[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H2534-H2535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CELEBRATING CEREBRAL PALSY DAY

  (Mr. Latimer of New York was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, let me recognize the talented medical 
research efforts ongoing to combat the scourge of cerebral palsy, an 
abnormal development or damage to parts of the brain during pregnancy 
or early in a baby's life, that controls movement, balance, and posture 
and has a devastating effect throughout that person's life.
  There is no known cure for CP. Supportive treatments including 
physical

[[Page H2535]]

therapy, speech therapy, and some medications help, as well. CP is the 
most common movement disorder in children. Researchers are working 
every day to identify strategies to address the causes and effects of 
cerebral palsy.
  One such pioneer is Dr. Kathleen Friel, a Westchester resident who 
herself has battled with CP since birth. She has overcome her own case 
to achieve master's and doctoral degrees in physiology and 
neuroscience. She has also written and lectured extensively about the 
disease and therapies to reduce its impact--all of this personal 
bravery and effort while this Federal Government blindly and foolishly 
cuts NIH funding for the very research victims so desperately need.
  Mr. Speaker, from the floor of the House of Representatives, we 
salute Dr. Kathleen Friel for her personal battle with CP and her 
lifetime commitment to ease the suffering of her fellow individuals who 
also deal with cerebral palsy.

                              {time}  1015


                Celebrating St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church

  Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday, the congregants of St. Thomas 
Mar Thoma Church will celebrate their 45th annual parish day, 
reflecting on their years of heritage and gratitude for parishioners 
not only from Yonkers, where the church is located, but from those who 
live across Westchester, the Bronx, and elsewhere in the metropolitan 
area.
  The church dedication dates back to January 25, 1981, with the 
present house of worship on Morris Street, in Yonkers, established in 
June of 1990.
  This parish has taken on a mission for youth ministry, the Junior 
Conference for Sunday School Children, and regional activity for youth 
camps from Connecticut to Pennsylvania.
  The church provides its Christian charitable outreach with a 
community barbecue annually on Memorial Day and clothing drives and 
giveaways for needy in the neighborhood. Taking their cue from the 
great apostle St. Thomas, who went from Jesus' side to India to deliver 
a Christian message of faith, St. Thomas Mar Thoma has delivered a 
message of service and faith in this current day.
  From the floor of the House of Representatives, we salute the clergy 
and the congregants of St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church on this, the 45th 
parish day.


                   Birthday Wishes to Vanessa Gibson

  Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, I extend happy birthday wishes this week to 
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson as she celebrates another year 
of service to her Bronx neighbors and friends.
  I had the pleasure of serving with Vanessa as a colleague in the New 
York State Assembly alongside many former assembly colleagues,  Joe 
Morelle, Adriano Espaillat, Paul Tonko, Claudia Tenney, Nicole 
Malliotakis, Grace Meng, and Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
  Vanessa Gibson's service in that chamber, exemplary as it was, was a 
prelude to her subsequent tenure in the New York City Council, where 
she was elected in 2013 and 2017, and now her historic election as the 
first female and the first African American to serve as Bronx borough 
president in 2021, reelected in 2025.
  As she celebrates her birthday this Thursday, March 19, we give her a 
happy birthday shout-out from the floor of the House of 
Representatives.
  Happy birthday to Vanessa Gibson.

                          ____________________