[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4899]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         WELCOMING THE FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND, ALEX SALMOND

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today has been historic 
for the Capitol building, in that today we were able, through the 
Friends of Scotland Caucus, to welcome the First Minister of Scotland, 
Alex Salmond. This was a great honor for me because he presented to the 
Heritage Golf Foundation an authentic golf club from the St. Andrews 
course. This was presented to the trustees of the Heritage Golf 
Tournament, the members who were present, John Curry and Bill Miles. 
And this is in recognition of the strong relationship that we have of 
the United States, particularly the State of South Carolina and 
Scotland.
  We were very pleased that the very first golf course located in North 
America was in South Carolina. In recognition of this, we have the 
Heritage Golf Classic which is held every year, April 14, this year, 
through the 20th, at Hilton Head Island at Sea Pines Golf Course, 
sponsored by Verizon. Indeed, the money raised for this goes for 
scholarships for persons in the low country.
  This has been an exciting time for those of us Scottish heritage. 
Last night we had a reception with the St. Andrews Society of 
Washington, recognizing Alex Ferguson, the Speaker of the Scottish 
Parliament.
  For me, the week began with a Kirkin' o' the Tartan at the First 
Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina with a program that was 
hosted by the St. Andrews Society of Columbia. And our church, the 
First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, is very grateful that our pastor 
is Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, who is a native and very distinguished son of 
Scotland.

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