Recognizing the Incredible Service of John Shinholser

Floor Speech

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Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the incredible service of John Shinholser.

Since 2004, John has served as the president and cofounder of The McShin Foundation, a substance use disorder recovery organization that provides lifesaving resources to Virginians who are struggling with substance use disorder. These services range from medical detox to sober living and from providing peer-to-peer mentorship to advocating for more support for reentry services in jails and prisons.

John is a leader in this space, and from the day I first started in politics, he wanted to make sure that helping those with substance use disorder was a priority of mine.

Last year, John marked 40 years in recovery himself. He achieved sobriety while he was serving in the United States Marine Corps in 1982, and he never looked back. For decades, he has used his own story to empower others, to help them and their families to sustain their recoveries.

He has treated substance use disorder as the illness that it is. With his philosophy that substance use disorder is an illness, not a character flaw, he and his wife, Carol McDaid, have reached tens of thousands of Virginians. They have saved lives and saved families.

He might be retiring from leading The McShin Foundation, but I know that he is far from retired when it comes to making a difference in our community.

On behalf of a grateful Commonwealth and on behalf of every person whose life he has impacted, including mine, I stand before the United States House of Representatives in thanking John Shinholser for his lifelong mission of helping others and our Nation.

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