[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 13, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E815-E816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING REVEREND DR. LOUIS E. SANDERS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 2017

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Reverend Dr. Louis E. 
Sanders, who is retiring this month from his position as Pastor of the 
St. Charles A.M.E. Zion Church in Sparkill, Rockland County, NY, in my 
District.
  Throughout his life, Reverend Sanders has been deeply involved in the 
church and the philosophical questions surrounding religion. As a young 
student in North Carolina, he was active in the Mt. Hebron A.M.E. Zion 
Church before earning a BS degree in Social Science from North Carolina 
A&T, and MA and MS degrees from the City University of New York. He 
also received a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological 
Seminary and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from St. Thomas Aquinas 
College in Sparkill, NY.
  For the past 49 years, Reverend Sanders has served the people of New 
York's Lower Hudson Valley. In 1968, he was hired by the Tuckahoe Board 
of Education in Eastchester, New York, where he taught Social Studies 
for 30 years. He began his church ministry in 1970 and preached at 
Greater Centennial A.M.E. Zion Church in Mount Vernon, NY. He would go 
on to serve various roles at churches throughout the Hudson Valley 
before being appointed Pastor of the St. Charles A.M.E. Zion Church in 
1981.
  As Pastor, Reverend Sanders has increased church membership tenfold 
and extended its impact far into the community. He began a program to 
aid homeless children from Harlem in developing positive life 
attitudes, an SAT tutorial program for minority students, and an

[[Page E816]]

HIV/AIDS awareness program that provided on-site testing and 
educational programs. He has been a major proponent of civil rights and 
hosted discussions on apartheid in South Africa and human rights in the 
former Soviet Union. As a result of these efforts, he was inducted into 
the Rockland County Civil and Human Rights Hall of Fame in 2009, one of 
many well-deserved awards he has received.
  Mr. Speaker, Reverend Sanders has improved the lives of countless 
people in his community and across the Lower Hudson Valley. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in applauding his years of inspired leadership 
and dedicated service to the residents of Rockland County, the Lower 
Hudson Valley, and New York State.

                          ____________________