Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a loving husband, dedicated father, community activist, dedicated public official, and dear friend of long standing, The Honorable Loyd Lewis.

Sadly, Mr. Lewis passed away on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. A celebration of his remarkable life was held on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 3:00 pm in the gymnasium of Quitman County High School in Georgetown, Georgia.

The genesis of Loyd Lewis's story began on March 30, 1935, when he was born to the union of the late Lexton Lewis and Willie Mae Griffin Lewis in Georgetown, Georgia. He was educated in the Quitman County, Georgia school system and graduated from the Kaigler Training School.

Mr. Lewis graduated from Fort Valley State College with a bachelor's degree in Social Studies and he obtained his certification in Guidance and Counseling from Tennessee State University, in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Lewis began his teaching career at his alma mater, the Kaigler Training School in 1958.

On August 16, 1965, Mr. Lewis's life would change forever when he married the love of

his life, Katherine Louise Mauldin of Fort Gaines, Georgia. To this blessed union a son, Carvel, was born.

Loyd used his life's work to affect the lives of young people in a monumental way. He was a teacher, guidance counselor, and school bus driver. Mr. Lewis served as the Director of the Neighborhood Youth Corporation in Columbus, Georgia from 1966 to 1976. From 1976 until 1984, Loyd served as the Operations Manager for the Columbus Employment and Training Administration in Columbus, Georgia under Mayors Jack Mickle and Harry Jackson.

Because of the profound impact of assisting his wife with her parent's funeral arrangements in Asheville, NC, Mr. Lewis was inspired to go into funeral service and in 1969, he and his beloved wife opened Lewis Mortuary in Fort Gaines, Georgia. For over 53 years, this business has brought comfort to families in Southeast Alabama and Southwest Georgia.

Loyd was always involved in things that were for the betterment of his community. He was truly a humble and benevolent servant. For many years, the city of Georgetown was without an AME Church until Loyd Lewis stepped in with a group of ladies to reopen St. Stephens AME church. He and Katherine put their dreams of building a home on hold for this project. The church reopened in 1976 and is still going strong today.

He continued to offer himself for service by serving on the Quitman County School Board. Loyd would serve as its Chairman for over 15 years. Because of his efforts, the school system would build a new elementary school, high school, and gym that would pave the way for the return of students from Stewart County.

Loyd loved his God and served as a church Steward and Trustee as well as church school Superintendent at St. Stephens AME church. He served his God by serving the community as a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Cross Road Masonic Lodge No. 190, The State School Board Association and The Georgia High School Association.

Mother Teresa, said ``A life not lived for others is not a life.'' I can say without a shadow of doubt that the Honorable Loyd Lewis lived his life for others.

He accomplished much in his life but none of it would have been possible without the love and support of his late wife, Katherine, his son Commissioner Carvel Lewis and his grandson, Tristan.

On a personal note, Loyd was my friend and supporter. He never told me what he thought I wanted to hear but he always told me what he felt I needed to hear. I will miss his wise advice and sage counsel.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 765,000 people in Georgia's Second Congressional District in commending the great service to humanity of the Honorable Loyd Lewis and in extending our deepest sympathies to his family. May their faith and the Holy Spirit console and comfort them in the days, weeks, and months to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate the life of a devoted wife, loving mother, doting grandmother, noted historian, professional librarian, distinguished author, thoughtful teacher, dedicated public servant and dear friend of longstanding, The Honorable Mary Jane Perkins Galer. Sadly, Representative Galer transitioned this life on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. A celebration of her remarkable life was held at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at The First Presbyterian Church in Columbus, GA attended by a host of friends, family, and admirers.

The genesis of Mary Jane Galers journey began with her birth in Port Arthur, Texas in 1924. Always seeking to quench her thirst for knowledge, she attended and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1945 with a B.A. in Education. This led to the commencement of her professional career as a teacher and librarian. She went on to earn a Master's degree in Library Science from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1947.

Mary Jane was able to merge her love of travel and serving others when she became an Army Special Services Librarian. This responsibility involved setting up libraries for soldiers at bases around the world, helping these soldiers increase their love of knowledge and learning. In 1951, during one of these assignments, she met and married her husband of 66 years, the late U.S. Army LTC (Ret.) Robert Fulton Galer. The Galer Family moved to Columbus, Georgia in 1960, when her husband became Fort Benning's Inspector General and Mary Jane assumed the position of Post Librarian. In 1967, Mary Jane joined the staff of Columbus College, now Columbus State University, as a Librarian and Associate Professor.

Because of her love of public service, in 1976 she interrupted her pursuit of an advanced degree in Political Science to run for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives. She and I were both elected during that election, and we became not only colleagues but dear friends. We frequently traveled to and from Atlanta together and often shuttled packages to her daughter Robin, who was a student at Georgia Tech. She used her time as a legislator to champion the rights of women and children. Her legislative achievements include helping Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to agree on a water sharing plan, revising guardianship laws for incapacitated adults, removing the collaboration requirements in rape cases and strengthening child support laws to comply with Federal guidelines. Furthermore. she was a strong advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and equal opportunity for all. She served in the Georgia General Assembly through 1988. As a result of her stellar public service, she received numerous public awards to include Certificate for Outstanding Achievement in Public Service, Soroptimist Award and the Maxine Shapiro Goldenstein Freedom Award.

Mary Jane Galer accomplished much in her life but little of it would have been possible without the grace of God and the love and support of her husband, the late U.S. Army LTC (Ret.) Robert Fulton Galer and her three children--Frank Fulton Galer, Robin R. Galer, and Barbara J. Neufeld. Her life was certainly made complete with the love of her grandchildren Jeni Neufeld and Katie Benner, as well as her three great grandchildren.

George Washington Carver once said that ``How far you go in life depends on your being tender with young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.'' Mary Jane, throughout her life exemplified these words. She was a lady of principle, character, dignity, grace, and grit. Our city, state, nation, and the world are better for her 98 years of life. To God be the Glory.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 765,000 people of the 2nd Congressional District of Georgia, in honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Mary Jane Galer and in extending our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and loved ones during this time of bereavement. Moreover, we pray that we will all be consoled and comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give honor, along with the members of the Georgia delegation, to my friend of longstanding for almost 50 years, Mr. Thomas Dortch of Atlanta, Georgia.

Thomas is a fine gentleman, a Fort Valley State University graduate, a strong alumnus, a big supporter of the Fort Valley Foundation, and he is a founder of the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation.

He is a stalwart, a pillar of the 100 Black Men of the United States, and he has done so much for so many in mentoring youngsters.

Winston Churchill said, ``We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.'' Tommy has given so much to so many for so long, and we are so delighted to honor him and his legacy today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Boy Scout Troop 27 in Fort Benning, Georgia on the occasion of their centennial celebration. Chartered in January of 1923, Troop 27 is the oldest Boy Scout troop in the Chattahoochee Council and the second oldest in the state of Georgia. They will celebrate 100 years of scouting at their centennial banquet on February 8, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at Fort Benning.

Chartered on January 2, 1923, Troop 27 began as a group of 14 boys who conducted their meetings in a dugout on the side of a hill. The Troop was very active, and in addition to working on merit badges, they also volunteered around post selling tickets for the Infantry School Glee Club's winter concert and serving as ushers at the Georgia-Alabama game and at the Post Christmas tree celebration.

Over the last century, Troop 27 has produced outstanding leaders who went on to fight for our country during wartime. In January of 1925, Troop 27 awarded its first Eagle Scout rank to Charles ``Tick'' Bonesteel III, who would later go on to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy, serve in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War, eventually reaching the rank of four-star General. Three more Scouts in Troop 27 would go on to earn the rank of Eagle in 1925, including Joseph ``Cider Joe'' Stillwell, Jr. who trained as a Green Beret and served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Truly, service to each other drives the engine that creates a better community, and world, and Boy Scout Troop 27 has a storied legacy of community service in the Chattahoochee Valley. Over the last 100 years, the Troop has produced over 200 Eagle Scouts who have collectively completed thousands of community service hours in support of the greater Columbus community. They collected more than 10 tons of scrap metal around Columbus, Georgia to be repurposed for the war effort during World War II. In the 1960's the Troop continued to serve by manning a holiday roadside rest area, providing refreshments, litter bags, road maps and safety pamphlets to weary travelers. In 1976, Troop 27 hosted the ``Slide for Life'' at the annual Scout-O-Rama, which was attended by thousands of scouts and Governor Jimmy Carter, who would be elected our Nation's 39th President in November of that year. During the 1990s, Troop 27 conducted numerous service projects, such as collecting food for the hungry, planting trees, collecting clothing for the Salvation Army, and bringing more than 200 dogs to the veterinarian for rabies vaccinations. And last December, the Troop volunteered for National Wreaths Across America, placing hundreds of holiday wreaths at the headstones of veterans at Fort Benning Main Post Cemetery. And I am proud to say that this year, Troop 27 will honor two more Scouts with the Eagle Scout rank.

Scouting has shaped my life and the lives of millions of youth across America by instilling foundational principles of moral character, self reliance, responsibility, leadership, human dignity and service to others. As an Eagle Scout, it brings me great pride to see Troop 27 representing the Boy Scouts of America with such dedication to the values we hold so dear.

For 100 years, the boys and men of Boy Scout Troop 27 have gathered and declared: ``On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.'' It is my sincere hope that Troop 27 Scouts will continue to do so for 100 more.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me; and the more than 765,000 people of Georgia's Second District in recognizing Boy Scout Troop 27 of Fort Benning, Georgia for their dedication to scouting and outstanding service to others for over 100 years.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and pleasure to rise today, to extend heartfelt congratulations to an extraordinary entrepreneur, corporate leader, philanthropist, political savant, patron of the arts and friend of longstanding, Mr. McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn. On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, friends, family, leaders in commerce, government, and others from across the country, gathered at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, in Atlanta, Georgia to participate in ``The Mack Trilogy'' celebrating 50 years of excellence in business, Mack's 79th birthday and launching The Mack Wilbourn Legacy Foundation. It was a fitting tribute to a man who through hard work and perseverance used his God-given ``talent'', grew it to the pinnacle of financial success, and is reaching back to lift others behind him.

Mack Wilbourn, a native of Magnolia, Arkansas, attended Tucson High School and the University of Arizona where he majored in accounting. From one of his first jobs as a youth at Jack in the Box, he began his experience in the restaurant industry and in 1971, along with his partner, Brad Hubbert, became one of the first minority McDonald's franchisees in the Atlanta area, growing to 4 restaurants and 150 employees. His current franchises include Atlanta Bread & Bar, Baja Fresh Mexican, Famiglia Pizza, Phillips Seafood, Popeyes and We Juice It at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He is managing partner of MWJ, LLC, a vending company and has managed the Coca Cola Vending locations throughout the Atlanta airport since 2004. He started an angel investment firm focused on startup businesses that could potentially compete on the next level with proper resources and guidance.

Mack has pursued joint business opportunities as a consultant with Parodies Midfield Corporation, The Rouse Corporation (Underground Atlanta), and Service America Corporation (Fulton County Jail Foodservice), started the first Popeye's Chicken in an airport and his Edy's Ice Cream, also at the airport, and became an Olympic Licensee for color changing mugs for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

Mack has earned numerous awards and been recognized by the Atlanta Business League, Minority Business Entrepreneur, Franchise Update, Georgia Restaurant Association, City of College Park, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, among many. Always politically active, he has hosted 4 Democratic Presidents: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama; and Joe Biden; as well as Congressional, State and local leaders from Mayor Maynard Jackson and Ambassador Andrew Young to Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock.

Believing that service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on this earth, Mack has been a servant leader in the larger community with Atlanta Business League, Butler Street YMCA, The Urban League, the NAACP, Zoo Atlanta, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, The National Black Arts Festival, The Atlanta Tip Off Club, Brain Injury Association of Georgia, The High Museum and Center for Puppetry Arts and numerous youth organizations.

Mack serves on the boards of Georgia Primary Bank, The Center Helping Obesity in Children End Successfully (CHOICES), The Piedmont Foundation, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Museum, and the Democratic National Finance Committee. Moreover, he is an active member of Salem Bible Church.

Mack Wilbourn has accomplished much in his 79 years of life. However, as a man of deep faith he knows that none of it would have been possible without the Grace of God and the love and support of his family including his sons, McKenzie and Marquis along with his 3 grandchildren.

It has been said that the true person of success is not the one who climbs the ladder of

life with 2 hands but climbs with 1 hand and reaches back with the other. Mack is reaching back as he launches the McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn Legacy Foundation to transform, inspire and provide opportunities for the underserved in the areas of Art and Culture, Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy. His vision is to revolutionize the outlook and provide life changing opportunities for marginalized communities.

Mr. Speaker, McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn has done so much for so many for so long. I therefore ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the other Members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation and all those whose lives Mack has touched, in extending our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes on 50 years of excellence in business, 79 years of life and the launching of the McKinley ``Mack'' Wilbourn Legacy Foundation. To God be the Glory.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2022 University of Georgia Football team on their outstanding season and most importantly their victory last night at the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Head Coach Kirby Smart and his remarkable student athletes represented the University--and the State of Georgia--incredibly by pulling off an undefeated season this school year.

This is the Bulldogs' second consecutive title, as they continue to excite the college football world with their dominating performance on the field.

Finally, it is a point of pride to note that six student athletes hailing from Middle and Southwest Georgia contributed to this historic season.

Go dawgs.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a dedicated public servant, community activist, trailblazer, and dear friend of longstanding to my wife, Vivian, and me, Councilor Evelyn ``Mimi'' Woodson. She will be honored at an event on December 15, 2022, at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center for her 28 years as a member of the Columbus City Council.

Councilor Woodson's story is truly the epitome of the American Dream. She was born in Manati, Puerto Rico and spent her formative years in New York and Chicago before her family eventually settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Because of her love of country, she joined the Wisconsin National Guard as a part time soldier before entering the United States Army where she served her country faithfully for 13 and a half years. During her distinguished military career, she was honored with the Good Conduct Medal, two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal.

Councilor Woodson moved to Columbus in 1993 and immediately became involved in the community, establishing Kids and Things, a successful business that had as its focus the importance of youth in the community and civic engagement.

Because of her love of her community and her belief that she could make a difference, Councilor Woodson offered herself as a candidate for the Columbus City Council. The voters of District 7 elected her, and she took her first oath of office on January 3, 1995. She made history by becoming the first Latino City Councilor in the history of Columbus, Georgia. She would be re-elected 6 more times because of the trust placed in her by her constituents.

During her tenure in elective office, Councilor never lost sight of the importance of community and remained closely connected. She has been involved with many community organizations during her time on the City Council to include Columbus Against Drugs, Winterfield on the Move, American Red Cross, South Columbus Revitalization, Georgia Municipal Association, National League of Cities, Community Advancement, Hispanic Elected Officials (served as President), Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials Board of Directors, Community Warriors, American Legion, and the Columbus Steam Center. Along with the late Harold ``Lefty'' Encarnacion, she was one of the driving forces behind the Tri City Latino Association's cultural festival in Columbus, Georgia that honors the significant role that Latinos have played in our country's rich history. The festival celebrated its 9th year in September.

Because of her great work and advocacy in her community, Councilor Woodson has been honored with many awards during her public service to include: Keep Columbus Beautiful Litter Presentation Award, Perty Favorite City Leader Award; Ernestine Aurelia Mack Service to Mankind Award; the Rainbow Push Coalition Woman on the Rise Award; Women of Action, The Courier Community Service

Award; the Harold ``Lefty'' Encarnacion Community Service Award; the Dr. Ophelia Devore Young Unsung Hero Honors; Mundo Hispanic Atlanta Distinguish Person of the Year; The Panamanian Association of Columbus, Georgia Mother of the Year; William H. Spencer High School Generosity in Service; Spencerian Service Award; Davis Broadcasting Women of Excellence Award; Columbus Georgia Chapter of J.U.G.S. Women of Action Honoree; and she was a 2022 inductee into the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame.

Councilor Woodson has used her time on the Columbus City Council for good. She would always ask the questions that others were afraid to ask. During her time in office, she truly served as a voice to the voiceless and gave hope to the hopeless.

It has been said that ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Councilor Evelyn ``Mimi'' Woodson has paid her rent and she has paid it well.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and Me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the Second District in congratulating and commending Councilor Evelyn ``Mimi'' Woodson for her years of service to our country, state, and the Columbus City Council. May God continue to ``order the steps'' of her life as she embarks on her next journey.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing me to speak on this bill.

I rise in support of H. Res. 1156. I thank my colleague from Massachusetts, whose bipartisan efforts more than 20 years ago led to the creation of the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

Since then, this program has enjoyed bipartisan support. The United States continues to produce the highest quality, safest, most abundant, and most economical food and fiber anywhere in the world.

Drawing on this abundance, we are able to provide school meals, teacher training, and nutrition programs for pregnant and nursing women. Whether at home or abroad, we know that by reducing hunger and improving nutrition, we help support better educational outcomes.

This program is a win-win for America, supporting America's farmers and producers by providing donated U.S. agricultural commodities and using them to help reduce child hunger, improve education, and support greater security in the world. I believe this program has been and will continue to be an essential tool for diplomacy.

As chair of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, it has been my honor to fund this program each year. It is true to the spirit of service and compassion that Ambassador and former Senator George McGovern and former Senator Bob Dole embodied. This program helps bring the bounty of America's farmers, ranchers, millers, producers, shippers, and commodity groups to assist vulnerable children and mothers around the world.

So, in celebrating the first 20 years of its success, I look forward to the program's enduring impact in the years ahead.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I urge its passage.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a dedicated husband and father, trailblazing Law Enforcement Officer and public servant, Sheriff Gregory D. Countryman. Sheriff Countryman was honored as the Community Service Person of the Year by the Controllers Civic and Social Club in Columbus, Georgia on December 3, 2022.

Born in Plains, Georgia, Countryman's family moved to Columbus, Georgia when his father was assigned to Fort Benning. He is a product of the Muscogee County School System, graduating from Baker High School in 1984. Although he struggled in his early life to overcome a learning disability, this challenge did not deter him from seeking higher education. He would go on to earn an impressive collection of degrees, including an Associate's Degree from Georgia Military College; a Bachelor of Science Degree from Troy State University; a Master of Public Administration Degree from Columbus State University; a Master of Arts in Practical Theology from Ohio Christian University and, finally, a Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Counseling from Saint Thomas Christian University.

Countryman has been a dedicated public servant who has consistently gone above and beyond for the people of the Chattahoochee Valley region. He has dutifully served his community for thirty years as a highly respected law enforcement professional. As a Deputy in the Muscogee County Sheriffs Department, he served in the bureaus of Field services, Court Services, and the Fugitives and Jail Divisions. In 2004, he was elected to serve as the Marshal of Muscogee County, and he would go on to serve three terms.

As Marshal, Countryman was a visionary leader for law enforcement officials in Muscogee County and the state of Georgia. Desiring to improve public safety services beyond his community, he founded the Georgia Marshal Training Network, a non-profit organization to provide education and training to Marshals across the state and served as president of the organization. He believes that education is the passport to the future, and the future belongs to those who prepare for it today. With that vision in mind, he created the Junior Marshal Program for Middle School students which mentored and instilled within them the essential values of citizenship, leadership, education, fun, and teamwork. Since 2005, the Junior Marshal Program worked with nearly 2,000 young people, building lasting relationships between law enforcement and future generations, and making Muscogee County a safer place to live.

In 2020, Marshal Gregory Countryman made history by becoming the first African American to be elected Sheriff of Muscogee County, Georgia. After serving his community faithfully and effectively for over two decades, the people of Muscogee elected him sheriff with nearly 75 percent of the vote, demonstrating great trust in his ability to fairly enforce the laws and make our community safer.

It has been said that ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Sheriff Countryman has paid his rent and he has paid it well. In addition to serving as the top law enforcement official for the second largest city in the state, he has given dedicated service to various organizations in his community to include Omega Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Electric City Masonic Lodge No. 322; the Georgia Marshal Training Network; American Legion 267 (SAL Member); the Fraternal Order of Police; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; the Police Benevolent Association and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Knowing that public safety is a crucial and everchanging field, Sheriff Countryman has not rested on his laurels and has always tried to stay on the cutting edge of Law Enforcement Training and initiatives. He is a graduate of the Georgia Regional Command College Class No. 26, attended the FBI's Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (L.E.E.D.S) training, and served as a former Assistant Adjunct Professor at Georgia Military College where he helped effectively train new prospective recruits in the field of law enforcement.

Sheriff Countryman has served and achieved so much in his life, but none of it would have been possible without the grace of God and love and support of his wife, Angela, and their three sons, Christopher, Gregory, Jr. (a Muscogee County Deputy Sheriff) and William.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the Second Congressional District in recognizing, honoring, and commending Sheriff Gregory D. Countryman on receiving the Community Service Person of The Year Award from the Controllers Civic and Social Club in Columbus, Georgia. We commend and thank him for his selfless service to God, his community, and humankind.

Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and solemn remembrance that I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a loving wife, dedicated mother, doting grandmother and a woman after God's own heart, First Lady Emeritus Barbara Tharpe Raines. Sadly, First Lady Raines passed from labor to reward after a long and fruitful journey of service to humankind. A service celebrating her remarkable life will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2022 in Macon, Georgia at 12:00 p.m. at the Macon Centreplex. She leaves a legacy of service that is worthy of emulation.

Barbara Tharpe Raines was born on January 30, 1951, in Macon, Georgia to the late James Bryant and Alma Jones Tharpe. She was the oldest of six children.

First Lady Raines was a lifelong learner and was a proud product of the Bibb County School System, graduating from Ballard Hudson High School in 1968. The next stop on her educational journey was Fort Valley State College (now University), graduating in 1972 with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Education. She also received a Master's Degree in Counseling from Georgia College and State University with more study at Georgia Southern University .

Equipped with great educational tools, she embarked on a thirty-year education career, serving in multiple roles, including First Grade Teacher, Second Grade Teacher and Guidance Counselor. She retired from the Bibb County School system with her final duty station at Burghurd Elementary School. Never one to rest on her laurels or one to stop trying to help those in need, she came out of retirement to do independent counseling for the school system, setting up independent counseling programs and serving as she did so often in her life as a mentor for new counselors. First Lady Raines was also an instructor with Hicks and Hicks Associates of Atlanta, Georgia, where she taught child development courses.

Central to her life and character was her commitment to God that she formed at an early age. An unbreakable bond was cemented with her beloved husband and life partner, the Reverend Curtis Raines as they were both founding members of the Mount Vernon Baptist Church. She and Rev. Raines were members of the church's Youth Department and played an integral role in the Church's spiritual and social development. First Lady Raines and Reverend Raines formed a true partnership as she became a deaconess and he became a deacon under the leadership of their pastor at Mount Vernon, the Reverend Dr. Henry Ficklin.

Applying the lessons that he learned at Mount Vernon, Reverend Raines began his own ministerial journey along with First Lady Raines who supported him at every turn, as a sterling example of what a First Lady should be. She served as the First Lady of New Pilgrim Baptist Church for 34 years and Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church Bolingbroke for 31 years. First Lady Raines was involved with many ministries that had as their goal the development of the whole person.

When Reverend Raines became President of the General Missionary Convention of Georgia, First Lady Raines was once again a full partner with her husband serving in numerous capacities with the Convention.

George Washington Carver once said, ``How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and strong, because someday in your life you will have been all of these.''

First Lady Emeritus Barbara Raines used her life's work to help people from all walks of life. She was a member of many social and civic organizations to include the Macon Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Bibb Retired Education Association and Retired Counselors, Mentor at the Macon Youth Development Center, Rainbow Grief Counselor, Co-Team Captain of American Cancer Society, Former Member of the American Lung Association, and Cancer Relay for Life.

Because of her remarkable service to others, she has been recognized by local, state and national organizations.

Besides being one of God's Children, her greatest role in life was being a dedicated wife, loving mother and grandmother. As outlined already, she supported and served as the greatest cheerleader to her husband of almost 44 Years, Rev. Curtis Raines in various endeavors. Moreover, she always supported her children and grandchildren,

Madam Speaker, I am proud to have known a woman with the grace, class and dignity of First Lady Emeritus Barbara Tharpe Raines. I ask my colleagues to join my wife Vivian and me, along with the 730,000 people of the Second Congressional District in extending our deepest condolences to her family, friends and all who mourn her loss. May they be comforted by their faith, the grace of God and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and solemn remembrance that I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a loving husband, dedicated father, distinguished Army Veteran, determined Civil Rights Advocate, faithful public servant, a benevolent man of God and my friend of longstanding, Deacon Lucius Holloway, Sr. Sadly, Deacon Holloway transitioned from labor to reward on Thursday, November 24, 2022. His life will be celebrated on Saturday, December 3, 2022, at Cooper Carver Elementary School in Dawson, Georgia.

The remarkable journey of Deacon Lucius Holloway, Sr. began on April 1, 1932, as he was born to the union of Mr. Bobby Holloway, Sr. and Mrs. Mary Louise Thornton Holloway in Dawson, Georgia.

Deacon Holloway was educated in the Terrell County School System. He received his Auto Body and Frame Construction certification from the Albany Vocational Technical College in Albany, Georgia.

He was married to his beloved wife and life partner, the late Emma Kate Holloway, for 60 years and they built a life of service and advocacy for humankind.

Armed with a servant's heart, Deacon Holloway gave of himself to serve our country for three years of active duty in the United States Army during the Korean War. He retired as a Staff Sergeant after serving 22 years in the Army National Guard. His professional journey also took him to Delco Remy and Delphi, where he retired after 18 years of service.

Deacon Holloway was a committed freedom fighter for the cause of justice and equality. He truly believed in the words that Dr. King penned from the Birmingham Jail: ``Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.'' Deacon Holloway was one of Terrell County's most influential Civil Rights activists, always speaking up for the voiceless and the hopeless. He was always concerned about African Americans exercising their rights as American citizens through the ballot box. Deacon Holloway engaged in many voter registration drives and mass meetings during his lifetime.

His advocacy did not come without great cost to him and his family. Deacon Holloway had to endure many challenges during his Civil Rights advocacy, including having the gas line at his house cut during a cold day in the 1960s because he housed Freedom Riders and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at his home. He was also arrested; he and his family were threatened, and a cross was burned in his front yard. But through all these indignities, he never wavered in his support for the cause of Civil and Human Rights.

His relationship with the NAACP is long and storied. Deacon Holloway became the first Vice President of the Terrell County Branch in 1955. He served as Vice President for 65 years and President for one year. Deacon Holloway cemented his commitment by becoming a lifetime member of the organization that he had given so much to for so long.

Deacon Holloway was also a committed public servant. He served on the Terrell County Board of Commissioners for 27 years, retiring in January of this year. Deacon Holloway was a tireless advocate for his constituents, constantly pushing to do the right thing for those that he represented.

Most importantly, Deacon Holloway was a man of God who allowed Him to order his steps. He began his walk with Christ at an early age, first fellowshipping with the saints at County Line Missionary Baptist Church in Sasser, Georgia. In 1956, his Christian journey continued when he became a member of Sardis Missionary Baptist Church in Dawson, Georgia where he served faithfully in many capacities, including as Ordained Deacon, Chairman of the Deacon Board, Sunday School Superintendent, Youth Sunday School Teacher, Adult Sunday School Teacher and Vice Treasurer of Finance.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said that ``Only when a tree has fallen can you take the measure of it. It is the same with a man.'' A great tree has fallen, and we can all agree that we can take the measure of this great man for the great things he has done to uplift humanity.

Deacon Lucius Holloway, Sr. achieved countless successes in his life. But none would have been possible with the grace of God and love and support of his dearly departed wife of 60 years, Emma Kate Holloway, his five children, one of whom preceded him in death, and his eleven grandchildren.

On a personal note, Deacon Holloway was my friend. He always supported and encouraged me with his wise counsel and sage advice. He will be sorely missed, but the world is better because of him.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the 2nd District in honoring and celebrating the life and legacy of Deacon Lucius Holloway, Sr. for his service to God, his country and humanity and in extending our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who mourn his loss. May they be consoled and comforted by their faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a social science educator, prolific writer, political philosopher, and African American Civil Rights Activist, Dr. Preston King.

Dr. King was born in Albany, Georgia on March 3, 1936, to the union of Clennon Washington King, Sr., and Margaret Slater King.

Dr. King obtained his bachelor's degree from Fisk University in 1956. He went on to obtain his Master of Science in 1958 from the London School of Economics and his PhD in 1966. Dr. King was subjected to the draft board process and after the board refused to address him as Mr. King, he refused to respond. He was charged with draft evasion and went into exile in the United Kingdom because of the unjust charges that were levied against him.

His exile began his storied career in Academia as he has served at many institutions of higher learning in England and Africa to include Keele University, The University of Ghana, The University of Sheffield, the University of East Africa and as department Chair at the University of Nairobi.

Dr. King moved to Australia in 1976 where he served as Chair of the School of Economics until 1986, when he returned to the United Kingdom and Lancaster University, resuming his position as Chair.

During his extraordinary career, Dr. King has published many books. His first book was published in 1967, Fear of Power. Other dynamic publications included Politics and Experience, as well as multiple editions of The Ideology of Order in 1974 and 1999 and Toleration in 1978 and 1998. Other books include An African Winter, Socialism and the Common Good: New Fabian Essays and Friendship and Politics. Additionally, Dr. King has authored, narrated, and edited the Critical Review International Social and Political Philosophy.

Despite his numerous commitments in academia, Dr. King has found time to share his talents as a visiting professor at multiple institutions of higher learning to include McGill University in Canada, Auckland University in New Zealand, Australian National University in Australia, Macquarie University in Australia and Birkbeck College, a part of the University of London System.

Dr. King's philosophy in academia and activism has always been centered around social issues, especially as they relate to scientific matters. He has extensively studied the structure of societies and how they function and evolve, and he has played an integral role in tying questions of history and the philosophy of history to questions of tolerance and the ways societies may or may not be managed.

Dr. King was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2000. He has been active as a scholar-in residence at the leadership center of Morehouse College in Atlanta since 2006.

Shirley Chisholm once said that ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Through much adversity, Dr. Preston King has paid his rent and he has paid it well.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian; and me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the Second Congressional District in honoring Dr. Preston King for his many years of service to academia and humankind.

Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and solemn remembrance that I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding man of God, iconic civil rights pioneer, dedicated leader and friend of longstanding, Rev. Charles Melvin Sherrod. Sadly, Rev. Sherrod transitioned from labor to reward on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at the age of 85. He leaves in his wake many heavy hearts among his family, friends, community and across the nation. A homegoing service celebrating his life was held Saturday, October 15, 2022 at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia at 11:00 a.m.

Charles Sherrod was born on January 2, 1937 in rural Surry, Virginia to the late Mr. Raymond Sherrod and Ms. Martha Mae Gibson. After moving with his grandmother and siblings to nearby Petersburg, Charles would go on to become president of his student body at the all-black Peabody High School where he played sports, participated in theatre, and served as school chaplain (Quiros, 2022). Having heard the call to God's ministry at an early age, his strong Christian faith steeled his resolve to challenge the stain of racial segregation in the Jim Crow south and in 1954 at the age of 17, he participated in a kneel-in at a segregated white church.

Following graduation from high school, Charles attended Virginia Union University in Richmond where he earned a Bachelor's in Sociology and a Master's in Theology. In February 1960, he and 33 other student activists staged a sit-in at the lunch counter of Thalhimer's Department Store in downtown Richmond, were arrested and became known as the ``Richmond 34''. In April of that year, Sherrod and other students attended a meeting at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina where the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded. Sherrod volunteered to be placed anywhere and was sent by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Albany in Southwest Georgia as SNCC's first field secretary along with Cordell Reagon and Charles Jones.

Working with others in Albany, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he launched a full assault against racial violence and segregation through nonviolent demonstrations and the registration of thousands of disenfranchised Black Americans in the region. Unfortunately, Police Chief Laurie Prichett, ``unlike so many other Southern lawmen, avoided the spectacle of publicly attacking protesters'' and just jailed successive waves of them in separate remote locations in surrounding counties until there were no more protesters (Quiros, 2022). The ``Albany Movement,'' as it was called, ended and Dr. King left, but Sherrod persevered with successful Black voter registration. Ultimately, within months the Albany City Commission voted to repeal all segregation laws from its books. Charles Sherrod continued his work in Albany, Americus, Moultrie, and other cities, later changing the focus to school integration.

In 1964, Sherrod left Albany and went to Union Theological Seminary in New York to earn a Master's of Divinity. Meanwhile, he impacted the greater American Civil Rights Movement by recruiting for the 1963 March on Washington and marching for voting rights in Selma on Bloody Sunday. He returned to Albany and brought with him white seminarians to create a moral society where Black and white Americans could live and work together in unity and peace (Quiros, 2022). By 1966 SNCC became more militant, the Black Power Movement emerged and Sherrod broke with SNCC and worked with the Georgia Freedom Project (Quiros, 2022). Also in 1966, Charles Sherrod married Shirley Miller of Baker County and they founded a farming collective, New Communities, which was the largest Black-owned plot in the United States where they worked the land and helped people (Quiros, 2022).

Unfortunately, a severe drought occurred in 1980 and the Sherrods were repeatedly denied help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the farm was taken by foreclosure (Quiros, 2022). Devastated by the loss of the farm, Charles and Shirley nevertheless continued their work in southwest Georgia. Charles was elected to the Albany City Commission serving 14 years, was a prison chaplain and a professor at Albany State University.

The Sherrod's sued USDA, alleging racial discrimination and were awarded a settlement for wrongful dispossession of New Communities; they used the money to purchase Cypress Pond Plantation, an antebellum plantation now managed by descendants of slaves, to help rural Black landowners profit from farming and to be a model for solving the nation's affordable housing shortage (Quiros, 2022). ``From marching in the Albany Movement, being beaten and jailed, registering rural folks to vote, serving in local politics, and founding New Communities,'' wrote Professor Ansley L. Quiros in a piece published by the Washington Post, ``Sherrod stayed with the course of freedom and the beloved community until his death'' (2022).

Rev. Charles M. Sherrod accomplished much in his life, but none would be possible without the grace of God and the love and support of his wife, Shirley; his two children, Russia and Kenyatta; his 5 grandchildren, and other family and loved ones who will miss him dearly.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives join my wife, Vivian and me, along with the 730,000 people of the 2nd Congressional District of Georgia in honoring the life and legacy of Rev. Charles Melvin Sherrod and in extending our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who mourn his loss. May they be consoled and comforted by an abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.

[From the Washington Post, Oct. 13, 2022]

A Vital Civil Rights Activist you Never Heard of Has Died

(By Ansley L. Quiros)

Charles Melvin Sherrod died on Tuesday at the age of 85 in

Albany, Ga., a place he went to in 1961 and never left. If

you are not from southwest Georgia, his name might not be

familiar. But Charles Sherrod is the most important civil

rights figure you've never heard of. Recovering his story

offers us a chance not only to honor a civil rights hero, but

also to better understand the struggle for freedom to which

he committed himself for so long.

Sherrod was born on Jan. 2, 1937, in Surry, Va., a place he

described as a ``speck.'' He never knew his father and was

raised primarily by his grandmother within a broad community

of friends and cousins. Even as a young child, Sherrod

possessed a deep faith in God and a precocious theological

imagination. Probably inspired by the sermons he heard at

Mount Olive Baptist Church, he would often play church,

preaching to other children and soon sensing a real call to

the ministry. ``I was preaching when I was about 6 years

old,'' Sherrod told me, adding, ``I was born a preacher.'' He

would carry that preacher's zeal and deep moral vision with

him for the rest of his life.

Despite the racism and suffocating poverty he experienced

in childhood, Sherrod excelled in school. He attended the

all-Black Peabody High School where he played sports, acted

in plays and served as student body president and school

chaplain. Sherrod then attended Virginia Union University

where he earned his undergraduate degree in sociology, and

then an M.A. in theology, fulfilling his ambition to become a

minister.

During this time, Sherrod's Christian commitments first led

him to challenge the dehumanization of Jim Crow. He

participated in a ``kneel-in'' at a segregated church in 1954

and later joined a picket in front of Thalhimer's department

store. ``I saw the [lynching] rope in my mind,'' he

confessed, but he also felt a sense of responsibility since

people were ``coming to me, asking me for leadership.''

Shenod was a natural leader: smart and calm with a ready,

broad smile.

In April 1960, his civil rights activities took Sherrod to

a meeting at Shaw University, where the Student Nonviolent

Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded. SNCC's vision--

nonviolence, collective action and the pursuit of a beloved

community in which all people are afforded dignity, respect

and care--appealed to Sherrod's calling, both to Christianity

and racial justice. After the meeting, Sherrod told Ella

Baker, the veteran activist who was then the executive

secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

who convened the students, that ``I'd be willing to be placed

anywhere.'' She sent him to southwest Georgia, a place W.E.B.

Du Bois had once called the ``Egypt of the Confederacy,''

where he would spend the next six decades working for

freedom.

Sherrod arrived in Albany as SNCC's first field secretary,

``full of zeal and empty of almost everything else.'' But

soon, he and the men and women of Albany launched a full-

scale assault on Jim Crow unlike anything that had been seen

before. The Albany Movement, as it became known, was a

dramatic mobilization of people against racial violence and

segregation.

In traditional accounts of the civil rights movement,

Albany is depicted as a failure, a place where the Rev.

Martin Luther King Jr. was outmaneuvered by Police Chief

Laurie Pritchett, who unlike so many other Southern lawmen,

avoided the spectacle of publicly attacking protesters, and

simply locked them up. This is why Sherrod's story is

crucial. The Albany Movement was only a failure when

considered from the perspective of King. The movement

continued after King left, making important, if slow, gains.

``Nothing could stop the people,'' Sherrod said, ``certainly

not jail or the threat of jail, not [even] death.''

Sherrod stayed, organizing in the rural counties, though he

did take a ``Movement sabbatical'' in 1964, heading to Union

Theological Seminary in New York. He earned a Master's of

Divinity and then returned to southwest Georgia, bringing

White seminarians with him as part of an exchange program

called the Student Interracial Ministry. For Sherrod, this

was a continuation of his civil rights work. He insisted,

always, that the end was not simply political but moral: a

society where Black and White Americans, all created in the

image of God, could live and work together in unity and

peace.

In 1966, this philosophy led to a breach with SNCC, which

was moving away from interracialism and Christian nonviolence

and toward a more militant stance of Black Power. As Sherrod

put it: ``I didn't leave SNCC, SNCC left me.'' But he stayed

with the work of racial justice--voter registration and

community organizing--under the auspices of the Southwest

Georgia Freedom Project.

In the late 1960s, Sherrod, along with his wife, Shirley

Miller Sherrod, a Baker County native whom he married in

1966, helped found New Communities, a farming collective that

was, at one point, the largest Black-owned plot of land in

the United States. For decades, New Communities was the

fulfillment of a dream for the Sherrods, a place where they

could work the land and care for others.

But in the 1980s, when a devastating drought afflicted

southwest Georgia, they were repeatedly denied relief and the

farm was foreclosed on. In asking for a loan, Sherrod heard

from White loan officials the same message he'd heard from

segregationists decades earlier when trying to vote: ``Over

my dead body.''

Though devastated by the loss of New Communities, the

Sherrods kept working faithfully in southwest Georgia.

Charles Sherrod had been elected to the Albany City Council

in 1976, a post he held until 1990, and also served as a

prison chaplain, while Shirley worked for the Federation of

Southern Cooperatives before being named the U.S. Department

of Agriculture Georgia Director of Rural Development in 2009.

Shirley was fired after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart

posted selectively edited, misleading video clips from a

speech she gave. The White House and Agriculture Secretary

Tom Vilsack apologized to Sherrod two days after her firing.

After seeing her name dragged through the mud, Shirley got

better news. She heard about a class-action lawsuit, Pigford

v. Glickman II, alleging systemic racial discrimination

toward Black farmers by the USDA. The Sherrods filed a claim

and were awarded a settlement for the wrongful dispossession

of New Communities. They used the money to purchase a new

farm. It was a bittersweet moment.

And one that reveals how long the Black freedom struggle

has been. Charles Sherrod embodied this enduring struggle

over the long haul, in all of its breadth and character. From

marching in the Albany Movement, being beaten and jailed in

Americus, Ga., registering rural folks to vote, founding New

Communities, to serving in local politics, Sherrod stayed

with the cause of freedom and beloved community until his

death.

His story reminds us that the work of racial justice is

ongoing, that it occurs in rural spaces as well as urban ones

and that it can look like political organizing, preaching,

farming or just the ordinary miracle of Black love in

America.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Historic Savannah, Americus, & Montgomery (SAM) Shortline Excursion Train on the 20th anniversary of its first public run on October 26, 2002.

While the current SAM Shortline Excursion Train had its maiden voyage only twenty years ago, its ancestor and namesake, the Savannah, Americus, & Montgomery (SAM) Railroad Company, was founded during the 1880s by Americus attorney and banker, Colonel Samuel Hugh Hawkins. The Americus region saw its first population and construction booms with the arrival of Southwestern Railroad in the early 1850s. Following the American Civil War, the people of southwest Georgia saw the railroad as a bright new opportunity for economic development and prosperity. But Southwestern and its lessee, the Central Railroad & Banking Company of Georgia, held a monopoly on the railroads and many in Americus began to feel the effects of exorbitant and discriminatory rates, thus contributing to a decline in local trade. When surrounding cities began proposing new rail lines to bypass Americus, Colonel Hawkins led the charge to construct new lines that would pass directly through the city, leading local investors to organize the Americus, Preston & Lumpkin Railroad (AP&L) in 1884 to ensure that Americus would continue to dominate the region's trade and continue to grow into the Twentieth Century. In 1888, Hawkins and his associates decided to extend the AP&L both east and west to create a direct route between Montgomery, Alabama, and Savannah. Later that year, the 265-mile project would be renamed as the Savannah, Americus, Montgomery Railway, known simply as ``The SAM.''

Before the SAM's mainline was constructed through the city, the lands surrounding Americus in Sumter County were largely undeveloped and sparsely populated. Following the boom in trade and wealth brought by the SAM, several new towns were founded throughout the region, including Richland, Cordele, Vidalia, and Lyons among others. The first new community, however, was created in Sumter County a few miles west of Americus near an older community called the Plains of Dura. Once SAM's main rail line approached the Plains of Dura community, residents of surrounding settlements began moving closer to the railroad and eventually chartered the town of Plains--the renowned home of famous Georgia peanut farmer and our 39th President, Jimmy Carter. Once fully developed, SAM Railway became the lifeblood of the city of Americus and spurred a second construction and population boom that would reshape the city as a powerful economic nexus in the region. During this period, the city saw the founding of several vital local businesses, such as the Americus Guano Company, the Americus Oil Company, the Americus Illuminating and Power Company, the Americus Construction Company, the Americus Grocery Company, as well as the town's crowning achievement--the Windsor Hotel.

Despite its transformational success, SAM was not immune from the economic struggles of the era, and in 1893, amid a financial panic, Colonel Hawkins and his associates were forced to sell their beloved SAM Railway Company to John Skelton of Richmond, Virginia who would reorganize the company as the Georgia and Alabama Railway in 1895. Samuel Hawkins went on to lose nearly $1 million of his own money in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the railroad under local control. Nevertheless, the railroad he initially founded proved vital to the southwest Georgia community as it provided jobs, trade, freight transportation, as well as an economic engine for the budding towns and cities across southwest Georgia and Alabama.

At the start of the Twenty-first Century, local residents of the southwest Georgia region developed plans to revive the former SAM Railway as a passenger excursion route. By 2002, the excursion founders had recovered and refurbished several state-owned vintage railcars to seat up to eighty people. They rebranded

the railway as the Historic SAM Shortline Railroad to honor the rich history that shaped the region. The reborn SAM Shortline Excursion Train follows the legendary route from Cordele to Plains and gives riders scenic views of cotton fields, pecan groves, and peanut farms while riding in climate-controlled, train cars to visit sites such as the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, Historic Downtown Americus, President Jimmy Carter's hometown of Plains and his boyhood home and farm in Archery, Georgia.

Being Georgia's only rolling state park, the excursion train hosted an impressive passenger load in 2021, even despite the COVID-19 pandemic. That year alone, the SAM Shortline Excursion Train boarded 17,000 passengers who were able to experience the fascinating history of President Carter's several political campaigns and life, as well as a glimpse of rural life at the turn of the Twentieth Century. The SAM Shortline also offers special rides throughout the year, including Halloween trick-or-treat trains, Christmas trains, dinner trains, and fundraisers, marking it a community treasure to be enjoyed by all throughout the year. The success and immense popularity of the excursion train resulted in an impressive economic impact of $2,697,496.00 across Sumter and Crisp Counties in 2021.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join my wife, Vivian; and me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the Second Congressional District, in recognizing the Historic SAM Shortline Railroad for twenty wonderful years of bringing people closer to southwest Georgia's beautiful landscape and rich history.

Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and solemn remembrance that I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a loving husband, dedicated father, distinguished Army Chaplain, humble pastor, veterans advocate, tireless community servant and my friend of longstanding, Colonel (Ret) Roy George Plummer. Sadly, Colonel Plummer transitioned from labor to reward on Sunday, October 23, 2022. A celebration of his life was held on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at the Columbus, Georgia Civic Center.

Roy George Plummer was born on February 6, 1938 in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica in the West Indies to the late Wilfred Plummer and Lucille Annita Plummer. He was reared by his grandmother, ``Mama'', in May Pen, Jamaica, attended school there and became a lightweight boxer in his youth before traveling to England and then to the United States. He attended Azusa Pacific University in California where he studied pre-law, but during his undergraduate studies he heard the Lord's call to Christian ministry which took him to the Phillips School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia where he earned a Master of Divinity in 1969.

On January 4, 1971 Roy joined the United States Army as a Chaplain where for 23 years he served the spiritual and pastoral needs of countless United States Army military and civilian personnel and their families, including at Atterberry Chapel in Frankfurt, Germany and Sightseeing Road Chapel at Fort Benning, Georgia. He attended and completed Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. In 1994 he completed his active duty career as Chief of Chaplains and Post Command Chaplain at Fort Benning, retiring at the rank of Colonel.

Also in 1994, always ``pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus'', Colonel Plummer founded and became Senior Pastor and CEO of Faith Tabernacle Community Church, an active and growing congregation in Southeast Columbus.

Then, in 1998 while maintaining his pastoral ministry, he became Director of Army Instruction for the Muscogee County School District JROTC where he was responsible for 8 high school JROTC programs and 4 other County JROTC programs. He worked tirelessly to create a formidable program and under his leadership it grew from 400 to1200 cadets and the Muscogee County School District JROTC program earned GHSA State Rifle Championships, State level awards in Drill Team and Raider competitions and honorable recognition in the annual JROTC Academic Bowl.

Known for his eloquent golden baritone voice with a pronounced British accent, Colonel Plummer was prolific in his community service. He was Chaplain for Rotary International District 6900; served on the boards of St. Francis Hospital Foundation; Columbus Hospice; United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley; Boy Scouts of America and the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce. He served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Graduate Studies at Columbus State University, holding Masters degrees in Human Relations and Group Process; Guidance and Counseling; Pastoral Care and a Doctorate of Divinity.

Colonel Plummer's solid educational background, coupled with his compassion for ``the least of these'' inspired him to establish the Plummer Home for homeless and disenfranchised military veterans, providing support and resources to veterans who encountered severe challenges in their transition from military to civilian life. His legacy in the fight to eradicate homelessness among veterans and for expansion of veterans benefits will long be remembered.

Colonel Roy G. Plummer achieved countless successes in his life. But none would have been possible without the grace of God and the love and support of his Wife, Kenyetta, his 4 daughters and his 7 grandchildren.

On a personal note, Roy was my friend. He always supported and encouraged me with wise counsel and sage advice. His prayers were genuine. His friendship was golden. He will be sorely missed, but the world is better because of him.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives join my wife, Vivian and me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the 2nd District in honoring and celebrating the life and legacy of Colonel (Ret) Roy George Plummer for his service to God, his Country and humanity and in extending our deepest condolences to his family,

friends and all who mourn his loss. May they be consoled and comforted by their faith and the Holy Spirit in the days, weeks and months ahead.