[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             MEMPHIS MUSIC

  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, I rise today to honor Memphis Music. 
This summer, my district will play host to a tradition that has evolved 
with the city for more than 70 years, Carnival Memphis. Every year, 
Carnival Memphis lifts up the best of our city and asks it to help 
those Memphians who are most in need. Leaders of an honored industry 
roll up their sleeves to help special Memphis charities, charities that 
are often otherwise ignored. This year, the honored industry, Memphis 
Music, is at the very foundations of our beloved city.
  Mr. Speaker, so much of the music that is identified as iconic 
American music came from Memphis. It rose up from the heat of the 
Mississippi Delta and drifted into the city where it was stamped on 
vinyl in studios like Stax and Sun. From there, the sounds of Elvis, 
Mavis Staples, Al Green, Booker T. and the MGs, and Isaac Hayes became 
part of the fabric of American culture.
  This summer, Memphis Music and Carnival Memphis will turn their hands 
and their hearts to the Emanuel Episcopal Center Neighborhood School, 
and United Cerebral Palsy of the Mid South. They will be joined by the 
King and Queen of Carnival, the Royal Court and all of the mystic 
societies. The economic, cultural, and spiritual engine that is the 
entertainment of industry in Memphis will turn their efforts to lift 
the spirits and circumstances of those in need in Memphis.
  I am proud to represent a city that has left such an indelible mark 
on American culture. I congratulate Carnival Memphis on their 77th year 
and all their hard work to enrich Memphis. And I encourage all of my 
colleagues, the next time they hear Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, 
Green Onions, or Heartbreak Hotel, to join me and do what I do, and 
think of Memphis.

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