[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13060]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               RECOGNIZING MISS ARKANSAS 2001 JESSIE WARD

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. MIKE ROSS

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 10, 2001

  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, It is with honor and great pride that I wish 
to recognize and congratulate the new Miss Arkansas 2001 Jessie Ward, 
who was crowned Saturday, June 16th, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Jessie 
is a native of my hometown of Prescott, and I have watched her grow up 
since she was a little girl.
  Jessie has always been a caring, talented, and hard-working young 
lady.
  At her first press conference following her crowning as the new Miss 
Arkansas, Jessie said that during the competition she wanted to be 
different--to stand out, if you will--while remaining true to herself. 
I think it's safe to say she succeeded. In the talent competition, she 
performed an energetic tap-dance routine to ``The King of Pop,'' a 
medley of hits by the world famous pop singer, Michael Jackson. Her 
performance earned her preliminary talent winner honors as well as the 
coveted $1,000 Coleman Dairy Talent Scholarship.
  During an on-stage interview, Jessie explained to the crowd that she 
enjoys not only bass fishing with her father, but also a rather unique 
hobby, taxidermy. In her words, she said, ``to me, taxidermy is an art 
form, and everyone needs a little art in their life.''
  In addition to her hobby, Jessie is also co-authoring a book with her 
mother, Karen Ward, on perseverance, which is something I think we 
could all use a lesson on from time to time.
  Jessie's platform as a contestant, and now as Miss Arkansas, is 
School Violence Prevention Awareness, and she has spent the past three 
years traveling through Arkansas and Texas to promote this message. In 
her program, she stresses the importance of recognizing warning signs 
and being aware of safe reactions to potentially violent situations. 
Just recently, she has developed a scholarship program to reward a 
graduating senior each year who exhibits dedication to his or her 
school and community.
  Jessie is affiliated with the National Center for the Prevention of 
School Violence, and her goal, she says, is to rally the state and 
national governments for funding of preventative programs and to reach 
at least two schools in every school district in Arkansas with her 
school violence prevention message.
  I know this is an issue that she cares very deeply about, and I want 
to applaud her for her interest and leadership in helping to make our 
schools and communities safer.
  Jessie is currently completing undergraduate degrees in biology and 
radio, television, and film at the University of Arkansas at Little 
Rock. She plans to attend medical school and begin working in rural 
medicine--something that is very important to south Arkansas. She 
eventually hopes to establish herself as a medical correspondent in the 
national broadcast arena.
  Again, I say to Jessie, ``Congratulations. We're proud of you, and we 
wish you all the best.''

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