[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7606-7607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, many of you may not be 
aware, but this week is National Nurses Week.
  I am honored to be able to stand on the floor of this great 
institution to talk about the nursing profession, what nurses mean to 
our health care industry and what nurses mean to each and every one of 
us when a family member is being treated at a time when we need the 
most compassion, we need the best care, and a nurse is the one who 
steps into that room and offers that compassion and offers that care on 
a daily basis.
  I have a special place in my heart for nurses because my wife, 
Shannon, is a nurse, somebody who not only has served patients in their 
home, on the hospital floor, at the beginning of life and at the end of 
life, she has also helped teach the next generation of nurses.
  We, in Washington, hear constantly about a nursing shortage in this 
country; and we, in Washington, need to remember that it is up to us to 
enact policies and programs that are going to encourage more young 
people to go into the nursing profession.
  I want to honor all nurses this week during National Nurses Week 
because I want to recognize the hard work that they do and the impact 
they have, not only to the nursing profession, but to America as a 
whole.

[[Page 7607]]

  Whether it is the support nurses provide at major hospitals 
throughout my congressional district in central and southwestern 
Illinois or in smaller, critical access hospitals that provide some of 
the most localized care in places like Staunton, Illinois; Clinton, 
Illinois; Litchfield; Hillsboro; and even my hometown of Taylorville, 
they are vital to the success of not only the health care industry they 
serve, but to the health of the patients that they are trained to care 
for.
  As baby boomers continue to retire, ensuring that we have enough 
educated nurses should be one of the priorities of this institution 
that I mentioned earlier. We should continue to support funding for 
nurse education programs at all of our universities, colleges, and 
hospitals, so that patients can continue to receive the quality care 
that they are used to in our health care delivery system.
  So happy National Nurses Week, and thank you to my wife Shannon and 
to the nearly 3 million other registered nurses for all that you do for 
the health and wellness of our country.
  A special thanks to my wife, Shannon. I love you.

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