[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 4944-4945]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ALAN GRAYSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 26, 2014


         RECOGNIZING THE SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP OF VAL DEMINGS

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, in honor of Women's History 
Month, to recognize Chief Valdez B. Demings. Val, the youngest of seven 
children, was born to James and Elouise Butler in Jacksonville, 
Florida. She attended Duval County Public Schools and is a graduate of 
Wolfson High School. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in 
Criminology from Florida State University and her Master of Arts degree 
in Public Administration from Webster University. Val is also a 
graduate of the 226th session of the FBI National Academy as well as 
the FBI National Executive Institute.
  After working as a social worker in foster care, Val moved to Orlando 
in 1983 to attend the Orlando Police Academy. She was elected president 
of her class at the Academy and later received the Board of Trustees 
Award for overall excellence. Val's many assignments with the Orlando 
Police Department included assignments in the West Patrol Division, the 
Criminal Investigation Division, Crime Prevention, Explorer and Cadet 
Unit, Public Information Office, Internal Affairs, and as Commander of 
the Airport Division. She also served as the Commander of Special 
Operations where she managed special events, dignitary protection, 
traffic enforcement, traffic homicide, marine patrol, the K-9 and 
Vehicles for Hire units, and the Reserve and Auxiliary units. In 
addition to her regular job assignments, Val served 12 years on the 
Crisis Negotiation Team, was Commander of the Critical Incident Stress 
Debriefing Team, and was Executive Vice President of the International 
Association of Airport and Seaport Police.
  In 2007, Val was selected to serve as Chief for the Orlando Police 
Department. She was the first woman to ever hold the position. Her 
tenure was marked by a dramatic forty percent reduction in violent 
crime, including robberies, shootings and murders.
  After twenty-seven years at the Orlando Police Department, including 
three and a half years as the Department's top cop, Demings decided to 
retire from the force and continue her commitment to public service in 
another way. In 2012, Val Demings ran for the United States House of 
Representatives in Florida's tenth congressional district.
  Today, Chief Demings stays involved in her community through numerous 
social service activities. She is an active member of Saint Mark A.M.E. 
Church, where she is a Steward, Trustee, and Chairperson of the Annual 
Church Women's Conference. She is also President of the Women's 
Missionary Society through which she has participated in mission trips 
to Peru and Haiti.
  Val is very active in her community through numerous social service 
activities. She is Chairperson of the Committee on Global Housing and 
Homelessness, and serves on the boards of Heart of Florida United Way, 
Central Florida Police Athletic League, United Negro College Fund, and 
Guardian Care Nursing and Rehabilitative Center. In addition to several 
other affiliations, Val was named one of Orlando's ``50 Most Powerful 
People.''
  Val is married to Jerry L. Demings, Sheriff of Orange County and 
former Orlando Police Chief. They have three sons, Austin, Antoine, and 
Antonio.
  I am happy to honor Val Demings, during Women's History Month, for 
her service and contributions to the Central Florida community.


             Recognizing the Contributions of Erin Sullivan

  Mr. Speaker, I rise today, in honor of Women's History Month, to 
recognize Erin Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan is the daughter of an Irish 
immigrant mother who came to the United States as a teenager in the 
1960s with only a third grade level of education. Her Irish-American 
father was a fervent believer in social justice and responsive 
government. A proud graduate of the University at Albany, State 
University of New York, Ms. Sullivan was the first in her family to 
graduate from college.
  Today Ms. Sullivan is the editor of Orlando Weekly, an alternative 
newsweekly dedicated to strengthening the community by keeping readers 
informed about important local issues, events and politics. She began 
her career in journalism at a business newspaper in Albany, N.Y., but 
soon discovered a desire to report on issues that impacted people's 
lives, so changed her focus to political and issues-based reporting. 
Ms. Sullivan covered state government in New York for five years before 
moving to Baltimore, Md., where she became the managing editor for the 
award-winning investigative weekly, Baltimore City Paper.
  In 2010, she moved to Orlando to take over as editor of Orlando 
Weekly, where she re-envisioned the paper as an invaluable community 
asset that keeps the Central Florida community apprised of important 
local and state news, politics, and social issues. She is also a 
regular commentator on National Public Radio affiliate WMFE 90.7 News 
FM, where she has created a weekly segment that focuses on topical 
local news stories that other media outlets often overlook.
  Over the years, Ms. Sullivan has earned awards and recognition for 
public-service reporting, feature reporting, and news writing. She 
appears on local TV news shows to offer alternative viewpoints on 
issues that are often treated one-dimensionally. She has also led 
workshops and seminars for young journalists on developing their skills 
as reporters.
  Ms. Sullivan is also dedicated to giving back to the community 
through public service. She has served on the board of the Association 
for Alternative Newsweeklies and Baltimore City's Animal Control 
Advisory Board, and is a founding member of a nonprofit organization 
that offers humane-education workshops for schoolchildren living in 
Baltimore's inner city. Currently an animal rescue volunteer for the 
Humane Society of the United States, Ms. Sullivan spends as much time 
as she can educating people about the link between animal cruelty and 
domestic violence and about how the humane treatment of animals 
intersects with creating a stronger, more compassionate, and evolved 
community.
  I am happy to honor Erin Sullivan, during Women's History Month, for 
her contributions to the Central Florida community.


          Recognizing the Contributions of Michele Renee Levy

  Mr. Speaker, I rise today, in honor of Women's History Month, to 
recognize Michele Renee Levy. Michele was born in The Bronx, New York 
on August 25, 1942. She grew up in the city and attended public 
schools. Her father was a political activist and union leader, so she 
and her brother learned at an early age to never cross a picket line 
and to respect the working people of this country. Michele's dad was a 
history buff who made dinner table discussions a learning experience. 
It was expected that she would study hard and get the grades necessary 
to attend the local university, the City College of New York (CCNY).
  During college, Michele became involved in student politics. It was 
the 1960s, and there was so much to protest. She took part in student 
rallies at CCNY to ``ban the bomb'' and became active in the civil 
rights movement when she joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). 
When her brother was drafted and sent to Vietnam she took her two 
children (a toddler and an infant) to anti-war protests in the New York 
area.
  In 1973, Michele and her family moved to Orlando and she began a 
career as a social worker. She worked for the state of Florida in what 
was then the Department of Family Services, determining eligibility for 
welfare, food stamps, and Medicaid. Several years later she began 
working for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities where she worked 
with children and adults with developmental disabilities. Michele 
retired in 2005 and began her own company, MRL Training Consultants 
through which she trained job coaches, supported living coaches, and 
direct care staff.
  In 2007, Michele joined the League of Women Voters to become more 
involved with community and local politics. She joined the Local 
Government Committee where she met other women who were active 
community leaders. Michele became Chair of the League's Government 
Committee where she championed changes to the Orange County Charter 
which would make citizen access easier. She used the public comments 
part of local government meetings to speak out about the issues 
impacting the Central Florida community.

[[Page 4945]]

  More recently, as the Co-President of the League of Women Voters of 
Orange County, she highlighted the Orlando Orange County Expressway 
Authority's ethical reasons for not hiring former State Representative 
Steve Precourt. She received an appreciative letter from Mayor Teresa 
Jacobs for her attention to the issue.
  Michele was also active in a local campaign against an amendment to 
the Orange County Charter that would have required a mail-in ballot, 
abolished the Tax Collector's office, and made it more difficult for a 
citizen-initiative to be put on the ballot. The amendment did not pass.
  Michele believes that all citizens have an obligation to, at the very 
least, participate in their government by voting, and by participating 
to the best of your abilities. One of her favorite quotes is by the 
founder of the League of Women Voters, Carrie Chapman Catt, who said, 
``[t]o the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs 
assistance, to the future in the distance, give yourselves.''
  I am happy to honor Michele Renee Levy, during Women's History Month, 
for her contributions to the Central Florida community.


           Recognizing the Contributions of Linda Sutherland

  Mr. Speaker, I rise today, in honor of Women's History Month, to 
recognize Linda Sutherland. Ms. Sutherland has served as the Executive 
Director of the Orange County Healthy Start Coalition since February 
2001. She oversees a $3 million budget and related staff and programs 
which support the Coalition of over 160 members, as well as a variety 
of direct maternal and child health and social services offered to the 
community. These services include a Fatherhood program, ACA enrollment 
help, and Children's Health Insurance (KidCare). The Coalition served 
over 7,000 women and 5,000 infants last year.
  The Coalition is responsible for identifying needs in the community, 
and designing and supporting related services for mothers and babies 
who are at-risk. Through its work, the Coalition ensures that every 
baby gets a ``healthy start'' in life. In order to develop and maintain 
the Coalition and build community collaborations with the purpose of 
improving target health indices, Ms. Sutherland works with a wide 
variety of area maternal and child health providers, community 
agencies, and service providers.
  As Healthy Start Director, Ms. Sutherland has taken an interest in 
health disparities, serving as Founding Member of the Primary Care 
Access Network, Chair of the Central FL Partnership on Health 
Disparities, and initiating programs specifically to reduce racial 
disparities in birth outcomes. She also serves on the March of Dimes 
State Planning Council.
  Prior to her work with the Coalition, she served as the President of 
the Orange County Council of PTAs and then on the Orange County School 
Board for twelve years, from 1990-2002. During her tenure she served as 
both Chairman and Vice Chairman of the local School Board and as 
President of the State School Board Association. She also represented 
Florida on the Council of Great City Schools and the National School 
Board Association.
  Ms. Sutherland was invited to the White House by then First Lady 
Laura Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush for a discussion on early 
literacy and school readiness in 2001. Her areas of special interest 
and advocacy have always been early childhood issues, especially 
related to early intervention and prevention, and legislative matters 
affecting the welfare of children which have involved working closely 
with neighborhood groups, community leaders, and political 
representatives.
  First and foremost a child advocate, Ms. Sutherland has spent 
considerable time learning about brain research, child health and best 
practices of parenting, and educating. She was a pioneer in advocating 
for the importance of investing in the early years for better long term 
outcomes. She is a sought-after speaker at events related to the well-
being of children. She also serves on many boards responding to issues 
facing children and families in Central Florida and around the state, 
including the Florida Children's Campaign and the Children's Cabinet of 
Orange County.
  Ms. Sutherland has been married to her best friend, Doug, for 40 
years and they have one son, Andrew.
  I am happy to honor Linda Sutherland, during Women's History Month, 
for her contributions to the Central Florida community.


        Recognizing the Contributions of Deborah C. German, M.D.

  Mr. Speaker, I rise today, in honor of Women's History Month, to 
recognize Dr. Deborah C. German, a physician, educator, and 
administrator. Dr. German has served as Vice President for Medical 
Affairs at the University of Central Florida (UCF) since July 2010 and 
as the Founding Dean of UCF's College of Medicine since December 2006.
  After receiving her M.D. from Harvard Medical School, Dr. German 
worked at a number of prestigious institutions. She was Resident in 
Medicine at the University of Rochester, Fellow and faculty member at 
Duke, Associate Dean for Students and Senior Associate Dean of Medical 
Education at Vanderbilt, President and CEO of Saint Thomas Hospital in 
Nashville, and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 
Petersdorf Scholar-in-Residence.
  In her current position at UCF, Dr. German is working with a team of 
over 2,400 full-time, part-time, and volunteer faculty and staff 
members to develop a 21st century research-based medical school as part 
of Orlando's emerging Medical City. Recognizing the central role of the 
College of Medicine in Lake Nona, she takes an active leadership role 
in facilitating partnerships and expanding the reach of the Medical 
City. Dr. German led a community effort to fund scholarships for 
tuition and living expenses for the entire Charter Class. This was the 
first such effort in the history of American medicine, and to date has 
not been matched by any other college.
  Dr. German's service to her community has been recognized by several 
local and national organizations. She is the recipient of honors and 
awards including the Athena Award from the City of Nashville in 2000, 
the AAMC Women in Medicine Leadership Development Award in 2002, the 
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board's Central Floridian of the Year in 
2002, the National Library of Medicine's a Local Legend of Medicine in 
2005, Orlando Sentinel's ``25 Most Powerful People in Central Florida'' 
in 2012, and the Orlando Blueprint Women of Distinction Award Honoree 
in 2014.
  I am happy to honor Dr. Deborah C. German, during Women's History 
Month, for her contributions to the Central Florida community.

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