[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 8, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                       TRIBUTE TO W. EDGAR WELDEN

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Edgar 
Welden of Birmingham, AL, for being named the Alabama Sports Hall of 
Fame's 2016 ``Distinguished American Sportsman.'' Edgar is a 
distinguished businessman and friend whose life has been marked by 
service to the people of his community, State, and Nation. His untiring 
work to benefit young people through athletics makes him most deserving 
of this honor.
  Edgar has an extraordinary record of accomplishment. A Wetumpka 
native, he grew up with a great passion for sports, playing football, 
baseball, and basketball in high school before earning a degree from 
the University of Alabama. His passion for athletics has only grown 
since then. In fact, he spent 1997 traveling to seven continents and 
all 50 states to attend more than 250 sporting events, and he 
chronicled his journeys in his book ``Time Out! A Sports Fan's Dream 
Year.''
  One of his most valuable contributions to Alabama was his service as 
director of the important Alabama Development Office and the Alabama 
Department of Economic and Community Affairs and as special assistant 
to the Governor for Economic Affairs. He has been widely recognized as 
one of the key players in Governor Guy Hunt's successful first term. 
This work for the State, performed on a volunteer basis, earned him 
recognition in 1987 by the Alabama Broadcasters Association as 
Alabama's Citizen of the Year. In 1988, he was appointed by Governor 
Hunt as voluntary chairman of the Alabama Reunion, a 2-year statewide 
celebration and promotion of the State's heritage and economic 
development opportunities. As the architect of this nationally 
recognized program, he was awarded the 1992 National Governor's 
Association Award for Distinguished Service to State Government.
  Despite his impressive accomplishments in government, business, and 
politics, it is through athletics that he has had perhaps his greatest 
influence. Edgar has a special place in his heart for young people, and 
with his keen insight, he has found ways to utilize athletics to 
promote character and education and improve the lives of young people 
across our State.
  His accomplishments in this regard are too many to list 
comprehensively. His work with high school athletics includes the 
Crippled Children's Foundation, where he currently serves as chairman, 
and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, where he is a board member. In 
2002, he founded the nonprofit Birmingham Athletic Partnership to 
support the city's middle and high school athletic programs. This 
program has provided Birmingham city schools with over $3.5 million in 
financial support. Edgar believes that children in the inner city 
should have the same chances for athletic success as better funded 
programs and his goal is to ensure their athletes, bands, and 
cheerleaders are able to compete on a level playing field. In addition, 
since 2003, he has served as the chairman and president of the hugely 
successful Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program, which has awarded over $9 
million college scholarships to more than 2,700 student-athletes in 
Alabama who excelled athletically and scholastically while overcoming 
adversity. In 2006, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to 
serve as a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness & 
Sports.
  Edgar also serves as chairman of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame 
Museum, a true State treasure which maintains for generations to come 
the stories of legendary Alabama athletes whose stories never fail to 
inspire us today. Many say it is the best sports hall of fame in 
America. And in a great victory for the city of Birmingham, he 
cochaired the committee that landed the 2021 World Games. This was a 
huge effort to land this event, and Edgar used all his energy and 
people skills to do so. He was inducted into the Alabama High School 
Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and was recently elected to the board of 
directors of the National Football Foundation. Indeed, while he would 
never say so himself, perhaps no other sportsman in the country has 
done more for their State than Edgar has for Alabama.
  Edgar also serves on the president's cabinet at the University of 
Alabama and, in 2010, was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. 
He has accomplished all of this while building a successful business 
career in real estate development and property management. An essential 
part of his success has been the support and partnership of his 
wonderful wife, Louise. She is a star in her own right and has always 
enjoyed seeing young people grow and progress. They are a great pair. 
Edgar and Louise get great pleasure out of random acts of kindness. On 
a plane flight, Edgar met the wife of a soldier that was returning from 
combat--so typical of his generosity, Edgar arranged for them to have 
the honeymoon suite in his hotel for free. Edgar and Louise are people 
of generosity, patriotism, and positive spirit. To know Edgar and 
Louise is to love them.
  For all of his accomplishments, I commend and congratulate my friend 
today. Being named to receive the Distinguished American Sportsman 
Award is a fitting honor indeed. It is appropriate that our Nation 
pauses periodically to recognize, celebrate, and give thanks to 
citizens like Edgar and Louise whose lives make our country so 
wonderful.

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