tomorrow at MGM 
National Harbor. Since 2003, the roundtable--a nonprofit, nonpartisan 
business alliance of chief executives whose companies employ nearly 
60,000 people--has worked to improve the county's political and 
economic landscape and enhance the county residents' quality of life.
  Nearly 200 years ago, in ``Democracy in America,'' Alexis de 
Tocqueville wrote, ``In America I encountered sorts of associations of 
which, I confess, I had no idea, and I often admired the infinite art 
with which the inhabitants of the United States managed to fix a common 
goal to the efforts of many men and to get them to advance to it 
freely.'' Voluntary associations, de Tocqueville observed, were one of 
the building blocks upon which our democratic self-governance rests.
  The roundtable is a perfect example of such an association. Its 
members participate voluntarily, hosting community forums on crime and 
education, creating a VisionFramework to help residents imagine a 
bright future for the county, and producing a Quality of Life Index to 
gauge the county's progress toward that future. The roundtable 
established and runs the Andrews Business and Community Alliance, which 
promotes Joint Base Andrews, the home of Air Force One, the 459th Air 
Refueling Wing, and one of the county's two largest employers. All 
these activities and efforts are done collaboratively, with input from 
residents and in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. As the 
roundtable's home page states so eloquently, ``We believe that business 
is more than just adjusting overhead or the bottom line. We believe 
that by giving of our time, our expertise and our inherent sense of 
altruism, we will help to bring about a better home for all Prince 
Georgians.''
  I want to thank Jim Estepp, the roundtable's president and chief 
executive officer; Doyle Mitchell, Jr., the roundtable's board 
secretary and treasurer; Michael Chiaramonte, the board chair; the 
other board members; and all roundtable members for their indefatigable 
efforts to make Prince George's County a better place to live and work 
in. I have been privileged and please to work with the roundtable on so 
many initiatives these last 20 years. I congratulate the roundtable, 
confident in my expectation that the next 20 years will bring even more 
success.

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