[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 39 (Wednesday, April 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             DISTINGUISHED SERVANT: W.R. ``DICK'' PHILLIPS

                                 ______


                           HON. BILL EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 1994

  Mr. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a distinguished 
community servant in my southern Missouri district. After 26 years as 
the mayor and an alderman of New Madrid, MO, W.R. ``Dick'' Phillips is 
retiring.
  Over these years, Dick has been an influential leader and positive 
force in this Bootheel community nestled along the Mississippi River. 
Living and working amongst some of the most fertile soil in this great 
country of ours, Dick Phillips has been a farmer and agri-business 
developer for nearly a half-century. Moreover, he has taken his 
experience and hard-work ethic from down on the farm into community 
projects and community development on New Madrid's downtown Main Street 
and throughout the entire county.
  As an alderman, Dick helped lead the effort to pass the single 
largest industrial bond issue for any community of any size up to that 
time. For a small town, that was, and still is, quite an 
accomplishment. The eventual end result is the Bootheel region's 
biggest employer in Noranda Aluminum and Associated Electric. Noranda 
now puts 1,300 people to work from a half-dozen southeast Missouri 
counties and 4 other States and is a staple in our economy. Meanwhile, 
Associated Electric supplies all of the power to Noranda as well as the 
rest of the community's residents and other businesses. Its statewide 
power cooperative also distributes electricity throughout Missouri--and 
this is nothing to say about the 300 jobs created in the process.
  As mayor, two other industries also located in New Madrid. Kontek 
Industries constructs prefabricated buildings utilized by 
telecommunications firms to house and to protect their high-technology 
equipment in rural areas. Alloy Research manufactures copper wire and 
other alloy derivatives used by the Defense Department and the 
aeronautics industry. And in 1988, the New Madrid Chamber of Commerce 
recognized Dick Phillips with the community's highest honor--Man of the 
Year.
  On a lighter side, those who really know Dick Phillips and have dealt 
with him on a regular basis know he enjoys a good laugh--whether he's 
dishing it out or happens to be on the receiving end. For instance, at 
a recent council meeting, Dick helped solve a citizen's complaint about 
an expensive water bill. After the customer was satisfied, Mayor 
Phillips, who's physically a large man, leaned over to the rest of the 
council and stated that he never uses that much water. A fellow 
alderman quickly replied: ``Mr. Mayor, when you get in the bathtub, 
there's not much room left for water.'' Immediately noticing his gaffe, 
the alderman tried to smooth things over by saying, ``I mean it's a 
matter of physics--you just displace a lot of water.'' The entire 
council chamber erupted in laughter and loudest above them all was the 
mayor, Dick Phillips.
  All told, this Navy veteran, farmer, and agri-businessman certainly 
will leave his imprint on the city of New Madrid and the Bootheel 
region for years to come. For all of those who have worked with him to 
make southeast Missouri and the New Madrid community in particular a 
better place, we thank Dick Phillips and wish him all the best during 
the glory years of his retirement.

                          ____________________