[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 40 (Tuesday, April 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1304-H1305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     J. PHIL CAMPBELL, SENIOR, NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION CENTER

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 785) to designate the J. Phil Campbell, Senior, 
Natural Resource Conservation Center.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 785

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF J. PHIL CAMPBELL, SENIOR, NATURAL 
                   RESOURCE CONSERVATION CENTER.

       The Southern Piedmont Conservation Research Center located 
     at 1420 Experimental Station Road in Watkinsville, Georgia, 
     shall be known and designated as the ``J. Phil Campbell, 
     Senior, Natural Resource Conservation Center''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCE.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the building referred 
     to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``J. 
     Phil Campbell, Senior, Natural Resources Conservation 
     Center''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon [Mr. Smith] and the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. 
Clayton] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. Smith].
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Norwood], the chief sponsor, who 
will explain the bill.
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 785, to 
designate the Southern Piedmont Conservation Resource Center in 
Watkinsville, GA, as the J. Phil Campbell, Senior, Natural Resource 
Conservation Center.
  H.R. 785 recognizes a true visionary in American agriculture, J. Phil 
Campbell, Senior. Mr. Campbell's passion for educating and training 
Georgia farmers, his development of some of the first agriculture 
extension services, and his service in President Franklin Roosevelt's 
Department of Agriculture are a testimony to his commitment to 
promoting agriculture throughout the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I introduced this legislation last year as H.R. 3387 
which passed the House by unanimous consent. This year H.R. 785 passed 
the Committee on Agriculture and the subcommittee unanimously on a 
voice vote in March. In comment on H.R. 3387, the USDA has no objection 
to redesignating the Watkinsville facility

[[Page H1305]]

and, according to the CBO, H.R. 785 will have no significant impact on 
the Federal budget, contains no intergovernmental or private sector 
mandates, and has no budgetary impact on State or local governments.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chairmen 
Smith and Pombo for their help and willingness to move this 
legislation. I also would like to thank my eight colleagues who 
cosponsored this legislation, and Mr. Coverdell and Mr. Cleland for 
their help in the Senate.
  I would encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 785 and help 
commemorate a man who dedicated his life to help farmers and farming 
communities throughout Georgia and the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 785 to rename the Southern 
Piedmont Conservation Research Center in Watkinsville, GA after a great 
pioneer in Georgia agriculture, J. Phil Campbell, senior.
  James Philander Campbell was born in Dallas, GA on March 2, 1878. He 
grew up on a farm and, at the age of 17, began teaching school. At a 
young age, J. Phil Campbell, senior fought for and helped to secure 
legislation to authorize agriculture instruction in Georgia's rural 
schools. In 1907, he spent 6 months traveling throughout the State, 
advocating for the creation of district agriculture schools and a State 
college of agriculture. All of this was done before he turned 30.
  Between 1908 and 1910, Mr. Campbell served as the first farm 
extension supervisor to the Southeast region. This was done before 
passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1915, which created the Federal 
extension service.
  In 1910, he began a career as the Georgia State agent for the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture. He also served on the staff of Georgia State 
University's College of Agriculture. During his tenure, he organized 
nearly 13,000 Georgia children in corn and canning clubs and 5,000 
Georgia farmers into farming demonstration work. These efforts were 
done under the supervision of Dr. Seaman Knapp at the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture.
  During this time, Mr. Campbell also served as the Director of 
Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics. In 1933, he took a 
leave of absence to assist the agriculture adjustment administration in 
its cotton belt crop replenishment division. After 1935, he was 
elevated to a Federal position in the Roosevelt administration as 
Assistant Chief of the Soil Conservation Service in the USDA. He served 
in that capacity until he died in December 1944.
  In addition to his clear record of accomplishment in education, Mr. 
Campbell was also extremely interested in agriculture research and 
maintained close ties with the agriculture experiment stations in 
Georgia. He was integral in the creation of the Southern Piedmont 
Conservation Research Center and in choosing its site just outside of 
Athens and the University of Georgia. When funding for the center was 
threatened in its first year, Phil Campbell fought to keep the center 
open and secure its line of funding. It exists to this day on 
Experimental Station Road in Watkinsville.
  Mr. Speaker, given the great contribution Mr. Campbell made to 
Georgia and the Nation, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 785.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 785. I want to thank my 
colleagues from Georgia for their work in this effort. Mr. Campbell was 
certainly a driving force in the agriculture community in their home 
State of Georgia, by the way it is also my home State, as well as on 
the national level.
  With his work in extension and research activities as well as his 
distinguished service at the Soil Conservation Service during the 
Roosevelt administration, it is appropriate that this facility in 
Watkinsville be renamed in his honor.
  Again I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Norwood] for his 
bipartisanship and his effort in bringing forth this legislation, and I 
urge its passage by this House.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oregon [Mr. Smith] that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 785.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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