It also provides funding for the COPS program which puts more neighborhood police officers in our communities.

Our country's reluctance to aid the Spanish Republican government did not deter these brave people who understood what the consequences were if a legitimately elected government were to fall.

I rise to honor Mr. Clarence Kailin of Madison, and the brave men and women who volunteered to serve in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War, especially those courageous volunteers from my home state of Wisconsin.

I want to express my gratitude to these men and women who helped to defend the democratic Spanish Republic from fascist aggression, at a time when the fate of democracy in Europe was being threatened by all sides of the political spectrum.

The strength of character of Clarence Kailin and others from Wisconsin who volunteered in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade are the qualities which we all can take pride in and celebrate in this Congress.

Their foresight in recognizing the rising tyranny of fascism was a call to arms that went unheeded by the free world, and resulted in the long and bloody conflict that became World War II.

We should all be fortunate to have health care professionals of her caliber working in our hospital and medical centers.

I rise today to proudly salute a truly outstanding nurse from my district, Mrs. Patricia Haugh, who recently was presented with a Wisconsin Outstanding Nurses of the Year Award.

This week is National Nurses' Week, and we should all pause to celebrate Mrs. Haugh and all America's nurses; the heroes of the best health care system in the world.

Mrs. Haugh's commitment to quality care is a quintessential example of the kind of selfless dedication that millions of American nurses demonstrate every day.