[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11120]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING PUBLIC SERVICE RECOGNITION WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to draw 
the attention of the House and the Nation to Public Service Recognition 
Week, which will take place May 7 through May 13.
  This week is set aside to remind us all of the vital work that public 
employees do every day across our country and to honor that work. In 
many ways, public employees are the daily embodiment of our democracy. 
Every day they carry out the programs and services chosen by our 
elected government from the Federal to the State to the local level.
  Locally, where democracy has the most direct impact, public employees 
carry out the programs of elected city councils and school districts as 
they teach our children, run parks and recreation programs, police our 
neighborhoods, and perform a myriad of other services to make our 
communities continually better places to live. Public employees are 
there for us, the public, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the middle 
of the night when a water main breaks and floods a street, when a home 
catches fire, or when a terrorist threat is identified, it is public 
employees who respond for our communities and for our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I am continually impressed with the creativity and 
innovation of public-sector employees and leaders, as they deliver 
better services and value to the public, whether it's creatively 
combining scarce government resources to improve public safety, or 
teaming up government resources with community volunteers to provide 
needed home improvements for disabled seniors, or finding new ways to 
reduce air and water pollution. I think the public would be impressed 
to know that their tax dollars do have many good stewards who take 
pride in bringing them the best possible service for their tax dollars. 
My own mother is a public school teacher, so I know from experience how 
gifted public servants are at providing first-class services on a 
steerage budget.
  On May 9 in Los Angeles, public employees representing a wide variety 
of Federal, State and local government agencies and school districts 
will gather for a Public Service Recognition Week ceremony. Thirteen 
individuals, teams and projects will be honored as winners of the 
public service recognition awards for outstanding contributions and 
service to the public.
  Over 200 individuals, teams and projects were nominated for these 
awards. Since I will be performing my own duty as a public servant on 
May 9 here in this House, I want to take this opportunity to extend my 
appreciation and congratulations to everyone who will attend that Los 
Angeles ceremony and ceremonies like it all across our Nation.
  Let me conclude by urging all of my colleagues to honor their public 
employees by cosponsoring House Resolution 307, which would formally 
designate Public Service Recognition Week and to support public service 
recognition events in their districts around the Nation in the coming 
week.

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