[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING HARRY A. BARTEE, SR., FOR HIS DEDICATION TO SERVICE AND 
                              HEALTH CARE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
longtime Mississippi resident, Vietnam veteran, civil rights activist, 
dedicated health care professional, and an overall outstanding public 
servant, Dr. Harry A. Bartee, Sr. Dr. Bartee has devoted his entire 
life to public health in Mississippi.
  Dr. Bartee was born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and moved 
frequently with his family throughout the state until finally settling 
in Canton, Mississippi, where they have remained for the last half 
century. His father was a Methodist Minister and his mother a school 
teacher. Dr. Bartee attended Rogers High School in Canton, where he was 
president of his senior class and played on the school's football team.
  After high school, Dr. Bartee attended North Carolina A&T College in 
Greensboro, North Carolina from 1961 to 1965, and served in the ROTC. 
It was during this time he became part of one of the greatest student 
movements in this country for Civil Rights, the Greensboro, North 
Carolina Sit-ins. There he met his wife, Frances, who at the time 
attended nearby Bennett College and together, they marched and were 
arrested for their involvement in those demonstrations. At North 
Carolina A&T College, he received a Bachelors of Science degree in 
Biology and joined Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
  After graduating from college, Dr. Bartee was commissioned as a 
Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. While waiting to 
enter active duty, Dr. Bartee returned to Canton, Mississippi, with his 
wife of two weeks. While showing her around his native city one 
evening, he entered an establishment which had at one time been a 
popular spot for black entertainment, and was attacked by an onslaught 
of white supremacists. They proceeded to beat him beyond recognition, 
subsequently requiring him to have surgery at the same hospital where 
he later received his medical degree.
  After that experience, he received orders to report to Mather Air 
Force Base in Sacramento, California. He spent the next five years as a 
navigator with the KC 135 Refueling Squadron, part of the Strategic Air 
Command (SAC) during the Vietnam Conflict. He received an honorable 
discharge after having obtained the rank of Captain, and the Air Medal 
for Meritorious Achievement Award while participating in aerial flight.
  In 1971, he decided to further his studies and entered the University 
of Mississippi, as a graduate student in Microbiology. After one year 
he was admitted to the Medical School, where he served as president of 
Student National Medical Association. He completed his residency in 
Family Medicine and became the director of Madison-Yazoo-Leake (MYL) 
Family Health Center in Canton, Mississippi in 1979.
  After later establishing a private practice in Canton, Mississippi, 
Dr. Bartee expanded his operations to the underserved areas of Tchula, 
Lexington, and Goodman, Mississippi. Dr. Bartee served as a member of 
the Central Sub-advisory committee of the Mississippi Health Systems 
Agency and a contract physician with the Madison Yazoo Leake Family 
Health Center in Yazoo City, Mississippi for three years.
  Dr. Bartee served as an emergency room physician throughout the 
state, from the Gulf Coast to North Mississippi including some eastern 
and western cities. He served as the Medical Director for the Nurse 
Mid-Wifery Program at Methodist Hospital of Middle Mississippi in 
Lexington. Pryor to his decision to enter semi-retirement this past 
year, Dr. Bartee remains an Emergency Room Physician in Canton, 
Mississippi.
  Dr. Bartee and his wife Frances have four children and nine 
grandchildren. Frances is a retired public school teacher, his son 
Harry A. Bartee, Jr., is a physician, in Tennessee and North 
Mississippi. His daughter Pamela is a nurse anesthetist, while his 
younger daughters Anne and Candice, followed their mother's footsteps 
in education.
  Dr. Bartee has always empathized with people who were not privileged 
to have access to quality health care. He has served many poor and 
impecunious patients, who have always been more than three-fourths 
Medicaid/Medicare recipients. His greatest consideration has always 
been with any aspect of inferior treatment of patients based upon 
racial, cultural or financial status. Even at the age of 68, he is 
still practicing.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that our colleagues join me in honoring the life 
and legacy of Dr. Harry A. Bartee, Sr., a global citizen and champion 
in the health care profession.

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