[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   WELCOME TO THE REVEREND WADE WATTS

  (Mr. BREWSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. BREWSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce Rev. Wade Watts 
of the McAlester, OK, Jerusalem Baptist Church.
  Reverend Watts, who just gave today's opening prayer, is one of the 
most respected and well-known ministers in southeastern Oklahoma.
  He has been the pastor of the Jerusalem Baptist Church for 22 years. 
He served on President Johnson's Advisory Commission on Civil Rights 
for 4 years, as well as the Oklahoma crime commission for 4 years.
  Reverend Watts has also served 16 years as State president of the 
NAACP.
  The reverend is also one of the few people in my district who can 
claim the privilege of knowing and working with the Reverend Martin 
Luther King, Jr., with whom he marched in Selma, AL.
  Reverend Watts has experienced trouble and turmoil. In the early 
seventies the Ku Klux Klan burned down his church. The reverend's 
spirit was not defeated. Over the next several years Reverend Watts was 
successful in saving the State's imperial wizard from the hatred and 
anger of his group and converted him to Christianity.
  I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize Reverend 
Watts' hometown State senator who accompanied him to Washington. 
Senator Gene Stipe of McAlester, who is with us today, is the longest 
serving member of the State legislature in Oklahoma history.
  It is my honor, Mr. Speaker, to host and introduce Reverend Watts to 
the House of Representatives as today's Chaplain.


                          ____________________