CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E2210 HON
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E2210 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks December 8, 2006 the week. One of his goals in serving as a Commission, Children’s Trust Fund Advisory HONORING DR. PATRICK leader in public television has been to cre- Council and Statewide CDC Bioterrorism Pre- MCKIERNAN atively provide a quality alternative to commer- paredness and Response Planning Advisory cial television. Not only has Mitch Fox worked Committee. He is a member and former officer HON. RON LEWIS to build bridges within the broadcast commu- of the Mississippi Chapter of the American As- OF KENTUCKY nity, but he has also helped lower the high sociation on Mental Deficiency, Board Member IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES school drop-out rate over the past 20 years by of the Association of Mental Health Adminis- Friday, December 8, 2006 assisting the Clark County School District in trators since 1987, and has served as Execu- developing distance learning programs for K– tive Director for the Mississippi Arts Fair for Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise 12 students. the Handicapped since 1980. today to pay tribute to Dr. Patrick McKiernan, Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to pay tribute Dr. Hendrix was selected as State Adminis- a remarkable public servant and advocate to my friend Mitch Fox for his longstanding trator of the Year, Herman C. Glazier Award from my home State of Kentucky. Dr. service and dedication to the public broad- Winner in 1990, recipient of the Agency Lead- McKiernan presently serves as Outreach Co- casting system and to the communities of Ne- ership Award of the National Association of ordinator to Homeless Veterans for the Ken- vada. I wish him the best in all of his future Superintendents of Public Residential Facilities tucky Department of Veteran Affairs. endeavors. for the Mentally Retarded in 1992, recipient of Tragically, more than 1,000 veterans will be sleeping on the streets of Kentucky tonight. f the Governor’s Stennis Award for Excellence in Government in 1994, and selected for Hon- Dr. McKiernan recognizes that there is some- HONORING ALBERT RANDEL orary Membership in Pi Alpha Alpha in 1997. thing fundamentally wrong when individuals HENDRIX Dr. Hendrix is also a member of the Honorary who once wore the uniform of the United Scholastic Organization of Phi Theta Kappa, States are forced by circumstances to live on HON. CHARLES W. ‘‘CHIP’’ PICKERING Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Delta Kappa. the streets. Under his compassionate leader- ship, the Kentucky Department of Veteran Af- OF MISSISSIPPI Dr. Hendrix and his wife, Sandy, are the fairs continues to work to establish special as- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES parents of 4 children, Jo Ellen Hendrix Town- sistance programs to help get veterans off the send, Sarah, Randel, and Sandra and the Friday, December 8, 2006 streets and into housing or treatment facilities. grandparents of Grace, Jessica and Jeffrey Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, an enduring Dr. McKiernan represents his agency on the Townsend. member of Mississippi’s healthcare community Kentucky Council on Homeless Policy, advis- For over 30 years, Dr. Hendrix has used his will soon be retiring from his position as Exec- ing the Governor and his staff on homeless- talent, knowledge, and skills to make Mis- utive Director of the Mississippi Department of ness and housing issues across the state. He sissippi a better place and enhance the care Mental Health. Dr. Albert Randel Hendrix has also represents Kentucky Department of Vet- of individuals with mental health concerns. We contributed decades of time, energy, and pas- eran Affairs at the annual conference of the thank him for his service and know that even sion into serving his community, State, and in- National Coalition for Homeless Veterans in after his retirement, he will continue to be a dividuals with mental heath needs. Mississippi Washington, DC, and the Homeless and pillar of his community and his State. will miss his service. Housing Coalition of Kentucky. Dr. Randy Hendrix is a native Mississippian, In addition to his current work and respon- born and educated in Panola County. He f sibilities, Dr. McKiernan is developing plans to served in our armed forces in Vietnam from TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE establish the Homeless Veterans Coordination 1969 to 1970. Following his Army discharge, LANE EVANS, MEMBER OF CON- Committee to provide additional guidance and Dr. Hendrix returned to Mississippi to com- GRESS support to help homeless veterans. plete graduate studies at the University of Mis- Dr. McKiernan’s colleagues, and countless sissippi, where he completed his Master’s De- SPEECH OF veterans touched by his exemplary work, note gree in 1971, and at the University of South- his unique ability to navigate bureaucracy and ern Mississippi, where he completed his doc- HON. SAM FARR successfully resolve casework with unusual toral degree in 1979. Dr. Hendrix has com- OF CALIFORNIA expedience. Recently, Dr. McKiernan inter- pleted the Executive Education Program at IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES vened in a case involving a veteran afflicted with esophageal cancer who nearly became Duke University, the Executive Development Thursday, December 7, 2006 Institute of the John C. Stennis Institute of homeless due to the financial challenges of Government at Mississippi State University, Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay his illness. Because of his efforts, an Amer- and the Certified Public Managers Program. tribute to Congressman LANE EVANS, who is ican hero is receiving the care and assistance He began his professional career with the retiring after serving this institution honorably that he deserves. This is but one example in Department of Mental Health at Ellisville State for 24 years. a long career of helping others. School in 1971. In 1975, Dr. Hendrix was ap- As Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ It is my great honor to recognize Dr. Patrick pointed Director of the North Mississippi Re- Affairs Committee, Rep. EVANS has served not McKiernan today before my assembled col- gional Center in Oxford, Mississippi. At the only his 17th District constituents, but he has leagues in the U.S. House of Representatives. age of 28, he was the youngest director of a also been the voice for veterans nationwide. His leadership and service make him an out- major facility in the Nation. While in Oxford, he As a Marine and Vietnam veteran, Rep. EVANS standing American worthy of our collective was also a professor of Special Education and had a deep and abiding understanding of vet- honor and appreciation. an adjunct professor in Healthcare Administra- erans’ issues and a keen sense of the unique f tion at the University of Mississippi. In Novem- issues affecting Vietnam veterans, like Agent RECOGNIZING MARK CLEMONS ber of 1986, Dr. Hendrix assumed responsibil- Orange. He has been a tireless advocate for ities as Executive Director of the Mississippi improving veterans’ health care and benefits Department of Mental Health, the State’s larg- and was not afraid to challenge the Veterans HON. LYNN A. WESTMORELAND OF GEORGIA est agency. Dr. Hendrix is the longest serving Administration if he thought they were short- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Executive Director of Mental Health services in changing veterans’ programs, particularly VA the Nation and will be retiring soon. services for homeless veterans. Friday, December 8, 2006 During his career with the Department of He shone a bright light on the horrific prob- Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise Mental Health, Dr. Hendrix has served on lems of antipersonnel land mines and au- to recognize a business in my district that is many Boards and Commissions including thored the first law prohibiting the export of taking a positive step forward to assist families Chairman of the Mississippi Developmental landmines which ultimately led to the awarding and our troops overseas. Disabilities Council, member on the Gov- of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize to the Inter- Mark Clemons operates the PakMail facility ernor’s Council on Aging, and is currently the national Campaign to Ban Land Mines. His in my district in Newnan, and he has taken up chairman and longest serving member of the legacy on landmines has saved countless a special project for our troops and their fami- mississippi Board of Rehabilitative Services, lives around the globe. lies overseas. Any time anyone wants to send past chairman and member of the State Inter- It is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to a package to Iraq to a soldier, Mark makes agency Coordinating Council for Children and Rep. LANE EVANS, one of the most dedicated sure that they do not have to pay for it. Youth with Severe Emotional Problems, Mem- and principled public servants that I have ever Mark has taken it as a special project to en- ber of the Mississippi Disability Resource had the privilege to serve with. Semper Fi. sure our heroes overseas receive the care VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:58 Dec 12, 2006 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A08DE8.095 E08DEPT2 hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMREMARKS December 8, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E2211 packages and support they so desperately nately, these critics fail to understand modern and Matt Miller of the Speaker’s Drug Task need. Our men and women in combat need agriculture. Today, integrated farming tech- Force, as well as his predecessor Andy the touch of home, and Mark is doing some- niques allow large companies to work together Tiongson. All of these people have been en- thing amazing to ensure that they are able to with small, family farmers—they rely on each thusiastic and resourceful partners in this fight. hear from all of us who support them here.