Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Chef Thomas Aloysius Keller, of Yountville, California on the occasion of being honored by French President Nicolas Sarkozy as a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Elizabeth Okerstrom Murguia of Eureka, California on the occasion of her retirement after more than 35 years of extraordinary public service for the people of California's North Coast.

Born and raised in beautiful rural Mendocino County, Liz's parents, Merle and Astrid Okerstrom, instilled in her a deep appreciation for the important things in life: family, community, and civic engagement. From age 10 and on, Liz was raising ``Dollars for Democrats'' and serving in student government, paving the way for a long career in public service.

The EAS, the Essential Air Service program, is necessary to provide air service into our country's most rural communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 45th anniversary of the Humboldt Arts Council in Humboldt County, California.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the distinguished public service career of Ms. Janet M. Bedrosian. Ms. Bedrosian has honorably served the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for nearly 38 years and will retire on April 2, 2011.

Ms. Bedrosian was born in Tennessee and moved to Grass Valley, California, as an infant, where she grew up in California's Mother Lode country and graduated from Nevada Union High School as class valedictorian.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1076.

Without so much as a single hearing, the legislation being debated today would dismantle a public radio system depended upon by 34 million Americans weekly, many of whom are from rural America.

In fact, in many rural areas of our country like the one I represent, public broadcasters are among the few journalists still around who actually deliver local news to residents.

This amendment would stop a comprehensive local solution to a major and very costly problem in the Klamath River Basin.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with my colleague, Lynn Woolsey, to recognize Mary Evelyn Arnold, who has been named the City of Sonoma's 2011 Alcaldessa, or Honorary Mayor.

The title ``Alcalde,'' or ``Alcaldessa,'' when referring to a woman, is the Spanish word for ``Mayor.'' During the Spanish colonial period in California, the Alcalde was the primary civil authority. In modern times in the City of Sonoma, it is an honorary title and the contemporary Alcalde or Alcaldessa presides over ceremonial events for the city.