[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ABILITYONE PROGRAM

  (Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to recognize the 
outstanding work of the AbilityOne Program and Bosma Enterprises in my 
district, in Indiana.
  AbilityOne is an outstanding program committed to providing 
employment opportunities for people suffering from vision loss. Since 
1915, Indiana's very own Bosma Enterprises has been a partner of the 
program, with the goal of changing lives.
  In fact, Bosma is Indiana's largest employer of people with vision 
loss, helping acclimate over 700 people last year alone and helping 
over 50,000 people find employment since it started.
  It is about more than the numbers, though. Take Chris McKirahan. She 
was born with glaucoma, meaning she had the eyes of an 80-year-old at 
the time she was born. At the age of 43, she lost all of her vision and 
began orientation and mobility training at Bosma Enterprises.
  Following that training, she began volunteering as a Braille and 
keyboarding instructor. In November of 2010, she was hired on full time 
as a production employee; but she continues to volunteer in her free 
time, teaching Braille and keyboarding in the very center she graduated 
from 4 years ago.
  Madam Speaker, it is my honor to extend my support to the AbilityOne 
Program and Bosma Enterprises. They are differencemakers; they are 
changing lives.

                          ____________________