[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 13, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING WILLIE G. OWENS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 13, 2023

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
tenacious and self-motivated leader, Fire Chief Willie G. Owens.
  Chief Willie G. Owens is the leader of the Jackson Fire Department, 
and he has 32 years with the department. He is a native of Belzoni, 
Mississippi, where he attended McNair High School and enrolled in 
Jackson State University in 1970. He received a B.S. degree in Health & 
Physical Education from Jackson State in 1972. In 1974, he began a 
career with the Jackson Fire Department. In 1979, he went back to 
Jackson State University and received a degree in Fire Science 
Technology.
  The City of Jackson entered a Consent Decree with the Federal 
Government for racial discrimination in 1973, and therefore, hired an 
all-black class the next year that produced two Fire Chiefs, with Chief 
Owens being one of them.
  Chief Owens has made many accomplishments since becoming fire chief. 
He extended the promotional list from one to two years, decreased the 
age limit from 21 to 18 to become a firefighter, establish a fire 
science program in the Jackson Public School System, and increased the 
number of firefighters to its station.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Fire Chief 
Willie Owens for his dedication to the City of Jackson.

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