[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO FATHER SAMER YOUSSEF

  (Ms. ESHOO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, this morning the House of Representatives 
welcomes Father Samer Youssef, who has come here from California, from 
my congressional district in Northern California in the heart of the 
Silicon Valley.
  On April 7, a tragedy befell our community and the Parish of the 
Church of the Redeemer in Los Altos Hills, the Antiochian Church. An 
arsonist set fire to that magnificent church, and it burned to the 
ground. But Father Youssef and the entire Parish, together with our 
entire community, firefighters, the sheriff's department, churches, the 
temple, the Catholic Church came together to heal and his leadership is 
healing. His leadership has spoken to the magnificence of the great 
principles of America, that we believe in justice but more importantly 
or just as importantly we believe in one another.
  And so we have come past this tragedy in our community. Together 
people from throughout our congressional district have placed 
contributions at the table to not only rebuild the church through their 
good faith and their contributions but to send a signal to people 
across our country and across the world that no arsonist, that no one 
who tries to terrorize our community will win. We are stronger, we are 
better, we are faith filled because of Who and what we believe in.
  So I thank Father Youssef for coming to Washington. I thank him for 
his faith and leadership, and I thank my colleagues for his warm 
welcome, to not only the father but to his magnificent family who is 
seated in the gallery. And we can hear his son's approval, his 18-
month-old son's approval.

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