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Miami County Awarded Economic Development Administration Grant

Posted by Joshua Gillespie on November 24, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             CONTACT: Joshua Gillespie
November 24, 2010                                                                                    (317) 848-0201

Miami County Awarded Economic Development Administration Grant


PERU, IN –  The Miami County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA) received big news from the  US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) on Wednesday, November 24, 2010.  The EDA announced the approval of a $2.5M Grant as the last piece in a financing package to bring 200 new jobs in aircraft maintenance to the Grissom Aeroplex and the region.  The grant, combined with other local, state and a US Department of Agriculture Loan, will fund renovations and expansion of Hangar 200 at Grissom Aeroplex to close a deal with an aircraft maintenance company looking to expand operations into Miami County, at the former Grissom AFB.   The Hangar at Grissom, which is owned by the County, requires an expansion to accommodate larger wide body aircraft to include the B747-400, B767, B777 aircraft for the company.

The aircraft maintenance company, currently operating in the Southwestern United States, has been in business for 43 years.  The company has provided service for most major airlines in the United States, including United, US Airways, Sky West, American Eagle and Air Canada.  The company is seeking to expand its existing operations to Grissom Aeroplex, where they project 200 new jobs will be created, at an estimated five-year regional economic impact of over $160 million.  The project is pending final lease negotiations.

Upon hearing the news, Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-05) issued the following statement:

“In August, I reached out to the Federal Economic Development Administration to urge them to give every due consideration to the Miami County Economic Development Authority’s application because I understood the importance of this contract for the future of the Grissom Aeroplex.  Winning this grant was absolutely critical for the completion of this deal and I am very pleased that I could help put the final piece of the puzzle in place.  Now Hoosiers hit so hard by the downturn in the economy, have a new opportunity for some good paying jobs.”

Don Cates, Chairman of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, remarked, “This is fantastic news.  In addition to Congressman Burton efforts, the community received non-partisan support and assistance from Senator Lugar, Senator Bayh,  Congressman Donnelly, and Congressman Ellsworth and their staff’s with this project – thank you.  A special thanks to Phil Lehmkuler, State Director of USDA, Robert Sawyer, Director EDA Chicago Regional Office, and Governor Daniels for their leadership and vision in support of this project as well.  It is refreshing when all of us, local, state and Federal officials and agencies work together to improve local, regional and State economies and create jobs.  An aviation project, such as this, has been the vision for the redevelopment of Grissom for a long time by local and regional entities.  This project is an excellent example of how our local and region al economy of North Central Indiana can become more diversified and stable.“

(POC is Jim Tidd, Executive Director Miami Co Economic Development Authority at (765) 689-0159)

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If You Go by Plane...

Today, Congressman Dan Burton co-signed a letter with many of his colleagues addressed to the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security requesting that they conduct an oversight hearing on the new airport screening procedures. 

In recent weeks, Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new airplane passenger searches have left travelers feeling angered as well as apprehensive about booking their next trip. A number of residents from Indiana’s 5th Congressional District have contacted Representative Burton’s office voicing their aggravation towards TSA.

The scanners, which now stand between passengers and their departing flight use either millimeter waves or low-dose x-rays to perform what have been called “virtual strip searches,” to ensure flyers are not concealing any questionable metallic and non-metallic items beneath their clothes.

By the end of the year, TSA plans to have 500 scanners deployed to airports nationwide.

Another issue brought to Rep. Burton’s attention by his constituents was the demeanor and “lack of human regard” TSA officials have been displaying to passengers. While TSA tries to balance safety and travelers’ right to privacy, media has brought attention to the challenges facing medical patients, the elderly, and children. Most agree that full body scans and pat downs are needed at this time in our history to safeguard Americans who fly, but there is a need to greatly improve TSA’s enhanced search protocol, starting with personnel.

For now, those who are planning to brave airports this holiday season, be prepared for longer lines and increased security. For example, more and more people are trying to travel without having to check-in their luggage which in turn makes screening hundreds of backpacks and near-busting athletic bags that much more difficult.




For helpful tips: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/screening_experience.shtm

Rep. Burton Strongly Condemns North Korean Attack on South Korea

Posted by Joshua Gillespie on November 23, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             CONTACT: Joshua Gillespie
November 23, 2010                                                                                    (317) 848-0201

Rep. Burton Strongly Condemns North Korean Attack on South Korea

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-05), Republican Co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea issued the following statement in response to North Korea’s artillery attack on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong:

“Once again Kim Jong Il’s despotic communist regime has shattered the peace of the Korean peninsula. I stand with President Obama in strongly condemning this atrocity, and I call on President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to rally the international community against these attacks and send a strong message to Kim Jong Il that the world stands strongly behind the people of South Korea.”

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Operation Halyard Exposed; a Hero Honored at Last

Madame Speaker, as co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Serbian Caucus, I rise tonight to honor an outstanding Serbian-American, Captain (Ret.) George M. Vujnovich, who was recently awarded the Bronze Star Medal, for his heroic actions during World War II.

The Bronze Star is awarded to military service personnel for bravery, acts of merit or meritorious service.  When awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the United States Armed Forces.  Captain Vujnovich’s participation in the planning and execution of Operation Halyard – one of the most successful air force rescue missions in history; and an operation so secret that the records were only declassified in 1997 – certainly exemplifies the heroism required to receive this prestigious military honor.

Captain Vujnovich served with the Office of Strategic Services; the predecessor of the modern Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the wartime organization charged with coordinating activities behind enemy lines for the branches of the United States military.   Operation Halyard evolved in wake of the Allied bombing campaign to destroy Nazi Germany's vast network of petroleum resources in occupied Eastern Europe.   The most vital target of bombing was the facilities located in Ploesti, Romania, which supplied 35 percent of Germany's wartime petroleum.  Beginning in April 1944, bombers of the Fifteenth Allied Air Force began a relentless campaign to blast the heavily guarded facilities in Ploesti in an attempt to halt petroleum production altogether. By August, Ploesti was virtually destroyed — but at the cost of 350 bombers lost, with their crews either killed, captured, or missing in action.

The assault on Ploesti forced hundreds of Allied airmen to bail out over Nazi-occupied eastern Serbia, an area patrolled by the Allied-friendly Chetnik guerrilla army. When the Chetnik commander, General Draza Mihailovich, realized that Allied airmen were parachuting into his territory, he ordered his troops, as well as the local peasantry, to aid the aviators by taking them to Chetnik headquarters in Pranjani, Serbia for evacuation.

General Mihailovich's first attempts to alert American authorities to the situation regrettably failed to produce action. Fortunately, fate would have it that when Mirjana Vujnovich, a Serb employee of the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, D.C., heard of the trapped airmen.  She immediately wrote to her husband, Captain Vujnovich, stationed in Bari, Italy.  As an American, descending from Serb parents, Vujnovich knew the region intimately and also knew how to escape from Nazi-occupied territory: he had been a medical student in Belgrade when Yugoslavia fell to the Axis powers in 1941, and he and his wife spent months sneaking through minefields and begging for visas before they finally escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe.

Captain Vujnovich made it his personally crusade to get the airmen home.  From the outset though, Operation Halyard encountered opposition from Allied leaders — from the U.S. State Department, from communist sympathizers in the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), even from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself.   It was an operation that seemed condemned from the start, but Captain Vujanovich’s persevered rather than let the mission die. His persistence not to be in vain; he eventually won out.

Even though the operation endured from August 9, 1944 through December 27, 1944, within only the first two days, Operation Halyard successfully retrieved 241 American and Allied airmen.  By the time the Operation was officially ended, Vujnovich's team had airlifted 512 downed Allied airmen to safety without the loss of a single life or aircraft — a truly impressive accomplishment.

Captain George Vujnovich’s recognition as a hero and valued asset to this country and the United States Air Force is long over due. Frankly, had the records of the operation not remained sealed until 1997, I feel certain Captain Vujanovich would have received this honor years ago. Nevertheless, the decades do not and cannot diminish the valor and patriotism of this extraordinary man.  I ask all my colleagues to join me now to honor this Serbian-American hero, to thank him for his dedicated service to our country and to congratulate him for winning the Bronze Star. Captain Vujanovich, I salute you.

Army Master Sergeant Jeffrey Mittman Receives "Oz" Award

Madam Speaker,

Today I rise to celebrate and honor the service of Army Master Sergeant Jeffrey Mittman for receiving the Osborne A. “Oz” Day AbilityOne Awareness Award.  The prestigious “Oz” Award is presented by the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled to an employee at a federal agency who demonstrates exceptional service promoting the AbilityOne Program throughout the federal, state and local communities.

Now, the National Account Manager for the National Industries for the Blind’s Midwest Region, Master Sergeant Mittman supports a mission of employment for others with disabilities by promoting the AbilityOne Program through the federal procurement process in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District. This patriot’s story is a remarkable one, for his story does not start nor finish here with this award.

Master Sergeant Mittman’s indefatigable commitment to serve his fellow Americans began as a soldier in the United States Army in 1989. Having fought in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Enduring Freedom, and in 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Master Sergeant Mittman was the All-American hero who never turned down defending his country. It wasn’t till his return to Iraq in 2005 as a special advisor to the Iraqi Department of the Interior, that he came face-to-face with death; changing his life forever.

Tragically, an improvised explosive device that exploded near his vehicle in Iraq, leaving Master Sergeant Mittman without a nose, lips, most of his teeth, and the majority of his vision. Since that time, he has endured more than 40 operations and spent over four years recovering physically and emotionally. To his great credit, he has traveled the country sharing the lessons he learned from these experiences with the world.

He is noted for saying it is the veteran who has to take that very first step to recovering and that he realized this after attending the Blinded Veterans Association Conference in 2006, where he met people who were blinded years ago who are now attorneys, teachers and business executives. After realizing life can be good in spite of having a disability, he decided to help others who also have disabilities find jobs and lead meaningful lives.

Master Sergeant Mittman, a 40-year old decorated warrior, husband of 17 years, father of two and outspoken military veteran was and forever will be an All-American hero whose determination and selflessness continue to serve our country and inspire our hearts. Today, we salute you.