[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21445]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO PATRICIA M. DIXON

 Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 
outstanding service and dedication in the field of economic development 
of Mrs. Patricia M. Dixon, this on the occasion of her retirement from 
the Economic Development Administration, United States Department of 
Commerce effective today, September 28, 2005.
  Mrs. Dixon has served honorably at the Economic Development 
Administration for 33 years, most recently and prominently as the 
Economic Development Representative to the State of South Carolina. Her 
contributions to economic development in South Carolina are numerous 
and have greatly contributed to the economic progress of the most 
distressed areas of the State. Her work has been widely recognized most 
notably by the South Carolina Association of Regional Councils, which 
awarded her their highest honor, the Outstanding Staff Award in 1991.
  Mrs. Dixon has demonstrated her work in disaster recovery and base 
closures, saving jobs, solving solid waste problems, expanding job 
opportunities and rebuilding tax bases. Her innovative approaches to 
economic development problems and issues have been replicated in other 
communities. She also served as the first Federal cochair of the South 
Carolina Rural Development Council under the President's Initiative for 
Rural Development. Mrs. Dixon continues to serve on the executive 
committees of both the North and South Carolina rural development 
councils. In addition, she was instrumental in the original 
establishment of revolving loan funds for economic development 
districts in South Carolina.
  Mrs. Dixon has garnered the personal and professional respect and 
admiration of her friends and colleagues at the Economic Development 
Administration and elsewhere. She represents the finest of qualities in 
a public servant and has been an incomparable asset to the greater 
effort of improving quality of life for the people of South Carolina. 
In conclusion, the retirement of Mrs. Patricia M. Dixon will be a great 
loss to the EDA and the State of South Carolina, but I wish her great 
success and happiness in her future.

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