[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 82 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1065-E1066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     UPLIFTING AND HELPFUL GUIDANCE

                                 ______


                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 17, 1995
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I am very thankful that I have had an 
opportunity during this exceptionally busy year to attend two annual 
conferences of the African Methodist Church in Georgia, the Southwest 
Georgia Conference held in Columbus and the South Georgia Conference in 
Albany. I am also planning to attend the third A.M.E. church conference 
this month, the upcoming conference in Macon. These church convocations 
are both uplifting from a spiritual point of view and beneficial to me 
as a legislator.
  Resolutions adopted by the 83d session of the South Georgia 
Conference, presided over by the Right Reverend Donald George Kenneth 
Ming, are an example of how religious organizations can help guide our 
deliberations in incisive, thought-provoking ways. I would therefore 
submit the attached epistle and the four accompanying resolutions, 
which were developed by the committee on the state of the country:
  The 83d Session of the South Georgia Annual Conference of the Sixth 
Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church--The Right 
         Reverend Donald George Kenneth Ming, Presiding Bishop

                                                   March 24, 1995.
     To: Congressman Sandford D. Bishop, Jr. Second Congressional 
         District for the State of Georgia.
     From: The Committee on the State of the Country.
       The enclosed resolutions are excerpts from the minutes of 
     the committee assigned to review, to evaluate and to propose 
     resolutions to resolve the continued decay of crippling ills 
     of our society. We, therefore, the ministerial and lay 
     delegates to this, the 83rd Session of the South Georgia 
     Conference, presided by the Right Reverend Donald George 
     Kenneth Ming, would like to go on record stating our concerns 
     on these issues.
       We, therefore, solicit your personal commitment to deliver 
     these resolutions to the floor of Congress and oratorically 
     resound our concerns in such a manner that the walls of 
     Congress will tremble until equality and justice grip the 
     minds and hearts of your fellow political constituents. We 
     can no longer sit idly in the bosom of a society that will 
     not nurture, from the breasts of prosperity, her children 
     from ill-housing, inefficient educational systems, rural and 
     urban wastelands, cultural deficiencies, health deformities, 
     political annihilations, affirmation action irregularities 
     and the criminal seige of a demoralizing society.
       We, therefore, collectively, as members of your 
     Congressional District, challenge your involvement as a 
     vehicle which will enable us to stand in these times as we 
     make a ``Contract with America'' to retain an air of dignity, 
     of respect and of self-worth to our God, to our fellowman, 
     and to ourselves.
           Respectfully submitted,
                                              The Committee on the
                                             State of the Country.
       The Right Reverend Donald George Kenneth Ming, Presiding 
     Bishop.
       Mrs. Edith White Ming, Episcopal Supervisor.
       Reverend Clifford Earl Shepheard, Presiding 
     Elder. [[Page E1066]] 
       Reverend Johnnie Lonnie Raven, Jr., Presiding Elder.
       Reverend Eugene Foster, Chairperson.
       Reverend Hayward White.
       Reverend W. F. Griffin.
       Reverend Jaunita Parker.
       Reverend Charlie Byrd.
       Sister Constance Hamilton.
       Brother Ralph Taylor.
       Brother Stonewall Pertilla.
       Dr. Evelyn G. Perry, Compiler.
                            THE RESOLUTIONS

       We, the members of the State of the Country Committee at 
     the 83rd Session of the South Georgia Annual Conference held 
     at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Albany, 
     Georgia) on March 22-26, 1995 do set forth these following 
     resolutions, which were unanimously received and adopted by 
     the attending delegation, to be prayerfully submitted to our 
     nation's leaders:


                              resolution 1

       We resolve that this conference go on record to endorse our 
     support for affirmative action as a tool to continue to align 
     the ``American Dream'' and the founding fathers' principle 
     that ``we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men 
     are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator 
     with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, 
     liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'' We, therefore, 
     resolve that affirmative action is necessary to assure that 
     the minority workforce is not given a ``handout'' but an 
     ``opportunity!'' We, therefore, resolve that with these given 
     opportunities minority America will be able to escalate over 
     the barriers of economical, social and cultural horizons 
     which have beset us in the past. Let it be clearly stated 
     that we must procure the keys to these opportunities through 
     affirmative action which is our ``Contract with America,'' 
     that if given the opportunity, we will respond educationally 
     trained, responsibly employed, and culturally advanced. Let 
     it be known that Black America suffers from the acute case of 
     insufficient checking only because America refuses to deposit 
     into her account.


                              resolution 2

       We resolve that there is a need for welfare reformation; 
     however, we resolve that there should be gradual steps to 
     assure that ``poor America'' will be able to receive adequate 
     housing, income and health care to sustain a minimal 
     lifestyle of dignity. We, therefore, resolve that the process 
     of ratification should take the following steps:
       1. Five-year ratification period.
       2. Gradual modification for those presently on welfare.
       3. Reformation including parental training, vocational 
     training and social skills' training.
       4. Reformation that gradually restricts and deters teenage 
     pregnancy, substance abuse and sales and a lack of self-
     esteem.


                              resolution 3

       We resolve that adequate funding should be allocated so 
     that a massive voter registration and voter education program 
     is enacted in every Congressional District where the majority 
     of the inhabitants are non-participatory voters.


                              resolution 4

       We resolve RESOUNDINGLY that Congress would approve and 
     support the appointment of Doctor Foster, M.D., as Surgeon 
     General of the United States of America based upon his 
     impeccable credentials in the medical profession. We must not 
     allow misappropriate behavior of the past, when corrected, to 
     be the portal for non-qualification. We must be reminded that 
     in the gospel according to John 8:7 Jesus implies, ``ye 
     without sin, cast the first stone.''
       Finally, we, therefore, resolve that these resolutions be 
     permanently engraved in the archives of the ``American 
     Dream.''

  Mr. Speaker, I commend the A.M.E. Church in Georgia for taking a 
stand on these critical issues. All of us in Congress can benefit from 
paying close attention to the views and positions taken by our 
religious institutions.


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