[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 102 (Friday, July 11, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S9300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO BRYAN JONES

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I wish to recognize Mr. Bryan 
Jones of Yazoo City, MS, for his distinguished service as president of 
Delta Council.
  Delta Council is an area development organization representing the 18 
Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. Delta council 
was organized in 1935 to bring together the agricultural, business, and 
professional leadership of the region to confront the major problems 
facing the region at that time. Since then, the organization has 
expanded its role, under leaders like Bryan Jones, to include 
educational policy, water resource conversation, highway development, 
agricultural research, and flood control.
  As president of Delta Council, Bryan Jones has served very 
effectively as a Delta leader during stressful economic times. He has 
used sound judgment and contributed to meaningful improvements in the 
quality of life in the region.
  Bryan has led the Delta Council into new fields of endeavor such as 
health care and adult literacy. He has supported innovative land and 
water conservation programs. He has been a strong advocate for water 
resource developments that include improved environmental restoration. 
And, he has become well known throughout the region and among members 
of the Mississippi Congressional Delegation as an effective 
spokesperson on behalf of the Delta's largest industry, agriculture.
  After graduating from the University of Mississippi, Bryan Jones 
could have been placed in a senior executive position in almost any 
company located anywhere in the United States. However, because of his 
love for the Mississippi Delta, Bryan returned to the Delta region and 
his community to build a $1 billion statewide banking system. In 
addition to serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the Delta 
Division of BankPlus, Bryan operates a cotton, soybean, corn, and wheat 
farm in Holmes and Humphreys Counties.
  Bryan is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church in Yazoo City and 
he and his wife, Sara, have three children. He is an enthusiastic 
outdoors man and a director of Delta Wildlife, which is a leading 
advocate for the enhancement of the Mississippi Delta's rich wildlife 
resources.
  I am pleased to congratulate Bryan Jones for his contributions to the 
Mississippi Delta and the Nation, and I look forward to working with 
him and other Delta Council leaders in the future who share our goal of 
improving the quality of life for the people of this area.

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