[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN RECOGNITION OF ANNETTE BOWLING

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                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 23, 2013

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
outstanding citizen and servant of humankind, Mrs. Annette Bowling, 
Executive Director of the Albany Advocacy Resource Center (ARC). The 
Albany ARC will honor Mrs. Bowling for her forty years of dedicated 
service and leadership at their 50th anniversary celebration on 
Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 6 o'clock in the evening at the Albany 
Hilton Garden Inn in Albany, Georgia.
  The Albany ARC was founded in 1963 to advocate on behalf of persons 
with disabilities in the Albany, Georgia community. In its fifty years 
of operation, it has become one of the largest and most successful 
private provider agencies in the state of Georgia.
  Mrs. Bowling began working at the Albany ARC in 1974 after her son 
was the first child in the state of Florida to undergo open heart 
surgery. As a single mom, she relied on the support she received from 
her community to get through this difficult time. This inspired her 
decision to dedicate her life to helping others and she then embarked 
on what was to be a long and fulfilling career at the Albany ARC.
  Mrs. Bowling's work with the Center since 1974 has made a difference 
in the lives of many Georgians, and has helped improve the quality and 
dignity of life for those individuals served by the Albany ARC. When 
she first arrived in Albany, there were no community services or 
resources for people with disabilities. Since then, she has 
passionately directed and advocated for many programs to improve the 
lives of so many Georgians with disabilities. Truly, any cause to which 
Annette Bowling's name was attached commandeered respect.
  Dr. Benjamin E. Mays once said, ``He who starts behind in the race of 
this life, must forever remain behind or run faster than the man in 
front.'' Mrs. Bowling has been the driving force behind programs that 
have helped improve the quality of rehabilitation and disability 
services for those who need these services to help them to ``catch 
up.'' She has contributed significantly to the Albany ARC, making it 
the great community resource that it is today.
  In addition to her work with the Albany ARC, Mrs. Bowling has served 
on many regional and statewide boards of directors, including the ARC 
of Georgia, Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center, Southwest 
Georgia Easter Seals, Community Institute of Phoebe Putney Memorial 
Hospital, and the Georgia Budget Policy Committee. She also serves as 
Chairperson of the Division of Rehabilitation Services Council of the 
Georgia Department of Medical Assistance and has co-chaired the 
Governor's Blue Ribbon Taskforce on Community Based Services. Her 
office is filled with hundreds of awards and honors but the trophy that 
Mrs. Bowling is most proud of is the incarnation of her vision that 
those with disabilities can be productive members of society.
  Mrs. Bowling has accomplished much in her life but none of this would 
have been possible without the love and support of her husband of 
thirty-two years, George, her son and her granddaughter.
  Shirley Chisholm once said that, ``Service is the rent that we pay 
for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Mrs. Bowling has 
certainly paid her rent and paid it well. Winston Churchill said, ``We 
make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.'' 
Through every stage of her life, Mrs. Bowling has always given of 
herself to others.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me, my wife, Vivian, and the 
more than 700,000 people of Georgia's Second Congressional District in 
paying tribute to a phenomenal woman, Mrs. Annette Bowling, and in 
thanking her for her forty years of dedicated service to the Albany 
Advocacy Resource Center, to the Albany, Georgia community and to 
thousands of families with disabilities across our great state of 
Georgia.

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