[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 143 (Tuesday, September 25, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO REVEREND WILLIAM H. WATSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2007

  Mr. PAYNE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of Reverend William 
H. Watson, who was a long-time social activist and resident of Newark, 
NJ. His passion for social justice led him to direct many social 
service organizations within my district and the northeast coast of the 
United States.
  Born on September 23, 1934, in Memphis, Tennessee, Rev. Watson always 
exhibited a passion for helping others. After ordination in the Central 
Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bill 
served a couple of churches in North-Central Pennsylvania and served as 
Campus Minister at Penn State University.
  Rev. Watson served respectively as the Executive Director of Voice a 
church based organization supporting community organization in 
northeastern Pennsylvania and as Director of the Social Concerns 
Department of the Capitol Region Conferences of Churches in Hartford, 
Connecticut.
  Later in life, Rev. Watson worked at Unified Vailsburg Service 
Organization (UVSO) in Newark, NJ--a neighborhood based human services 
and community development agency founded by local residents in 1972 to 
``create a stable and compassionate community'' by bringing together 
representatives of various local groups in an attempt to solve some of 
the neighborhood problem. Rev. Watson worked as a community organizer 
dealing with issues of crime, education, and housing.
  Reverend Watson also served as a VISTA Volunteer with the Newark 
Tenants organization; a member of the Board of Directors of Inside-Out: 
Citizens United for Prison Reform, Inc.; member of the Northeast Inter-
Help Council which deals with social justice issues and ecology, and a 
founding member secretary of the Board of Directors of the Family 
Partnership Committee, and Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity.
  Madam Speaker, I invite my colleagues here in the United States House 
of Representatives to join me in honoring Reverend William H. Watson, 
whose spirit lives on through lives he touched and work he accomplished 
while on earth. I am proud to have had him in my Congressional 
district.

                          ____________________