[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 21 (Monday, February 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                          TRIBUTE TO GENE BESS

 Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I wish to honor Coach Gene Bess of 
Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, MO. As a coach for Three Rivers 
College, Gene has had an amazing career that has spanned four decades. 
During that time, he has maintained a winning percentage of 78 percent 
with an average of 27 wins per year. He has not had a losing season 
since becoming Three Rivers College's head coach in 1971.
  Coach Bess has led the Three Rivers College Raiders to 17 tournament 
appearances in the National Junior College Athletic Association, NJCAA 
tournament, where his career record is 41-19. The Raiders have reached 
the Final Four of the NJCAA tournament nine times, while winning 
national championships in 1979 and 1992.
  Gene has been recognized as the NJCAA Coach of the Year twice, the 
Regional Coach of the Year on 18 occasions, and the Midwest Community 
College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year 19 times. He is a member 
of the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of 
Fame, and the NJCAA Hall of Fame.
  Coach Bess is one of the best basketball coaches to ever blow a 
whistle in college basketball, and this month, he became the first 
college basketball coach ever to reach 1,200 victories. This is a 
tremendous feat for a coach in any sport, at any level.
  Prior to his record-setting career at Three Rivers College, Coach 
Bess had a very successful record at the high school level when 
coaching at Lesterville, Anniston, and Oran. Over a 12-year period, 
these Bess-era teams won over 250 games, ending in appropriate fashion 
with his Oran team playing for the Missouri Class M State Championship. 
Oran lost that game 76-74, yet the Bess legacy was only beginning.
  The leadership and dedication that Gene Bess demonstrates as a 
basketball coach, does not stop on the court. Instead, it translates 
into his personal and public life. He has been married for nearly 54 
years and is a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Poplar Bluff. He 
and his wife Nelda have two children, Janell Hartmann and Brian, one of 
the Raiders' assistant coaches, and four grandchildren. Faith and 
family always come before his work, and this is just one secret to his 
success.
  I ask that all of my colleagues join me in congratulating Coach Bess 
and the Three Rivers Raiders on this rare milestone of 1,200 victories, 
a record that is unsurpassed at any level.

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