CELEBRATING STEPHEN PECK

On 2024-12-19, Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA-36) delivered a floor speech titled "CELEBRATING STEPHEN PECK" in the House. The speech addressed taxes and also covered the environment, housing.

CELEBRATING STEPHEN PECK

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1307] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CELEBRATING STEPHEN PECK ______ HON. TED LIEU of california in the house of representatives Thursday, December 19, 2024 Mr. LIEU. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Stephen Peck, a Marine .Corps Veteran and non-profit leader who has dedicated his career to serving his fellow veterans. After 28 years of service, 14 years in which he led the organization, Stephen is retiring as Chief Executive Officer of U.S. VETS, an organization dedicated to preventing and ending veteran homelessness nationwide. Stephen leaves a lasting legacy as a veteran leader who has devoted his efforts to empower veterans and families through housing, comprehensive services and advocacy. Born in 1946 to Greta Kukkonen and actor Gregory Peck in Los Angeles, Stephen grew up in Southern California and went on to graduate from Northwestern University. After graduation, he was drafted into the United States Marine Corps, serving as a First Lieutenant in the 1st Marine Division and forward observer outside Danang during the Vietnam War. After completing his service in Vietnam, Stephen returned home, attended the graduate film school at the University of Southern California and worked on a number of television shows and became a documentary filmmaker. After making Heart of the Warrior, a documentary about Vietnam War and Soviet-Afghanistan War veterans returning to the countries they fought in and Far From Home, a documentary about homeless veterans in Venice, California, Stephen returned to USC and earned a master's degree in social work. While completing his degree, Stephen began working as a social worker at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, assisting his fellow veterans, Stephen found his true passion in this work and in 1996, he joined the United States Veterans Initiative, a non-profit that provides homeless veterans with temporary housing, counseling and wraparound services. In 2010, Stephen was named CEO of U.S. VETS, expanding the organization's work in several states. During his leadership, the organization has grown tremendously, and offers services to veterans across Southern California, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Washington, D.C. After the West Los Angeles Leasing Act was signed into law, giving the Department of Veterans Affairs the authority to develop supportive housing and services for homeless veterans, U.S. VETS was selected by the VA as part of the principal developer team for the site. Dedicated to ending veteran homelessness in Southern California, this project co- led by U.S. VETS is building new supportive housing for veterans, social work and community space and at its full build out will house a minimum of 1,200 units of supportive housing and a community dedicated to veterans in Los Angeles County. In 2023, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society awarded U.S. VETS with its Community Service Award for demonstrating the values epitomized by the Medal of Honor. Stephen's decades of service to our veterans returning from combat, are commendable and his work to help house and support them has reverberated in Southern California and beyond. I am confident that his work will continue to benefit veterans throughout our Nation and will inspire others to continue the fight to finally end veteran homelessness in our country. ____________________