Volume 142, No. 55 covering the 2nd Session of the 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO SISTER JOANNE M. CHIAVERINI AND FATHER PHILIP A. SCHMITTER” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E625 on April 25, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO SISTER JOANNE M. CHIAVERINI AND FATHER PHILIP A. SCHMITTER
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HON. DALE E. KILDEE
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, April 24, 1996
Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to share with my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives the contributions to our community by two committed spiritual leaders. Sister Joanne M. Chiaverini, of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Father Philip A. Schmitter are the two codirectors of the St. Francis Prayer Center. Sister Joanne and Father Phil have ministered to the spiritual, economic, and health needs of the people of northern Flint for many years.
Sister Joanne Chiaverini, a sister for 39 years, founded the St. Francis Prayer Center in July 1974 to be a spiritual oasis for persons of all denominational, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. She insisted the center be located where ``the poor could walk'' and has fostered a place that has provided programs, retreats, and classes for nurturing a healthy self image. She has lead the center to be a spiritual organization that ministers with and to the poor in roles of referral, initiation, and advocacy.
Father Philip Schmitter's commitment to the poor led him to move into HUD's River Park Apartments--a public housing complex--in 1978. He also became a full-time codirector of the St. Francis Prayer Center in 1978.
Sister Joanne, Father Phil, and the St. Francis Prayer Center have worked with neighborhood residents, civil rights groups, and environmentalists to raise awareness of the need for environmental equity. They have challenged the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan's Department of Natural Resources to do more to defend environmental quality in predominantly minority neighborhoods.
As a result of their hard work, the EPA has selected Flint as one of nine sites across the country where violations of environmental equity are being investigated. Flint was selected as the first site of the nine due to the well organized grass roots appeal initiated by Father Phil and Sister Joanne.
Mr. Speaker, the city of Flint is a better place to live in because of the good work of Sister Joanne, Father Phil and the St. Francis Prayer Center. They continue to stand as a symbol to all of the spirituality of St. Francis who saw all of us as part of the good gift of God's creation, to be kept clean, unpolluted, and preserved from exploitation.
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