[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1877]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              WESLEY SMITH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, many institutions affect the 
progress of communities and States across this Nation as we continually 
evolve in our march of civilization. Usually, those of us in government 
in particular think about those institutions being governmental units, 
or maybe even churches or philanthropic foundations. We usually think 
those are the institutions that affect this.
  Recently I was reminded of a rather profound affect that the banking 
institutions of this country have on our history, and especially 
history of my congressional district and my State. Yesterday, my good 
friend Wesley Smith celebrated 35 years of service as president of 
Northwest Georgia Bank. Now, most of you do not know where that is. But 
it is in, as its name implies, in northwest Georgia, headquartered in 
Ringgold, Georgia, right below the Tennessee line just south of 
Chattanooga.
  Wesley, in those 35 years, has become the longest-serving president 
of this rather dynamic banking institution, which itself was created in 
1904. During the tenure of Wesley Smith, the bank has grown from $6 
million to more than $500 million, has tripled its number of branch 
offices, and now operates in both Georgia and Tennessee.
  Wesley has served as chairman of the Georgia Bankers Association and 
is currently serving on the board of directors of the American Bankers 
Association. His service on community boards, chambers of commerce, 
college foundations, and other charitable efforts are simply too 
numerous to mention.
  But as I said, banking institutions have a unique history in and of 
themselves. In order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 
Northwest Georgia Bank, a book was written, and it is a delightful 
read. It is one of those kinds of books that at first glance you would 
say is only self-serving, but it is not, as I read it. It reminded me 
of the history of my part of the country.
  This bank, first of all, had its initial beginnings back in 1856. It 
was part of an empire that was built in those days as the banking 
industry was beginning to take root in our country.
  But in 1856, we all know what came shortly thereafter, and that was 
the devastation of the Civil War. In Ringgold, which is there in the 
gap of Lookout Mountain, it was one of the major trade routes of olden 
days and certainly was one of the trade routes with a railroad coming 
out of Chattanooga.
  Many of you recall the story of the race of the General, the 
locomotive that was stolen during the Civil War, and it was recovered 
just north of the Ringgold area. But the bank itself was thriving, as 
was the community of Ringgold, until the Civil War. Being directly in 
the path of General Sherman's march after he left Chattanooga, the town 
of Ringgold and the bank were destroyed.
  As a result of that, for 40 years this community was without a bank. 
It had been literally burned to the ground, as had most of the town. 
But then in 1904 a gentleman, who had gained quite a reputation as a 
dynamic individual in the banking industry and was putting together a 
chain of banks, by the name of W.S. Witham came to Ringgold and started 
the bank again in that community.
  It survived in spite of closings in 1927 and 1933, survived the Great 
Depression, survived Roosevelt's bank holiday period, and continued to 
prosper, even with its ups and downs and even in spite of a daring 
daylight bank robbery where the president was held at gunpoint in this 
small community.
  Well, that is a very quick history of an institution in my part of 
the world. I congratulate the Northwest Georgia Bank, which is 
certainly unique. I most certainly congratulate my friend Wesley Smith 
for his 35 years of service as the president of that institution.
  I remind all of us again that we sometimes take for granted that not 
only the things that happen in governmental units affect the history of 
our country, but also institutions like banks play a vital role in 
weaving that tapestry that holds us all together.

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