HONORING THE SELFLESS CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF DEBBIE LAIRD ON THE EVENT OF HER RETIREMENT; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 141
(Extensions of Remarks - August 07, 2020)
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE SELFLESS CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF DEBBIE LAIRD ON THE
EVENT OF HER RETIREMENT
______
HON. SUSAN W. BROOKS
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Friday, August 7, 2020
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize
Debbie Laird on the occasion of her retirement from Janus Developmental
Services. Debbie has spent her career helping people, including her
most recent role as the Senior Vice President of Development at Janus
Developmental Services. She is a selfless, caring person with whom I am
fortunate to know and call my friend.
Janus is a non-profit agency that has served our community for nearly
forty years. I visited Janus multiple times throughout my time in
Congress and I strongly believe in the work they do. The group provides
opportunities for clients with developmental disabilities such as
autism or cerebral palsy. They provide them an opportunity to get real
world work experience and use their creativity to better our community.
For many years, Debbie dedicated herself to helping these individuals.
This speaks to her selflessness and her desire to better the lives of
those in her community.
Along with her tremendous work at Janus, Debbie is the mother of
fallen Indianapolis Police Officer Jake Laird, who was killed in the
line of duty in 2004. She and her husband Mike have used their loss to
create good in our community as well as in the law enforcement
community. They were fervent advocates for red flag legislation named
for their son that was enacted into law in the State of Indiana the
year after his death. In honor of Jake's passion for public service,
the Lairds created the Jake Laird Memorial Fund in 2004. For sixteen
years Debbie and Mike have been raising money for those with the same
passion as their son Jake.
The mission of the memorial fund is to provide financial
contributions to law and fire department agencies for the purchase of
new equipment, the institution of new instructional programs, or
financial assistance to officers injured in the line of duty. The main
event that contributes to this fund is the annual Jake Laird Memorial
Golf Outing. What started as an event with eighty golfers in 2004, has
grown to one with over 360 golfers in 2019. As of January 2020, the
Jake Laird Memorial Fund donated over $950,000 to various police and
firefighter causes throughout the state of Indiana.
I am very proud to be able to call Debbie a friend. Her advocacy for
so many throughout her career has produced real and lasting change
throughout our community. On behalf of the people of Indiana's Fifth
District, I thank Debbie for her life-changing dedication to our
community. I wish her a very happy and well-deserved retirement,
although I know her service will continue.
____________________
