The Metropolitan Organization in Houston has been at the forefront of these efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to the Industrial Areas Foundation Southwest Network and especially to one of their member organizations from Houston, The Metropolitan Organization, for their twenty-five years of…

I have seen firsthand the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

I rise to offer this amendment to H.R. 2606, to increase funding by $25 million and direct this funding to address the issue of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

NEH also provides many educational tools for children.

For every dollar the endowment awards, other sources contribute $12 to make art happen in thousands of communities.

The NEA is an independent agency of the Federal government charged with supporting the arts in America for All Americans.

Mr. Chairman, today I rise to support Representative Slaughter's amendment which will add money to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The NEH is vital to our educational systems and provides numerous services in the area of the humanities.

I urge my colleagues to support funding for both the NEA and the NEH.

Mr. Speaker, again, I join the constituents of the 30th Congressional District of Texas in congratulating the wonderful achievements of Pvt. Malcolm Barnes Sherrod.

Mr. Speaker, Private Sherrod certainly has the motivation and the lineage to be a great marine and serve his country.

His successful completion has promoted him from recruit to private. I join with his proud family and the constituents of the 30th Congressional District of Texas in commending his achievements.

In addition, the VFW provides $3 million annually for cancer research and $15 million for veteran-service programs.

I am consistently awed by the great sacrifice committed by so many of behalf of this great nation.

Let us not forget the goals of the VFW as noted in the 1936 congressional charter: 'To assist worthy comrades; to perpetuate their memory . . .; and to assist their widows and orphans; to maintain true allegiance to the Government of the…

Today, the VFW's 2 million veterans, and its auxiliaries' 750,000 members, provide $2.7 million annually in scholarships and awards to U.S. high school students.

To assist worthy comrades; to perpetuate their memory . . .; and to assist their widows and orphans; to maintain true allegiance to the Government of the United States; to maintain and extend the institutions of freedom; and to preserve…