[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 32 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1228-S1229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO WOODS EASTLAND

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to commend Woods E. 
Eastland of Indianola, MS, as the recipient of the 2012 Harry S. Baker 
Distinguished Service Award. The officers of the National Cotton 
Council of America recently selected Mr. Eastland to be the 27th 
recipient of this award, which is given annually to the individual who 
has contributed most significantly to the advancement of the U.S. 
cotton industry.
  In bestowing this honor on Woods E. Eastland, the National Cotton 
Council cited his extraordinary leadership during his year as the 
council's chairman and his continued service to the U.S. cotton 
industry. The Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award was started in 
honor of former council president Harry S. Baker, and it is the 
industry's most prestigious award.
  Woods E. Eastland is the chairman of the board of Staple Cotton 
Cooperative Association and the Staple Cotton Discount Corporation, 
which are headquartered in Greenwood, MS. He served as their president 
and CEO from 1986 until 2010. A native of Doddsville, MS, Mr. Eastland 
earned a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. degree from 
the University of Mississippi School of Law. He practiced law and was a 
faculty member of the Jackson School of Law from 1972 until 1974. In 
1974, Woods married Lynn Ganier Wood and became a cotton, soybean and 
rice grower in Sunflower County, MS. He and Lynn have two children and 
three grandchildren.
  Woods E. Eastland, in addition to being a farmer, has built a 
remarkable record of service to the cotton industry, his State and our 
Nation. He is a past chairman of the National Cotton Council, past 
president and chairman of Cotton Council International, and a past 
director of the Memphis Branch Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He 
was a member of the board of managers of the New York Board of Trade 
when it was formed from the merger of the Cotton and Coffee, Sugar and 
Cocoa Exchanges. He served 1 year as the vice chairman of the board of 
governors of the New York Board of Trade.
  In 2005, during Mr. Eastland's term as the council's chairman, 
international trade in cotton and textiles dominated the U.S. cotton 
industry's policy concerns. In addition, the World Trade 
Organization's, WTO, Doha Round of negotiations was a primary focus of 
the cotton industry during Mr. Eastland's tenure as council chairman.
  Under Mr. Eastland's leadership, the council worked as part of a 
fiber/textile/labor initiative that successfully convinced the United 
States to self-initiate WTO-sanctioned textile safeguards to impose a 
measure of discipline on the shipment of Chinese textiles into our 
country. U.S. officials were also persuaded to make changes in 
provisions of the Dominican Republic--Central America Free Trade 
Agreement that led to the U.S. cotton industry's support for 
congressional approval of that pact.
  Mr. Eastland traveled to Geneva and Washington, D.C., to confer with 
key trade officials on trade developments and to convey the U.S. cotton 
industry's message that cotton should not be singled out for different 
treatment from the rest of agriculture in the WTO Doha negotiations.
  Beyond his year of service as the Council chairman, Mr. Eastland has 
remained active in Council leadership. He was named chairman of the 
council's Trade Promotion Authority task force in 2007 to guide the 
industry on trade promotion policy. He is an advisor to the Council's 
board of directors and an active member of its Operations Committee.
  I am pleased to congratulate Mr. Eastland on receiving this 
prestigious award, and to commend him for his contributions to the 
cotton industry, American agriculture and fair trade.

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