[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO ELSIE BAILEY, NEW NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN LEGION 
                               AUXILIARY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 10, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the House 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am proud to rise today to pay tribute 
to Elsie Bailey, a constituent of mine from Whiting, New Jersey, who 
was recently elected President of the American Legion Auxiliary.
  Mr. Speaker, on August 28th, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Elsie 
Bailey was sworn in as President at the American Legion Auxiliary's 
82nd National Convention. The American Legion Auxiliary is the world's 
largest women's patriotic service organization, with more than 10,500 
units in every state and some foreign countries.
  Founded in 1919, the Auxiliary consists of women whose husbands or 
other male relatives are members of the American Legion. The Auxiliary 
has over a million members today, including more than 15,000 in New 
Jersey, and operates hundreds of volunteer programs. Their dedicated 
and generous members provide thousands of hours of service to our 
Nation's veterans and to the communities in which they live. Through 
their efforts, millions of dollars have been raised to support veterans 
programs, as well as to support both national and local charities.
  Mr. Speaker, I am especially proud of the fact that Elsie Bailey is 
the first woman from New Jersey in more than 75 years to serve as 
President of the Auxiliary. And the American Legion Auxiliary could not 
have found a more caring, compassionate and capable woman to lead them.
  Elsie Bailey was born in Hillsborough, New Jersey, later lived in 
both Somerville and Bridgewater, and is now a resident of Whiting, in 
the heart of my congressional district. She worked for 23 years at the 
Somerset Medical Center, retiring as personnel director.
  Throughout her life, Elsie has been active in her communities, having 
served on the Somerset County Teacher Credit Union, the Parent Teachers 
Association and the Employees Activities Committee. She is currently a 
volunteer mentor, a member of the Whiting Rescue Squad Auxiliary, and a 
parishioner of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. But perhaps her 
proudest accomplishments are her two children and four grandchildren.
  In 1961, Elsie Bailey joined the Stevenson-D'Alessio Auxiliary Unit 
12 in Somerville, quickly becoming secretary of that unit. She has 
continued to serve in leadership roles at the unit, department and 
national levels, including serving as state President for New Jersey 
and as National Vice President.
  Now as National President, Elsie has already begun implementing an 
ambitious agenda for the Auxiliary. She plans to travel across the 
country to every state and perhaps even to some foreign countries, in 
an effort to boost the Auxiliary's already impressive membership rolls. 
A lover of country music, Elsie has established a membership theme 
called ``Country Hearts in Celebration,'' which she intends to use to 
recruit new members.
  She has also taken on a special project called ``Veteran's Pot of 
Gold'' designed to raise funds to assist homeless veterans, an issue 
that has been a large part of my agenda as Chairman of the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs. I look forward to working with Elsie in this most 
noble mission to help the estimated 275,000 veterans who are homeless 
today.
  Mr. Speaker, as our Nation fights a war on terrorism to keep America 
free and secure, it is comforting to know that there are people like 
Elsie Bailey supporting our veterans and our communities. I am 
confident Elsie Bailey will serve as new National President of the 
American Legion Auxiliary with the same distinction she has 
demonstrated her entire life. Through her service to our veterans, our 
communities and our Nation, Elsie Bailey has earned our respect and I 
ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to her today.

                          ____________________