[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7163]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WELCOMING DR. WILLIAM LLOYD BIRCH

  (Mr. CLYBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure for me to welcome 
and thank the gentleman and scholar who provided us with today's 
invocation. Dr. William Lloyd Birch hails from my congressional 
district. He is an ordained minister in Florence, South Carolina.
  Over his illustrious ministerial career, Dr. Birch has served as 
interim pastor in more than 42 churches. Dr. Birch is the founder of 
the Sociology Department at Francis Marion University, and chaired it 
for over 30 years. Prior to his retirement, Dr. Birch was a family 
therapist, and chaired the South Carolina Board of Licensing.
  Dr. Birch is known by many in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina as 
their professor, as the minister who baptized their children or 
performed their son's or daughter's weddings, as the interim pastor at 
their church, or as the counselor who guided them through a family 
crisis.
  Many have also seen him riding his horses, fox hunting or playing the 
bluegrass music he loves. Many of us are grateful for his work 
throughout the Pee Dee communities in South Carolina.
  He is joined here today by his wife of 57 years, Jean, and I thank 
both of them for their daughter Lindy's work in my office on behalf of 
the people of South Carolina and the Nation.

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