[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H9562-H9563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FREEDOM WORKS AWARD TO MARTHA WILLIAMSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to present the Freedom 
Works Award to Martha Williamson, executive producer of CBS networks 
television show ``Touched By An Angel'' and ``Promised Land.''
  Martha Williamson takes her responsibility as a television producer 
very seriously. Her fine work on ``Touched By An Angel'' and ``Promised 
Land'' has proven that values and principles are good for TV and good 
for TV ratings.

                              {time}  1045

  That is because values strike a chord with the millions of Americans 
who struggle each day to reaffirm the values of responsibility and 
honesty and faith in their lives. Martha is serious about creating 
entertainment that reinforces the importance of family, faith and 
community. For that reason I have chosen to honor her work.
  I established the Freedom Works Award to acknowledge individuals and 
groups who seek the personal reward of accepting and promoting 
responsibility without reliance on or funding from the Federal 
Government. The stand Martha has taken on behalf of profamily 
television is exactly the type of personal initiative I sought to 
highlight when I established this award.
  Mr. Speaker, no Federal Government agency, no government rule, no 
government regulation requires Martha to produce profamily television. 
Rather, Martha has taken it upon herself to ensure that at least once a 
week families all across America have a chance to sit together and view 
television that stresses the values of faith, family, honesty, and 
responsibility. The millions that take advantage of that opportunity 
each week attest to her success.
  I want to be very clear, Mr. Speaker. Martha Williamson does not do 
politics. What she does through her work is to take on the tough issues 
which affect us all, issues like suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, teen 
pregnancy, and race relations in the inner city.
  Millions tune in weekly to ``Touched By An Angel'' and ``Promised 
Land'' and countless letters have poured into the show with stories of 
marriages that have been restored, debts that have been forgiven, and 
suicides that have been averted as a result of the uplifting message of 
Martha's work.
  Mr. Speaker, I have raised 5 children. When you raise 5 children you 
learn a few things. As a young parent I remember very clearly the 
challenge I faced in making sure that my children were not exposed to 
the destructive influences all too often seen in the modern 
entertainment industry.
  As a lawmaker and, most important, as a parent, I want to personally 
thank

[[Page H9563]]

Martha Williamson for her work and honor her devotion to American 
families by presenting her the Freedom Works Award. She provides 
millions of Americans with an uplifting hour of entertainment each 
week. The size of her audience should remind all of us and should 
remind the entertainment industry that family programming sells. The 
market responds to families everywhere working to reinforce values.
  Mr. Speaker, freedom works and, Martha, if I may, your programs, both 
of them, work for me and my wife. We watch every week. Not only do we 
watch, but our minister and his wife watch and then the four of us get 
together and we compare notes and we discuss the show, and we see what 
lessons we can draw for ourselves and our lives.
  The encouraging thing that I receive from my minister, not that my 
judgment is something I would trust on this matter, but that his is, 
that Martha, your shows are always true to Scripture as well as to 
sound values, sound advice, sound lessons for the American family. I 
want to add, then, my personal and, for my wife Susan and myself, our 
personal appreciation for your show.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ARMEY. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority leader for yielding. I 
want to begin by congratulating the majority leader. This is a 
wonderful award, the Freedom Works Award, and I think he is doing 
excellent work in helping to single out ``Touched By An Angel'' and 
``Promised Land'' and Martha Williamson and the work which she is doing 
in this area. I cannot give him enough praise for helping to create 
something like this that does focus upon that which should be given 
special honor.
  Television has been called a vast wasteland and it struggles every 
day to find a balance between America's insatiable appetite for escape 
and its extraordinary capacity to teach. Entertainment programming in 
particular often panders to the familiar human desire to turn the brain 
off simply by turning the tube on. Yet as a mass medium, television has 
the greatest potential since the dawn of civilization for prodding 
society to confront its troubles and to look within for a renewal of 
the values of community and caring.
  This potential is usually realized in news or documentary formats or 
in made-for-television specials, but not in regularly scheduled 
entertainment programming. Yet out of this tension, there occasionally 
rises programming that breaks the mold, that finds the balance but 
projects a level of quality and thoughtfulness that transcends its 
format and sets a new standard for the rest of the industry. Martha 
Williamson and her colleagues have accomplished as much with the 
creation of these two excellent shows. They get high ratings, but they 
send a positive family message out to America.
  I recently discovered that the poet Maya Angelou wrote a poem 
especially for ``Touched By An Angel.'' It closes with these lines: 
``Yet it is only love which sets us free.''
  I want to congratulate Martha and everyone who works on this program 
for having the courage to send this simple message to every American 
home each week. I congratulate CBS for having the courage of putting 
these two programs on. The outstanding public response to them is 
evidence that their judgment was correct. In conclusion, once again I 
want to congratulate the majority leader for taking the leadership in 
creating this award.

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