[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3029-S3030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRUE COMMUNITY SPIRIT

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to 
acknowledge the passing of a truly admirable woman, Laura Toliver 
Jefferson, known affectionately and respectfully as Mother Jefferson. 
She was a tireless advocate for her community as well as a source of 
inspiration to those who knew her. Mrs. Jefferson will be remembered by 
all as the woman who fought over the course of nearly 30 years to get 
public sewer service for her community of Arthurtown, Little Camden, 
and Taylors. This was the area of South Carolina in which she was born, 
raised 10 children, and where she died at the age of 93. She will be 
greatly missed.
  Mother Jefferson came to my attention when she was lobbying for a 
sewage system to be built in her community. To say that this 
development was long overdue would be an understatement. We tried 
several different avenues year after year, but the funding kept getting 
denied or held up. Over the many years, the citizens of Arthurtown, 
Little Camden, and Taylors found themselves caught in a complicated and 
often frustrating bureaucratic process. Where another person might be 
enraged by the redtape, Mrs.

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Jefferson remained undaunted, focused, and incredibly polite. Without 
ever complaining, she voiced the concerns of herself and her community. 
A local newspaper, the State, captured her humility and humor in an 
interview in 1985, ``It ain't no disgrace to be poor. It's just 
inconvenient.''
  After nearly three decades of fighting, the community finally 
received $3.9 million in Federal and State grants, and the construction 
began. On July 12, 1995, the people of Little Camden, Arthurtown, and 
Taylors got a sewage system. They also got the opportunity to thank 
Mother Jefferson, in the form of a celebration at her house. As the 
crowd squeezed into her bathroom to share the communities' very first 
toilet flush, She said ``I'm so grateful that I'm lost for words.''
  Mother Jefferson was one of the more articulate, gracious, determined 
people I have met. She was a truly good woman who participated in 
community affairs and made an enormous difference in people's lives. 
Her involvement and her spirit serve as a lasting lesson to us all. 
When writers or politicians talk about what makes America great, they 
are talking about people like Mother Jefferson. I send my sincere 
condolences to her family and friends. Like them, I will not forget 
her.

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