Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, Marvin Hammond, a longtime friend, has now retired for the second time, first from Knoxville Utilities Board, and now from the Hallsdale-Powell Utility District.

I did all sorts of odd jobs as a boy--selling programs and refreshments at ball games, mowing yards--but my first hourly-pay job was as a groundskeeper at Holston-Chilhowee Ball Park in East Knoxville.

I was 15, and I made $1.00 an hour. My first boss was a 19-year-old named Marvin Hammond. He worked under Coach Raleigh Johnson, but Marvin was the one who told me what to do.

From that time in the early 1960s, I have thought of Marvin Hammond as one of the finest men I have ever known.

He went from his job as manager of Holston High School athletic teams to a position as a trainer in the Cincinnati Reds Farm System and got to know many of the all-time great baseball players, such as Pete Rose and others.

He spent most of his career as an executive with the Knoxville Utilities Board. He was one of the most popular and respected employees of KUB.

I remember my first race for Congress in 1988 when he was driving me and some other people on a campaign swing to some distant parts in our district.

One of the other campaigners, jokingly but pretending to be serious, complained about his ``huge'' utility bill. Marvin, very concerned, said, ``Lance, How much was it?'' When Lance replied ``$36,'' Marvin almost ran off the road.

I remember another time when I was a judge, Marvin found that I was Cubmaster of a Cub Scout troop. He told me he could get several canoes from another church and he knew some people who owned a dairy farm 45 miles away with a big lake on it.

He spent his whole day getting the canoes, helping the boys tour the farm, do the canoe rides, cook out, and then load everything back up for the return.

When I was first starting my law practice and needing to make some money, Marvin told me he was head of off-campus instruction in Knoxville for Walters State Community College.

He hired me, for $500 a semester, to teach political science, I believe for three semesters. Many of the students were police officers, which also helped me in my law practice.

So, you can see, Madam Speaker, that Marvin Hammond has had a big influence on my life. I am very grateful to him.

But he has helped so many people over the years, and I am certain he has made his community and the Nation much better by all he has done.

Sandra Clark, another longtime friend and the publisher of the Halls Shopper News, has

written a column in tribute to Marvin Hammond. I would like to have it reprinted in the Record and call it to the attention of my colleagues and others.

[From the Shopper-News, July 21, 2008]

Missing Marvin

If ever there was a man who opted to wear out rather than

rust out, it is Marvin Hammond.

He's retired again, but don't count on it sticking with

Marvin.

A crisis in Maynardville left folks without water over the

Fourth of July holiday. City officials asked Hallsdale-Powell

Utility District for help, and Hammond was quick to respond.

``Hook them up,'' he said, ``and we'll work out the paperwork

later.''

``One man told me he had a shower for the first time in 10

days,'' Hammond said last week.

Utility districts network in order to sell water across

systems when necessary. Maynardville Utility District had not

tapped into HPUD's new water plant on Norris Lake. There are

issues with water pressure and leaks up there, but these are

engineering concerns--fixable.

Hammond had the vision to build a new water plant on Norris

Lake and to expand the one on Melton Hill Lake. Hallsdale-

Powell customers won't be running out of water. And Hammond

leaves the district in a position to sell water to our

neighbors.

Hammond was named president of HPUD in 2000. He took the

title president emeritus last week as Darren Cardwell was

elevated to the top job. Cardwell is just the third leader of

HPUD, the district built by general manager Allan Gill of

Powell.

Hammond, who earlier had retired from KUB, found a district

with money in the bank and low rates; he left a district in

debt with substantially higher rates.

Construction foreman Greg McCloud said it best: ``Hallsdale

was getting bigger (more customers), but we were not getting

better.''

Hammond set out to improve customer relations and to build

partnerships with regulatory bodies such as the Environmental

Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment

and Conservation. He replaced much of the 150 miles of 2-inch

galvanized water line and looked for leaks that were draining

off 39 percent of HPUD's treated water. He hired engineers

and consultants to upgrade the wastewater system and put a

halt to violations at the treatment plant.

Engineer Nick Jackson said no violations have been reported

for 25 consecutive months, and HPUD will receive the Water

Environment Association operational excellence award this

week at the WEA conference in Knoxville. The award covers a

2-state region of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Hammond is credited with development of a long range

strategic plan which includes expanding HPUD's service area.

In 1999, HPUD served 21,780 customers with physical plant

assets of $66 million.

Today, the district serves 28,200 customers with physical

plant assets of $144 million.

Sometimes we just get lucky.

Halls and Powell residents were blessed with the leadership

of Allan Gill--a man with military bearing who brooked no

nonsense and built a water system through grit and willpower.

Likewise, we were blessed with the leadership of Marvin

Hammond--a man with vision for the future and the courage to

raise the rates to pay for progress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. And I thank the author and all of those who have brought this resolution to the floor here today.

I rise only briefly to say that one of my constituents, Mr. Daniel Carter, who heads up an organization called Security on Campus, has been absolutely probably the leading person in this Nation in advocating more action and tougher action against crimes that are committed on campus.

In my district of Knoxville, Tennessee, we have the 26,000 student University of Tennessee, and several other colleges that are also located in my district, so this is an issue of great concern to me. And I think this resolution will assist in calling attention to what has become a very, very serious problem in this Nation. Unfortunately, it was highlighted, as previous speakers have said, about the terrible tragedies that occurred at Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech. And so I urge strong support of this resolution.

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for yielding me this time.

Madam Speaker, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame is located in my district and my hometown in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of the main reason is that no college team in history, men's or women's, and no coach can claim the accomplishments of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team and head coach Pat Summitt.

On April 8, 2008, as the gentleman from Illinois just mentioned, the University of Tennessee Lady Vols captured their second NCAA Division I national championship in a row, beating the Cardinal of Stanford University by a score of 64-48. It was their eighth national championship victory, cementing Coach Summitt's status as the Nation's all-time winningest NCAA basketball coach in both the men's and women's leagues.

Coach Summitt, with 983 wins over 34 seasons at the University of Tennessee, is certainly a remarkable leader. Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting her in person knows the depth of her character, and it shows both on and off the court. Her 2008 team continues a remarkable 100 percent graduation rate. Every student athlete since she became head coach has completed their eligibility at the University of Tennessee, either graduating or working

toward the requirements for graduation within the required 6-year time limit set by NCAA rules.

I have always said that the colors orange and white are almost as patriotic in my district as red, white, and blue. I doubt there is any community that shows more support for women's athletics than the people of Tennessee. The Lady Vols regularly attract huge crowds to watch them play, sometimes as large as 25,000 people. It is easy to become overwhelmed with statistics when speaking of the Lady Vols. They finished this season with 36 wins and only two losses, the second most wins in a single season in school history.

I especially want to commend Candace Parker, who won back-to-back most outstanding player of the Final Four, and some people say that she is probably the greatest women's basketball player of all time. I also want to congratulate Shannon Bobbit and Nicky Anosike, who both also earned All-Final Four team honors, and Alexis Hornbuckle who played and started in her 21st NCAA tournament game.

I want to also thank all the members of the Tennessee delegation for cosponsoring this resolution, as well as 16 other bipartisan cosponsors from across the country.

I also want to commend the entire coaching staff, Pat Head Summitt, certainly the greatest head coach in women's basketball history; Joan Cronan, our great women's athletics director; and Holly Warlick, associate head coach; Dean Lockwood, assistant coach; and Nikki Caldwell, assistant coach, who is now moving on to become UCLA's new head coach. And I certainly appreciate the nationwide support for this resolution. And I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6532, a bill that will restore funding to the highway trust fund and ensure that the flow of Federal highway funds is not interrupted at the height of the construction season.

According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials, if this problem is not fixed, States could lose up to $14 billion in highway funding resulting in approximately 380,000 jobs lost.

At a time when our economy continues to struggle, we simply cannot afford to cut Federal funding for highway projects. Earlier this year when we were debating the economic stimulus package, some said we were simply borrowing money from the Chinese to purchase Chinese products. This bill ensures that we are investing in our own transportation infrastructure, giving income to American workers and improving America in the process.

It is also important to note that we are restoring funds to the highway trust fund that were transferred out of the fund 10 years ago. In other words, this is money that was supposed to be in the highway trust fund in the first place. We are not robbing the general fund, we are simply restoring money that was never supposed to be in the general fund.

In 1998, Congress determined that the balances of the highway trust fund were too high and transferred $8 billion out of the trust fund and into the general fund. This bill returns those gas tax revenues to the highway trust fund to ensure that it does not become insolvent.

Madam Speaker, I always rank in the top 10 or 15 most fiscally conservative Members of Congress, but there are some things that we need to do, and a first class national system of transportation is vital to our national economy. I urge support for this bill.

Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 3999 and encourage all of my colleagues to vote for this bill. It has been an honor and privilege for me to serve now 20 years on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In significant part, it has been an honor and privilege because of the opportunity to serve with a man like Chairman Oberstar, who certainly is the most knowledgeable person on these issues of anybody in the entire Congress.

I can confirm that he has been speaking out on the need to do bridge maintenance and construction and repairs for all of that time, and not just after the terrible tragedy in his home State of Minnesota.

It's also a privilege to serve with my boss, my ranking member, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) to whom I owe the privilege of serving as the ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

This bill makes much-needed improvements to the existing Federal highway bridge program and to the regulations pertaining to bridge inspections. The bill incorporates a risk-based priority system for the replacement and rehabilitation of bridges to ensure that States are addressing their most urgent bridge needs in a timely manner. We haven't had this up until now.

The bill also requires more frequent inspections of bridges that are classified as structurally deficient and strengthens the training and certification requirements for bridge inspectors. These changes to the existing Federal highway bridge program are designed to improve the program and should benefit all States.

The bill also provides $1 billion for States to replace and rehabilitate highway bridges. This is a substantial sum of money, but the Federal Highway Administration estimates that it will cost more than $65 billion to address existing bridge deficiencies. This $1 billion is merely a start. It will only provide an average of about $20 million to each State to address bridge-related needs, barely making a dent in this problem.

But I do have some concerns with a few aspects of this bill. I am concerned that the formula through which the funding in this bill will be distributed does not reward States for placing a priority on maintaining their bridges. Since funding is distributed based on the number of deficient bridges in each State, States that put an emphasis on maintaining their existing bridge inventory may get less under this formula than a State that has neglected their bridge needs.

My home State of Tennessee has placed a priority on maintaining their bridges and as a result the number of structurally deficient bridges in Tennessee is about half of the national average. But instead of being rewarded for their responsible approach to maintaining their highway infrastructure, the State in a way will be penalized and will receive less than their fair share in funding from this program. I think we should have rewarded the States who have worked harder at this.

I am also concerned that this bill practically eliminates any flexibility a State has to transfer funding from the bridge program to other Federal highway programs when there are urgent needs to do so. We are concerned about that. The flexibility provision in this bill eliminates flexibility for every State except for one, the State of Delaware.

Despite these concerns, I do strongly support this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, I yield for such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), the ranking Republican member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Madam Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), a member of the committee.

Madam Chairman, I have no other speakers at this point for our side and so I will reserve our time until Chairman Oberstar is ready to close from his side.

I have just a couple of additional comments, Madam Chairman, and I recognize myself for such time as I may consume before Chairman Oberstar closes. I do want to, once again, commend him for his work on this important legislation.

I think everyone agrees that to have a vibrant national economy, we have to have an effective, efficient and first-class system of transportation. Certainly our local governments have an important role in that process and our State governments have an important role. But there is a very important and legitimate national role in our transportation system in this country.

People in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida use the highways and bridges in Tennessee and vice versa. And now under SAFETEA-LU, we are providing an average of $4.5 billion a year for our bridge system. But as so often is the case, terrible tragedies sometimes call our attention to shortcomings or to needs that exist in this country. And the tragedy of the bridge collapse in Minnesota certainly did that and called our attention to the fact that we need to do a great deal of work on our bridges.

This is a one-time, 1-year, $1 billion supplemental authorization for some additional funding for our bridges. As I said earlier, it averages out to about $20 million a State. It will barely put a dent in our problem, but it's a legitimate thing for this Congress to do.

I urge support for this legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, the minority supports this amendment. We accept this amendment.

Madam Chairman, I rise simply to state that the minority accepts this amendment.

Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition to this amendment, but I will not oppose the amendment and will state, once again, that the minority accepts the amendment.

Yes.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I will simply say that I, too, urge support for this amendment. We do need to speed up bridge construction and do everything that Mr. Shays has just mentioned.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition to this amendment, but I will not oppose the amendment.

I will simply say that this seems to be a commonsense amendment.

My mother was from Iowa City and moved to Tennessee after college, and I still have many relatives in Iowa, so I watched with great interest the troubles and flooding that occurred in that State. I know that the gentleman from Iowa is trying to do what he can about that, and so the minority will accept this amendment.

Yes, I'd be glad to yield.

I thank the chairman of the committee, and I will say, once again, that the minority accepts this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition to this amendment, but I will say that the minority will not oppose the amendment.

The minority has reviewed this amendment, and we will accept it.

I'd be glad to yield to the chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that I be granted the time in opposition to this amendment, but I will not oppose this amendment.

I rise simply to say that the minority will accept this amendment. No other country in this world has welcomed as many people from other nations as has the United States of America, and we're all proud of that. But certainly, the jobs that will be produced by this bill should go to American workers and certainly, above all, to people who are here legally, and not be given to people who are here illegally.

And so the minority will very enthusiastically support this amendment.

Yes, I'll be glad to yield.

Thank you.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to be given the time in opposition to this amendment; however, I will not oppose this amendment.

I will say simply this, Mr. Chairman, that I was present in committee when Mr. Capuano first brought up his concerns and his desire to bring this type of legislation to the floor of the House, and the minority has no objection to this, and we support this.

And I would be glad to, at this time, yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions), in his opposition to this rule. Mr. Speaker, let me read just one thing to you. Charles Krauthammer is one of our most respected syndicated columnists and television commentators. A little over 3 weeks ago he wrote this: ``Gas is $4 a gallon. Oil is $135 a barrel and rising. We import two-thirds of our oil, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, and yet we voluntarily prohibit ourselves from even exploring huge resources, huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas. At a time when U.S. crude oil production has fallen 40 percent in the past 25 years, 75 billion barrels of oil have been declared off limits according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.''

Still quoting Mr. Krauthammer: ``That would be enough to replace every barrel of non-North American imports for 22 years. That is nearly a quarter century of energy independence.''

Mr. Krauthammer ended by saying: ``The situation is absurd.'' Robert Samuelson, a couple of months ago in The Washington Post, and he is another syndicated columnist, but not a conservative or a Republican by any stretch of the imagination. He wrote this. He said, ``The truth is that we are almost powerless to influence today's prices. We are because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two.''

The first thing to do, Mr. Samuelson said: ``Start drilling.''

And George Will pointed out in a recent column that when we were able to pass drilling in ANWR, 12\1/2\ years ago, President Clinton vetoed it. If he hadn't vetoed it, that would have been 27 million barrels of oil, 20 million barrels of gasoline and 7 million barrels of diesel fuel coming down to this country, coming down here every day, and would have had a great, great effect on this problem. And we are certainly in a problem.

A couple of months ago we heard in the Highways and Transit Subcommittee that 935 trucking companies had gone out of business in the first quarter of this year. And that survey only counted trucking companies with five trucks or more.

A couple of weeks ago, in the Aviation Subcommittee we heard that eight airlines had gone out of business in the last year and a half. And this is a needless crisis.

The Minerals Management Service estimates that the quantity of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources ranges from 66 to 115 billion barrels of oil.

One of our leaders has described this DRILL Act as a hoax of a bill, and it is a hoax because it still leaves 85 percent, or 611 million acres of our Outer Continental Shelf off limits for oil production.

Mr. Speaker, let me close just simply by saying this. I have noticed over the years that almost all of these environmental radicals come from very wealthy or very upper income families, and perhaps they can afford 5 or $6 a gallon gasoline. But many hardworking and average Americans cannot afford this. We are sending this country into a needless economic crisis.

We need to start drilling in an environmentally safe way where there is oil, as the gentleman from Texas has pointed out, and not pass a hoax of a bill such as this.

Madam Speaker, one of the finest men I know, Charlie Daniel, has now completed 5 years as a newspaper editorial cartoonist in my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Charlie is one of Knoxville's most popular and respected citizens. Almost every morning for all these years, people in East Tennessee have been inspired or made angry by, or perhaps simply have laughed at one of his cartoons.

He has certainly helped bring about better government through his work, but the laughter is all right, too. There is not enough good humor in the political process today.

I have one of his cartoons hanging in my Knoxville office and two are on the wall of my home. I have many favorites among his work, but I will give just two examples.

The first showed a father reading a newspaper with the headline ``Americans Hire Illegals to Do Work They Don't Want to Do.'' Then it showed a little boy with his arm around an obviously Hispanic little boy, with the first boy saying, ``I hired Juan to do my homework.''

The second showed a man with a clipboard standing at the front door of the home of a very angry man who said, ``Well it's about time someone came to ask my opinion,'' and the man with the clipboard said, ``Sir, I'm just here to read your meter.''

Charlie worked from 1958 until the early 1990s at the Knoxville Journal, which for most of its history was our morning daily newspaper. When the Journal closed, he began to work for the Knoxville News Sentinel where he remains today.

I worked at the Journal in 1968 and 1969, hired by the longtime editor, Guy Smith, who also was the man who hired Charlie.

The Journal in those days gave titles easier than they gave money, and I was the Assistant State Editor, working under a woman named Juanita Glenn.

Last year I was interviewed in my Washington office by a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. As we walked out, I told her I had once been Assistant State Editor for the Knoxville Journal. I didn't tell her that among my duties were the TV logs and the obituaries.

The Journal newsroom in those days had the most colorful cast of characters I have ever been around.

The corner of my desk touched the desk of Dick Evans, the morning editor and a great journalist. I will never forget how he slammed down his phone after every phone call, no matter whether it was a good call or bad.

Others who I remember so well who worked at the Journal besides Charlie, were Steve Humphrey, Tom Sweeten, Byron Drinnon, Bill Vaughan, Sam Venable, Dudley Brewer, Pat Fields, Bob Adams, Bill Bolus, Jim Skelton, Ben Byrd, Russ Bebb, Ted Griffith, Al Roberts, Hugh Lunsford, Tom Greene, Doug Price, Raymond Flowers, and Margie Trent.

Ron McMahan, Ralph Griffith, and Margaret Underwood, all of whom I knew very well, had left before I worked at the Journal to work in Washington for Senator Howard Baker. One of my longtime best friends, Bill Vaughan, later left to work for Congressman Jimmy Quillen, and even Dick Evans left to work for the Department of Commerce.

A few days ago, Sam Venable, now a longtime columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel and also a former Journal employee, wrote a wonderful column in tribute to Charlie.

I would like to congratulate Charlie on 50 great years in the news business and also thank him for his service to our community in many ways.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I would request that the Sam Venable column about Charlie Daniel be reprinted in the Record at this point, and I would like to call it to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

50 Years and Still on the Job

(By Sam Venable)

One of the most poignant cartoons Charlie Daniel ever

produced wasn't a drawing at all.

It ran on the editorial page of the old Knoxville Journal

on Saturday, Nov. 23, 1968, two days after the death of the

newspaper's legendary editor.

``Today I find my limited talents fall far too short of

paying proper tribute to Guy L. Smith--a great man,'' Daniel

wrote in his signature block letters. ``I shall miss his

insight, his leadership and his humor--but most of all I

shall miss the man who gave me the opportunity to fill this

space each day.''

That was the first and only time Charlie found himself at a

loss for an image. Pretty decent statement about a 50-year

career that has produced an estimated 15,000 cartoons and

four books.

``I really was stymied,'' Charlie recalled of that moment

four decades ago. ``It was very personal for me. Here was the

guy who gave me my shot at a time when newspaper editorial

cartooning was at a low point.''

Alas, the cycle has come around to an even lower ebb.

Charlie, who joined the News Sentinel staff after the

Journal's closure in 1992, is one of only 80 newspaper

editorial cartoonists working in America today. Theirs never

was a populous force, but at the craft's peak in the 1960s

and '70s, nearly 300 were using their skills to poke, prod,

tweak and guide the nation's conscience. Usually with a

laugh.

Fortunately for readers of the News Sentinel, this 78-year-

old treasure has no intention of setting his pens aside.

``I'll stay as long as the light bulb comes on,'' Charlie

laughed. ``I have no hobbies. I don't fish or paint or play

golf. If I retired, I'd just go home and bug Patsy (his wife

of 54 years). We have trouble making it through a weekend.''

You'll soon be reading, seeing and hearing a lot about

Charlie Daniel. The News Sentinel is celebrating his golden

anniversary this month in a variety of ways.

In next Sunday's Life and Arts section, staff writer Amy

McRary will profile the life of her fellow Tar Heel. On the

same day, our Perspective pages will showcase some of his

classics.

Readers are invited to join the festivities as well. A

display of Daniel drawings through the years graces our lobby

at 2332 News Sentinel Drive, just off Western Avenue. It'll

be open to the public 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday through

September.

As one of the few journalists who served with Charlie at

both the Journal and News Sentinel, I'm qualified to propose

Daniel trivia. Such as:

--Why is the plaque he won for highway safety awareness

inscribed to ``I. Daniel''?

(Because he used to put a double descender on the ``D'' on

his tag line, and it looked like an ``I.'' To keep from

embarrassing the highway officials, he really should have

changed his name to Ignatius.)

--What was the ghastly mixture of pipe tobacco he used to

fog the Journal newsroom with before kicking his smoking

habit?

(Half-and-half and some fancy-smancy aromatic blend neither

of us could immediately recall after all these years;

fittingly, Charlie termed it ``Half-and-Half-and-the-Other-

Half.'')

Obviously, it has been a joy to work alongside Charlie at

both newspapers. And I mean ``alongside'' literally.

As a college student in the late 1960s, my Journal police

reporter desk sat an arm's length away from his drawing room.

Here in the News Sentinel's new building, Chas and I reside

in neighboring cubicles. I call it the Geezer Quad.

That's going to change in a few weeks when our newsroom

undergoes a fruit basket turnover desk rearrangement--one of

those New Age efficiency initiatives the suits dream up over

noon martinis.

Charlie will be moving into the old business news

department, which is shuffling to heaven-knows-where, while

I'll be going over to his old cubicle. This is called

progress.

But I maintain nothing will change, because Charlie,

dangnabbit, will still be closer to the window and thus will

have greater access to the muse who delivers inspiration on a

daily basis.

Hey, I need the muse! Not Charlie! This guy swims in

creative juices!

Charlie shows up around 7:30 a.m. and spends several hours

scanning newspapers, journals and magazines. Then he doodles

with the vast array of ideas the %$#@! muse has dumped into

his lap, cranks out three or four potential cartoons for the

next day, decides on one, colors it and saunters out the

front door, carefree as a hoppy toad.

I, on the other hand, am lucky to wake up in time to grab

lunch, pour a cup of coffee, exchange office gossip with

colleagues, compare fishing stories over the phone with

friends, e-mail the latest bawdy jokes I've heard to everyone

in my address book, drink more coffee, loudly curse the moron

who didn't rebrew coffee, check my parlay sheets, drink even

more coffee--and then type myself into a furious, sweaty,

nail-biting panic till deadline, milking the lone thread of

creativity I stole from someone else until it is toast-dry.

Is this fair?

OK, so here's the serious truth: Charlie Daniel is blessed

with the quickest wit this side of Hollywood. Plus the

ability to take that humor, reduce it to a drawing and zing

his point home in a panel the size of a Kleenex.

Try it sometime. After you've spent a week in frustration,

you might understand how difficult the task is day after day,

year after year.

Yet he dismisses the silly notion that he's ever had a real

job.

``I'm doing what I did in the second grade,'' he says.

``I've never gone high-tech. I still draw with a pen and

paper, not on a computer screen.''

Perhaps. But you don't stay on top of this game without a

keen eye for news and a comedian's sense of timing.

``Some of my earlier work was overdone,'' he said. ``I've

learned to know when to quit a drawing. Just make your point

and stop.

``Also, editorial cartoons have a short life span. Next

week, somebody might look at it and say, `What the heck was

that all about?' At the same time, you can't be too quick

with an idea or else you'll be ahead of the public.''

An excellent example occurred recently when NASA announced

it was sending plumbing materials to the International Space

Station to fix a broken toilet. The next morning, Charlie's

cartoon showed a giant plunger blasting off. When confused

readers began calling, he realized he'd struck too soon.

``I probably should have given that one a day or two

more,'' he said. ``But you're always juggling with the fact

that bloggers and late-night TV folks are already using the

same material.''

Let me tell you a few things I've learned about ``Cholly''

after working with him over most of 40 years:

The same fellow who has rubbed shoulders with presidents

and barons of commerce is one of the most laid-back, down-to-

earth, genuine nice guys you'll ever meet.

He can, and often does, make a serious point without having

to dip his pen into poison ink.

He is a five-time nominee for journalism's highest award,

the Pulitzer Prize.

He is soft-spoken, leads a quiet life of humble service to

society's lost and downtrodden, and is quick to laugh at

himself.

He takes immense delight in sharing with me visceral hate

mail from the occasional reader who either misunderstood a

cartoon or was its most-deserved target. Or, as one nutty

reviewer ranted in misplaced criticism of country music

legend Charlie Daniels (with an ``s''), ``I hate your music,

too!''

I was sitting in the audience in 2005 for a humor-in-

politics seminar hosted by the Howard Baker Center at the

University of Tennessee. The panel featured some of the

nation's most noted political wits, including the late

syndicated columnist Art Buchwald.

Ask anyone who saw this performance: The others were funny,

but Charlie brought the house down with self-deprecating

lines, one after another.

That same shy attitude is reflected when he talks about the

impact of his editorial cartoons:

``I'd be happy hitting .350.''

Trust me, his batting average is exceedingly higher. Ol'

Ignatius Daniel has made journalism's All-Star roster 50

years straight--and counting.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3145, a bill to designate a portion of the United States Route 20A to be named the ``Timothy J. Russert Highway.''

On June 13, 2008, the Nation was shocked to learn of the sudden loss of Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and moderator of ``Meet the Press'' and one of our most popular television analysts.

Tim Russert was known across the country as moderator for ``Meet the Press'' where he interviewed high-profile guests, bringing Washington politics into American living rooms. He was recognized for his on-the- air tenacity as a moderator and his intense passion for politics. It is no wonder that Time Magazine named Mr. Russert one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Despite his success, Tim Russert never lost sight or forgot his roots in Buffalo, New York.

S. 3145 designates a portion of U.S. Route 20A located near Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, ``Timothy J. Russert Highway.''

Mr. Speaker, one story. Every year the Tennessee Valley A&I Fair has a couple hundred thousand people attend, and for 20 years I have continued a tradition begun by my father and have had a very large booth giving away ice water, compliments of your congressman. Several years ago Tim Russert came in to speak to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, and I shared the head table with him with approximately 600 people in the audience. At the very first of his speech, he started out and he said, ``Congressman, I had a chance to spend a little time in Knoxville yesterday after I got into town,'' and he said, ``I went around town and I saw this big booth that said ``Free ice water compliments of your congressman.'' He said, ``I've got to hand it to you. Anybody who could gain political capital by giving away water, that's about the best political gimmick I've ever heard of.'' And he had a big laugh about that and mentioned that every time he saw me after he had been to Knoxville.

S. 3145 is a deserving tribute to Tim Russert's great achievements in the field of political journalism and a reminder that he never forgot his hometown or his beloved Buffalo Bills.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding this time.

I rise in support of this bill. I have seen over the years a great deal of good work that has gone on by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the projects it has funded in its 13-State region and especially in my home State of Tennessee where much of their activities have been concentrated.

I read recently that two-thirds of the counties in the U.S. are losing population. That surprises people in my particular district because the Knoxville area has become one of the most popular places to move to in the whole country. But there are many counties in Tennessee and throughout the Appalachian region and many small towns and rural areas that are still struggling. Many of these small towns and rural areas are barely holding on.

The previous speaker mentioned more energy production. We've got to have more production of oil in this country or we're going to put the final nail in the coffin of the small towns and the rural areas because those people as a rule have to drive further distances to go to work and to meet other needs.

In addition, the Office of Surface Mining caused almost all the small coal companies in east Tennessee to go out of business. I was told at one time that in 1978 there were 157 small coal companies in east Tennessee, and now are there none. I have noticed over the years that most of these environmental radicals come from very wealthy and very upper-income families. And they have always wanted gas to go higher, and they have always opposed all types of energy production. Well maybe they can afford $5 and $6-per-gallon gasoline. But most lower and middle-income people in this country can't. It may be true that we can't drill our way out of the current crisis. But we also can't get out of the crisis that we're in on energy without having more drilling for oil in this country and more production of coal where it can be done in environmentally safe ways where it couldn't be done previously.

So I agree with the previous speaker that we need more domestic energy production in this country to help the Appalachian Region and also to further the activities of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Madam Speaker, I rise to discuss two very important national issues that are unrelated.

First, I consider national defense to be one of the most important and most legitimate functions of the National Government. Yet even I am astounded at sometimes the waste and inefficiency of the Defense Department, and I think the primary reason is that almost every defense contract is some sort of sweetheart or insider type deal.

Just yesterday in the Washington Times, I would like to read a portion of a story that the Times carried yesterday. It says: ``Similarly, Edward C. `Pete' Aldridge, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics at the Pentagon, left the agency to join the board of Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's largest contractor. Weeks before he left the Pentagon, Mr. Aldridge approved a $3 billion contract to build 20 Lockheed planes. That decision was made after he criticized the plan and threatened to cancel the contract. While serving on the Lockheed board, Mr. Aldridge was picked in 2004 to chair the Commission on the Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, a decision that drew criticism only from Senator John McCain of Arizona, now the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, who said Lockheed was one of NASA's biggest contractors and called for Mr. Aldridge's removal because of a conflict of interest. His criticism went unheeded.''

Madam Speaker, the problem is that all of the defense contractors hire all the retired admirals and generals, it has been referred to as the ``revolving door at the Pentagon,'' or all the high level Pentagon employees, and then they come back to these same people and they get these multi-billion dollar contracts. In this example, this man awarded Lockheed Martin a $3 billion contract, the same contract he criticized at one point. But then, surprise, shock of all shocks, he approved this contract, and then a short time later joined the board of Lockheed Martin.

This is just one example. I could give examples day after day of similar types of things. All of these defense contracts going to companies that hire all the retired admirals and generals, and it should be stopped.

The second issue, a very important issue but very unrelated, is the issue of energy and gas prices. I would like to read part of a column by Charles Krauthammer a few days ago. Mr. Krauthammer is very respected by both sides of the aisle.

He said, ``Gas is $4 a gallon, oil is $135 a barrel and rising. We import two-thirds of our oil, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. And yet we voluntarily prohibit ourselves from even exploring huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas.''

Mr. Krauthammer continued: ``At a time when U.S. crude oil production has fallen 40 percent in the past 25 years, 75 billion barrels of oil have been declared off limits, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That would be enough to replace every barrel of non- North American imports for 22 years.'' That is nearly a quarter century of energy independence.

Mr. Krauthammer said, ``The situation is absurd.''

George Will wrote a column a few days ago and he said this: ``One million barrels is what might today be flowing from ANWR if in 1995 President Bill Clinton had not vetoed legislation to permit drilling there. One million barrels produce 27 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel.''

And Robert Samuelson, who is not really considered a conservative or Republican columnist, he is a columnist for the Washington Post, he wrote a few weeks ago this. He said, ``The truth is we are almost powerless to influence today's prices. We are because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do, start drilling.''

Madam Speaker, I am one of the very few Members who has been up to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska twice. I have been up there to this frozen tundra. There are millions of acres without a tree or a bush on that entire expanse up there, 19.8 million acres, 36 times the size of the Great Smokey Mountains, part of which I represent. They want to drill on about 2,000 or 3,000 acres of this 19.8 million acre refuge. It takes a survivalist to go in there. In fact, Time Magazine said 4 years ago it only had about 200 visitors a year.

It is ridiculous that we do not drill in an environmentally safe way. Most environmental extremists, I have noticed over the years, they come from very wealthy or very upper-income families. Perhaps they can afford gas to go to $5 or $6 a gallon. They have said for years they wanted gas prices to go higher so people would drive less. But I can tell you this: They are hurting a lot of poor and lower-income and working people in this country, and they are shutting this country down economically.

We heard in the Highways and Transit Subcommittee a few weeks ago that

935 trucking companies had closed in the first quarter of this year, and they only counted trucking companies with five trucks or more. Two weeks ago we heard in a hearing of the Aviation Subcommittee that eight airlines had shut down, had ceased operating in the last year-and-a- half, and one more was in receivership.

We are at a very dangerous point. We don't have to produce all of our oil or all of our energy, but we have got to start producing a little bit more, or these foreign energy producers are going to know they can keep on raising these prices, and as I say, they are going to hurt a lot of working and ordinary Americans in the process.

Madam Speaker, in the last 2 days there have been two major stories about comments made by the prime minister of Iraq. In the first, he said that terrorism in Iraq has been defeated. In the second, the Iraqi prime minister said he wants to negotiate a departure date for U.S. troops.

Yet, because the Defense Department has requested more money for Iraq this year than any year of the war so far, you can rest assured that we will not be leaving any time soon. This war has always been more about money and power than about any real threat to the U.S. Saddam Hussein's total military budget was only a little over 2/10 of 1 percent of ours.

As the conservative columnist Charley Reese wrote a few years ago: We attacked a country that had not attacked us, that had not even threatened to attack us, and was not even capable of attacking us.''

Now some are gloating about the success of the surge as if this somehow justifies all the deaths, all the injuries, and all the waste, fraud, and abuse of previous years. Well, surely with the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars, there would be a few successes along the way.

It is not criticism of the troops to say that this was a very unnecessary war that we should never have been in, in the first place. This war has meant massive foreign aid, huge deficit spending, and has put almost the entire burden of enforcing U.N. resolutions on our taxpayers and on our military. It has gone against every traditional conservative position I have ever known.

The Democrats recently passed a budget raising our national debt limit to $10.5 trillion. We are still borrowing staggering amounts of money, and this war has been our largest single expense. The Defense Department, like any giant bureaucracy, always wants more money, yet we simply cannot afford to keep spending at the rate our military leaders want.

Georgie Anne Geyer, the conservative foreign policy columnist, wrote a few months after the Iraqi war started that, ``Americans will inevitably come to a point where they have to choose between a government that provides services at home or one that seeks empire across the globe.''

This war has already become the most expensive and wasteful war in American history. There has not been anything fiscally conservative about the war in Iraq. In fact, there has been so much waste of money, so much fraud, so much excessive and lavish spending that fiscal conservatives should be the ones most upset about all this.

According to the Government Accountability Office, we already have $53 trillion to $54 trillion in unfunded future pension liabilities on top of our national debt, and this figure is going up every day. We are now spending at the rate of $500 million a day, every day, for our military ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. In just a few short years we will not be able to pay our Social Security and veterans pensions and all the other things we have promised our own people with money that will buy very much.

Evan Thomas in the June 23 issue of Newsweek wrote, ``American politicians have gone to extraordinary lengths to be seen as Churchill, not Chamberlain, with results that have not always been in America's best interest.''

He wrote that Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic were frequently compared to Hitler. ``But,'' Thomas wrote, ``the only real Hitler was Hitler. Saddam and Milosevic were murderers, but at most local menaces.''

Both parties are falling all over themselves trying to prove their patriotism, and thus are afraid to question any Pentagon expenditure. And the Defense Department seems to know that no matter how wasteful or inefficient it becomes, that Congress will keep on giving it huge increases.

Where are the fiscal conservatives? Where are those who will say that, since the surge has been successful, we need to spend less money in Iraq, not more? Where are those who supported this war who will not back up the Iraqi prime minister and say it is time to start bringing our troops home?

Surely conservatives, who have always been the biggest opponents of world government, are not going to say we should keep on running Iraq and simply stay there forever regardless of how the Iraqis themselves feel.

At some point we need to start putting our own people first once again. At some point, Madam Speaker, we need to stop borrowing hundreds of billions to spend in other countries, and take care of our own people.

Madam Speaker, I wish to honor a man whose professional accomplishments and personal character have brought great distinction to Tennessee and this Nation.

Retired U.S. Air Force BG Walter J. ``Bud'' Bacon passed away on Monday, June 2, 2008. General Bacon was always very kind to me and is a man for whom I have the greatest respect.

As a Vietnam and Korean War Veteran, General Bacon earned many decorations and awards, including the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters and Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.

For a man of many remarkable military achievements, it would have been easy for General Bacon to lose touch with his roots. This was never the case. After his retirement, General Bacon was a vocal, active presence at Knoxville area Veterans meetings and a founding member of the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association. Memories of his humor, humility, and devotion to East Tennessee will endure for many, many years.

General Bacon's life is a truly America story of Patriotic determination. He had always wanted to attend West Point but was turned down twice for not meeting the height requirement. As the story goes, he came up with a plan to have his friends carry him lying flat early in the morning to the physical. The reason--he heard you were tallest when you first wake up.

Whether the doctor was impressed with his determination or the tactic truly put his height over the top, General Bacon went on to have one of the greatest careers in the Air Force of any man ever. It was an American dream come true.

General Bacon loved God, family, and his Country, and never stopped serving them all. Right up until his death, the highly-decorated General greeted wounded soldiers returning home from Iraq.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I offer my condolences to General Bacon's family, and call to the attention of my colleagues and other leaders of the Record the eulogy of General Bacon, given by his friend Retired United States Air Force COL Joseph E. Sutter, which is reprinted below.

Eulogy for Brigadier General Walter J. ``Bud'' Bacon, USAF (Retired)

Friday, June 6, 2008, First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, TN

(Delivered by Joseph E. Sutter, Colonel, USAF (Retired))

Joyce, Betsey, Katy, and all of your families--let me thank

you for the honor and high privilege to say a few words about

my friend, Bud Bacon. I knew him as ``Bud,'' and for some

reason he called me ``Josephine.'' I can't say that I ever

knew why.

Some of you knew him as ``Buddy.'' Some as ``General.''

Others as ``Pa,'' and some of you knew him as ``Grand

Buddy.'' No matter--we all felt the same about him.

I first met him some 14 years ago, and I certainly wish I

had known him longer. Within a few weeks of meeting Bud, I

remember coming home and telling my wife Geri: ``When I grow

up, I want to be like Bud Bacon.'' Allow me to share with you

a few of the reasons why.

Bud had a great attitude about life. One of the entries in

the blogs in the Knoxville News Sentinel said that Bud Bacon

had the attitude that the ``glass is half full.'' He was

always happy, and had an infectious laugh. As his daughter

Betsey relates, her father was fond of saying: ``If I die

tonight, I will die a happy man.''

He had the love of his family--actually two families. He

loved to travel. He loved his country, and made serving his

country his profession. I'll say more about this a little

later. And he loved his God.

Love of Community

Bud loved his community. He came home after a distinguished

Air Force career and immediately began to ``give back'' by

supporting so many worthwhile activities, including the

Ramsay House Plantation, the Military Order of the World Wars

(MOWW) Youth Leadership Forum, the University of Tennessee

Center for the Study of War and Society, the Knoxville

Veterans Day Luncheon, Memorial Day Services, Pearl Harbor

Day Ceremonies, Flag Day Ceremonies, the Air Force

Association, and so many others too numerous to mention.

Love of Friends

Bud had the love of so many friends, and he would go ``the

extra mile'' for any of them. Allow me to tell you a short

story of how he went not only the extra mile for me, but the

extra 6,000 miles! Geri and I were visiting Vienna, Austria,

a number of years ago and were window shopping on a Saturday

afternoon. There was a unique terry cloth robe in one of the

stores that I wanted to get

for Geri, but she said that we could wait until tomorrow so

we would not have to carry it the rest of the day. What we

did not realize is that most of the shops are closed on

Sunday, and we were returning home the following day.I

casually mentioned this story to Bud a few weeks later, and

he said that he and Joyce were visiting Vienna soon, and he

would look for the robe. Sure enough, when they returned they

brought the robe over, and it remains a prized possession

today mainly because of the extra effort that Bud put forth

to get it.

He was always looking to do good thing for others. He

nominated me for a community service award, and I nominated

him for a similar award. As it turns out, he was a better

writer than me! (I won and he did not).

On Wednesday, May 21st, Bud came to the Knoxville airport

early in the morning to wish a safe trip to more than 100

World War II veterans heading to Washington, DC, to see the

WW II and other Memorials as part of HonorAir Knoxville. We

were looking at the pictures of the sendoff the other day and

there wasBud with a big smile on his face wishing the ``old

timers'' a great trip. When I talked to him that morning, he

said he was heading off to Green Meadow Country Club to play

golf after we left.

Love of Golf

And while Bud certainly had a love of golf, he freely would

admit that he was not the greatest golfer in the world, but

he always had fun. When I would ask him how he did, his usual

answer was ``lousy!'' Bud and I had the same barber, Curry

Whittaker of Volunteer Barber Shop. Both Bud and Curry were

left-handed golfers, and Curry offered to let Bud use a new

driver that should help improve his game. Bud was excited,

but the next time he came into the shop he tossed the driver

back to Curry and said: ``This thing didn't help a bit!''

And he enjoyed golf with his brother, John. My brother

Frank and I were on a golf trip together last week and we

thought of Bud often. This helped us cherish our time

together even more.

And one final golf story. Shortly after I met Bud, we were

together at an Air Force Association (AFA) meeting and agreed

that it would be fun for the local AFA chapter to sponsor a

golf tournament. After trying for more than a year to find

someone to come forward and organize the tourney, Bud and I

agreed that we would hold one in the fall, even if it was

only the two of us playing together at Green Meadow. The

annual event is now in its tenth year, and with the approval

of Joyce, the tourney will now be named in his honor: ``The

Air Force Association General Bud Bacon Memorial Golf

Classic.'' Bud would want all of you golfers to join us this

fall for fun, and what a great way to honor his legacy.

Love of Country

And perhaps his love was most on display in how he felt

about his country. I'm sure many of you know how he got

admitted to West Point, but let me share with you one of the

versions of that wonderful story. Bud was too short--he did

not meet the minimum height to be admitted so he enrolled at

the University of Tennessee. After being turned down at West

Point for the second time, he heard that you are a little bit

taller in the morning when you first get up, as compared to

later in the day when your body has time to compress or

shrink. He hatched a plan to have some of his friends carry

him to be measured first thing in the morning, without

standing up. Depending on whose version of the story you

believe, he either just made the height, or the doctor was

impressed by his dogged determination and signed off on the

physical. In either case, the rest is history--he went on to

a very distinguished career in the US Air Force. He used this

story to make the point that ``. . . if you want something

bad enough, you can achieve it.'' Who would have thought that

someone could actually make himself taller? He may have been

short in stature, but he was very tall on determination and

character!

In the Air Force, he was tested in combat in two wars:

Korea and Vietnam. His unit in Vietnam was known as the

``Misty FACs,'' or forward air controllers. According to

Bud's friend and fellow fighter pilot, retired Air Force

Colonel Charlie Harr: ``The Misty FACs were among the first

to perform a very dangerous mission. They were widely known

for their daring and bravery.''

Bud had command of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at

Homestead AFB, FL, later in his career. I spoke to one of his

pilots that I know, retired Air Force Lt. General Don

Peterson. Here is what Don had to say:

``His leadership at Homestead was splendid. He knew how to

lead and get the job done, but just as importantly, he knew

how to take care of the people who served under him. He was a

role model for us all. Our morale was higher than ever, which

made us all--and our Air Force--better.''

Bud was an active member of virtually every local military

organization, including the Air Force Association, the East

Tennessee Military Affairs Council, the East Tennessee

Veterans Memorial Association, and he was the driving force

behind the renovation of the Doughboy Statue and Plaza at

Knoxville High School, his alma mater.

He was the Grand Marshall of the 2004 Knoxville Veterans

Day Parade. I know you all remember the wonderful picture of

Bud that appeared in the News Sentinel--proudly in uniform,

saluting, smiling, and with several flags in his hand. I have

a copy of that picture with me today.

It's clear that he deeply loved our country's flag and

proudly and properly displayed it at his home. He always had

it lighted at night and would take it down when he and Joyce

traveled. Joyce would say that he might forget a few things

from time to time, but would never forget to take down the

flag.

And he planned the music for this service. Is there any

doubt that he loved his country?

Finally, Bud sent an e-mail to his grandson Schuyler, a

proud Marine who had recently returned from Iraq. Bud wrote

the e-mail on Friday, May 23rd, the day before he took ill.

What a summary of Bud's feelings. This is what Bud had to

say--his own words:

Subject: ``Words of Encouragement''

If I may quote you, Schuyler, you said: ``I believe

strongly in what we're doing. . . .'' Those are, again in

your words, words of encouragement to me. Those of us in

uniform are obedient to our leaders and commanders, and we

believe in the rights and privileges we have inherited--from

those who went before us, in uniform and not in uniform. We

are not automatons; we do have hearts and souls and minds of

our own. But we recognize we are chosen to do the tough

work--when tough work has to be done.

The pictures of you in uniform and in combat are treasures;

you look as sturdy as the truck. You have made the Bacon

family proud. Keep us informed of your progress toward

special operations.

Love, Grand Bud

Faith

Finally, we know that faith was large part of his life. Bud

taught Sunday school and was a Deacon at this church. The

words of Saint Matthew, Chapter 25, seem appropriate to sum

things up: ``Well done, good and faithful servant.''

I know we all believe that Bud is in heaven with our God in

Paradise. It doesn't get any better than that.

That is why, ``When I grow up, I want to be like Bud

Bacon.''

Madam Speaker, I wish to honor a close friend and exemplary public servant who has brought distinction to the State of Tennessee.

I have known Park M. Strader for many years, and he is someone I hold in the highest regard. In fact, Parkey (as he is known to his friends) was an intern for my father when he was a Member of Congress. Since then, Representative Strader has built an illustrious career in public service, devoting his life to making Tennessee a better place.

During his two terms as a Representative to the Tennessee General Assembly, Representative Strader worked tirelessly for his constituents. No problem was too small for his attention, nor did he hesitate to tackle the big issues of the day.

As a member of the House Commerce and State and Local Government Committees and the House Local Government, State Government, and Industrial Impact Subcommittees, Representative Strader was a major factor in the rapidly expanding economy of East Tennessee. His intellect and dedication earned him a reputation as one of the most respected, knowledgeable public servants in Tennessee.

Representative Strader's public service spans many decades and has earned him many awards. Prior to his service in the Tennessee State House, Representative Strader served seven terms--28 years--as Knox County's Property Assessor.

During that time, he was one of the most important contributors to helping keep Knox County taxes low and help keep Knox County government running economically and efficiently.

With a history of service and dedication to Tennessee, I know Representative Strader will continue to work for the public good even in retirement.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues and other readers of the Record to join me in congratulating State Representative Park M. Strader on his commendable service to the people of East Tennessee. I am proud to call him my friend and wish him well on whatever new endeavors await him.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a Tennessean who has comforted and inspired thousands of people in East Tennessee.

Reverend William J. Fowler of Knoxville, Tennessee has spent the last 42 years as a Minister of the Gospel. During that time, he was a role model for his congregation and an inspiration to other ministers.

As the head of Church Street United Methodist Church since 1994, Rev. Fowler's compassion and devotion helped grow the congregation into the thousands, and his leadership has been invaluable to the United Methodist Church.

Rev. Fowler served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Emory & Henry College, where he chaired the Religious Life Committee. He also served as a member of the Holston Conference Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the Holston Conference Ethics Committee, and he was a member of the Institutional Review Board of Bristol Regional Medical Center.

In his final sermon, Rev. Fowler urged his congregation to heed God's call: ``God can send different persons to us, and point us the way that he wants us to go.'' He told his followers that his farewell does not mark the end of his service, but the continuation of God's Ministry.

I urge my colleagues to join me as I salute Rev. William J. Fowler and wish him and his wife the best as they enter a well-deserved retirement. His calling as a reverend, friend, and leader will continue to inspire many.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record the article from The Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper, which is reprinted below.

[From the Knoxville News Sentinel, June 7, 2008]

Familiar Pair at Church Street UMC To Retire

(By John Shearer)

Just as the landmark Church Street United Methodist Church

on Henley Street has changed little in appearance in recent

years, so have its worship leaders.

However, the Rev. William Fowler, who has served as senior

minister for the last 14 years, and Jim Rogers, who has been

the organist and choirmaster since 1979, have announced plans

to retire.

Fowler, whose tenure has been considered long for a

denomination with itinerant clergy, will preach his last

sermon on June 8, while Rogers is leaving in late July.

The Rev. Andy Ferguson from Broad Street United Methodist

in Cleveland, Tenn., will be the new senior minister, while a

search is under way for Rogers' replacement.

Fowler, the son of a Methodist minister, began his career

after graduation from Duke Divinity School as an assistant

pastor at a church in Scotland beginning in 1968. He had come

to Church Street from First United Methodist in Bristol and

had no idea he would stay so long.

``The first Sunday I was overwhelmed and frightened,'' he

said. ``Hearing the organ open up on, `Lift High the Cross,'

I said, `God, what did you get me into?' I certainly made

some mistakes, but I gave all my effort to God and said I

tried.''

Fowler, who is building a retirement lake-side home in

Kingston with his wife, Virginia, plans to stay away from a

pulpit but near a pen and computer writing books. Rogers had

come to Church Street from a similar position at Belle Meade

United Methodist in Nashville. At Church Street, he has

maintained the church's style of more traditional and formal

music in an era when contemporary Christian music has become

popular. ``People pass a lot different styles of worship to

come to this church,'' he said.

Rogers said the most satisfying part of his work has come

not from the performances, but in practice.

``The challenge is seeing what you can get out of a group

of singers,'' he said. ``God doesn't deserve your second

best.''

I yield 2 additional minutes.