[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8524]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                     TRIBUTE TO HARRY SIMMONS, JR.

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to commend Harry 
Simmons, Jr., of Yazoo City, MS, for his service and contributions to 
the State of Mississippi while serving as the 81st president of the 
Delta Council.
  Since its founding in 1935, Delta Council has grown to be a widely 
respected economic development organization representing the business, 
professional, and agricultural interests of the Mississippi Delta 
region. I am grateful to Delta Council for its continuous role in 
meeting the economic and quality of life challenges in this unique part 
of our country.
  Harry Simmons's tenure as council president began in May 2016. In 
leading the council, he has been a notably strong advocate for Federal 
flood control, farm support, and infrastructure improvements in the 
Delta region.
  A Yazoo County native, Mr. Simmons graduated from Yazoo City High 
School and earned an agricultural economics degree from Mississippi 
State University. He has had a strong career as a catfish and row-crop 
producer. Mr. Simmons, with his daughter Katy and son-in-law Andy 
Prosser, jointly manage both his farm operation and highly successful 
catfish processing operation, Simmons Farm Raised Catfish. His 
processing facility employs more than 200 people in Yazoo County, and 
his farming operation consists of catfish, corn, soybeans, and cotton 
production.
  In addition to his leadership in Delta Council, Mr. Simmons has 
served as chairman of the Catfish Institute, president of Catfish 
Farmers of America, and on the boards of both the Yazoo Planters Cotton 
Gin and Yazoo County Development Foundations. He also served our State 
and Nation as a commissioned officer in the Mississippi National Guard.
  I am pleased to join the people throughout my State in commending 
Harry Simmons, Jr., and sharing our appreciation with his wife, 
Shirley, and their children, Emily and Katy, and grandson, Miller, as 
the 82nd annual meeting of the Delta Council membership convenes in 
June.

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