[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19078]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF CAROLE WOOD, A 2004 RECIPIENT OF THE MARY PHILBROOK 
                         PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 22, 2004

  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate 
Carole Wood as a 2004 recipient of the Mary Philbrook Public Interest 
Award. This award is given annually by the Women's Law Caucus and the 
Association for Public Interest Law, in cooperation with the Rutgers 
University Law School and its Alumni Association, to acknowledge 
gifted, dedicated individuals who contribute outstanding work on behalf 
of social justice and equality.
  Ms. Wood currently serves as the Immigration Coordinator at the 
Camden Center for Law and Social Justice. She has spent much of her 
career as a devoted advocate for indigent immigrants, beginning first 
with her work as a VISTA volunteer following her graduation from 
Chicago-Kent College of Law. From there, she went on to serve as 
supervising immigration attorney at Community Legal Services in 
Philadelphia, where she not only represented clients, but also trained 
attorneys and assisted community groups in their efforts. In addition 
to her current role at the Camden Center, which includes working with 
clients, training attorneys, and supervising students at the Rutgers 
Immigration Pro Bono Project, Ms. Wood is the Southern Regional 
Coordinator for the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network and the 
regional representative on statewide committees, a Lead Trainer for the 
Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an extremely active member in the 
National Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), and a 
member of the Diocese of Camden's Racial Justice Committee.
  I have also had the honor and privilege of working with Ms. Wood 
personally. She has proved extremely responsive in the context of 
emergency constituent cases with which my district office has dealt and 
has been more than willing to share her vast knowledge of immigration 
law with my staff in their efforts to aid my constituents. 
Additionally, over the past several years, she has proved invaluable in 
her efforts to assist my district office with the process of 
restructuring our immigration casework system. She has devoted 
considerable time to reviewing our existing system and meeting with the 
relevant staff in my office to modify the casework procedures to meet 
the new standards of the United States Bureau of Citizenship and 
Immigration Services. Her suggestions and expertise were also 
instrumental in assisting my efforts to dramatically expand the BCIS 
presence in South Jersey; now, individuals needing the agency's 
services do not have to travel long distances to other parts of the 
state to have access to them. It is this dedication and assistance on 
the part of Ms. Wood that demonstrated to me why she was worthy of my 
personal nomination for this award.
  Mary Philbrook, for whom the award is named, was the first woman 
admitted to the New Jersey Bar and a founder of the state's first 
statewide legal aid society, as well as an eminent leader in the 
efforts for women's suffrage and the passage of the Equal Rights 
Amendment. It is in this tradition that the award is given each year, 
and it is clear that Ms. Woods' work has made her more than worthy of 
this recognition. She truly has demonstrated the difference that one 
person can make in the lives of others, and I offer her my 
congratulations and best wishes in her future endeavors.

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