[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6682]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING EDDY ARNOLD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor a true Tennessee 
legend and a national treasure. Eddy Arnold is the most successful 
country music singer of the 20th century. His body of work, including 
28 number one singles, spent more weeks at the top of the country music 
charts than any other artist in the field.
  This March, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville 
honored the Ambassador of Country Music for donating his personal 
effects and memorabilia. This selfless donation constituted the largest 
collection dedicated to a single individual ever received by the 
museum. The ``Tennessee Plowboy'' generously offered more than 2,000 
photographs, 5,000 radio recordings, tuxedos, guitars, and his coveted 
Entertainer of the Year Award from 1967.
  In a brilliant career that spans 7 decades as a guitarist, songwriter 
and singer, Eddy Arnold has made immeasurable contributions to the 
popularity of country music with such hits as ``I Hold You in My 
Heart'' and, my favorite, ``Make the World Go Away.'' Now he has made 
an immeasurable contribution to the Country Music Hall of Fame and 
Museum. For that, Tennesseans and, no doubt, country music fans across 
the country, are deeply grateful.
  Eddy Arnold, a living country music legend and my constituent, has 
enhanced his genre and the culture of America. I want to thank him for 
his dedication to the arts and for his invaluable gifts to the Country 
Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

                          ____________________