[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1040
   RECOGNIZING MATT PORTER, 2011 RECIPIENT OF NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME 
                       SOCIETY'S DAN PIPER AWARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Matt 
Porter of State College, Pennsylvania, the 2011 recipient of the 
National Down Syndrome Society's Dan Piper Award.
  Dan Piper was a young man born with Down syndrome who spent much of 
his life advocating on behalf of himself and others with Down syndrome. 
He, sadly, passed away on September 1, 2002. In order to celebrate 
Dan's life, the Dan Piper Award was created to recognize and celebrate 
an individual with Down syndrome that has made similar contributions to 
Down syndrome awareness and advocacy.
  Today, I'm pleased and proud to recognize one of my constituents, 
Matt Porter, as the 2011 recipient of this great honor. I have met Matt 
Porter on several occasions. Most recently, I joined him and others at 
the Centre County Down Syndrome Society's annual Buddy Walk. My 
introduction to Matt, however, was sometime before that when he visited 
my Washington office in mid-February with his brother, Andy. Matt was 
visiting congressional offices to raise awareness for the Down Syndrome 
Society and to advocate on issues most pressing to those who are living 
with Down syndrome.
  Matt's personality and attitude towards life embody the spirit of the 
Dan Piper Award. Much like Dan, Matt's accomplishments have opened so 
many doors to those with Down syndrome. I find Matt to be an inspiring 
individual, and I commend him on the hard work with his employment, 
participating in the Special Olympics, volunteering in the community, 
and advocating on behalf of others with Down syndrome.
  We all stand to learn a lot from this young man's example and 
character. Congratulations, Matt Porter.

                          ____________________