[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 30, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E565-E566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BILL TO HONOR M.D. ANDERSON OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. STEPHEN LEE FINCHER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 30, 2011

  Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember and honor the 
distinguished life of a successful agri-businessman, a respected 
philanthropist, and a great Tennessean from Jackson, Tennessee: Monroe 
Dunaway Anderson. It is my pleasure to introduce a bill to honor M.D. 
Anderson by designating the property between the United States Federal 
Courthouse and the Ed Jones Building at 109 South Highland Avenue in 
Jackson, Tennessee as the ``M.D. Anderson Plaza''.
  Mr. Anderson is a true American legend who used his fortune and 
influence to provide thousands of people with hope and a second chance 
at life. Mr. Anderson worked his entire life so that he could endow a 
hospital which would eventually become the largest medical complex in 
the world. His philanthropy and generosity were instilled in him as a 
boy growing up in Jackson, Tennessee. His story deserves to be told and 
his life commemorated for his bold vision.
  Monroe Dunaway Anderson, also known as M.D. Anderson, was born in 
Jackson, Tennessee in 1873. After attending Jackson public schools, Mr. 
Anderson left his hometown to attend college in Memphis, Tennessee. 
Upon completing college, Mr. Anderson returned to his hometown to work 
at the People's National Bank.
  In 1904 Mr. Anderson joined the cotton trading venture Anderson, 
Clayton, and Company started by his older brother Frank Anderson and 
Frank's brother-in-law Will Clayton. Their corporation flourished 
worldwide due to the rising demand of cotton during World War I, and 
they moved their operation to Houston, Texas to have better access to 
larger banks and deep water shipping. By the mid-1920's, after the 
company moved to Houston, they had operational trading firms in Europe, 
Africa, and Asia.
  In 1936, Mr. Anderson established the M.D. Anderson Foundation with 
$300,000, which created the largest medical complex in the world, the 
Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX. The Foundation was set to receive 
an additional $19 million dollars upon the death of Mr. Anderson in 
1939. The charter of the Foundation did not specify how the money was 
to be used, but the trustees leaned strongly in the direction of 
healthcare due to

[[Page E566]]

Mr. Anderson's passion to help people and his desire to rid the world 
of cancer.
  By 1945, Anderson, Clayton, and Company owned and operated 233 gins, 
33 cottonseed oil plants, and 123 warehouses worldwide, and Fortune 
Magazine named this small start-up enterprise the largest cotton buyer, 
seller, storer, and shipper of cotton in the world.
  The company remained private until 1945 when it was listed on the New 
York Stock Exchange. Because of this business strategy, it allowed the 
M.D. Anderson Foundation to purchase land for the Texas Medical Center 
through the sale of the company's stock. The Anderson, Clayton, and 
Company, by this time, had diversified its capital into a marine 
insurance company, a barge line, cotton mills, an investment bank, 
machine works, and even a foods division. After 1950, the multimillion 
dollar company was known as ACCO, or the ``BigStore'', and their 
international market sales reached three and half percent of all the 
world's production.
  The positive impact of the Anderson, Clayton, and Company had on 
agri-business and the cotton trade as well as the M.D. Anderson 
Foundation's influence on medicine, research, and education throughout 
Tennessee's 8th Congressional district and the country is still being 
felt today.
  Mr. Anderson's generosity through his foundation has built libraries, 
auditoriums, college buildings, and a planetarium on the campus of 
Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee as well as the 49 buildings at 
the Texas Medical Center.
  Because of the positive legacy that M.D. Anderson has left, the city 
of Jackson, Tennessee along with Madison County passed resolutions in 
2009 to honor Mr. Anderson and to rename the plaza between the two 
Federal Buildings in Jackson, Tennessee as ``M.D. Anderson Plaza''.
  I am not alone in my effort to recognize Mr. Anderson's achievements. 
I would like to recognize the support of Mayor Jerry Gist of Jackson 
along with the Jackson City Council members Charles ``Pepper'' Bray; 
Ernest Brooks, II; Harvey Buchanan; Johnny Dodd; Danny Ellis; Maurice 
Hays; Frank Neudecker; Charles Rahm; and Randy Wallace.
  In addition to the Jackson City Council, I would also like to 
recognize Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris and the County Commission 
members Jimmy C. Arnold; Fred W. Birmingham; Katie Y. Brantley; 
Claudell Brown, Jr.; Gary D. Deaton; Aaron D. Ellison; Jim Ed Hart; 
Arthur D. Johnson, Jr.; Mark G. Johnstone; Terry H. Kuykendall; Larry 
V. Lowrance; William C. Martin; Luther T. Mercer; Dale Morton; John W. 
Newman; James W. Pearson; Joe A. Roland; Lacy R Rose; Douglas S. Roth; 
Billy Spain; Doug Stephenson; Bill Walls; and Arthur Wilson.
  Finally, I would also like to acknowledge and thank Mr. Dickie Day of 
Jackson, Tennessee and Mr. Carter Edwards of Crocket Mills, Tennessee 
for working on this effort.
  Today I join my distinguished colleagues in the city of Jackson and 
Madison County to rename the plaza between the two Federal buildings in 
Jackson, Tennessee as the ``M.D. Anderson Plaza'' by introducing this 
bill to recognize and honor the life and accomplishments of M.D 
Anderson.
  Furthermore, I would like to point out that this bill will place no 
burden to the taxpayers of this great country due to the generosity of 
the West Tennessee Health Care Foundation in providing the funds 
necessary to rename the plaza and honor Mr. Anderson.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House (and Senate) to 
support me in this tribute to a great American.

                          ____________________