[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       RICHMOND OFFICE OF NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY PEACEKEEPER FELLOWS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend two 
young men from Richmond, California, who will begin classes this fall 
at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Florida. Sounds pretty 
straightforward, I know, but these are no ordinary students.
  What makes these young men from my congressional district stand out 
is their background. It's not just that most people thought they would 
never go to college--in fact, most people thought they would never make 
it out of the neighborhood. People thought they would end up in jail, 
or even worse.
  D'vondre Woodard and Eric Welch are two senior fellows at the city of 
Richmond's Office of Neighborhood Safety Peacekeeper Fellowship, an 
office that does a remarkable job of changing violent lives. D'vondre 
and Eric are shining examples of what remarkable transformation 
individuals are capable of when they desire to make positive change in 
their lives and when they're supported in that effort.
  From a life dominated by gun violence in the streets of Richmond to 
noses buried in books at college, internships in Washington, D.C., and 
meetings on Capitol Hill, these young men have come a long way. I wish 
them the best. I hope their success will serve as an inspiration for 
many more to follow in their steps and leave the violent streets.

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