Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this past Sunday, the closing ceremonies of the 2012 summer Paralympic games were held in London. More than 4,200 athletes seated in the arena were joined by 80,000 cheering spectators to celebrate the culmination of 11 days of athletic achievement with parades, fireworks, and music. Of the 227 American athletes competing in this year's London games, 20 are members or veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including three Active Duty servicemembers. This is especially noteworthy given that it was disabled British World War II veterans using sports as rehabilitation who founded what has become today's modern Paralympic games. Among those representing Team USA in the London Paralympic games were many athletes from Illinois, including a number of students and alumni of the University of Illinois' acclaimed Adapted Varsity Athletics Program. Evanston native Greta Neimanas arrived at her second Paralympic games as a 7-time national champion, 13-time world championship medalist and ParaPan Am games gold medalist. A longtime patient of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) and an inspiration to many of RIC's younger patients, she competed in both track and road cycling events in London. Joe Berenyi left London with three Paralympic medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze. The cyclist, who was born in Aurora, IL, also set a world record on his way to becoming the Paralympic champion in the men's individual C3 Pursuit.…”