Floor SpeechCeremonial2026-04-22

CELEBRATING ANSHU MUKHERJEE AS OREGON'S 5TH DISTRICT'S CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE WINNER

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Context

On 2026-04-22, Representative Janelle S. Bynum (D-OR-5) delivered a floor speech titled "CELEBRATING ANSHU MUKHERJEE AS OREGON'S 5TH DISTRICT'S CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE WINNER" in the House. The speech addressed taxes and also covered the environment.

Full Text

CELEBRATING ANSHU MUKHERJEE AS OREGON'S 5TH DISTRICT'S CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE WINNER

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 71 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E355] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CELEBRATING ANSHU MUKHERJEE AS OREGON'S 5TH DISTRICT'S CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE WINNER ______ HON. JANELLE S. BYNUM of oregon in the house of representatives Wednesday, April 22, 2026 Ms. BYNUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and honor Anshu Mukherjee as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Oregon's 5th District, for the creation of Grub.io, an innovative app designed to combat food waste at large events. The colleagues in this room know exactly what I'm talking about. Platters of fresh, delicious food, thrown right into the trash, because we didn't have a plan, so we didn't have a choice. Now we have a plan. Grub.io lets event organizers and guests share and claim leftover food in real-time, cutting the waste and getting more food to more people. It's easy to use. Register an event, get a code, and post or claim surplus food. It also tracks your environmental impact so you can make every event count--literally, pounds of food saved. Every great idea comes from something in real life. Anshu was at FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston when he saw hundreds of teams in the competition order heaps of food with time running out on the clock. Some never got to their plates in the first place, while others only had time to eat a few bites. The result: untouched pizzas and trays went right to the trash. This wasn't the first time Anshu saw this pattern. He saw the same thing at a tailgate at the University of Oregon--Go Oregon Ducks--and realized this was a solvable problem. We don't have a lot of those, do we, colleagues? At that time, existing food-rescue apps weren't built for fast-moving, temporary events. In Oregon, where 2 billion pounds of food are wasted annually-- despite 1 in 8 residents facing food insecurity--the potential impact of reducing event waste is especially urgent. Anshu is already exploring partnerships with organizations like Urban Gleaners and Waste Not Food Taxi to strengthen connections between event leftovers and local hunger-relief networks. This year's Congressional App Challenge was the largest in the program's history, with 394 Members of Congress hosting district competitions and more than 13,800 students submitting over 4,600 original apps addressing real-world challenges. Among these, Grub.io stood out for its social impact and scalability. Anshu plans to beta- test the app at upcoming robotics competitions hosted by Team 1425 and ultimately aims to deploy it at the Robotics World Championship-- bringing it full circle. Grub.io reflects the creativity, engineering skill, and civic-minded innovation the Congressional App Challenge was designed to celebrate, and that my great state has in large supply. I am incredibly grateful for Anshu and his work. I have a hunch this is just the start of an incredible and impactful life's purpose on this beautiful earth. I thank him for making Oregon proud. ____________________

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CELEBRATING ANSHU MUKHERJEE AS OREGON'S 5TH DISTRICT'S CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE WINNER Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 71 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E355] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CELEBRATING ANSHU MUKHERJEE AS OREGON'S 5TH DISTRICT'S CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE WINNER ______ HON. JANELLE S. BYNUM of oregon in the house of representatives Wednesday, April 22, 2026 Ms. BYNUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and honor Anshu Mukherjee as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Oregon's 5th District, for the creation of Grub.io, an innovative app designed to combat food waste at large events. The colleagues in this room know exactly what I'm talking about. Platters of fresh, delicious food, thrown right into the trash, because we didn't have a plan, so we didn't have a choice. Now we have a plan. Grub.io lets event organizers and guests share and claim leftover food in real-time, cutting the waste and getting more food to more people. It's easy to use. Register an event, get a code, and post or claim surplus food. It also tracks your environmental impact so you can make every event count--literally, pounds of food saved. Every great idea comes from something in real life. Anshu was at FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston when he saw hundreds of teams in the competition order heaps of food with time running out on the clock. Some never got to their plates in the first place, while others only had time to eat a few bites. The result: untouched pizzas and trays went right to the trash. This wasn't the first time Anshu saw this pattern. He saw the same thing at a tailgate at the University of Oregon--Go Oregon Ducks--and realized this was a solvable problem. We don't have a lot of those, do we, colleagues? At that time, existing food-rescue apps weren't built for fast-moving, temporary events. In Oregon, where 2 billion pounds of food are wasted annually-- despite 1 in 8 residents facing food insecurity--the potential impact of reducing event waste is especially urgent. Anshu is already exploring partnerships with organizations like Urban Gleaners and Waste Not Food Taxi to strengthen connections between event leftovers and local hunger-relief networks. This year's Congressional App Challenge was the largest in the program's history, with 394 Members of Congress hosting district competitions and more than 13,800 students submitting over 4,600 original apps addressing real-world challenges. Among these, Grub.io stood out for its social impact and scalability. Anshu plans to beta- test the app at upcoming robotics competitions hosted by Team 1425 and ultimately aims to deploy it at the Robotics World Championship-- bringing it full circle. Grub.io reflects the creativity, engineering skill, and civic-minded innovation the Congressional App Challenge was designed to celebrate, and that my great state has in large supply. I am incredibly grateful for Anshu and his work. I have a hunch this is just the start of an incredible and impactful life's purpose on this beautiful earth. I thank him for making Oregon proud. ____________________