[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCTION OF THE REVEREND DR. BENNY TATE

  (Mr. COLLINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I introduce 
the Reverend Dr. Benny Tate from Rock Springs Congregational Methodist 
Church in Milner, Georgia. June and I are regular visitors to Dr. 
Tate's church.
  Dr. Tate reminds me of a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville who came to 
America in 1831 to study democracy. And he wrote, and I quote, ``I 
sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious 
harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile 
fields and her boundless forests, and it was not there; in her rich 
mines and her vast world of commerce, and it was not there; in our 
democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not 
there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her 
pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her 
genius and power. America is great because she is good. And if America 
ever ceases to be good, America then will cease to be great.''
  Fourteen years ago Dr. Tate relocated to Georgia to pastor the 
Congregation of the Rock Springs Congressional Methodist Church. Under 
his tenure, the average Sunday morning attendance has grown from 30 to 
750. To accommodate this growth, the church is in a building program at 
this time to build and construct a 1,100-seat sanctuary. Their motto is 
if God builds it, they will come.
  Dr. Tate is the author of two books, Happy Wife, Happy Life, and, One 
More Night with the Frogs. He also hosts a popular weekly radio 
program, Apples of Gold. He and his wife Barbara and their daughter 
Savannah reside in Griffin, Georgia.
  Dr. Tate is a pastor that I love, a pastor that I enjoy, and a pastor 
with a message that if God builds it, they will come because his 
message is one of righteousness.
  I am proud to introduce, Dr. Benny Tate.

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