[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16121-16122]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING E. ROBERT CHAMBERLIN ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM SOURCEAMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 19, 2014

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize E. Robert Chamberlin 
on the occasion

[[Page 16122]]

of his retirement from SourceAmerica at the end of this year. Located 
in my district, SourceAmerica is a national non-profit that creates 
employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities. As 
Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Chamberlin leads a network of more than 
500 affiliated non-profit agencies that participate in the AbilityOne 
Program, which currently provides employment to more than 128,000 
people in the United States who are blind or have other significant 
disabilities. I, and more than 100 of my colleagues, are proud to 
partner in these efforts as AbilityOne Congressional Champions.
  Mr. Chamberlin joined SourceAmerica as Vice President of Operations 
in December 1999, following a career with the U.S. Armed Forces, and he 
was appointed CEO in January 2001. During his Navy career, he achieved 
the rank of Rear Admiral and held key positions afloat, overseas, and 
ashore. Later, as the Deputy Director of the Defense Logistics Agency 
at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, he served as the Department of Defense's 
representative on the AbilityOne Commission, the Federal agency which 
oversees the AbilityOne Program.
  Throughout his career, Mr. Chamberlin has been tireless in his 
efforts to improve the employment opportunities for individuals with 
disabilities. In addition to promoting the hundreds of thousands of 
individuals employed through the SourceAmerica network, Mr. Chamberlin 
has provided critical leadership on a number of new employment 
initiatives, including the establishment of the Institute for Economic 
Empowerment, the Pathways to Careers Employment Initiative, and the 
AbilityOne Design Challenge for assistive technology. In addition, he 
has helped to expand SourceAmerica's outreach to the private sector 
through new partnerships with large corporations and franchise 
organizations. Those efforts are particularly important for preserving 
work opportunities given the current constraints on federal agency 
budgets.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
distinguished military service and career accomplishments of Mr. E. 
Robert Chamberlin, and I want to personally commend him for his 
commitment to safeguarding the rights and opportunities for all 
Americans, especially those with significant disabilities.

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