[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 51 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPLAUDING ELSIE P. BROWN FOR HER COMMITMENT TO INCREASED HEALTH CARE 
             ACCESS FOR UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS OF GEORGIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHARLIE NORWOOD

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 31, 2003

  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, Elsie P. Brown has had a remarkable career 
in public health and primary health care that spans over thirty years. 
Few Georgians have worked as diligently for so long to address the need 
for providing quality health care access to Georgia's underserved 
populations.
  Elsie is soon retiring from her current role as the Director of 
Government Affairs and Membership Services, for the Georgia Association 
For Primary Health Care, Inc. During Elsie's tenure, she has provided 
critical leadership and unwavering commitment in bringing to the 
forefront at the state and national levels the need to improve access 
to primary care. While Elsie can give you the facts, it has been her 
ability to work with everyone, from patients to Governors, from 
physicians to Congressmen that has made her a unique force in this 
movement. It is largely through her single-minded effort that the state 
of Georgia has made its very first state appropriation for Federally 
Qualified Health Centers in Georgia from its portion of the tobacco 
settlement.
  There is no one who has served in Congress from Georgia over the last 
thirty years who has not had Elsie and her ``troops'' make the case 
increased emphasis on access to care for everyone with vigor and 
persistence. Yet, Elsie has always seemed like a friend rather than an 
advocate. She understands the workings of government as well as she 
understands the delivery of primary care. Her work has contributed 
directly to the creation of Community Health Centers in 37 Georgia 
counties. This has resulted in access for over 100,000 quality primary 
care visits for the poor and underserved.
  Elsie's retirement will leave a void in the Health center community, 
but the legacy she leaves as a result of her thirty year commitment to 
making Georgia a better and healthier state will stand as an example to 
all who follow her.

                          ____________________