[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18824-18826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING 10 COMMUNITIES SELECTED TO RECEIVE 2003 ALL-AMERICA CITY AWARD

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 230) honoring the 10 communities 
selected to receive the 2003 All-America City Award.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 230

       Whereas the All-America City award is the oldest and most 
     respected community recognition program in the Nation;
       Whereas for 54 years the National Civic League has 
     encouraged and recognized civic excellence by honoring 
     communities of all sizes where business, citizens, voluntary 
     organizations, and governments work together to address 
     critical issues;
       Whereas the All-America City Award recognizes exemplary 
     grassroots community-oriented problem-solving, and is given 
     to communities that confront challenges and achieve results 
     cooperatively; and
       Whereas more than 4000 communities have competed and nearly 
     500 communities have been named All-America Cities: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress honors the cities of 
     Laurinburg, North Carolina; Tempe, Arizona; New Haven, 
     Connecticut; Miami Beach, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; 
     Marquette County, Michigan; Wilson, North Carolina; South 
     Sioux City, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Texas; and the Greater 
     Racine Area, Wisconsin, on receiving the National Civic 
     League 2003 All-America City Award.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

                              {time}  1445


                             General Leave

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Whitfield). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Connecticut?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
   Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 230, introduced by my 
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from the State of North Carolina 
(Mr. Hayes), honors the great All-American communities of Laurinburg, 
North Carolina; Tempe, Arizona; New Haven, Connecticut; Miami Beach, 
Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; Marquette County, Michigan; Wilson, North 
Carolina; South Sioux City, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Texas; and the 
Greater Racine Area of Wisconsin. These 10 cities earned the 2003 All-
American City Award. This award is given every year by the National 
Civic League.

[[Page 18825]]

   Established in 1894, the National Civic League is the Nation's 
oldest community advocacy organization. And, in fact, the All-American 
City Award is the oldest community recognition award in the U.S. For 53 
years, this honor has recognized cities whose citizens are the most 
cooperative and involved in identifying and addressing community-wide 
challenges in their area.
   Ten cities are chosen each year, and this year's honorees are very 
deserving. Each of these 10 cities has demonstrated, among other 
qualities, effective local government, an outstanding philanthropic and 
volunteer base, intercommunity cooperation, and strong citizen 
relations.
   Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I commend Laurinburg, Tempe, New Haven, 
Miami Beach, Des Moines, Marquette County, Wilson, South Sioux City, 
Corpus Christi, and the Greater Racine Area for their awards, and the 
gentleman from North Carolina for introducing House Concurrent 
Resolution 230.
   I urge all Members to support its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
   Mr. Speaker, the All-American City Award, a 53-year-old program of 
the National Civic League recognizing civic excellence, annually honors 
10 communities that best exemplify the spirit of grass-root citizen 
involvement and cross-sector collaboration on problem solving. Since 
the program began in 1949, more than 4,000 communities have competed 
and nearly 5,000 communities have been named All-American cities.
   The recipients of this area's awards, which range from Anchorage, 
Alaska, to Elgin, Illinois, to Hampton, Virginia, symbolize the 
backbone of our Nation, the ability of citizens, government, business, 
and the nonprofit sector to come together and effectively address their 
local issues and produce tangible results.
   The first recipients of the awards were often those that 
demonstrated local government reform and efficiency, as well as 
improvements in the city's infrastructure, including housing, public 
works, and education.
   More recently, the focus has shifted to broader community 
initiatives, such as economic development, health and social service 
projects and efforts to improve race relations.
   I commend all 10 recipients of this year's All-American City Award 
for working tirelessly to make this country a better place to work and 
live.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter).
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, this Member is pleased to rise today as an 
original cosponsor in strong support of H. Con. Res. 230, a resolution 
honoring the 10 U.S. communities selected to receive the All-America 
City Award. This Member is proud to note that South Sioux City, which 
is located in the First Congressional District of Nebraska, received 
this impressive designation.
  South Sioux City is located on the banks of the Missouri River in 
northeast Nebraska. It is the home of many recent immigrants and 
refugees in addition to a population that has been there 4, 5, or 6 
generations. It is a growing community with a population of almost 
12,000, which is a 23 percent increase over the last census. It is part 
of the Sioux City metropolitan area, otherwise known as Siouxland, 
which is well known here on Capitol Hill for the annual steak dinner 
they host for all Members. They have been doing that for some 20 or 30 
years.
  South Sioux City has many accomplishments. Some interesting things 
the city has done recently include guaranteeing that all fifth through 
eighth grade students have a home computer; creating a youth council 
aimed at building youth leaders; creating a county-wide economic 
development committee; constructing a 15-field soccer complex that is 
very popular with their Hispanic American population, of course; and 
building the world's first ecopath using recyclables versus aggregate 
surfaces.
  All of the citizens of South Sioux City are to be congratulated on 
this designation. The mayor, William McClarty; the city administrator, 
Lance Headquist, who always has a new effort for us to support; other 
city and school district employees, the chamber of commerce and many 
others played a role in this achievement. South Sioux City is a 
progressive community. It has had problems but, it has always tackled 
them straight on and been successful. I am very pleased that they have 
cooperated so well cross-culturally in their achievements. The 
leadership of South Sioux City is very proactive and skilled in 
pursuing opportunities for the city. As a result, they have been very 
successful.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing I want to thank the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Hayes) for his initiative in bringing this resolution to 
the floor. With respect to the community that is in my district, I know 
that they are not going to rest on their laurels; they will continue to 
grow and excel in the future.
  This Member urges his colleagues to vote ``aye'' on H. Con. Res. 230.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes).
  Mr. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the people of 
Laurinburg, North Carolina, and the other nine recipients of the 2003 
All-America City award. It has been my honor to represent the people of 
Laurinburg since I was first elected to represent the Eighth 
Congressional District of North Carolina. Through this role, I have 
been fortunate to forge many personal and close relationships with 
these folks and witness firsthand why they are a worthy recipient of 
this award. This really is an honor for me to be able to sponsor this 
legislation today. Through their hard work, the rest of America is 
getting to see the positive spirit of accomplishment that I have been 
able to witness over the years. The All-America City Award is a 54-
year-old program sponsored by the National Civic League that recognizes 
civic excellence. The award is given annually to 10 communities that 
exemplify and display a positive spirit of grassroots involvement and 
collaborative problem-solving in an effort to better their community.
   These communities that we recognize today exhibit the American 
spirit of hard work and cooperation as they seek to identify and meet 
community-wide challenges. Laurinburg is a community where citizens, 
businesses, schools, volunteers, and government officials work together 
to address these issues that are vitally important to their citizens. 
Laurinburg can and should take pride in the fact that they have been 
recognized by this national organization for their hard work. Truly, 
Laurinburg is a great example for other communities to emulate; and 
they seek to step up to the many challenges that face all communities, 
large or small.
   In June of this year, the good people of Laurinburg sent over 100 
delegates here to Washington, D.C., to participate in their All-America 
City finals presentation. The presentation included a bagpiper. Perhaps 
I should note here that Laurinburg can be found in Scotland County in 
North Carolina and is home to the Fighting Scots. They also brought a 
marching band and a group of their citizens who had crafted a fine 
production designed to showcase our shared feeling of community pride.
   To get that far, Laurinburg representatives had first submitted a 
detailed application highlighting the city's three most pressing 
challenges: access to quality health care, affordable housing, and 
youth programs. The community is addressing these needs through 
Scotland County Memorial Hospital's mobile health unit, Habitat for 
Humanity's Providence Place Community, and the Youth Center Task Force, 
and many other efforts.
   I am pleased to represent such a fine community where the citizens 
come together and work together to solve problems at a local level 
rather than waiting on someone else to fix things.
   A wise man once said there are three types of people in this world, 
those who

[[Page 18826]]

watch what happens, those who wonder what happened, and those who make 
things happen. Rest assured, the people of Laurinburg, North Carolina, 
are the type of people who make good things happen. It is my honor to 
represent these good people. It is my privilege to sponsor this 
legislation honoring the 2003 recipients of the All-America City Award.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend all 10 recipients of 
the 2003 All-America City Award, and Representative Hayes for bringing 
forth this resolution in their honor. I am especially supportive of 
this resolution because one of the honored recipients, Marquette 
County, Michigan, hails from my district of northern Michigan, lying on 
the southern shore of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
  On June 14, 2003, Marquette County was selected as one of 10 
communities in the United States to receive an All-America City 
designation from the National Civic League at a ceremony in Washington, 
DC.
  I was privileged recently to personally congratulate the citizens of 
Marquette County for this achievement when I visited there on the 4th 
of July at the International Food Fest. This festival is yet another 
example of the diverse and worthy activities in which Marquette County 
excels.
  The National Civic League has been recognizing civic excellence for 
53 years and evaluates how well a community exemplifies grass roots 
citizens involvement and cross-sector problem solving requiring 
collaboration among citizens, government, business and nonprofit 
organizations.
  Marquette County was one of 30 candidates who sent hundreds of 
delegates to Washington to compete in hearings before 10 All-American 
City judges. The 40 delegates from Marquette presented vignettes of 
cultural life in current day Marquette and Marquette history, serenaded 
the judges, and wholly impressed the judges with their civic spirit.
  The judges of this competition noted the Marquette County's 
presentation contained more substance then hype, according to Marquette 
Mining Journal managing editor David Edwards. They cited programs such 
as the Marquette Medical Care Access Coalition and Juvenile restorative 
justice efforts in announcing their decision.
  Marquette's efforts were spearheaded by the Lake Superior Community 
Partnership, whose chairman, Monsignor Louis Cappo, accepted the award 
in front of a cheering crowd.
  This award shows how strong Marquette County's civic spirit is, and 
this resolution recognizes that excellence of achievement. The true 
measure of community is not necessarily coffee bars, good restaurants 
and well lit streets, although Marquette has all of these. Nor is it 
natural beauty and a close connection between people and their 
environment, although Marquette has that in huge measure.
  Rather, the best example of true community is shown by Marquette 
County's programs that help people live happy, productive and engaged 
lives, supported by and supporting their neighbors. Marquette County's 
richness in these efforts made it possible for this small, thinly 
populated piece of God's Country to be named an All-America City in its 
very first attempt
  I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of this resolution, and join my 
colleagues in congratulating Marquette County and all ten of the All-
America Cities for their efforts and successes. It is a small token of 
recognition for a very large effort. All of Marquette County should be 
proud.
  I certainly am. I ask that my House colleagues join me in extending 
congratulations to Marquette County, and the nine other All-America 
Cities. Each city, each county, each community, helping each citizen, 
each individual effort taken as a whole, is what makes American great!
  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 230, 
commending the cities chosen as All America Cities; and I thank my 
friend, Robin Hayes of North Carolina, for introducing the resolution 
to officially commend the winners of this competition in the House of 
Representatives.
  I join my colleagues in commending the City of Corpus Christi and 
other winners for the recent accomplishment of being recognized by the 
National Civic League as an All-America City. As a resident of Corpus 
Christi, I can wholeheartedly endorse the concept that Corpus Christ 
represents all the best in an American city.
  Corpus Christi is a place where the pace is easy and the people are 
the best there is. It is peaceful and beautiful with beaches, military 
bases, and a vibrant business community.
  Corpus Christi's presentation included our Juvenile Assessment Center 
(an organization that helps decrease juvenile crime), Forward Corpus 
Christi (an economic development organization), the Air Quality Group 
(Corpus Christi is the only major city in Texas to meet state and 
federal air quality standards), and a local Junior ROTC team.
  One of the central components of our community is our military 
complex. We often say South Texas is ``Navy Country.'' Four separate 
bases are incorporated in the Corpus Christi area: an army base and 
three naval bases. The military presence in the area contributes 20 
percent to our local economy.
  Corpus Christi conveyed this pride in our military, and demonstrated 
the importance of our military community, by incorporating the 
nationally recognized efforts of the Flour Bluff Navy Jr. ROTC into the 
presentation.
  It was the solemn and excellent presentation of the Jr. ROTC, which 
has won seven national titles for excellence, and which led the way for 
the city to win the recognition by the National Civil League as an All-
America City. Corpus Christi is the only city in Texas to receive this 
distinct honor this year.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me and the other co-sponsors 
of this resolution, all of whom are proud to live in an All-America 
City, in commending Corpus Christi and the other nine cities honored by 
the National Civic League.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
   Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
   The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by 
the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 230.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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