[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7927]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               SOLDIERS CLIMB TO SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST

  (Mr. CARTER of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Second 
Lieutenant Harold Earls, Captain Elyse Ping Medvigy, and Staff Sergeant 
Chad Jukes, who successfully climbed to the 29,000-foot summit of Mount 
Everest on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.
  Staff Sergeant Jukes is a veteran who lost his leg while fighting in 
Iraq in 2006, making the feat even more amazing; and Lieutenant Earls 
is a Third ID soldier who is currently stationed at Fort Benning in 
west Georgia.
  The soldiers' goal in reaching Mount Everest is overshadowed by their 
ultimate goal of gaining support for veterans' and soldiers' mental 
health. With the trip to the summit, they raised $109,000 to support 
the mental health groups Give an Hour and Stop Soldier Suicide. The 
climb was the debut of U.S. Expeditions and Explorations, which is a 
nonprofit organization founded by Lieutenant Earls. The entire trip, 
including a long preparation period, lasted over a year.
  I congratulate these men for reaching the summit of Mount Everest, 
and I thank them for their service to our Nation and to servicemen's 
and -women's mental health.

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