[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8008]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORKER MONTH AND WORLD SOCIAL WORK DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a former social worker 
serving in the United States Congress, and I rise to honor the work of 
professional social workers across the country and throughout the 
world.
  I would like to join my colleagues in the National Association of 
Social Workers in recognizing March as National Professional Social 
Work Month and today as World Social Work Day. Today we have the 
opportunity to acknowledge the important contributions that social 
workers make in our community and throughout this country.
  Today the House overwhelmingly passed H. Res. 266 to recognize the 
goals and ideals of National Professional Social Work Month and World 
Social Work Day. This legislation offered the Congress a valuable 
occasion to support professionals who have helped individuals, 
families, and communities resolve complicated issues and make 
significant choices.
  My experience as a social worker had a profound influence on my 
decision to enter public life. I could see that many of the challenges 
facing my clients and those that I worked with had stemmed from the 
decisions being made at the public policy level. Serving in Congress 
allows me to be able to continue to help my clients in a broader 
capacity.
  Social work as a profession is a commitment to not only addressing 
the individual needs of clients, but also in creating a just system. As 
a Member of Congress, I work every day to create a just system for the 
American people.
  This year, the theme of National Professional Social Work Month is 
``Hope and Health.'' This theme allows us to highlight the considerable 
involvement of social workers in the health profession.
  Social workers often work cooperatively with doctors, nurses and 
other medical professionals to ensure that their clients receive the 
highest quality care. Care and attention provided by social workers 
begins when the client enters the health care profession and does not 
end until he or she has recovered.
  When dealing with health care, social workers will most often act as 
counselors and therapists. In that capacity, they must help the client 
and his or her family understand the diagnosis, the illnesses, and the 
emotions involved. In addition, social workers provide much-needed 
advice and support regarding the difficult health care decisions that 
clients must make.
  In fact, professional social workers provide more mental health care 
than psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses combined, 
making them the largest provider of mental health services in this 
country.
  These services are also extended to our Nation's veterans. 
Professional social workers provide counseling, substance abuse 
treatment, crisis intervention and other services to veterans and their 
families.
  At a time when our Nation is involved in wars both in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, it is important that our returning soldiers have access to 
the compassionate care that social workers provide. The Department of 
Veterans Affairs employs over 4,400 social workers to assist American 
veterans, including those returning from combat in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues for joining me in 
support of H. Res. 266 yesterday and for honoring and paying their 
respect to our country's professional social workers and the services 
they provide.
  I want to take this opportunity also to indicate that as a former 
social worker, I had the opportunity not only to teach 11 years in the 
School of Social Work, but also serve as a caseworker for heroin 
addicts for about 3 years, where I had the opportunity to serve 
directly with individuals that also had substance abuse, including 
adolescent substance abuse. I also had the privilege of working in the 
community mental health area, where I had an enjoyable practice and 
enjoyed working with individuals.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the social workers throughout this 
country for the services they provide.

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