[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16080-16081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING ROANOKE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE ON ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. G. K. BUTTERFIELD

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 22, 2013

  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Roanoke 
Electric Cooperative that recently celebrated its 75th anniversary 
delivering affordable electricity to rural eastern North Carolina. The 
Cooperative is headquartered in my Congressional District in Aulander, 
North Carolina and serves seven of the 24 counties I represent.

[[Page 16081]]

  The Cooperative grew out of the Rural Electrification Administration 
(REA) created by President Franklin Roosevelt. REA's goal was to foster 
the construction of electric distribution lines so that rural areas of 
the country could avail themselves of the great benefits of 
electricity.
  Roanoke Electric Cooperative was chartered on September 30, 1938 and 
construction began immediately. By the middle of 1939, the 56 miles of 
electric distribution lines that had been constructed went live and 
provided electricity to 317 individual locations in rural North 
Carolina.
  Before the Cooperative existed, Americans living in rural areas began 
their day at sunrise and ended it at sunset. Every task--be it simple 
or complex--had to be done manually. Washing and drying clothes, farm 
work, cooking, cleaning, and even accessing water took time and effort 
that had been drastically reduced in urban areas due to the existence 
of electricity.
  Struck by the glaring inequity between rural and urban areas, then-
Nebraska Senator George Norris said ``I had seen first-hand the grim 
drudgery and grind which had been the common lot of eight generations 
of American farm women. I knew what it was to take care of the farm 
chores by the flickering, undependable light of the lantern in the cold 
rains of the fall and the icy winds of winter. Those rural women were 
conscious of the great gap between their lives and the lives of those 
women whom by birth or choice lived in towns and cities with 
electricity in their homes.''
  Now Roanoke Electric Cooperative has more than 2,000 miles of 
electric distribution lines and serves nearly 15,000 individual 
locations in its seven county footprint. The Cooperative is led by 
Curtis Wynn who serves as its President and CEO. Mr. Wynn is the first 
African American in the nation to serve an electric cooperative in that 
capacity. Under his visionary leadership, Roanoke Electric Cooperative 
has been recognized by the National Rural Electric Cooperative 
Association (NRECA) and has received the Community Service Network 
Award on two separate occasions. Mr. Wynn also serves on the Board of 
Directors for NRECA.
  Mr. Speaker, Roanoke Electric Cooperative has proudly and effectively 
served my constituents in rural eastern North Carolina for 75 years. I 
offer my sincere congratulations to Mr. Wynn and his team and ask that 
my colleagues join me in sending best wishes to Roanoke Electric 
Cooperative as it continues to be a vital and integral part of the 
lives of families and businesses in eastern North Carolina.

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