[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 88 (Monday, June 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1083-E1084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING DR. JOE E. ELLIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ED WHITFIELD

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 2010

  Mr. WHITFIELD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize my good 
friend, Dr. Joe E. Ellis of Benton, Kentucky.
  Dr. Ellis will soon be elected president of the American Optometric 
Association during their 113th annual meeting, where he will be 
installed as AOA's 89th president on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 in 
Orlando, Florida.
  Dr. Ellis is a graduate of the Southern College of Optometry and has 
a private practice in Marshall County. He was named Kentucky Young 
Optometrist of the Year in 1992 and has also received three President's 
Awards from the Kentucky Optometric Association.
  Dr. Ellis' particular area of interest is advocacy, especially as it 
relates to patients' access to optometric care. He has been active in 
legislative and government relations at the state and national levels 
and recently served as Chairman of the AOA's State Health Care 
Legislation Committee.
  Dr. Ellis was instrumental in the passage of the first state law of 
its kind that requires that all Kentucky children entering public 
schools receive a diagnostic eye examination. The Kentucky General 
Assembly identified problems with vision as an important factor 
limiting children's abilities to learn and succeed. Through this, they 
recognized that the early diagnosis and treatment of children's vision 
problems is a necessary component to school readiness and academic 
learning and the enactment of this legislation in 2000 ensured that 
children in my state are able to meet their developmental potential.
  Doctors of optometry serve patients in nearly 6,500 communities 
across the country, and in 3,500 of those, they are the only eye 
doctors. Optometrists provide two-thirds of all primary eye care in the 
United States. The American Optometric Association represents 
approximately 36,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and 
paraoptometric assistants and technicians.
  Dr. Ellis' enthusiasm for optometry and commitment to excellence in 
eye and vision care has earned him this prestigious national office and 
public recognition. I am confident that he will have a very successful 
term as the American Optometric Association's president. His election 
is a tribute to his years of service to the profession of optometry in 
Kentucky and throughout the nation. I join his family, friends and 
colleagues in congratulating him on this achievement and wishing him 
the best of luck in this endeavor.

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