the house for five minutes without
objection uh Mr Speaker I come before
the house tonight to celebrate the
achievements of the Uma clinic community
clinic upon the occasion of its 10th
anniversary the Uma Community Clinic is
a community health facility that serves
uninsured and impoverished families in
my congressional district the Uma Clinic
was established by Muslim Medical
students at UCLA who wanted to put their
faith and their patriotism into action
by serving their community and their
country Uma is an acronym for the
University Muslim Medical Association in
Arabic the word Uma means Community an
appropriate name for this extraordinary
institution the students who founded Uma
were inspired by their Islamic faith a
faith which told them to help their
neighbor a faith which told them that if
they saw something wrong they must fix
it and today the Uma Clinic is fixing
people's lives with its Healing Hands
every day quietly and
tirelessly when the Uma Clinic opened 10
years ago it was the first charitable
medical facility in the United States
founded by Muslim Americans at a time
when Muslim Americans face unfair
discrimination and scrutiny the Uma
Clinic allows Muslims to put their faith
into action through service selfishness
and compassion the Uma Clinic provides
Muslim Americans with an institution in
which they can take pride one that
enriches the community with services
that saves lives the Uma Clinic serves
as a Primary Health Care Source for over
15,000 children and adults in South Los
Angeles many of whom otherwise would
have no access to Primary Health Care
Services it has a patient clientele from
every conceivable Faith culture and
background over
95% of the beneficiaries of Uma services
are not Muslim Uma takes a comprehensive
approach to Health Care at the Uma
Clinic patients can see a regular family
doctor who knows them and who cares
about them they can return again and
again to the same family doctor who
helps them stay one step ahead of
illness by encouraging them to eat
properly and live a healthy lifestyle
and making certain they all get of their
physicals vaccinations lab tests
mammograms and other health screenings
the Uma Clinic
has received funding and support from
several other organizations including
Kaiser Permanente the California
endowment and Islamic relief Uma has
also become a committed advocate for the
fundamental rights of all citizens to
have access to Quality Health Care
Services regardless of their race
religion or socioeconomic status the Uma
Clinic is one of the many ways that
Muslim Americans serve their country
Muslim Americans have made contributions
in many different fields they are clerks
and laborers our doctors and lawyers our
teachers and researchers they work in
our government and they serve honorably
in our military Omar represents the best
of the Muslim American Community um
embodies High ethics and moral standards
and it was founded as a result of the
obligation Muslim Americans feel to
ensure the well being of everyone in
society if you want to see what Muslim
Americans truly represent go to the Uma
Community Clinic in my district and you
will see it there charitable
organizations like the Uma Clinic cannot
solve the nation's Health crisis alone
but their efforts are making an
invaluable contribution by healing
countless people who have been relegated
to societies margins I'm proud to
congratulate the Uma Community Clinic
upon its 10th anniversary for the
critical Health Services it provides to
the medically underserved in Los Angeles
I salute the Uma Community Clinic and
all of the people who run it and I
salute the Muslim American Community for
making it possible