[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8354-S8355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DENNIS ``PAT'' WOOTON

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate a great 
public servant from my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Dennis 
``Pat'' Wooton has devoted his life to service--service of his country 
in the Vietnam war, service of schoolchildren as a teacher in the 
Buckhorn school system, service of his State as Congressman Hal 
Rogers's field representative, and now service of his hometown of 
Buckhorn as the city's newly appointed mayor.
  Mayor Wooton was born 66 years ago in the same Kentucky town he now 
serves. After graduating from Buckhorn High School in 1963, he worked 
his way through Berea College, graduating in January of 1968.
  In the same year of his graduation from Berea, Mr. Wooton was drafted 
into the U.S. Army and began his basic training at Fort Knox. After 
completing infantry training at Fort Polk, LA, he was assigned to the 
1/5 Mechanized Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Mr. Wooton bravely 
served his country in Vietnam from November 1968 to January 1970. A 
litany of medals and citations, including the highly revered Bronze 
Star, serve as testaments to his distinguished service.
  Mayor Wooton returned from Vietnam in January 1970, but this did not 
mark the end of his military service. In 1976 he joined the Army 
Reserves, where he served as a drill sergeant until 1987.
  Before reenlisting to train the next generation of American soldiers, 
Mr. Wooton returned to his alma mater in 1970 to teach the next 
generation of Buckhorn High School students. Over the next three 
decades he became a Buckhorn institution, serving as the school's 
principal for 14 years and being inducted into the Kentucky High School 
Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. He retired in 2000 after 32 years of 
dedicated service.
  But retirement from Buckhorn High School did not mean retirement from 
a life of service. In the intervening 13 years, Mayor Wooton continued 
to add to his already impressive record of public service. This 
includes his election as Perry County sheriff, a post he served in from 
2003 to 2006. Following his stint as sheriff, he served as Congressman 
Hal Rogers's eastern Kentucky field representative from 2007 until 
April 2013. All of this in addition to his long list of volunteer 
activities which include, but are not limited to, training the Buckhorn 
Volunteer Fire Department and serving on the Governor's Smart Growth 
Task Force.
  Now, Mr. Wooton has found yet another way to serve his community. 
Appointed as mayor of Buckhorn by the city council in June 2013, Mayor 
Wooton is already hard at work to better the lives of Buckhorn 
residents. In his first year, he is set his sights on expanding 
Buckhorn's water lines in an effort to remedy the city's water supply 
problems.
  Pat Wooton's lifetime of service to his country, Commonwealth, and 
community embodies our great Kentucky motto, ``United we stand, divided 
we fall.'' I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in recognizing an 
exemplary citizen.
  The Hazard Herald recently published an article highlighting Pat's 
appointment as mayor of Buckhorn. I ask unanimous consent that the full 
article be printed the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From The Hazard Herald, June 11, 2013]

              City Council Appoints New Mayor in Buckhorn

                           (By Chris Ritchie)

       Buckhorn--A new mayor has taken office in the city of 
     Buckhorn.
       It was last month when former Mayor Veda Wooton opted to 
     resign as the city's mayor, a position which she had held for 
     several years. Her vacancy was filled when the council voted 
     to appoint her husband, Pat Wooton, who was elected to the 
     council last year, as the new mayor. Veda Wooton, 
     subsequently, was expected to be appointed to the council 
     during a special-called meeting this week.
       Mayor Pat Wooton, who most recently served as a field 
     representative for Congressman Hal Rogers and also served a 
     term as Perry County's sheriff from 2002 to 2006, noted the 
     city essentially exists as a water company to provide service 
     to area residents. But there are other projects he expects to 
     continue working on while in office, including one which will 
     extend waterlines in the area.
       The Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands has approved 
     funding for one waterline project at Cams Branch, Wooton 
     said, while also approving the extension of new lines to 
     serve a few more homes on Otter Creek Road. Buckhorn, which 
     in the 2010 census recorded a population of 163 people, 
     purchases water from the city of Hazard to supply its system.
       The city, in conjunction with the fiscal court, has also 
     taken what Wooton described as the ``first few small steps'' 
     in what ultimately could be a 10-year project to build a 
     water treatment plant at Buckhorn Lake. The plant, he said, 
     would have to be a regional facility that could serve the 
     surrounding area, including parts of other counties such as 
     Breathitt and Clay.
       An engineering company is currently working on a study for 
     the project, and if the

[[Page S8355]]

     plant is eventually constructed it would play a role in 
     alleviating issues that Wooton said exist with potential 
     water supply issues in eastern Kentucky.
       ``In the work that I've done, that's one of the things I 
     came to notice real soon,'' he said. ``We're on the cusp of a 
     water supply problem in our region.''
       Though Wooton reiterated that this project remains in the 
     very early stages, he envisions a treatment plant that could 
     hook into other systems that could in turn supply areas in 
     times of emergency, such as one Buckhorn experienced in 2010 
     when a waterline break shut down service in the area for over 
     a week.
       ``We need to get all of our systems linked together, 
     because sooner or later everybody has some kind of problem 
     and will need supplies, at least for a while,'' he said.
       Also in conjunction with the fiscal court, the city is 
     working on a horse trail that would begin at the new Eagles 
     Landing campground in Gays Creek and wind along the lake to 
     the lodge, and perhaps with further development tie in with a 
     trail in nearby Leslie County. Wooton said plans are being 
     drafted, and he expects a company working on the project to 
     give the council a progress report at their next regular 
     meeting.
       ``We think that will be a nice addition to the area,'' he 
     said.

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