[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING SOUTH CAROLINA ORGANIZATIONS

 Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, today I wish to call attention to 
the good work of the Columbia, SC, Urban League and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, VA. On September 11, 2006, the Columbia Urban League 
and the VA cohosted a training seminar for church leaders in South 
Carolina to help address the growing population of troubled military 
veterans returning from combat zones. This Veterans Ministry Workshop 
was led by a panel of 10 physicians from the Dorn VA Medical Center in 
Columbia, each of whom explained the various psychological challenges 
that face veterans returning from conflict. The panelists discussed 
methods for dealing with veterans' children and spouses while offering 
practical tips for church members to follow. Around 100 church leaders 
attended the event.
  I salute the VA, the Columbia Urban League, and in particular its 
president, Mr. James T. McLawhorn, for their initiative in organizing 
the Veterans Ministry Workshop. It was Mr. McLawhorn, a member of the 
VA Advisory Committee on Minority Affairs, who originally proposed the 
idea in response to studies released by the Journal of the American 
Medical Association, JAMA. Without his leadership and the cooperation 
of VA officials on the ground in South Carolina, the Veterans Ministry 
Workshop may have never happened. I am confident that the workshop will 
have a tremendous impact on the veteran community in South Carolina, 
and I hope that the Columbia Urban League and VA will build on its 
success.

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