Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I have always said that the colors orange and white are almost as patriotic as red, white, and blue in my District. East Tennesseans live and breathe Big Orange Sports.

Ben Byrd is a journalism legend in my District and has covered the most notable sports moments in Tennessee history since 1947.

Tom Mattingly, a writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel, pays tribute to Ben Byrd in the piece reprinted below. I draw his service and talent to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

Mattingly: Nothing Got Past Byrd's Coverage

(By Tom Mattingly)

When Emmett Byrd, director of marketing and operations for

Kyle Busch Motorsports, spoke at the Knoxville Downtown

Sertoma Club last Wednesday, there was a special journalist

in the audience.

Ben Byrd, accompanied by wife, Jo, was there for the

festivities, not as a journalist, with notebook, pen, and on

deadline, but as a proud father.

Byrd's career with the Knoxville Journal stamped him as a

legend in Knoxville journalism. He covered the basketball

Vols in his first assignment in 1947 and didn't miss very

many games thereafter. His history of the Tennessee

basketball program, titled ``The Basketball Vols,'' came out

in 1974.

In 1986, he coauthored ``You Can Go Home Again'' with

Johnny Majors, a story tracing Majors' earliest days in Moore

County through the excitement of the 1986 Sugar Bowl.

Byrd covered many of the greatest moments in Tennessee

sports history from the primitive press boxes and arenas of

the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, through the newer structures of

later years.

His coverage of the 1956 Georgia Tech game was honored as

one of the best sports stories that year. It covered 25

paragraphs without a coach or player quote to be found.

Here's how he set the stage.

``GRANT FIELD, Atlanta, November 10--The greatest football

game I have ever seen, Tennessee 6, Georgia Tech 0, has been

over 15 minutes now. The slate gray horseshoe stadium is

almost cleared of fans now, except for a bright orange patch

across the field in the east stands, where the Tennessee band

continues to blare out, piping hot in concert with the hand-

clapping and foot-stomping jubilance of Volunteer fans.''

You want a snappy line that fully explained what was

happening on the field?

Consider that the situation was fourth-and-2 for the Yellow

Jackets at the Vols 34.

``They went for it this time and made it, Ken Owen ripping

to the 29. Stan Flowers

followed that up with an eight-yard charge, and the Tennessee

situation was not exactly peachy. But then Owen, exploding

off tackle, fumbled, and Jim Smelcher was on it like a third-

rate vaudeville dancer grabbing coins tossed up on the

stage.''

Then came the conclusion, his tribute to an epic contest, a

nearly poetic ending you're not likely to see in a game story

today.

``Twice the Vols came up with clutch interceptions, one by

Bubba Howe at midfield, and the last by (Tommy) Bronson,

retreating with his man deep into Tennessee territory. He

planted Tennessee's flag there on the nine-yard line, and a

vast silence fell on the Tech side of the stands. While down

the line, the Tennessee crowd chanted . . . four . . . three

. . . two . . . one. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.''

Byrd's daily columns, titled ``Byrd's Eye View,'' were

incisive, even if they might have led to an unintended

consequence on one occasion.

Byrd had a Saturday game day feature titled ``Free Thought

Association,'' purporting to pick the winners of that day's

games by what litany of seemingly random comments.

When Tennessee played Rutgers on Nov. 3, 1979, on

Homecoming Day, the Vols were a prohibitive favorite.

``What are rutgers?'' he wrote.

``One housewife told me she bought a pound of them at the

supermarket last week for 59 cents, but they must have been

on sale because she normally pays 89 cents a pound.

``This one man who's been up East told me he doesn't

exactly know what rutgers are, but he's pretty sure they are

a lot like yonkers. Now if I just knew what yonkers were.''

Rutgers got the last laugh, winning 13-7, with the column

supposedly on display prominently in the Scarlet Knights

dressing room.

``Incidentally,'' colleague Marvin West wrote, ``that

column was more fun on Saturday morning than Saturday

night.''

When Tennessee squared off against Belmont in basketball in

December 2008, son Rick led the Belmont squad into battle.

At one critical juncture in the contest, the CSS camera

focused on Ben, watching intently from press row at the east

end of Thompson-Boling Arena near the Belmont bench.

He had to have had mixed emotions, given that he had seen a

number of these down-to-the-last-minute games during his time

covering the Vols. That was old hat for him.

You couldn't blame him for harboring the hope that Rick and

Belmont could pull off an upset. You could only imagine what

was going through his head as the final seconds ticked down.

I might have been the same feeling he had on March 6, 1967,

as he watched an improbable victory at Mississippi State that

gave the Vols the SEC title.

The next day, Byrd's game story dubbed the 1966-67 Ray

Mears-coached SEC title team the ``Fearless Five.''

When someone writes the authoritative history of Tennessee

sports, particularly for football and basketball, Byrd's

craftsmanship in reporting and commenting on the games of his

era will have to be one of the primary sources.

Madam Speaker, Steve Ridenour and his family are longtime friends of mine and my family.

I have always heard it said that the worst thing that can ever happen to you is to outlive one of your children.

Steve and his family suffered the terrible tragedy of losing their son Will in a car accident on June 11, 2007.

His other son, Tanner, who is 19, prepared the speech reprinted below to give to his senior class at Knoxville's West High School.

This speech expresses Tanner's love for Will and also shows how this special young man handled a horrible period for him and his family.

I would like to call these words by Tanner Ridenour to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

James Dean once said ``Dream as if you'll live forever,

live as if you'll die today''. Maybe you remember him smoking

cigarettes on his motorcycle in the movies or maybe you

remember James Dean's car accident in 1955 which took his

life. My older brother Will passed away June 11, 2007 in a

car accident. It was one of the most devastating things that

ever happened to my family. But it didn't stop at my family

it affected everyone around us. One month later my

grandfather passed away from cancer, and the following

December my grandmother passed away from cancer. 2007 was one

of the darkest years of my life, and I hope no one ever has

to go through what I went through. It made me a stronger

person and taught me what really is important in life. Aldous

Huxley said, ``Experience is not what happens to you. It is

what you DO with what happens to you.'' I tried my hardest

not to cry and keep my family together because I know that is

what Will would have wanted me to do. People come up to me

all the time and say how proud they are of me. But I would

have never been able to do it without my friends and the

people around me. When bad things happen in life you can't

just crawl in a hole and die, even when that sounds like the

easiest thing to do. James Thurber once said, ``Let us not

look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in

awareness.'' I believe in this quote, and think that it has a

lot to say about life and the values people should have. So

remember class of 2010 that these experiences whether good or

bad will last a lifetime, so don't look back in anger nor

forward in fear.

I thank the gentleman for yielding, Madam Speaker, and I rise in support of this resolution to honor our veterans who did so much to preserve our freedom during the Cold War. It is unfortunate that we may be about to pass a massive health care bill that will take away an important part of that freedom that those veterans worked so hard to preserve.

Madam Speaker, Robert Samuelson, a very middle-of-the-road economics columnist for the Washington Post, wrote a column this week entitled, A Cost-Control Mirage. Mr. Samuelson wrote that the health care plan we will vote on tomorrow ``evades health care's major problems and would worsen the budget outlook.'' He added that ``It's a big new spending program when government hasn't paid for the spending programs it already has.''

Every government health care program has far exceeded all cost expectations and has cost many times more than what is predicted. Medicare cost just $3 billion a year after it was created and $453 billion last year. Its unfunded future liabilities are estimated at a whopping $38 trillion.

Medicaid is also out of control at both Federal and State levels. Last week, the Governor of Arizona estimated that this new health care bill would cost her State alone $4 billion that they do not have, when Arizonans are facing their biggest deficit ever--over $3 billion.

Most States are in their worst shape ever, financially, and yet according to the Census Bureau, 10 States would have to expand Medicaid coverage by more than 50 percent, and 33 States would have to expand by more than 30 percent. The States simply cannot afford all the megabillions this bill would order them to spend.

Our senior Senator from Tennessee, Senator Alexander, said Congress ``set out to reduce health care costs,'' but that this bill ``will do the exact opposite.'' He said this bill ``will increase health insurance premiums, raise taxes, cut Medicare, and dump millions into Medicaid.''

Of course, the bill is so long, so complicated, so confusing, that the Speaker of the House was quoted as saying we would have to pass it to find out what is in it, and one of the Senate Democrat leaders said on the floor of the Senate even he did not know all that was in it.

Now the Congressional Budget Office has apparently cooked the books and filed a very misleading report, attempting to show a cost of less than $1 trillion. To do this among other budget gimmicks and manipulations, the CBO was told to count phony savings, such as over $400 billion from cutting doctors' payments by over 20 percent and never raising them back up again. This will never happen.

Another huge phony savings comes from cutting Medicare. Dr. David Gratzner wrote in a column in the New York Daily News last December, ``It's that time of year again: Washington is talking about cuts to Medicare. President Obama's health care reforms depend on them--up to $400 billion over 10 years. As a psychiatrist, I'll break the news gently: Medicare cuts are like Santa Claus and his flying reindeer-- often talked about, never actually seen.''

The Weekly Standard magazine published an analysis of this bill 2 days ago, estimating the bill's real cost during its first decade at $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion, more than double or triple the CBO estimate. Then there are the tax increases on everything from medical equipment producers to tanning bed operators to $210 billion in new Medicare taxes. Then there are the fines of $695 for individuals or up to 2.5 percent of household income against people who do not buy insurance and the employer mandate of $2,000 per employee if they do not provide insurance. The bill starts the tax increases immediately, but 98 percent of the benefits do not take effect until 2014. Two lawyers from one of the Nation's most prominent law firms wrote a column for the Washington Post entitled, ``Illegal Health Reform.'' David Rivkin and Lee Casey wrote that this bill is, without question, unconstitutional.

In the early 1990s, Madam Speaker, I went to a reception, and the doctor who delivered me came and brought my records. I asked him how much he charged back then, and he said $60 for 9 months of care and the delivery, if they could afford it. Medical care was cheap and affordable for almost everyone until the mid sixties. Then we took what was a very minor problem for a very few people and turned it into a massive, major problem for everyone.

Anything the Federal Government subsidizes, the costs just explode. There are many things we can do to bring down the cost of health care, but this bill would cause costs to go up even more, and getting the Federal Government into health care in an even bigger way will eventually lead to shortages, waiting periods, and declining quality of care, all at greater cost. This bill in the long run will end up hurting most poor, lower-income, and even middle-income people. It should be defeated.

The problem is, as Jeffrey Toobin, the CNN legal analyst who is liberal himself, said in a speech at the Free Library of Philadelphia last September 27: ``The risk of a liberal Supreme Court is that the Constitution becomes a meaningless document that means anything you want it to.'' Apparently, a majority in Congress feel the Constitution is meaningless, too.

Madam Speaker, when I was driving into work last Friday, I heard the Governor of Arizona on the news saying that her State already faces its biggest deficit ever, over $3 billion. She said they had calculated that the health care bill would cost an additional $4 billion that they simply do not have.

Because Tennessee already covers more than most States, our Democratic Governor, nonetheless, said it would cost out State from $750 million up to $3 billion more. Most States are in far worse shape than Tennessee or Arizona, yet much of this bill is paid for by forcing millions more onto State and Medicaid rolls. In yesterday's Washington Post, columnist Robert Samuelson said the bill ``evades health care's major problems and would worsen the budget outlook.'' He wrote that ``It's a big new spending program when government hasn't paid for the spending programs it already has.''

Madam Speaker, even if this program were the greatest thing since sliced bread, the fact is that we simply cannot afford it.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me

this time, and I rise in support of this resolution.

There is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan. In fact, it goes against every traditional conservative position I have ever known. It has meant massive foreign aid which we cannot afford and of which conservatives have traditionally been the biggest critics. It has meant huge deficit spending, shortly after a time when the Congress has raised our national debt to over $14 trillion. Conservatives have traditionally been against huge deficit spending. Conservatives have been the biggest critics of the U.N. and biggest opponents to world government, and certainly the war in Afghanistan has gone right along with that.

Fiscal conservatives should be the most horrified about the hundreds of billions that has been spent over there. This war has gone on for more than 8 years. At a time when the war in Iraq had gone on for a far shorter time than that, William F. Buckley, who opposed the war in Iraq, wrote this about that war: ``A respect for the power of the United States is engendered by our success and engagements in which we take part. A point is reached when tenacity conveys not steadfastness of purpose, but misapplication of pride.''

He went on to say, if this war drags on, talking about the war in Iraq, he said, ``Where there had been skepticism about our venture, there will be contempt.''

All of those words apply equally well to the war in Afghanistan. There is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan.

Georgie Ann Geyer, the conservative foreign affairs columnist, she wrote also about the war in Iraq, but it applies to this war as well. She said, ``Critics of the war have said since the beginning of the conflict that Americans, still strangely complacent about overseas wars being waged by minorities in their name, will inevitably come to a point where they will see they have to have a government that provides services at home or one that seeks empire across the globe.''

We should remember, Madam Speaker, that even General Petraeus said we should never forget that Afghanistan has been known as the ``graveyard of empires.'' Our Constitution does not give us the power or the right to run another country, and that is what we have been doing.

It should have come as no surprise, Madam Speaker, that President Karzai of Afghanistan told ABC News recently that the U.S. needs to stay there for 15 to 20 years more, spending megabillions, of course. He wants our money, and he wants to stay in power.

But listen to what columnist George Will has said. He has now changed his position and has written about Afghanistan, that the budget will not support an expansion there. The military ``will be hard-pressed to execute it, and America's patience will not be commensurate with Afghanistan's limitless demands. This will not end well.'' Those are not my words. Those are the words of George Will.

A very small but very powerful group called neoconservatives, who are really not conservative at all, have almost totally controlled U.S. foreign policy for many years. They are supported by very large companies and government officials who benefit from perpetual war and the billions of spending it requires.

George Will wrote in that same column that the neoconservatives are ``magnificently misnamed'' and that they are really the ``most radical people in this town.''

The Pentagon now says it costs $1 billion per year for each 1,000 troops we send there. We can't afford this. We can't afford to keep spending hundreds of billions in Afghanistan.

We are not cutting and running. We have been there over 8 years now. If this resolution passes, we will be there 9 years. That is too long. It is not only enough, it is far too long. It is time to do the best thing we can do for our troops and bring our young men and women home and start putting Americans first once again.

Mr. Speaker, today is the 100th birthday of a great lady and Tennessee icon, Sarah Moore Greene.

Ms. Greene has been both a national leader and a leader in our hometown of Knoxville. By the way, she still attends many events, and is always dressed like a fashion model. She has served on the national board of directors for the NAACP, and has been a delegate to numerous Republican national conventions.

My father served as mayor of Knoxville for almost 6 years from early 1959 through the end of 1964. During that time, Knoxville received the All-American City award from Look magazine, primarily because it had the most peaceful integration of almost any major city. Sarah Moore Greene and my father led the effort to peacefully integrate our city.

Mrs. Greene has touched thousands of lives in good and positive ways through her years as a teacher and through her work in the community. She has helped countless numbers, young and old, but her special love is her children, both the hundreds she taught and the thousands who have attended the Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School.

Mr. Speaker, this Nation is a better place today because of my friend Sarah Moore Greene, a great American.

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding me this time.

I also want to thank all of the previous speakers: the gentleman from Michigan, the original author of the resolution; the gentleman from New York; and especially the gentleman from Virginia, Congressman Wolf, who has been such a leader on these issues for many years now.

I rise in strong support of H. Res. 944, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on religious minorities in Iraq.

While this bill calls attention to various religious minorities in Iraq that are victims of acts of violence and religious persecution, one group that is extremely vulnerable, especially vulnerable, is the Iraqi Christians. In the most recent series of attacks in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, five Iraqi Christians were attacked and killed just last week in various acts of violence. According to a February 17, 2010, article from Reuters, ``Bombings and shootings are recorded almost daily in the violent northern city of Mosul, where the situation has been described by one Christian priest as `miserable.' Iraqi Christians are forced to hide in their homes in fear of being the next victim of what is being called a `systematic campaign of violence against minorities.' And Sunni Islamist insurgent groups have labeled Christians and other Iraqi minorities as devil worshipers and infidels.''

There is growing concern, Madam Speaker, of even more violence and killings in the wake of the upcoming elections in March. These attacks are being used as a means of intimidation to discourage Iraqi Christians from voting in the upcoming elections. There have also been threats of violence using military means to prevent the elections from happening at all.

I first spoke out about the violence against Christians in Iraq that last year when one of my constituents and a native of Iraq, Susan Dakak, brought to my attention the escalation of violence against this particular religious group. I also met recently, a few weeks ago, with a member of the Iraqi Parliament, Yonadom Kanna, recently to discuss the ongoing persecution of Iraqi Christians.

The horrendous human rights violations and acts against religious minorities must end. The United States should do as much as possible to help stop the discrimination against and persecution of the Christian community in Iraq, and this resolution will be a meaningful step in that direction.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I wish today to honor a businessman and beloved community leader in one of my District's most close-knit communities.

Chester Graves recently retired from the pharmaceutical business following a remarkable 60-year career. Chester told his local newspaper, The Daily Times in Maryville, Tennessee, that he did not have one bad memory of his years as a pharmacist, and his favorite part of the job was simply helping people.

Like many of his generation, Chester served admirably in World War II. He then returned home to build a business based on the concept of people and personal service.

Chester did not fully retire until recently, instead choosing to continue to work several days a week at the Lowe's Drug Store in Maryville up until his 90th birthday.

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate Chester Graves on his well-deserved retirement and bring to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record a tribute to Chester that appeared in The Daily Times on December 14, 2009, which is reprinted below.

Maryville Pharmacist Retires After 60-Year Career

(By J.J. Kindred)

After more than 60 years in the pharmaceutical business,

you would think Chester Graves would have at least one

negative thing that happened in his career.

Not a chance.

Graves retired last month after a career that spanned more

than half of a century. Reportedly he is the longest-serving

pharmacist in the State of Tennessee.

He has his wife's uncle to thank for jump-starting his

career.

``He had a drug store, and he said if I would go into

pharmacy, he would let me come into business with him,'' said

Graves, who will turn 90 next month. ``They opened up a new

Baptist Hospital in Knoxville and he became a chief

pharmacist and he sold his drug store.''

A McMinn County native, Graves spent more than four years

in the military, serving during World War II. He went to

pharmacy school at the University of Tennessee at Memphis and

worked for the former Cole Drug Store (which became Revco,

then bought out by CVS).

He spent several years in Greeneville, working for Ciba,

(Chemical Industries Basel) for 37 years in sales before it

merged with Novartis. in 1997.

He won the Tennessee Pharmacy Association's Lubin Sales

Representative Award in 1984.

For 13 years, Graves worked for Lowe's Drug Store in

Maryville in its nursing home division two or more days a

week until his retirement.

He originally wanted to attend college to major in chemical

engineering until the pharmaceutical opportunity came along.

``I didn't need to be changing (career choices) around all

the time,'' Graves said.

He said with his work at Ciba, which is based in

Switzerland, he traveled frequently with the company all over

the country.

So what does Graves attribute his long career to?

``I never did drink or smoke,'' he said with a laugh. ``The

good Lord has been good to me, and (Lowe's) was exceptionally

good to me. I only worked two days a week, but if somebody

went on vacation and they needed me, they would call me.''

Graves said the best thing about being a pharmacist was

that ``you help people. A lot of people come in and talk to a

pharmacist before they go see a doctor. It's a good

profession. What I did over (at Lowe's), they service a lot

of nursing homes. We had technicians fill, orders and make

stare (customers) have the right orders.''

The pharmaceutical business has changed frequently over the

years, Graves said.

``Pharmacists don't talk much with the patients like they

used to,'' he said. ``I didn't talk to customers much--I

worked back in the back. The only people back there were the

technicians and me. If there was somebody I knew I would go

and talk to them.

``I would still be working if I could--I need the money,''

Graves added with a laugh.

He said he would miss the contact with people he worked

with at Lowe's. ``They are very nice people,'' he said.

Graves added that he would want his legacy to state that he

helped a lot of people.

``I would hope that I helped a lot of them,'' he said. ``I

worked as manufacturer and worked heavily with doctors and

druggists. I had a good repertoire. There would be a new drug

that would come out and I would tell them what I had been

told about the drug.''

Steve Myers, co-owner of Lowe's, described Graves as a

``professional person. He never became angry and he never met

a stranger. He was just very goodhearted, he worked hard, and

just a person everybody liked. The biggest thing I will miss

about him is his friendship.''

Now that Graves is retired, what will he do now?

``Rake leaves,'' he said with a laugh.

Madam Speaker, I hope that everyone who is concerned about the current healthcare debate will read the following two insertions that I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

First, this letter from Dr. Douglas Mackenzie, a surgeon from Santa Barbara, California.

Second, this article from Investor's Business Daily by Tevi Troy, a Fellow at Hudson Institute, and former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Jeffery Anderson, a Senior Fellow in healthcare studies at Pacific Research Institute.

How to Solve Healthcare Accountability

``Decades of data confirm the simple truth: If we want to

lower health costs, we need to put consumers back in charge.

``Many people now feel like second-class citizens when they

enter the doctor's office. That's because everyone in the

office knows that the patient isn't really the payer--the

patient doesn't hold the purse strings.

``The greater the percentage of medical costs that patients

pay to their insurance company in premiums, the more insurers

are in charge.

``The greater the percentage that patients instead pay

directly to their doctor out-of-pocket, the patients are in

charge.

``Whether it's television, computers or Lasik eye surgery,

when consumers are in charge, prices stay in check. In 1970,

consumers paid for 62% for all privately purchased healthcare

out-of-pocket. Today, that percentage is just 26%.

``Consumers are paying less directly to doctors, but

they're paying four times as much overall--to insurers or the

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a newspaper legend in my district and recognize his lifelong commitment to one of the greatest communities in the Nation.

Paul Bales recently retired as advertising major accounts executive at The Daily Times in Maryville, Tennessee. For the last 125 years, the people of Maryville and Blount County have turned to The Daily Times for news coverage that focuses on their community. Paul has been a part of this tradition for more than 50 years.

He began at The Daily Times as a paper carrier in the early 1950s, and through his determination, hard work, and devotion, he quickly rose through the ranks. Despite his challenging work, Paul devoted many hours to charity, including the Empty Pantry Fund which he headed. The Daily Times Publisher Max Croster said, ``He's probably the most wonderful person I've ever known.''

Madam Speaker, I urge my Colleagues and other readers of the Record to join me in congratulating Paul Bales on his retirement and contributions to The Daily Times and Blount County, Tennessee, community. I see no better way to honor Paul than to bring attention to a tribute that appeared in the The Daily Times on December 13, 2009, which is reprinted below.

Bales to Retire

(By Linda Braden Albert)

Paul Bales, advertising major accounts executive at The

Daily Times, has announced that he will retire from the

newspaper as of Dec. 31. His duties will then be assumed by

Quentin Anthony, who has been with the advertising department

for more than 30 years.

Bales will continue to fill the role of Empty Pantry Fund

chairman, however, and plans to stay actively involved in

other community projects.

Bales began his career at The Daily Times as a paper

carrier in the early 1950s when he was a high school student.

Even at that young age, the irrepressible Bales showed his

work ethic and expertise in sales.

``I started out with 17 customers on my route, and the

circulation manager told me he wanted it to grow,'' Bales

recalled recently at his office. ``In no time flat, I had 73

customers. I did. I poured it on.''

several jobs

Soon afterward, Bales was told the newspaper wanted to hire

someone to roll papers, do general tasks and ``plate the

press,'' which involved attaching 30- to 35-pound plates to

the press and clamping them down so they wouldn't come off

during the printing process. The circulation manager asked

Bales to come in and give it a try.

``At that time, I only weighed about 137 pounds, and I

couldn't hardly pick it up much less clamp it down on the

press,'' Bales said. ``I started walking out. If I couldn't

do what they wanted me to do, they wouldn't hire me, of

course. And he said, `They told me to hire you regardless of

what you could do or couldn't do,' because of all those

customers I got, and it was a kind of a reward for that.''

Bales might not have been able to plate the press, but he

could do other jobs at the newspaper, and did, at the same

time attending high school and working several other jobs.

His schedule was school from 8:30 to 11 a.m., newspaper from

12 to 5 p.m., Luke's Pool Room from 6 to 12 p.m., bagging

groceries on Sundays at a local corner store, and selling

concessions at University of Tennessee ball games during home

games.

likes to draw

Bales said he wanted to be a cartoonist, and when he saw an

advertisement for an art course through Art Instruction of

Minnesota, he saved his money and paid the $175 to take the

mail-in cartoonist course. He was still in high school at

that time.

``I could draw the bottom of characters real good, but I

could never get the head in perspective the way it ought to

be,'' he said. ``There was another course in there in

advertising, so I took that course.''

When he graduated from that course, the publisher of The

Daily Times asked Bales to create an advertisement using

several components he would be given.

``I did that and he looked at me and said `Congratulations.

You are now a member of the advertising department,' '' Bales

said.

He has been in the advertising department ever since.

compassion for others

Bales is well-known for his compassion for others. His

parents, Fred and Gladys Bales, inspired him, but he always

looked to his Grandmother Bales as the example he wanted to

follow.

``She lived in Bales `Holler' in Friendsville, and she was

always, always, doing things for people,'' Bales said. ``She

had no money but she could do things for other people. She

had a heart of gold.''

At Christmastime, she would barter chickens and eggs for

apples, oranges and nuts from the ``rolling store,'' which

brought supplies to the neighborhood, and give them to Bales

and his siblings for Christmas.

``To make sure we were all divided equally, she would give

us for each year of our age that number of walnuts, and

apples and oranges,'' Bales recalled. ``We always looked

forward to that, and she also had orange slices. That was our

Christmas.''

Bales started his community service at the age of 6. He

lived in the Alnwick community of Blount County and would

take his dog to visit the residents of the Blount County Poor

Farm, where William Blount High School stands today.

``I've always had compassion for other people,'' Bales

said. ``I wanted them to be able to pet the dog but I also

wanted little knickknacks for them. I'd pick strawberries at

this man's farm, and what little I got paid, I'd take to the

little store there at Alnwick and buy cookies and take them

over there to the Poor Farm. They really loved that.''

Unfortunately, the strawberry picking didn't last too long.

The farmer told Bales he was eating more than he was picking

and let him go.

maryville/alcoa jaycees

A turning point in Bales' life came when he was invited to

attend a meeting of the Maryville/Alcoa Jaycees by one of the

members.

``I told him that I didn't want to join anything,'' Bales

said. ``Then I asked him a

question, and I'm glad I did--I asked him, `What do the

Jaycees do?' He said, `Well, they help people.' ''

That convinced Bales to attend a meeting, and he was soon

taken under the wings of the older men. They watched over

Bales and encouraged him.

``They gave me an application to fill out, and all of a

sudden I was chairman of the Empty Pantry Fund,'' Bales said

with a laugh. ``That was in 1954. I think they found out they

had a turkey to take over that project, and I was the one!

Those were a bunch of good, nice businesspeople that I

needed.''

community service

Max Crotser, publisher of The Daily Times, said words can't

explain Paul Bales.

He's probably the most wonderful person I've ever known,''

Crotser said, then related a story that happened several

years ago in the dead of winter. ``Paul and I were in the car

going someplace and saw a man walking down the road with no

coat. He was cold, and Paul stopped and bought him a warm

coat. He went back and gave the man the coat, and the man

went on his way. But that's Paul. He would do anything for a

person in need.''

Crotser attributes the wide community support for the Empty

Pantry Fund to Bales.

``Because of the trust people have in Paul Bales, the Empty

Pantry Fund is one of the most successful charities around,''

he said.

Daily Times Editor Dean Stone has known Bales for a long

time: Stone has been with The Daily Times for 62 years and

Bales for about 55, he said. Stone also mentioned how

valuable Bales has been to the Empty Pantry Fund, which began

as a project of the Maryville/Alcoa Jaycees and The Daily

Times in 1952.

``We went from that first year having about 120 homes, and

now we have over 1,400 a year,'' Stone said via telephone

from his room at Blount Memorial Hospital, where he is

recovering from surgery.

He said Bales' reputation is not limited to Blount County.

A Louisiana couple has supported the project for several

years, and this year, an anonymous donation from a visitor

from California was made to the Empty Pantry Fund.

``He said he had been around town and asked everybody he

saw what was the best, most worthwhile charity he could give

to, and every answer he got was `Empty Pantry Fund' '' Stone

said.

`pure determination'

Larry Aldridge, executive editor at The Daily Times, said

he is most impressed with Bales' dedication to the community.

``Since I've been here he's probably been responsible for

more community service projects in Blount County than anyone

I know,'' Aldridge said. ``I worked with him on several

projects, including the new Blount County Library. I have

always admired his pure determination to find a way whenever

there's a need.''

Evelyn Sandlin, advertising director, said she had heard of

Bales throughout her career and was pleased to work with

someone of his experience and dedication.

``It will be sad and exciting, and I will be calling him,''

she said of Bales' retirement. ``We'll all miss him, not just

for his work, but his fun.''

Crotser described Bales as a great guy and a great

employee.

``There are very few people in this world like Paul

Bales,'' he said. ``I have the utmost respect for him and

wish him all the best in his retirement. We're going to miss

him, but we won't let him go away.''

Bales is planning to spend time traveling with his wife,

Anita, and visiting his son and daughter-in-law, Brian and

Bridget Bales, who now live in Scottsdale, Ariz., with their

daughters, Brooke and Brittany. Bales will continue to be

involved in community projects, especially the Empty Pantry

Fund.

``I've always been involved knee-deep and overhead in doing

for others and I'll continue that forever,'' Bales said.

``There are always people to be helped, and I want to be

right in the middle of it.''

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 3326, the ``Department of Defense Appropriations Act, FY2010.''

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: RDTE--Air Force

Project Amount: $1,600,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: University of Tennessee, 328 Ferris Hall, 1508 Middle Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996

Description of Request: The funding will be used for design, testing, and evaluation of systems needed for the harvesting and storage of green energy. The need for the nation to design, implement, and test systems and processes capable of producing renewable energy at a large scale is vital for the U.S. military and the Nation as a whole.

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 3326, the ``Department of Defense Appropriations Act, FY2010.''

Requesting Member: Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr.

Account: RDTE--Defensewide

Project Amount: $2,000,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Lentix, 800 South Gay Street, Suite 1625, Knoxville, Tennessee 37929

Description of Request: The funding will be used for the development of a very high resolution benchmarking vision system for long-range surveillance with focus on SOCOM and Navy tracking needs.

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 3326, the ``Department of Defense Appropriations Act, FY2010.''

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: OP--Army

Project Amount: $5,000,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: TN Army National Guard, Houston Barracks, 3041 Sidco Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37204

Description of Request: The funding would be used to allow Army National Guard trainers (both fielded and yet-to-be procured) to network together on a Combined Arms virtual battlefield.

Madam Speaker, one of my constituents, E.M. Massey, is a dedicated Christian who is very concerned about the moral decline of this Nation.

As the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, we have been ``defining deviancy down, accepting as a part of life what we once found repugnant.''

I want to call the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record portions of a Treatise entitled ``Shining City on a Hill,'' submitted by Mr. Massey.

A Shining City on a Hill

Introduction: In 1630, John Winthrop, governor of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote a sermon while on the

Arbella, on his way to the new world. ``For we must consider

that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all

people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our

God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to

withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story

and a byword throughout the world.'' (This was one of

President Reagan's favorite quotes.)

Truly, the founding of America was in so many ways, the

work of God. Yet as we look at the America of today, we see a

vastly different picture.

On April 6, 2009, President Obama, speaking in the country

of Turkey said: ``America is not a Christian nation, or a

Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation. We are a nation of

citizens who are bound by ideals and sets of values.''

Over the past 40 years, the idea of a ``Christian America''

has been disparaged by many. Christians have been criticized

and vilified for their involvement in the political arena.

The Revisionist's interpretation of the First Amendment has

been at the forefront in this debate. Michael Medved in his

book, The 10 Big Lies About America, points this out.

Following the 2004 reelection of George W. Bush, a frenzied

flurry of books and articles warned unsuspecting Americans of

the imminent takeover of their cherished Republic by an all-

powerful, implacable theocratic conspiracy.

In American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on

America, former New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges

breathlessly reported:

``All it will take is one more national crisis on the order

of September 11 for the Christian Right to make a concerted

drive to destroy American democracy. . . . This movement will

not stop until we are ruled by Biblical Law, an authoritarian

church intrudes in every aspect of our life, women stay at

home and rear children, gays agree to be cured, abortion is

considered murder, the press and the schools promote

`positive' Christian values, the federal government is

gutted, war becomes our primary form of communication with

the rest of the world and recalcitrant non-believers see

their flesh eviscerated at the sound of the Messiah's

voice.''

According to Hedges (a recent--and surprisingly genial--

guest on my radio show), it makes no sense to try to reason

with the ``Christian Fascists'' he fears. ``All debates with

the Christian Right are useless,'' he writes, because they

``hate the liberal, enlightened world formed by the

Constitution.''

Scores of other releases from major publishers sought to

arouse the nation's slumbering conscience to confront the

perils of ``the American Taliban.'' These titles include the

blockbuster best seller American Theocracy plus additional

cheery volumes such as Jesus Is Not a Republican: The

Religious Right's War on America; The Baptizing of America:

The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us; Why the

Christian Right is Wrong; Liars for Jesus; The Theocons:

Secular America Under Siege; The Hijacking of Jesus; and

many, many more.

Some worried observers expected Christian conservatives to

remake America along the lines of Iran or Nazi Germany, while

others suggested that they would follow the genocidal path of

Communist China. In reviewing the Oscar-nominated documentary

Jesus Camp, Stephen Holden of the New York Times solemnly

declared: ``It wasn't so long ago that another puritanical

youth army, Mao Zedong's Red Guards, turned the world's most

populous country inside out. Nowadays, the possibility of a

right-wing Christian American version of what happened in

China no longer seems entirely far fetched.''

So, we are faced with a question: Was America founded on

Christian principles and were we ever a Christian nation?

March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry spoke in the Virginia House

of Burgesses ``There is no longer room for hope. If we wish

to be free, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God

of Hosts is all that is left us! They tell me that we are

weak, but shall we gather strength by irresolution? We are

not weak. Three million people, armed in the holy cause of

liberty and in such a country, are invincible by any force

which our enemy can send against us. We shall not fight

alone. God presides over the destinies of nations, and will

raise up friends for us. The battle is not to the strong

alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave, * * * Is

life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the

price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know

not what course others may take, but as for me, give me

liberty or give me death.''

On July 4, 1776, The Declaration of Independence was

unanimously adopted * * * Samuel Adams rose * * * ``We have

this day restored the Sovereign, to whom alone men ought to

be obedient. He reigns in Heaven and * * * from the rising to

the setting sun, may His Kingdom come * * *''

``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain

unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty and the

pursuit of happiness * * * The Declaration contained a solemn

appeal ``to the supreme judge of the world'' and concludes

with * * * ``A firm reliance on the protection of Divine

Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our

fortunes and our sacred honor.''

Of the 56 signers, 54 were identified as Christians * * *.

Benjamin Franklin once said: ``I have lived, Sir a long

time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see

of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if

a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it

probable that an empire can rise without His aid?

``We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that

except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that

build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without

His concerning aid, we shall succeed in this political

building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be

divided by our little, partial local interests; our projects

will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach

and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind

may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of

establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to

chance, war or conquest.''

Joseph Story, a Supreme Court Justice from 1811 to 1845

(appointed by James Madison, the father of the Constitution)

and, as a long-time Harvard professor, was the leading early

commentator to the Constitution. He observed: ``The general

if not universal sentiment in America was that Christianity

ought to receive encouragement from the State so far was not

incompatible with the private rights of conscience and

freedom of religious worship. An attempt to level all

religion and to make it a matter of state policy to hold all

in utter indifference would have created universal

disapprobation, if not universal indignation. The real object

of the First Amendment * * * was to exclude all rivalry among

Christian sects, and to prevent any national ecclesiastical

establishment which should give a hierarchy the exclusive

patronage of the national government.''

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 3288, the ``Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2010.''

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: OJP--Juvenile Justice

Project Amount: $250,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Childhelp of East Tennessee, 2505 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919

Description of Request: The funding would assist Childhelp in expanding its services to more children in Knox County and the surrounding region who have suffered abuse. Specifically, the Children Center of East Tennessee will expand its forensic interview capacity and related services to more Knox County children who have, in the past, been turned away, as well as its community based forensic interview and medical examination services.