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Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Chicago for yielding me this
time.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3853,
legislation which would designate the postal facility in Parkdale, Arkansas,
which is located in Arkansas' Fourth Congressional District, the "Willie
Vaughn Post Office." This bill has the unanimous support of the Parkdale
City Council and its mayor, and I would like to personally thank them for
their help with this: Mayor Glenda Wells, and to the City Council, Louis
Mitchell, Mark Hawkins, Paula Files, and Evora Parker.
Willie Vaughn, known to friends and family as "Uncle Dude,"' spent most
of his life giving back to this small town located near the Ashley and
Chicot County line in southeast Arkansas, just a few miles north of Louisiana.
Mr. Vaughn is an active member of his local church, helping not only to
build the church but also serving in many leadership positions over the
years.
I can think of no person more deserving of this prestigious honor than
Willie Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn embodies the definition of "giving back
to your community.'' At 101 years of age, Mr. Vaughn has spent a
lifetime, or one might say over a century, working to improve Parkdale
through dedication to the CME Church, as a civil rights leader working
to remove racial barriers, lending an ear to friends and family throughout
the community, throughout southeast Arkansas, and, yes, throughout America.
He did so as a school bus driver, as a farmer, as a devoted husband and
father. It is evident that Mr. Vaughn's commitment and dedication to his
church, to civil justice, and to community service has made a lasting impact
on the Parkdale community and its people.
Willie Vaughn has served as a role model to many young people who grew
up in this small town of 377 people, people like the gentleman from Illinois
(Mr. Davis), who now resides in Chicago but grew up in Parkdale, people
like the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who have gone on to do great
things all across America because of the way their lives were shaped and
influenced by Mr. Willie Vaughn.
The Willie Vaughn Post Office will stand for decades and generations
to come as a testament to Mr. Vaughn's life and the influence, the impact
he has made on so many people from all across this great country that spent
a little bit of time growing up in that southeast Arkansas community that
we call the town of Parkdale. |
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