[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 20, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       RECOGNITION OF JOE S. DUSENBURY AS OUTSTANDING VOCATIONAL 
                         REHABILITATION LEADER

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I would like to take this 
opportunity to recognize one of this Nation's great leaders in the 
field of vocational rehabilitation. For 18 years, Joe S. Dusenbury has 
provided leadership as Commissioner of the South Carolina State Agency 
of Vocational Rehabilitation, quietly building it into one of the 
strongest programs of its kind.
  Finding jobs for those who have mental and physical disabilities on a 
daily basis is a challenging task because, unfortunately, many 
employers still believe that people with disabilities are not qualified 
to work in competitive employment. Yet, the success of the South 
Carolina VR Agency has continued to grow. Just last year, 8,392 clients 
were placed in paying jobs, many of them in cooperative partnerships 
with industry that Joe helped to create. These jobs provided $8.6 
million worth of work for South Carolina industries last year. While 
serving more than 3 times the national average per 100,000 citizens, 
the agency has kept the cost per case in South Carolina to about half 
the national average.
  While these figures are impressive, they are nothing when compared to 
the importance of assisting fellow Americans with the opportunities to 
find new careers, develop self-esteem, and start life over again.
  Joe has seen thousands of persons with disabilities come through the 
doors of his VR agencies. The Cherry Grove citizen who became a 
quadriplegic after a diving accident, then received VR job assistance 
to find employment as a commercial fisherman; the Florence man with no 
arms who found a job as an auctioneer; and the young couple from 
Columbia who were married in their motorized wheelchairs; each of whom 
are indebted to the works of Joe Dusenbury and the South Carolina VR 
Agency.
  Now, as Joe ends his tenure as commissioner of the South Carolina 
Vocational Rehabilitation and begins another stage in his life, we 
wholeheartedly thank him for his good works and wish him the best in 
years to come.
  Joe began his work in rehabilitation over 30 years ago as the 
principal of Poyner Junior High School in Florence, SC. There, he 
discovered that he had a talent for finding students employment who 
faced extra challenges on the road to success. His victories in this 
realm and his master's in educational administration from the 
University of South Carolina provided for a successful transition into 
vocational rehabilitation counseling.
  Joe's successes can be attributed to his close affiliations with the 
State legislature to develop a concrete agenda for the VR program. He 
has made VR a bipartisan political program on which everyone can agree. 
In his own words, Joe states: ``Our program cuts across all barriers. 
It just makes good sense to help people be productive, taxpaying 
citizens, instead of relying on the taxpayers to support them the rest 
of their lives.''
  Always prepared, steadfast, and productive, the South Carolina VR 
Agency has found innovative ways to fund projects, even as belts have 
tightened statewide. Over the years, the agency has built its own 
rehabilitation centers around the State while continuing to place South 
Carolinians in jobs, thus keeping them off the dole. These achievements 
have established the agency's reputation for continual improvement in 
the State legislature and nationwide.
  Throughout his career, Joe has been duly recognized for these 
achievements. Among the many awards for his service, he has received 
President George Bush's Distinguished Service Award for work in the 
disabilities field; the South Carolina State Victory Award for 
``providing the most services to help persons with disabilities in 
South Carolina''; the Social Security Administration's Outstanding 
Service Award for ``providing Social Security beneficiaries and 
Supplementing Security Income recipients extensive opportunities to 
reestablish meaningful and productive lives''; and the Rehabilitation 
Services Administration Commissioner's Distinguished Service Award, for 
``historic contributions to the productive independence, equality, and 
quality of life of people with disabilities.''
  He has also served as chairman of the National Council on the 
Handicapped, a member of the Council of State Administrators of 
Vocational Rehabilitation [CSAVR], and a member of the President's 
Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities.
  These awards come with sincere gratitude of each individual who has 
found employment through your programs. We congratulate Joe Dusenbury 
here today for over 30 years of loyal service to persons with physical 
and mental disabilities and the vocational rehabilitation community and 
wish him continued success in future endeavors.

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