Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to pay tribute to two glowing flames that found one another at a young age, and have had the fortune of sharing their lives for the last 50 years.

Ivory and Doris Murphy are two dear friends of my wife, Emily, and me. Our paths first crossed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1962. That chance meeting blossomed into a 43-year friendship that has grown stronger over time, despite the physical distance that has separated us since 1967. Ivory and Doris are a dynamic couple who serve as an inspiration to everyone whose lives they touch.

Both Doris and Ivory grew up in a rural community near Wallace, North Carolina. They met in 1953, and two years later were married. Ivory enlisted in the Air Force and their life together became an extraordinary adventure, which Doris dropped out of Fayetteville State University to pursue.

Shortly after coming to Charleston (South Carolina) Air Force Base, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Doris decided to return to Fayetteville State from which she received a degree in education while raising three children, Ivory, Jr., Andrea, and Octavius. Ivory's career took them to Air Force bases around the world in distant places like Greenland, Libya and Thailand.

In 1977, Ivory retired from the Air Force, and the Murphy family settled in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Ivory began a second career with Allstate Insurance Co., and Doris devoted herself to a career in education working her way up from classroom teacher to principal. In 1994 Doris was named ``Assistant Principal of the Year'' while serving at Spring Creek Elementary School.

Ivory and Doris' strong foundation in family and faith has sustained them through their 50-year marriage. The Murphy's golden anniversary is as much a celebration of the institution of marriage as it is this couple who set the standard for so many around them.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me today in honoring a couple that has persevered throughout a lifetime of joys and adversities. Their dignity, grace and love after 50 years together are an inspiration for all of us.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and honor that I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the late Sarah Mae Flemming Brown for her valiant contributions to the cause of civil and human rights. Her place in history has not been fully recognized, but her determination to seek equity and fair treatment in our society deserves to be illuminated.

Ms. Flemming is an unsung hero whose pioneering quest to end segregation and racial hatred isn't told in our classrooms the way that so many other triumphant sagas are recounted, and in fact she didn't even tell the story to her children. But I want to recount her heroic stand, so it can from this point forward be included in the Congressional Record.

On June 22, 1954, the 20-year old maid boarded a bus in much the same manner that Rosa Parks later did. She took the only empty seat, one she believed began the rows in which black riders were allowed to sit. The driver challenged her, and humiliated, she signaled to get off at the next stop. The bus driver blocked her attempt to exit through the front of the bus and punched her in the stomach as he ordered her out the rear door. She wasn't trying to prove a point, and certainly there was no way of knowing how her apparently simple gesture of defiance would lead to monumental changes in our Nation's fundamental values.

Civil rights activists in Columbia, SC, heard of Ms. Flemming's ordeal and through Ms. Mojeska Simpkins enlisted Attorney Phillip Wittenberg, a white attorney in Columbia to represent her. Flemming v. South Carolina Electric and Gas was filed on July 21, 1954 in U.S. District Court. The allegation was that Ms. Flemming's 14th amendment right to equal protection had been violated.

On February 16, 1955, Federal District Judge George Bell Timmerman, Sr. dismissed the case. Ms. Flemming appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and her case was argued on June 21, 1955. The Fourth Circuit reversed Judge Timmerman on July 14,1955 and ``remanded the case for further proceedings.'' SCE&G appealed the decision of the Appeals Court. On April 23, 1956, the United States Supreme Court dismissed SCE&G's appeal, and on June 13, 1956, Judge Timmerman dismissed the case once again.

Throughout this entire ordeal Ms. Flemming and Attorney Wittenberg endured intimidation and cross-burnings from the KKK. Things took their toll on Mr. Wittenberg and he decided not to handle a second appeal. Attorneys Matthew Perry and Lincoln Jenkins became the new lawyers of record for Ms. Flemming, and with their help and the help of NAACP lawyers the Fourth Circuit once again remanded the case to the trial court.

While Ms. Flemming was fighting her battle in Columbia, SC, things began fermenting in other parts of the South. On December 1, 1955, a now famous seamstress, Rosa Parks, boarded a city bus in Montgomery, AL, in much the same fashion as Sarah Flemming did on June 22, 1954, some 18 months before. Few people are aware of Ms. Flemming's story. Timing and significant forces combined to keep her story from common knowledge.

Judge George Bell Timmerman, Sr.'s son, George Bell Timmerman, Jr.-- an avowed segregationist--was elected Governor of South Carolina in November 1954, and conspired with the local newspaper, the State, to black out, or it might be more appropriate to say, white out civil rights activities taking place in South Carolina. Consequently, history records that the United States Supreme Court case involving Rosa Parks decided on November 13, 1956 desegregated public transportation, although the Court had made clear in its remand of Ms. Flemming's case five months earlier, what the law of the land was.

Ms. Flemming went on to marry John Brown of Gaston County, N.C., and they had three children. She poured her heart and soul into Goodwill Baptist Church in Eastover, SC, and occasionally continued to work as a housekeeper. A heart attack brought on by diabetes took Mrs. Sarah Mae Flemming Brown just before her 60th birthday in 1993, a few months after I became the first African-American elected to this august body. Her death ended a seemingly simple life that had an extraordinary impact on this country.

The story of Ms. Flemming reminds us of the social progress that has been made in one generation and the progress that continues to be made as a testament to the vision and courage of such an advocate of American freedom and equality. Her legal team, that fought with her all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, should also be commended for their insight and vision that would help lead to so many future legal triumphs toward ending government-imposed segregation. Ms. Flemming Brown's heroic actions should remind them and us that ``if a tree were to fall in a wood and nobody's there to hear it, does not mean it does not make a sound.''

I invite my colleagues to join me today in thanking Sarah Flemming Brown for providing the precedent that led to the desegregation of public transportation in these United States. We should also appreciate the great loyalty she and her family and friends have kept to South Carolina. I am humbled to share her story today for all to appreciate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to say thanks to the people of South Carolina, most especially those in the midlands area, for the tremendous outpouring of love and respect shown to victims of Katrina. And, I want to pay particular thanks to the Mayor of Columbia, Bob Coble; Columbia businessman, Sam Tenenbaum; Columbia Chamber of Commerce President, Ike McLeese; and the President of the University of South Carolina, Andrew Sorensen. This dynamic quartet decided that they would be guided from the beginning by the Golden Rule: ``Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.'' Consequently, they decided that nobody coming to Columbia would be placed in a shelter. Everybody would be put in motel rooms or in individual homes. We have just received word that we will be receiving additional evacuees tomorrow morning and I now call upon the people who will be manning our one-stop reception center to continue putting the Golden Rule into practice.

Madam Speaker, I come today to say to the people of South Carolina, most especially the people of Columbia and the midlands, how much I appreciate the tremendous outpouring of love and respect they have given to the victims of Katrina. I want to say a special thank you to Mayor Bob Coble of Columbia, businessman Sam Tannenbaum of Columbia, and the Columbia chamber president, Ike McLeese.

These three dynamic gentlemen coordinated an effort in Columbia to receive evacuees that I would like to call a practical application of the Golden Rule. They decided that they would not put anyone in shelters. Anyone coming to Columbia would go to a home or to a private motel room. We have just been informed that we can expect more evacuees coming to Columbia tomorrow morning.

I want to say those who have volunteered to man the One Stop Center to please continue to practice the Golden Rule.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a friend and fellow South Carolinian, Ms. Elouise Ashford Coleman. After 35 years of tireless dedication to the students of South Carolina, Ms. Coleman is celebrating her retirement on Saturday with friends and family.

Ms. Coleman received her early public school education in Fairfield County, graduating from McCrorey-Liston High School in 1966. She then matriculated at Vorhees College, receiving a Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics in 1970. Ms. Coleman began her educational career shortly thereafter. First, as a math teacher at Winnsboro High School in Fairfield County, and later, as a math teacher at Columbia High School, in Columbia, South Carolina. She taught at Columbia High for 19 years, during which time she received a Master's degree in Education from the University of South Carolina.

Ms. Coleman left the classroom in 1994 upon accepting the position of Assistant Principal at Columbia High School. It is from this position that Ms. Coleman is retiring after serving as an administrator for 11 years. She will be sorely missed as she begins her well deserved retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me today in honoring Ms. Elouise Ashford Coleman. She has given of her time and talents for 35 years as an educator in my home state. The contributions she has made to her community and to the educational system will leave lasting impressions on the lives she has touched. I wish her continued success and Godspeed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Amy Surginer Ligon Northrop on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Born September 28, 1905 in Dixiana, South Carolina, Mrs. Northrop became a successful entrepreneur, owning several businesses, including a thriving beauty shop and a laundromat in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mrs. Northrop, a pioneer among African American businesswomen, attended grade school in Dixiana and St. Ann Episcopal School in Cayce, South Carolina. She received her bachelor's degree from Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, where she later established a scholarship named after her and her late husband, John. With a boundless thirst for knowledge, she furthered her education at Tennessee State University, South Carolina State University, Almanella School of Beauty Culture, and the Manhattan Trade School in New York.

Broadening her knowledge of life and mankind through travel, Mrs. Northrop was at various times, a resident of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. With her foresight and vision, she opened a beauty shop in Brooklyn, New York. She relocated to South Carolina in 1935 and opened Amy's Beauty Shop. In 1936, she became a member of the South Carolina State Cosmetology Association and the first clinic for the association was held at her business. When the Columbia Citywide Cosmetology Association was organized in 1938, Mrs. Northrop became one of the charter members.

In 1941, she successfully negotiated affiliation with the National Beauty Culturists League for the Columbia association. She became a state organizer at a national beauticians' convention and organized beauticians throughout the State. Her interest in cosmetology led to extensive travel throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Mrs. Northrop has received numerous certificates and awards for her outstanding contributions to the field of cosmetology. In 1945, she received the great honor of being the first African American state inspector of beauty shops in South Carolina. A tireless civic leader, Mrs. Northrop founded Gamma Epsilon, a chapter of the Alpha Chi Pi Mega Sorority, whose first members were beauticians from Charleston, Sumter, Kingstree, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

As an entrepreneur, she was successful in securing the purchase of property on Clark Street in Columbia as a headquarters for the city's beauticians' association. She later helped to secure the land on Fontaine Road where the State Cosmetology Headquarters, the Margarette H. Miller Cosmetology Center, now stands.

Mrs. Northrop is a life member of Mt. Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dixiana, South Carolina, where she organized the Youth Church, the Pull Together Club, the National Council of Negro Women, and the NAACP. In 1997, she relocated to the Washington, DC area to live with her niece and nephew, Rose and Edgar Crook, and worships with them at Shiloh Baptist Church. She continues to maintain strong ties to South Carolina, however, and visits as often as she can.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in saluting Mrs. Amy Surginer Ligon, one of South Carolina's and America's finest citizens, as she celebrates her 100th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one who was an extraordinary force behind the recent designation of the Congaree Swamp National Monument as a National Park. When Martha Bogle came to this 22,200-acre National Parks Service site near Columbia, SC, in 1995, about 50,000 people each year visited the old-growth bottomland hardwood forest that was designated a national monument. Today that figure has tripled and it is due in large measure to the hard work and dedication of Ms. Bogle.

Upon her arrival, Ms. Bogle realized the majesty of the towering pines and giant hardwoods, but access to the facility was so poor that few visitors were enjoying these amazing vistas. As the new superintendent, Ms. Bogle looked for a cost-effective way the community could join in making this hidden jewel more accessible. Her tenacity paid off when she convinced the South Carolina National Guard to partner with the Parks Service in building a new entrance road and visitors center. The result was an award-winning, 12,000 square foot visitors center with wonderful educational tools and roads and parking lots that could better accommodate visitors. This was quite an aaccomplishment for Ms. Bogle's first foray as a park superintendent.

Still her vision for the site was not complete. With improved facilities and access, Ms. Bogle embarked upon a campaign to turn the Congaree Swamp National Monument into a national park. This was an even greater undertaking because only 52 of the National Parks Service's 388 sites were designated as national parks. Yet Ms. Bogle found allies in my former colleague, Senator Fritz Hollings, and myself, and we joined her and the many ``Friends of the Congaree'' in the fight to secure the designation. After some difficult days and lots of hard work on the part of Ms. Bogle and many others, on November 10, 2003, the President signed legislation that officially changed the Congaree Swamp National Monument into the Congaree National Park. In addition, we were able to include in the legislation, at Ms. Bogle's request, a 4,600-acre expansion of the site. As she departs, Ms. Bogle is working to acquire the additional property from willing sellers.

Ms. Bogle's love of nature began in her childhood in a small Tennessee town. Upon her graduation from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a Bachelor's in Botany, Ms. Bogle wasted no time in securing a position with the National Parks Service. Her 26-year career has taken her to nine National Parks Service sites and one national wildlife refuge.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you, and my colleagues to join me today in thanking Martha Bogle for her tremendous contributions to the Congaree National Park, and wish her well as she leaves South Carolina to become assistant superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway. No matter where she serves in the National Park Service, Ms. Bogle brings an infectious joy in her surroundings and a commitment that will insure our Nation's natural treasures are preserved and protected for many generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the outgoing Commanding General of the United States Army Training Center at Fort Jackson, SC, for his service to God and country, and his dedication to family and career. His leadership role at one of the military's largest training facilities has been greatly appreciated. BG Abraham Turner will be leaving his post this month to become Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Training in Fort Monroe, VA, and the men and women in uniform at Fort Jackson owe a great debt of gratitude to this model soldier.

Since receiving his commission through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at South Carolina State University in 1976, Brigadier General Turner has earned some of the highest accolades of any Army officer. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Expert Infantry Badge.

Brigadier General Turner previously served in numerous positions at Fort Bragg, Fort Benning and West Point, where he was a Regimental Tactical Officer. He also served as Assistant Chief of Staff, C3, Operations, Coalition Forces Land Component Command at Camp Doha, Kuwait. His numerous combat assignments have included a 1989 deployment in Operation Just Cause in Panama, a year-long deployment in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm that ended in 1991, and, most recently, a deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom, where he served as part of C3, Coalition Forces Land Component Command.

Brigadier General Turner is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College. He earned a bachelor's degree in Music from South Carolina State University and a master's degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg University. He and his wife Linda are the proud parents of three lovely children: April, Creighton and Jessica.

Mr. Speaker, I invite you and my colleagues to join me today in honoring Brigadier General Turner, who embodies all the virtues of individual courage and sacrifice in defending global freedom for which the U.S. Army is so well known. I know he will continue to build and enviable legacy at Fort Monroe with the same fortitude and charisma that led him to such a successful tenure in his native South Carolina. I thank him for his service--at home and abroad. I am proud and we are fortunate to have him in the top ranks of our armed forces.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the residents of Lone Star, SC who are coming together on Friday, August 12, 2005 for the 90th annual Good Hope Picnic. This historic event began on the second Friday of August in 1915, and has continued on the same day every year since.

The Good Hope Picnic was founded by black farmers in this Calhoun County town as a way to market their crops. It became a holiday for many black farm workers whose white employers gave them the day off to attend the picnic.

Today, the Good Hope Picnic is a family reunion for many Lone Star residents who have moved away. Over the years, this once thriving community has lost its vibrancy and its jobs. There are few opportunities for children who grew up here, and most must leave to find work and a better quality of life for their families. Yet Lone Star remains their home, and families plan their annual vacations to come home for the Good Hope Picnic swelling the population of that small community by as many as 400-500 people on that day.

I have spent a lot of time in Lone Star during my service in Congress. I am proud to have brought a new baseball field to the community, and am currently working on funding to build a new community center. Plans are moving forward on the Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector that will bring new opportunities to this area in hopes that many of those who consider Lone Star home can reconnect with their families and once again find vibrancy in their native community.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in congratulating the members of the Good Hope Picnic Foundation, who are descendants of the picnic's original founders. They are continuing a proud tradition that reflects the heart and hope of the Lone Star community.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, August 6th we will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Atomic Age, widely celebrated as having begun when President Harry S Truman ordered the historic and fateful mission of the Enola Gay. But, another event took place on that day in and of itself that could have triggered the onset of this historic period, at least in the mind of Robert S. (Bobby) Reese, Jr., who was born on that day in Florence, South Carolina to ``Big Bobby'' and ``Gem'' Reese.

Bobby worked here in Washington for more than 30 years representing the American Trucking Associations and the Altria Group. Many in this chamber have had the good fortune and pleasure to have shared much of that time with Bobby. During my tenure here, Bob has been a trusted advisor and personal friend. I, like many others in this august body, often partnered with Bobby on the golf course, and often shared with him the thrill of victory. Of course there were moments when Bobby and many of us experienced the agony of defeat. But I think that all of us will agree that he was always a reliable partner or tough competitor. And, at least with me, he never understood the phrase ``customer golf.''

Bobby retired about 2 years ago and he and his lovely wife, Peggy, moved back to our home State and are enjoying their retirement in the Dunes West golf course community near Mount Pleasant. Bobby and Peggy are also enjoying spending more time with their four adult children: Patty, Cynthia, Taylor and Michael and two grandchildren Tayson and Senna.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in wishing a happy and festive 60th birthday to Robert S. ``Bobby'' Reese, and our hopes that he, Peggy and all of the Reese family and friends will have a joyous occasion on August 6, 2005 and for many more years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Colonel Robert A. Rowlette, Jr., Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers for the Louisville District. On July 29, 2005, after 26 years of distinguished and dedicated military service to our country, Colonel Rowlette will retire from his post as commander. I believe it is important to highlight the honors he has received and the assignments in which he has dutifully served.

Born in Berea, Kentucky, Colonel Rowlette was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers upon graduation from the University of Kentucky in 1979. At the University of Kentucky he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. He returned to the University of Kentucky to earn a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1990. Additionally, he is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College. Colonel Rowland is registered as a Professional Engineer in the Commonwealths of Virginia and Kentucky.

Colonel Rowlette has received many honors and awards for his service to our Country. His military honors include the Meritorious Service Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters, The Army Commendation Medal, The Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the National Defense Service Medal.

Prior to becoming the Army Corps of Engineers' Commander for the Louisville District, Colonel Rowlette's tour of duty included assignments in the continental United States and Hawaii. He has previously served as a project manager and assistant chief Army Programs in the Louisville District. Following his assignment to Louisville District he served with the 46th Battalion at Ft. Rucker, Alabama as a company commander and operations officer.

Colonel Rowlette's next assignment was at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York where he served as an instructor and an Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences. Following his time at West Point attended the Command and General Staff College. Following graduation, he served as the Executive Officer for the 84th Engineer Battalion at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He next served as the Operations Officer for the 416th ENCOM FWD cell at Fort McPherson, GA.

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Colonel Rowlette when he arrived in Charleston, South Carolina to serve as Commander of the Charleston District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in my Congressional District. He followed his tenure in my home state, as the Engineer Colonel Assignments Officer with the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command and attended the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in celebrating the 26-year career of Colonel Robert A. Rowlette, Jr. His leadership has been characterized by excellence and service. He has been a great asset to his profession and a role model for all of those who follow him in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. I wish him a very happy retirement and Godspeed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Mrs. Janie Holloman Johnson, a native South Carolinian whose dedication to service for all God's children shines as an example to each of us. On July 13, 2005, she will celebrate her 100th birthday, and I believe it is important to highlight a few of the contributions she has made during her life as we commemorate her centennial birthday.

Born in Timmonsville, South Carolina, Mrs. Johnson attended public schools in Darlington County where she had to walk four miles each way on a daily basis. An avid learner from an early age, she was one of a few students who had the capability to recite her ABC's forwards and backwards with great speed. As an example of her commitment to learning, at the age of 69, Mrs. Johnson went back to school to receive her high school diploma from Old Johnson High School in Timmonsville, South Carolina, taking night classes to achieve this long time goal.

Mrs. Johnson has been a tireless worker in her community. After she received her diploma, she held classes in the community to teach others to read and dial a telephone. In addition, she served as a caretaker to disabled members of her family and to others in the community at large.

Mrs. Johnson has been a longtime and active member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Timmonsville, South Carolina serving in many capacities including the church choir, the Sunday School Department, and the Missionary Society. Her roots in the church date back to her childhood, where she received religious training from her parents and the leaders of Center Baptist Church in Timmonsville where she worshipped while growing up.

In addition to being a woman of faith, a woman dedicated to her community, and a woman who is a lifelong advocate of learning; Mrs. Johnson is a woman dedicated to family. She is the widow of the late Evander Johnson, Sr. to whom she was married for 65 years until his death. She is the mother of 6 children, 17 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, 5 great-great grandchildren, and 1 great-great-great grandchild.

While their children were young, the family lived as sharecroppers and Mrs. Johnson handmade most of the clothes for her growing children. Once her children were grown, she became a cosmetologist and worked from her home. To this day, she is still active with volunteer work in her community.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life and legacy of this venerable woman on her 100th birthday. She blazed a trail in her community through Christian service that continues to influence future generations. And she has demonstrated, with great fervor, her timeless commitment to serve the people of her community. I wish her a Happy Birthday and Godspeed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Reverend Donald E. Greene, Jr., on his tenth anniversary as the Pastor and visionary leader of Andrew Chapel Baptist Church in Orangeburg County, South Carolina.

Not only has Reverend Greene's leadership resonated on Sunday mornings, but he has also pioneered movements that have increased his church's membership by more than 500 members in his first decade of service. Under his guiding hand, the church has expanded physically as well. The Andrew Chapel congregation currently worships in a new sanctuary on a 33-acre site on Five Chop Road. The building, in its fifth year of existence, serves the community at large and is a reminder of what can be achieved by a deep and abiding faith and a dedicated outreach to others.

The church is truly a success story in that its members have worked to establish many beneficial programs and resources. One of its amazing successes is the Andrew Chapel Christian Academy which was established seven years ago. Under the direction of Reverend Greene, it has already quadrupled in enrollment and has inspired afterschool tutorial assistance for its students. Whether the need is for better materials in the classrooms or upgrading facilities in the old Andrew Chapel building, Reverend Greene and his church are dedicated to creating a house of worship that fits the needs of all people and attracts visitors and new members at the same time.

Andrew Chapel Baptist Church is a blessing for the Four Holes community of Orangeburg. It is establishing a rich legacy as a parish on the move with many energetic and devoted individuals driving it toward a bright future. Reverend Greene has led this congregation with a firm foundation in faith and has engaged the fellowship to serve as spiritual leaders to others around them.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulations to Andrew Chapel Baptist Church and wishing them Godspeed as they continue to illuminate the virtues of moral leadership and community service. I wish the congregation many more decades of growth and sharing with Reverend Greene at the church's helm.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Everett L. Dargan, an outstanding surgeon, a devoted husband and father, and an all-around good citizen of South Carolina.

At the age of 15, Everett Dargan, a native of Columbia, won a scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta. He later transferred to the University of Buffalo in upstate New York where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1949. Dargan credits the faculty and administration of Morehouse College, in particular then-Morehouse College President Benjamin E. Mays, Ph.D. and Harold Eugene Finley, Ph.D., for instilling a lifelong sense of academic discipline, the inspiration to dream that a career in medicine was possible for him, and a dedication to personal excellence. ``Dr. Finley put me into warp speed and opened up new worlds to me--embryology, anatomy and zoology. Seeing bacteria and red blood cells was like discovering new life forms on `Star Trek.' He was a taskmaster and insisted on perfection,'' Dargan recalls. ``But he also had a sense of humor. He was my mentor.''

Dargan contined his education at Howard University's College of Medicine where he earned his M.D. and also won First Prize in Medicine. After medical school, he completed his internship at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, NY, and was later named chief resident surgeon at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Dargan interrupted his specialty training to serve in the United States Air Force as a captain and commander of the 3910th USAF Hospital in Mildenhall/Lakenheath, England, during the Korean War. Later, he would continue his commitment to providing quality medical care to military veterans through his service to the Dorn Veterans Administration Medical Center in Columbia,

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and commend Georgetown County, South Carolina, and its efforts to make healthcare services accessible to its rural population.

Several years ago, Georgetown County conceived the idea of turning a former schoolhouse--purchased for just one dollar--into an affordable and accessible healthcare facility for residents who previously had to travel more than a half-hour to reach needed wellness resources. This center is critical, since more than 15 percent of citizens in the area do not have transportation, 56 percent live below 200 percent of the poverty level, and the community is not served by public transit.

I am extremely pleaded to announce the completion of the Choppee Regional Resource Center, a medical ``One Stop Shop,'' providing the first step towards an integrated, holistic healthcare delivery system for some of South Carolina's most underserved residents. Residents now have access to medical care, drug and alcohol counseling, mental health services, children's and seniors' services, and adult education opportunities.

This center is important to me because it brings together key players from across the state to make a difference in the individual lives of those who too often are not reached by broader ,efforts. It is theseup.derserved people who each of us is sent here to help in any and every way we can.

Georgetown County continues to develop the Choppee facilities and is now implementing a second phase of the project: the creation of a Family Wellness Center. Together, these resources will provide comprehensive healthcare, vocational, and support services to benefit the county's rural residents.

Mr. Speaker, please join me as I commend the Georgetown County Council, the Administrator, School District, an4 all those individuals and groups who have been so personally involved in making this center a reality. Without your help, the citizens of Choppee would still be forced to travel great distances, at great expense and effort for the day-to-day services they need to live healthy, productive lives.