Chris Pappas: “just a few days ago an organization of which I am a member, called the American Hellenic Educational Progressive…”

“just a few days ago an organization of which I am a member, called the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, or AHEPA for short, had its 33rd Biennial AHEPA Congressional Banquet not too far from here. At that event one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) was the recipient of the annual Pericles Award. The gentleman from Florida, as all of us know here, is a leader in many areas of public policy, health care being one of them, but also in areas of public policy dealing with the Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, and Cyprus. Mr. Speaker, we are all very proud to congratulate the gentleman on that. The second award recipient was Andy Athens of the Chicago area. He received the 1998 Archbishop Iakovos Humanitarian Award. Both of these gentlemen are fine Americans. I am very, very proud to know them and to consider them friends and to be a member of the Greek-American community in the United States with them, and am very pleased to have been there with them and their families that evening.”