Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a trailblazer, the first female promoted to Brigadier General (BG) in the United States Army, Colonel Antoinette `Toni' Gant.

Antoinette Gant is the first African American female to serve as a division commander in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will be the first AA Female (active duty) to reach the rank of Brigadier General in the history of the Engineer Regiment.

Gant was pinned on October 28, 2022. She is the fourth female HBCU graduate to achieve Brigadier General rank. Colonel Gant became the Commander and Division Engineer of South Pacific Division (SPD), U.S. Army Corps Engineers on July 9, 2021. In this position, she was responsible for leading a workforce of more than 2,500 military and civilians, overseeing hundreds of water resource development, military, and interagency design and construction projects valued at more than $16 billion in support of our communities, our Nation, and our warfighters.

Gant, a native of Port Gibson, Mississippi, graduated from Prairie View A&M University in Texas as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a commission in the Engineer Regiment. She holds a Master of Science in Engineer Management from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, and a Master of Science in national resource strategy from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Extension School, National Defense University, in Washington, D.C. She is a certified Project Management Professional. She has served in a variety of command and staff positions for engineering units stateside and abroad. She is a mother of two and married to Leonard Gant, who is a Middle School Math Educator.

A strong advocate for STEM, Gant has worked to develop partnerships with agencies and organizations to promote science, technology, engineering, and math initiatives. She has received several national and community awards, some including: 2021 Black Engineer of the Year Conference Awards (BEYA) Army Stars and Strips Award recipient, the 2020 Women of Color Career Achievement in Government Award, the YWCA Women on the Move Award and many more.

Gant is an initiate of the Zeta Gamma Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at PVAMU. Her military awards and decorations include many, the Legion of Merit (2), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (7) and many more.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Antoinette Gant as the first African American female to serve as a Division Commander in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a tenacious and self-motivated veteran, Sergeant Anthony Bell.

Sgt. Bell served in the U.S. Army for more than two decades, including 3 years with the Third Brigade 101st Airborne, more famously known as the Screaming Eagles. Around 2010, Sgt. Bell served a tour in Afghanistan and started to ponder what his post-active-duty life would be like. His upbringing and exposure to diverse cultures during his military life brought him full circle. Although Sgt. Bell had a great job offer when he left the military, as a GS-13, he wanted to pay it forward by helping a failing education system.

With this mindset, Sgt. Bell built a high school military education program in Columbus, GA, then later became the military instructor on the campus at the University of Mississippi. More recently, Sgt. Bell has been serving in a similar capacity in Sunflower County for the past 4 years. His classroom instruction serves as both a complement and enhancement to the traditional curriculum. Part of taking the military instruction elective also delves into a student's physical readiness.

Sgt. Bell's last point of emphasis among his students is to change the perception about what the military is. When students first enter the class the typical concept about the military revolves around going to war. But this instructor's life path has shown that the military is a great career starter.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Sgt. Anthony Bell for his passion for leadership and service to the United States of America.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor humanitarian and farmer, Dr. Cindy Ayers-Elliot. Dr. Ayers-Elliot has shown what can be done through hard work, dedication, and the desire to help people in need.

Dr. Ayers-Elliot is a Mississippi native and graduate from Rust College with a bachelor's in business administration, and then became only the second Mississippian to become a National Rural Fellow. Once Ayers-Elliot had completed her fellowship, she moved to New York and worked on Wall Street as an investment banker. After 9/11, she returned to Jackson and received her master's degree and a doctorate in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University in 2006. She went to work for a local nonprofit that focused on agricultural policy, but she wanted to do more than talk to farmers. In 2010, she ``traded high heels for work boots'' and ``designer suits for overalls.'' She became a farmer herself, setting up Foot Print Farms on 68 acres in west Jackson.

Foot Print Farms has several projects to combat Mississippi's food deserts. In partnership with the Mississippi Department of Health, Foot Print Farms supply boxes of fresh produce in season to needy families living in food deserts. During the pandemic, Foot Print Farms secured donations and supplied fresh food to three schools in impoverished parts of Jackson. Dr. Ayers-Elliot has been a great asset to her community, and her work never goes unnoticed.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Cindy Ayers-Elliot for her hard work in fighting food insecurities in the State of Mississippi.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable community leader, Mrs. Patricia Pryor White of Lambert, Mississippi.

Mrs. White was born on January 28, 1957, to the late Alvis & Kelly Lee Pryor of Lambert, MS. She grew up in a loving home and is the second youngest of seven children. Her early educational pursuits began in the Quitman County Schools, where she graduated in 1975. She continued her educational journey and obtained an Associate degree in Business Administration from Northwest Mississippi Community College. After beginning a family of her own and working full time, she later enrolled at the University of Mississippi and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Human Resources in 2006, an accomplishment she is most proud of.

Her pleasant spirit and work ethic are unmatched and indicative of her long customer service career at Entergy (formerly Mississippi Power & Light Company), where she worked for 37 years before retiring in November 2021. Before joining Entergy, she was employed for 6 years at Quitman County Hospital and Nursing, and 1 year at Quitman County Development Organization.

Mrs. White is married to Charles D. White of Lambert, MS, and together they have two children, Charles Patrick White and Ashley White Jones. She is a proud grandmother of two sweet girls, Kaci Nicole Alexander (10) and Audre Nichole Jones (2).

Mrs. White has dedicated her life to serving the Quitman County community through her involvement in her church, Mount Zion Baptist Church. There, she serves in many capacities including Administrative Assistant to the Pastor, Treasurer of Finance Committee, and Choir Member.

Additionally, she served as Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer for 18 Years for the Quitman County District Baptist Association.

Since retiring Mrs. White enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and working alongside her children and daughter-in-law by catering and decorating local events through their family-owned and operated business, Pash Events & Catering LLC.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Patricia Pryor White for her dedication, commitment, and remarkable community leadership.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the late Barbara Pree Lewis, an awesome leader, who left such an amazing legacy and memories behind in Fayette, MS.

Barbara Pree Lewis was born January 26, 1950, to Josie Mae and Lloyd Pree. She peacefully departed this life on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, at Rocky Hollow Lake House in Georgetown, Texas.

Barbara received her formal education through the Jefferson County School District in Fayette, Mississippi, where she graduated from Liddell High School in the class of 1968. Thereafter, she attended and graduated from Alcorn State University in 1972. As a lifelong learner, she received a Master's Degree from Alcorn State University and a second Master's Degree from Delta State University. Along with two master's degrees, she continued to enhance her education by receiving a Specialist Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. As an educator, she served as a middle school English and reading teacher in Ashland, Mississippi and Fayette, Mississippi.

Barbara also served as a high school English teacher, assistant principal, curriculum director, and high school principal all in the Jefferson County School District. In July 2014, she retired from the education profession with 42 years of service.

In 2006, Barbara joined Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, an organization of educated women through their membership selection process.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the late, Barbara Pree Lewis, for her passion, dedication and leadership she left behind in the Jefferson County School District.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a tenacious and self-motivated leader, Mr. James Lewis. Mr. Lewis has shown what can be done through hard work, dedication, and a desire to achieve success.

In 2012, Mr. Lewis was a teacher's assistant at the Grove Street Alternative School, just getting his start as an educator and making $800 a month with no benefits. Thanks to a lot of hard work and a few well-timed breaks, he's now in one of the most prominent jobs in the Vicksburg Warren School District (VWSD).

Lewis, a Vicksburg native, has been hired as the VWSD's next athletics director. The 36-year-old Lewis' career has been quite a rocket ride. After his humble beginnings at Grove Street, he joined Warren Central's boys' basketball coaching staff as a junior high assistant in 2013. He became the junior high head coach in 2014 and the ninth-grade head coach in 2015.

He led Warren Central's ninth-grade team to a 42-8 record and three consecutive Little Six Conference championships, which opened the door for his first varsity head coaching job. He was hired at Jim Hill High School in Jackson in 2018 and was the MHSAA Region 2-5A Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season. While at Jim Hill he won Coach of the Year and had a kid make the junior all-star game.

The whole time Lewis was making a name for himself in the coaching world, he was working behind the scenes to eventually transition out of it.

Lewis earned a masters degree in sports administration from Mississippi State before he started teaching. He said it focused mainly on running college, recreational and professional programs and not high school, however, so he went back to school. He earned a specialist degree in educational leadership and administration from Arkansas State University.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. James Lewis for his passion and dedication to achieve new goals.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a tenacious and remarkable retired educator and cancer survivor, Sheila Applewhite, who has been a champion of breast cancer awareness, advocacy, and service in her community.

In 2007, Sheila was diagnosed with breast cancer. She leaned on her faith and sprung into action, ready to fight. Sheila stated, ``I never felt the negative feelings that people tend to feel because I put my trust in God.''

As she went through the process of having both breasts surgically removed, the extraction of eight lymph nodes, and chemo and radiation, her preparation remained consistent. ``I would pray and anoint my head with oil,'' Sheila recalled. ``I would also pray that God would guide my doctors' and nurses' hands.'' Sheila's fighting mode consisted of praying, reading, and meditating on scripture.

Since that time, Sheila has retired after a 27-year teaching career, teaching mostly second grade. She taught 6 more years at St. Joe in Greenville.

Her experience has taught her that cancer and cancer treatment varies from person to person. Sheila said that just because one person's response to treatment is hair loss, that doesn't mean it will be similar in another. But she didn't allow it to get that far in her case. ``I cut my own hair off before I started receiving treatments,'' she said. ``Some people might begin to worry or become afraid with something like hair loss. But I never felt that way.''

Fully retired and enjoying her grandkids, Sheila keeps faith at the center of her life and avails herself as a symbol of hope to those on the opposite end of this journey. Sheila stated, ``I never had a bad feeling about what I was going through because God said He would never leave us or forsake us. I always tell those going though cancer treatment to stay positive and put God ahead of your problems. I never felt like I was alone. And I don't mind being someone they can talk to.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Sheila Applewhite for her dedication to breast cancer awareness, advocacy, service and support to survivors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a tenacious and self-motivated leader, Mrs. Bessie Orsby-Jones. Bessie has been a champion of breast cancer awareness, advocacy, and service in her community.

Bessie Orsby-Jones is the Founder of Divine Branches, a support group she started after going into the remission stage of cancer. Mrs. Jones was in great need of a support group, but there was not one available in her community. She had a conversation about her concerns with Kenita Faye Miller, a cancer survivor and classmate of 12 years from St. Louis. Later, Mrs. Jones was given an invitation to join The Breakfast Club Cancer Support group in St. Louis through virtual access. She soon felt strongly about forming a support group of her own. She began a search for survivors in and around Clarksdale. She soon started the support group with Catherine Holmes, Mary Caradine, Vanessa Lampkin and Joyce Clark.

Mrs. Jones said she prayed about the name of the support group and God gave her the word Divine. After she expressed it to the group, one of the members shouted, ``Branches.'' Thus, the name ``The Divine Branches'' was agreed upon. Divine means directed by God, and branches was based on John 15:5 ``I am the Vine you are the Branches.'' She knew that if the branches stayed connected to the Vine they would go forth and be productive.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Bessie Orsby-Jones for her dedication to breast cancer awareness, advocacy, service and support to survivors, and remembering those who lives were lost during their battle against breast cancer.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a tenacious and self-motivated leader, Pastor Reginald M. Buckley.

Pastor Buckley was born in Jackson, MS, to the Rev. and Mrs. Horace L. Buckley. He is a product of Jackson Public Schools and completed his undergraduate education at Tougaloo College. A recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon fellowship, Pastor Buckley entered graduate school at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 1994 and completed the Master of Arts Degree in English Literature in 1996.

In 1998, he was called to serve as the senior pastor of Second Baptist Church of Danville, Illinois, and ministered there for nine years. During his tenure there, he served as Secretary and 2nd Vice Moderator of the Wood River Baptist District Association, the oldest continuous Baptist district association in the nation. Pastor Buckley accepted the call to return to Jackson, MS, and serve as the executive pastor of Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in 2007. After serving for seven years, he assumed the role of Senior Pastor in January 2015. He has served as the Dean and the Executive Director of the Congress of Christian Education for the General Missionary Baptist State Convention of Mississippi and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Baptist Seminary.

A W.K. Kellogg Fellow and a member of the inaugural class of the Mississippi Black Leadership Institute, Pastor Buckley is committed to the causes of community development, social justice, and equity. As executive director of the Cade Development Corporation, he helped to lead in the development of an 81-unit senior citizen apartment complex, which opened in 2012 in the Virden Addition community. Pastor Buckley has served on the board of directors for the Hinds County Economic Development Authority, the Mississippi Baptist Seminary and Bible College, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Program for Research on Faith, Justice and Health at the University of Houston and the Board of Directors for the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. Pastor Buckley has also been inducted into the Tougaloo College Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the Tougaloo Meritorious Leadership award, and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Pastor Buckley is married to Lecretia A. Buckley, Ph.D. and they are the parents of two children, Jonathan and Anna.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Pastor Reginald M. Buckley for his dedication and passion for his community and the State of Mississippi.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a resilient minority business that is doing great things in their community, Topps Private Investigation & Security Firm, LLC.

Mrs. Ophelia Topps is the Owner and Chief Executive Officer of Topps Private Investigation & Security Firm, LLC. She is a native of Grenada, MS. She is married to Anthony Topps, Sr., and has four children--three boys and one girl, and she also has six beautiful grandchildren.

Mrs. Topps received her bachelor's in criminal justice from the University of Mississippi in 2014. She began her law enforcement career as a Telecommunicator with the Grenada Police Department. After 14 years of service, Mrs. Topps transitioned to a police officer. In 2016, she then retired from the Grenada Police Department as a Detective Lieutenant.

After Mrs. Topps retired, she opened her own business, which is Topps Private Investigation & Security Firm, LLC. Topps Private Investigation is a Minority/Women owned and operated business with over 30 years of law enforcement experience, combined with over ten years of private investigation and security experience.

Mrs. Topps specialize in a diverse range of services pertaining to security and investigations. During her tenure with the Grenada Police Department, she completed multiple training programs that equipped her with the skills needed to protect and serve her community. She has led her team of security guards in different security capacities including at universities, public schools, semi-pro football league, conferences, concerts, corporate buildings, and most recently, Mississippi Department of Health State School and Nashville Metropolitan Development Housing Agency apartment complex towers.

Mrs. Topps is a recipient of the 2013 Bobby L. ``Bubba'' Wells Motivational Award--Law Fit Challenge. Mrs. Topps' passion is to serve and protect others. Yearly, she adopts a class with the ICS Head Start Center for Christmas. She continues to provide professional service that promotes public safety.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Topps and Topps Private Investigation & Security Firm, LLC for her resilience and hard work her and her firm do for their community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable cancer survivor, Mrs. Andrea Cohen.

Mrs. Andrea Cohen is the daughter of Annie Lee Jones. She is a native of Grenada, MS. She is also the wife of Pastor Darien Cohen and the amazing mother of three beautiful children--Deshawn Cohen, Shakeeria Atkins, and D`Ashley Cohen. She has 4 beautiful grandchildren--Laniah, Deshawn Jr. (DJ), Kendall, and Addison.

Mrs. Cohen is a full-time teacher at the Grenada Lower Elemantary School. She has been teaching for over 10 years. Mrs. Cohen loves her students dearly and she enjoys teaching them. She goes above and beyond to make sure her students learn the material is being taught to them.

She graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementalry Education. She then returned to the University of Mississippi and received two master's degrees.

Mrs. Cohen was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. She fought through chemo and two years later Mrs. Cohen was cancer free.

Mrs. Cohen is a living testimony, and she does not mind telling other young women what she has gone through and how she fought through her dark times.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Andrea Cohen for being a light that shines even in her dark times.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the community efforts of Vicki Colbert.

For decades, Stewpot Community Services has helped people experiencing homelessness by providing shelter, clothes, and food. Recently, a new face behind the scenes has made a big impact on the community, one meal at a time. Vicki Colbert, known as Mama Vicki, wants every single meal she serves at Stewpot to be her best one yet.

``If I don't eat it and it doesn't taste right, it doesn't come out of this kitchen,'' she said.

Stewpot serves up to 150 hot meals to those in need, plus another 70 for Meals on Wheels. Colbert is the woman behind it all, but she didn't exactly plan to be there. The nonprofit group was suddenly without a chef last fall. Colbert, who is a retired education administrator with a culinary background, just happened to be volunteering that week.

``She had already been here as a volunteer, and I heard about her in the kitchen and heard about her food, so I came just to try it out and found that she made the most delicious mac 'n cheese,'' said Jill Buckley, executive director at Stewpot Community Services.

It was so good, in fact, that Buckley said they asked her to stay for just one week. Nearly a year later, Colbert couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

``If I wake up every day in my right mind and I'm able to walk and talk, I need to do something grateful with that, so I come to Stewpot,'' Colbert said. ``This is not a job for me, this is a ministry.''

It may be considered a soup kitchen, but she's serving much more than your average chicken noodle soup. From Southern-fried catfish to homemade hushpuppies, Colbert is making real homecooked meals out of donated food.

``It requires someone in the kitchen, or some people in the kitchen, who can take whatever is donated and make a meal out of it. That's a skill,'' Buckley said.

``My sisters and brothers told me the same thing,'' Colbert said. ``Give Vicki some sugar and flour (and) she can make a meal.''

That familiar magic touch is how she earned the name Mama Vicki. Handwritten letters from some of the Meals on Wheels recipients are proof of her impact. They say how thankful they are to have her.

``I'm glad that I'm here,'' Colbert said, ``I know it had to be a calling that I had to do.'' I love these people, I really do.''

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Vicki Colbert for her outstanding service to her community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a man of many talents, Rev. Calvin Earl Hawkins. Rev. Hawkins is compassionate, and a dedicated public servant devoted to the betterment of the community and success of others.

Rev. Hawkins was born on September 25, 1972, in Water Valley, Mississippi, to the parents of the late John and Earline Wright Hawkins. As the last child of nine children, Calvin graduated high school then continued his education at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Mississippi, then on to Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Mississippi. While at Mississippi State University, Rev. Hawkins obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Educational Psychology, Education, and with a focus in Individual and Family Studies.

Over the years, Rev. Hawkins has been intricately involved within the community and has demonstrated immense dedication to the families and children throughout the state of Mississippi. Rev. Hawkins is a lifeline for many students in Mississippi and has started his 28th year as an educator. Rev. Hawkins is very supportive in the field of education. He is an educator at heart. His work experience includes but is not limited to an Educational/Disability Specialist, Center Administrator, and Regional Administrator for Mississippi Action for Progress, Inc.

As a Regional Administrator for Head Start, Rev. Hawkins served the counties of Yalobusha, Chickasaw and Calhoun City. He was able to provide services for an infinite number of children who needed a head start in life. Rev. Hawkins currently serves as the Coordinator for Student Services for the Coffeeville School District. Within his work career, Rev. Hawkins has worked with students between the ages of 3 years old to post-secondary status He has consistently been an advisor and vessel for students by teaching them problem-solving and coping skills while simultaneously verbalizing to them to never give up. It has always been common practice for Rev. Hawkins to rally and encourage students with a Pep talk letting them know, `What God has for you is for you'' and always providing individuals with the assurance of whatever comes their way, they can make it.

In 2011, Rev. Hawkins accepted the calling into the ministry. He is a licensed and ordained pastor. Rev. Hawkins began pastoring his first church in 2006 as the Senior Pastor of United Missionary Baptist Church in Coffeeville, Mississippi.

Rev. Hawkins serves his community in the following capacities: President of the Blackmur Library, member of the 100 Black Men of Grenada County, Mississippi, Congress President of the Mt. Moriah District Association, National Library Association, and a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Rev. Hawkins past membership includes the Rotary club and Water Valley Main Street Association. He is the Founder of the ``Increase Your Knowledge Group, LLC,'', a non-profit organization to increase the knowledge of potential information within the community. In 2005, Rev. Hawkins was appointed by the Yalobusha County Sheriff and Board of Supervisor as the Chaplain for the Yalobusha County Detention Center.

Rev. Hawkins is now a published author of the book titled, Under the Dusty Sands. This book is an African American history book highlighting Yalobusha County, Mississippi from 1870 to 1970. Rev. Hawkins gathered history to recognize the African American citizing that paved the way in Yalobusha County. He is preparing to publish his second book, which will include the history of the oldest African American school in Yalobusha County entitled ``Dear Ole Davidson''. In 2022, Rev. Hawkins was recognized as an African American historian in Yalobusha County.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Rev. Calvin Earl Hawkins for his dedication and passion for his community and the State of Mississippi.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a staple of the City of Vicksburg and Warren County community, St. Mary Catholic Church. St. Mary Catholic Church and its members have shown what can be done though hard work, dedication, and a desire to serve the Vicksburg/Warren community.

For 116 years, St. Mary Catholic Church has been a source of spiritual guidance and education for African American Catholics in Vicksburg and Warren County. Its importance to the community will be remembered on Oct. 16th with a ceremony dedicating two historic markers--one for the church and another for the elementary and high school. St. Mary's parish was founded in 1906 by the Rev. Aloysius Heick. The first church was on Holly Street. The Sisters of Mercy provided the altar for the first church, the candlesticks, and the priest's vestments; and the priests at St. Paul Catholic Church provided a place for Heick to stay until St. Mary's moved to its present location at Main and Second North streets later in 1906, which is when an elementary and high school was also started, The present church was built in 1923.

The congregation at St. Paul's collected $279.80 that they donated to Heick to buy the land, and philanthropist Catherine Drexel, who was later canonized as a saint, provided half of the money necessary to get the property.

A two-story Greek revival building was built in 1908 and was later used for the high school. The nuns who taught the children at St. Mary's were members of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit.

The elementary school closed in 1970, and the high school closed in 1964. When the schools closed the children who wanted to continue attending Catholic school had to go to Yazoo City.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing St. Mary Catholic Church and its members for their passion and dedication to offer the spiritual and educational needs of the City of Vicksburg community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a tenacious and self-motivated leader, Robert L. Grayson. Robert has been a champion of service and dedication to the great state of Mississippi and his community.

Robert L. Grayson, of Tutwiler, born on May 10, 1941, is remembered as a trailblazer. He graduated from West District High School in Tallahatchie County. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, served in Vietnam and 8 years in the Army Reserve. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War and a recipient of the Bronze, Silver Star, and the Purple Heart.

A three-decade employee with the Mississippi Department of Corrections at Parchman, MS, Mr. Grayson successfully entered the political arena in 1989 when he defeated the incumbent Ward 1 alderman in Tutwiler. He was reelected to that position in 1993. After 7 years as alderman, during which time he was elected vice mayor by his peers, in 1996 Mr. Grayson resigned to compete in a June special election for mayor. He received 53 percent of the vote in a three-man field to earn an historic first-ballot victory. As the first African American chief executive of Tutwiler, Mr. Grayson completed the remaining year of the former mayor's term, was reelected, and went on to serve 3 full terms, ending in 2009.

Mr. Grayson dedicated his life to public service, serving in multiple positions--vice chairman of the Tallahatchie Housing Board, Council Board of Alderman of Tutwiler, Aaron E. Henry Health Center Board, and the National Conference of Black Mayors. Mr. Grayson was a founding member of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission (ETMC) of Tallahatchie County and one of the first co-chairs of that organization. In October 2007, he and fellow ETMC co-chair Betty Pearson read the ``Resolution of Regret'' to family members of Emmett Till during the dedication of a historical marker on the grounds of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life, legacy, and service of Robert L. Grayson for his passion and dedication to serving the Mississippi Delta and his desire to make a difference in the community, state and Nation.