[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1817]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRATULATING WORLD CHAMPION GREEN BAY PACKERS ON WINNING SUPER BOWL 
                                  XLV

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIND. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and thank my good 
friend and colleague from the Pittsburgh area, Jason Altmire, for 
delivering on his Super Bowl bet with me last evening.
  As we now know, a little over a week ago, my Green Bay Packers 
defeated his Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 to win Super Bowl XLV. It was 
the Packers' 13th world title and their fourth Super Bowl victory, 
enabling them to bring home once again, where it belongs, the Vince 
Lombardi Trophy to Titletown, USA--Green Bay, Wisconsin.

                              {time}  1020

  To the victor belongs the spoils. So, last night, Jason and his staff 
delivered to my office some of Pittsburgh's finest cuisine--Primanti 
sandwiches and Iron City brew. Now, it didn't quite rival the world-
famous tailgate parties that we have at Lambeau Field, but it wasn't 
bad.
  We may have fun with our sports teams around here from time to time; 
but it is also useful to remind ourselves that at the end of the day, 
when the game is played and the score is settled, it is only just a 
game.
  No one expressed that more eloquently than the MVP of Super Bowl XLV, 
the Green Bay Packers' quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. It was recently 
reported that, earlier in the season, Aaron Rodgers had sent a big care 
package out to his former girlfriend's elementary school in California, 
where she is teaching. In it was a host of school supplies, along with 
a bunch of Packer T-shirts and sweatshirts and other Packer 
paraphernalia. Also included in the care package was a note that Aaron 
Rodgers wrote to his former girlfriend, the teacher of that class, 
which read: Just to be clear, what you're doing in your life right now 
is a heck of a lot more important than what I'm doing in my life.
  It's really refreshing to see a professional athlete at the peak of 
his career, at the height of his game, stay so well-grounded and 
understand what really is important to the future of our country, which 
is the future of our children and their educational success in the 
classroom. Whether he called for it or not, Aaron Rodgers has turned 
into a terrific role model for all of our children across this country. 
It is a constant reminder of the challenges that we still face and of 
the values that we still must hold dear in this country.
  So I, too, want to congratulate Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay 
Packers football team for their success; I want to congratulate the 
Packers organization and the tens of thousands of Packers fans who are 
part owners of the Packers franchise, including my own family.
  In the immortal words of my 12-year-old son, Matthew, who turned to 
me shortly after their Super Bowl victory last week: Hey, Dad. You 
know, that was a lot of fun. Let's do it again.
  So, indeed, let's do this again next season. I wish the Packers well, 
and I thank Jason Altmire and his staff for delivering the goodies to 
our office last night.

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