[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[EX]
[Page 5880]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              IRA FREEMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 26, 2012

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to pay tribute to my dear 
friend Ira Freeman, who is being honored by the Valley Community Clinic 
for his many years of dedicated service and is being named 2012 
Pharmacist of the Year by the California Pharmacists Association.
  I know firsthand of Mr. Freeman's many outstanding contributions to 
our community. Ira is a founding member of the Valley Community Clinic 
(VCC), whose vision is to provide high quality healthcare for all 
regardless of their ability to pay. Since 1970, Ira has been the 
Pharmacist of Record for VCC's in-house dispensary, where he oversees 
the medication processes for all its patients. In addition, he has 
spent the last four decades volunteering his time in the dispensary 
every Thursday and Saturday. Along with giving his time to VCC, he also 
supports many other Valley non-profits including: New Horizons, Ovarian 
Cancer Coalition, AIDS Walk LA, Executives of the Jewish Home for the 
Aging. He was also a board member and Board president of Sun Valley 
Chamber of Commerce from 1981-1990 and the Studio City Residents 
Association.
  Along with a long and distinguished record of volunteerism and 
service to his community, Mr. Freeman has been the Owner and Pharmacist 
at Key Pharmacy since 1964. He earned his degree from Columbia 
University College of Pharmacy. He actively participates in 
professional pharmacy associations at the national, state and local 
level and is actively involved with the legislative process. In fact, 
his legislative efforts on behalf of pharmacists led pharmacist Barry 
Pascal to say, ``Ira Freeman has put a pharmacist's face into our 
political process.'' I can attest to the veracity of this statement 
because I, myself, have spent many years with Mr. Freeman here in 
Washington D.C. and in Los Angeles working on different legislation. He 
served as a member of CPhA-PAC, President of the Pharmacists' 
Professional Society of the San Fernando Valley, and is a founding 
member of the United Pharmacists Network. He is known as a political 
activist extraordinaire and is one of the most loved leaders in the 
community. It is with great pleasure that I call him my good friend.
  Mr. Speaker and distinguished colleagues, I ask you to join me in 
recognizing Ira Freeman for his years of service and dedication to the 
community, to honor his many dedicated years at Valley Community 
Clinic, and to congratulate him on being named 2012 Pharmacist of the 
Year.

                          ____________________