[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 75 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PAYING TRIBUTE TO DR. TOMMY CROOKS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SPENCER BACHUS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 2006

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, doctors of optometry from around the Nation 
will convene in Las Vegas, NV, June 22-26 for the American Optometric 
Association's 109th annual convention. On Saturday, June 24, they will 
elect Dr. Tommy Crooks as the association's 85th president.
  Doctors of optometry are the Nation's largest eye care profession, 
serving patients in nearly 6,500 communities across the country, in 
more than 3,500 of these communities; they are the only eye doctors. 
The American Optometric Association is the professional society for 
optometrists nationwide and has more than 34,000 members. Dr. Crooks 
will lead the association on its mission to improve eye and vision care 
in the United States.
  Dr. Crooks is a resident of Birmingham, AL. He is a native son, a 
1975 graduate of the University of Alabama and a 1979 graduate of the 
University of Alabama's School of Optometry who has practiced optometry 
in our State for 27 years. He is currently president and CEO of Eyecare 
Associates, Inc., in Birmingham, AL, a group practice consisting of 19 
locations and 33 doctors.
  Dr. Crooks has been a leader in his profession at the State, regional 
and national levels. He has been a member of the Alabama Optometric 
Association since 1979, serving as president in 1990. In 1985, the 
Alabama Optometric Association named Dr. Crooks Alabama Optometrist of 
the Year. He is also a past president of the Southern Council of 
Optometrists and the Birmingham Area Optometric Society and in 1990 was 
named University of Alabama-Birmingham Alumnus of the Year.
  At the national level, Dr. Crooks has been a member of American 
Optometric Association, AOA, since 1979, and has served in the 
association's volunteer structure since 1989. He was elected to the AOA 
Board of Trustees in 1999 and was re-elected in 2002.
  Dr. Tommy Crooks has built a distinguished record of service and 
leadership in his profession and in his community. I am confident that 
he will have a very successful term as president of the American 
Optometric Association. I join his wife Kaye and their two sons, his 
friends and colleagues in congratulating him on this achievement and 
wishing him good luck and good health.




                          ____________________