[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2525-2526]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Nunnelee) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NUNNELEE. Mr. Speaker, Tupelo, Mississippi, the town of my birth 
and my hometown, is known for a lot of things: the birthplace of Elvis 
Presley; we are the headquarters of the Natchez Trace Parkway. One of 
the things we are also very proud of is we are the very first TVA city.

[[Page 2526]]

  Many people around America think of the difference between rural 
America and city as the difference between whether you have a shopping 
mall, a lot of nice restaurants, things like that. Eighty years ago, 
the differences between rural and urban America were even more stark. 
That is why today it is my privilege to rise as we celebrate the 80th 
anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the 1930s, rural 
America did not have many of the basic things of life like electricity, 
running water, and a lot of the things that we consider frills today, 
like radio, music, and news.
  As a result, many Americans, particularly younger generations of 
Americans, were migrating from the small towns and the farms across 
rural America and moving to the larger cities. Seeing this shift, a 
couple of visionary members of the Congress, including my predecessor, 
Mississippi Representative John Rankin, and Senator George Norris from 
Nebraska, made it their mission to bring electricity to rural America.
  On May 18, 1933, the Tennessee Valley Authority was created by this 
Congress in an effort to improve the living conditions and the economic 
conditions for seven southern States, including Mississippi. In 1934, 
President Roosevelt came to Tupelo, Mississippi, and literally flipped 
the switch to turn on the lights. Shortly after that, north Mississippi 
became one of the Nation's earliest regions to begin to adopt rural 
electrification.
  Over the past 80 years, the Tennessee Valley Authority has been 
committed not only to providing reliable, cleaner, and low-cost energy, 
but also committed to the economic well-being of our region across the 
Tennessee Valley.
  They have worked with local power companies, directly served 
customers and regional, State, and community development organizations. 
TVA works to create economic development opportunities around our 
region, collaboratively focusing on attracting and retaining jobs, 
capital investment, and helping our communities prepare for growth.
  I was once told by my friend and former TVA Chairman Glenn McCollough 
that the mission of TVA could be summed up in three phrases: keep the 
lights glowing; the economy going; and the river flowing. Well, for 80 
years, TVA has done just that. With current leadership like Richard 
Howorth from Oxford, who is currently on the TVA board of directors, 
TVA is helping our region achieve success.
  The electricity provided by TVA has helped attract opportunity and 
success for thousands of people in Mississippi and throughout the 
valley, allowing them to show the world that we are a friendly, 
reliable and competitive workforce.
  So on this day of commemoration, I say happy 80th anniversary, TVA, 
and my wish for you is a prosperous and successful future.

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