Jim Ramstad: “America's two newest sports heroes are the pride of every American. I rise today to pay tribute to a group of talented…”

“America's two newest sports heroes are the pride of every American. I rise today to pay tribute to a group of talented, hard-working women who have written a new chapter in America's glorious Olympic history, the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team. Minnesota is the birthplace of hockey in America, Mr. Speaker, and the first ever gold medal in women's Olympic hockey was won by a spirited, never-give-up American team that included two Minnesotans. Jenny Schmidgall of Edina, Minnesota, and Alana Blahoski of St. Paul, Minnesota, along with 21 other members of the U.S. women's team, brought home the gold from the 18th Olympic winter games in Nagano, Japan. The American women's team won all six of its games. Mr. Speaker, what a marvelous Olympic tournament it was, and what a remarkable team won the gold medal. As a proud Minnesotan and a patriotic American, my heart burst when Jenny Schmidgall was awarded her gold medal and spontaneously blurted out our national anthem.”