[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 26 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E267-E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER JIM GRAHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB ETHERIDGE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2000

  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of myself and Mr. 
Price of North Carolina to honor a great American and a true friend to 
farmers, North Carolina Agricultural Commissioner Jim Graham. When Jim 
announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election to the post 
he has held since 1964, citizens of the state could be pardoned if they 
looked to the heavens for a possible misalignment of the planets. After 
all, this individual has become a North Carolina icon, beloved by the 
farmers he promised ``to take care of,'' and by individual citizens who 
appreciated his unfailing good humor and dedication. ``I love my job,'' 
Jim Graham said at the end of every speech he gave. He meant it, and 
the people knew.
  Still, North Carolinians will understand and approve of the 
Commissioner's decision. He is, after all, now 78 years of age; he has 
served well and long; and he deserves a respite from the day-to-day 
turmoil that is characteristic of any public office. His friends--and 
all of North Carolina is filled with Jim Graham's friends--wish for him 
peace and joy for the rest of his years.
  But it will be difficult to conjure up his successor, and he will be 
missed. It is extremely doubtful that any campaign for Agricultural 
Commissioner will ever be as colorful as those run by Graham, who could 
bray like the donkey of the party he represented and was not above 
making promises that others would never have dared keep. Such as the 
one Graham made that he would kiss the north end of a mule who was 
headed south if a particular county would vote Democratic from the top 
of the ticket to the bottom. And it did, and he did, to the amusement 
of the whole state's media.
  Graham came to the job as Commissioner of Agriculture like an eagle 
returning to its nest--without hesitation. Reared on a farm in Rowan 
County, he knows from whereof he speaks when he talks about the ``sweat 
and blood'' farmers must expend in order to make a living. From day 
one, his love for those who till the soil has been unquestioned.
  The Commissioner was born on April 7, 1921 to a Rowan County couple, 
the late James T. and Laura Graham. He attended high school in Rowan 
County and is a graduate of his beloved North Carolina State 
University. Graham taught agriculture in Iredell County for three 
years, then because superintendent of Upper Mountain Research State in 
Laurel Springs before becoming manager of the Winston-Salem Fair for 
three years. After a one-year stint as secretary of the North Carolina 
Hereford Association, he became general manager of the State Farmers 
Market. Governor Terry Sanford, who never hesitated when the job came 
open upon the death of L.Y. Ballentine, appointed him Commissioner of 
Agriculture in 1964.
  Commissioner Graham's tenure as Agricultural Commissioner coincided 
with North Carolina's transition from a largely rural agriculture state 
known chiefly for its tobacco to the growing Sun Belt technology giant 
it is becoming today. The Research Triangle was in its infancy when 
Graham took office. Today, it is the heartbeat of North Carolina, 
propelling the state into an Information Age where the assumed 
parameters change by the day.
  Jim Graham prospered in that atmosphere, glorifying farmers wherever 
he went. He also began promoting new crops North Carolina farmers had 
not grown before. Within the department, he hired good people, insisted 
that they run an efficient agency, and he expanded the agency as the 
state grew. He organized state farmers markets in Asheville, 
Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Lumberton, but he also promoted the 
use of microelectronics technology for the inspection of meat, poultry 
and seafood so consumers could be protected.
  Graham was an early proponent of foreign trade, realizing that North 
Carolina farmers would be better off if they could sell their products 
to the rest of the world. Today, the state is one of the leaders in the 
export of agricultural products. The department ran a boll weevil 
eradication program that was so successful that cotton is once again a 
stable crop in the state. The department modernized its soil testing 
service and promoted it heavily, thereby increasing per acre production 
for all crops.
  Commissioner Graham, ever the showman on behalf of agriculture, was 
in his element as he grew the North Carolina State Fair into an event 
that today attracts more than 6 million persons annually. The State 
Fair is now 10 days of the best that North Carolina farmers, dairymen, 
and craftsmen can produce, surrounded by enough entertainment to make 
the Fair an October delight for young and old. Presiding over it is 
always the ``Sod Father'' in his cowboy hat and boots, typically with a 
crowd following him around the fairgrounds.
  As Commissioner, Graham has been honored with dozens of awards and 
distinguished service citations. Catawba College has award him the 
Honorary doctor of Humanitarian Service, and NC State named him the 
winner of its alumni Meritorious Service Award.

[[Page E268]]

  But it is Graham's personality, his inner being, that will be most 
missed after his retirement. The kind of inner strength that caused him 
to personally care for his wife, Helen, as they fought the terrible 
disease of Alzheimer's that ended in her death last year.
  Commissioner Graham is the soul of agriculture in this state and was 
proud of it. North Carolinians will miss him in that office.
  They will miss a public servant who never took himself so seriously 
that he could not reach out and grab a slice of the humor of life--even 
if the joke was on him.
  They will miss a man so genuine that he could tell a newspaper 
columnist this about his concern for farmers:
  ``These people are hurting. One fellow wrote me that if we could just 
pay his light bill, he'd try to get by. That's the situation they're 
in. I'm worried about 'em.''
  Can a society ask more of those who call themselves public servant?
  Jim Graham has served his state and its people with distinction, with 
honesty, with hard work, and with honor.
  He is a gentleman who is also a gentleman. We thank a Kind Providence 
that it saw fit to place us on the same Highway of Life of James A. 
Graham, and allowed us to share that life.

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