[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 711-712]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Orleans (Mr. Cao) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, the New Orleans Saints are going to the Super 
Bowl for the first time in franchise history. As their representative 
to Congress, I want to congratulate them in an official manner by 
acknowledging words of encouragement from constituents on the House 
floor.

[[Page 712]]

  Sunday's thrilling and historic win was an inspiration to the 
residents of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, who continue to struggle 
to rebuild their lives 4 years after Hurricane Katrina. I'm proud to be 
their Congressman, and I look forward to an exciting Super Bowl in 
which they will defeat the Indianapolis Colts.
  Tonight, I will read several statements from my district in their 
honor. The first statement is from Kay Higginbotham, a teacher at the 
Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. Kay writes, Do the Saints 
have an impact on education? As a school administrator, I believe the 
impact is immeasurable and far exceeds economics. The value lessons are 
much greater than an awareness of team colors. Students certainly enjoy 
spirit days or completing math problems with a Saints bent, but they 
also spend time discussing the job of a professional athlete, what it 
means to stay focused, eat healthy food, get plenty of exercise and 
sleep, follow rules, work as a team, and be a good sport, win or lose.
  Teachers help students understand the importance of following parent 
and teacher directives, and when talking about the Saints, they link it 
to the attention each player must pay to the coaches' play-calling. 
They discuss the pride one feels in the hard work of a job well done, 
the discipline it takes to make a wise choice, both on and off the 
field, and the consequences that ensue if one doesn't.
  Is the job of a student so different from the job of a New Orleans 
Saint? When interviewed, Saints players speak about having faith in 
their team and giving back to the community. They talk about developing 
self-confidence and leadership and overcoming adversity, values 
important in a game, but even more important in life. And parents 
report something incredible: dinner conversations that include the 
whole family. Brothers are amazed at how much their sisters understand 
about first-downs and touchdowns. And sisters actually want to hear 
what their brothers know about Drew Brees and Reggie Bush.
  Do the Saints have an impact on education? Yes, indeed. They give us 
lessons worth teaching and learning.
  The second statement is from Cindy Hilbrink of New Orleans. Cindy 
writes, While city accountants calculate the financial impact of the 
Saints football team to New Orleans, citizens know, as one writer to 
the local paper said, that despite failures of Federal, State, and 
local governments after Katrina, and suggestions that we don't merit 
help, we are, nevertheless, deserving--deserving of a winning team, of 
good schools, the best health care, safe roads, bridges and reliable 
levees.
  When the population was only trickling back into New Orleans that 
summer of 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, when politicians and pundits 
urged that the city be abandoned, the sign on the dominant building in 
New Orleans, the Superdome, with its patched roof and iconic status as 
the symbol of suffering, said, `Our team, our home.'
  Bumper stickers in the Saints' black font read, `Faith.' Drew Brees, 
the new quarterback who took a chance on the team and the city, printed 
T-shirts to benefit children that implored, `Believe, New Orleans!' A 
popular Saints song contends `This is the way we live,' meaning we are 
enabled to survive by clinging to our faith in this team. Our devotion 
to the New Orleans Saints, win or lose, keeps our battered spirits 
alive.
  Finally, I want to close tonight with a prayer for the Saints 
delivered by Archbishop Philip Hannan at the first Saints and Sinners 
banquet in 1968.
  Our heavenly Father, who has instructed us that the Saints by faith 
conquered kingdoms and overcame lions, grant our Saints an increase of 
faith and strength so that they will not only overcome the Lions, but 
also the Bears, the Rams, the Giants and even those awesome people in 
Green Bay. May they continue to tame the Redskins and fetter the 
Falcons as well as the Eagles. Give to our owners and coaches the 
continued ability to be as wise as serpents and simple as doves, so 
that no good talent will dodge our draft. Grant to our fans 
perseverance in their devotion and unlimited lung power, tempered with 
a sense of charity to all, including the referees.
  May our beloved Bedlam Bowl be a source of good fellowship, and may 
``The Saints Come Marching In'' be a victory march for all, now and in 
eternity.

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