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Rep. James P. Moran

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to congratulate the Computer Community Outreach and Education program, or Computer CORE, of Alexandria, Virginia, for celebrating its fifth anniversary. This wonderful non-profit program promotes the realization of better job opportunities through basic computer skills training. It is offered to unemployed and under-employed adults in Northern Virginia, who may have little or no experience with computers, but have something much more important to each of them: an insatiable desire to learn, achieve, and contribute to our society.

These students come from a wide array of families and backgrounds, but all of them leave with the proficiency necessary to enter the workforce and contribute to the economic development of our nation. They leave Computer CORE not only with competence in keyboarding, word processing, and spreadsheets, but also with the ability to identify their own strengths and interests, set goals, develop resumes and cover letters, and pursue their goals and the American dream. In addition, they leave with a free refurbished computer of their own, allowing them to continue to develop their skills at home, as well as teach their families the valuable skills they have learned.

None of this would be possible without the hard work of Debra Roepke, the executive director and founder of the program, as well as the staff of instructors who generously volunteer their time and energy to help these students acquire the skills they need to achieve the American Dream. Through hard work and education, the students of the Computer CORE classes are grasping their future and entering a new stage of life. After graduation, these students will find new job opportunities they never had before. Some will continue at institutions of higher education. Some will teach their families they skills they have learned. But all of them will have truly experienced the American dream.