Supporting the Observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month
Floor Speech
SUPPORTING THE OBSERVANCE OF NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2009)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, first of all I want to thank the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands for yielding and also salute him for his leadership on this important resolution, which is something as a Nation we just cannot stop in terms of all efforts to make sure that we eradicate child abuse.
But my purpose for standing up, Madam Speaker, is to speak in support of a resolution which was earlier discussed, H. Res. 344, recognizing the great accomplishment of the UConn Women Huskies.
My excuse for speaking out of order is actually I just left the White House, where our country's number one basketball fan, President Barack Obama, welcomed the Women Huskies, and again in a wonderful ceremony recognized the incredible achievement of an undefeated season and a national championship.
Madam Speaker, Vince Lombardi, the great football coach for the Green Bay Packers, said, ``Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we may catch excellence.''
Those incredibly wise words maybe didn't even anticipate what was accomplished this year by the UConn women who, as I said earlier, went 39-0, won a national championship, did not win a game by less than double digits from the entire season, from start to finish, and led by a coach, Geno Auriemma, who, again, is somebody who is right in the Lombardi tradition, and secured his sixth national championship, something that, as a Hall of Fame coach, we're almost getting to expect too easily and take too much for granted in the State of Connecticut.
But aside from the great athletic accomplishment of these young women, I want to also acknowledge the fact that Maya Moore, who is the Naismith All-American Player of the country, is also someone who is an outstanding student, has received academic awards for her great work as an undergraduate. And she, along with Renee Montgomery, who's also graduating this year, again, is someone who excelled, not only on the basketball court, but also in the classroom.
Speaking of perfection, in the 24 years of the UConn women's basketball program, they have had a 100 percent graduation rate for the women who have been part of that team. And in many respects, at a time when, unfortunately, college athletics has been somewhat dominated by the power and might of money and big money, the fact that we have a program which truly embodies the ideal of student athletes, like the UConn women's basketball team, is something that not only the State of Connecticut but really our whole country can be proud of.
As a parent of a young, 14-year-old daughter, to be able to turn on the TV for sports or ESPN News Center and say, this is not just a guy show, it's also about women who can go out and excel at sports, they have provided a role model that, I think, has transformed athletics, again, for our whole country, for boys and girls, for young men and young women. And we are so proud of this team in the State of Connecticut. And it's a special day with them being recognized at the White House. And I certainly hope that, as a body today, we will recognize their accomplishment by adopting H. Res. 344.
And, again, I thank the Speaker and the gentleman for allowing me to speak out of turn and share these remarks which are so important to the people back home.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source