The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S4436-S4437 on Sept. 6.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
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TRIBUTE TO GEORGE C. EDWARDS
George was born in Grantsville, MD, and graduated from Northern Garrett High School in Accident, MD. He received his bachelor of science in business administration, cum laude, from Fairmont State College in West Virginia in 1970. He was the starting fullback on the football team there and earned National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American honors. Despite playing at a small school, he was good enough that the Baltimore Colts drafted him. George wanted to be a teacher, however, and later attended what was then Frostburg State College to receive his teacher's certificate so he could teach social studies at his old high school.
I met George when he won his first election to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1982, where I was serving as speaker of the house. Even though he was only 33, he was already a seasoned elected official with a decade of experience on the Grantsville Town Council and the Garrett County Board of County Commissioners. He also served in the National Guard for 6 years after he graduated from college,
George served with distinction in the house of delegates for 24 years, finishing his tenure there as minority leader from 2003 to 2007, when he won election to the State senate, where he has served for the past 16 years. George won 4 of his 10 elections to the general assembly with 100 percent of the vote and another 3 with 98 percent or more of the vote. He and Delegate Sandy Rosenberg are the deans of the Maryland General Assembly; each of them started their service in 1983.
George delivered a farewell address to the State senate that reflects the type of person he is, a statement filled with self-deprecating wit, congeniality, and a gentleness too rare in politics. He said that his first task in Annapolis was to educate his fellow lawmakers that Allegany County isn't spelled with an H, that Maryland's longest border is with West Virginia, and that western Marylanders speak in a particularly folksy way. ``You speak slow and you m-m-m mumble a little bit,'' he said. He also noted that when he joined the general assembly, there were only 13 Republicans serving in the house of delegates and 7 in the State senate. ``I can count,'' he said he remembered thinking.
``I said, hmm, I need to make some friends. And I need to make some friends on [the Democratic] side of the aisle. And I think I've done that.'' George certainly has made friends on the Democratic side of the aisle, and I am proud to be one of them.
In an op-ed in the New York Times several years ago, Michael Ignatieff wrote:
For democracies to work, politicians need to respect the difference between an enemy and an adversary.
An adversary is someone you want to defeat. An enemy is someone you have to destroy. With adversaries, compromise is honorable: Today's adversary could be tomorrow's ally. With enemies, on the other hand, compromise is appeasement.
Between adversaries, trust is possible. They will beat you if they can, but they will accept the verdict of a fair fight. This, and a willingness to play by the rules, is what good-faith democracy demands.
George understands this crucial distinction between adversary and enemy and has acted according to this principle throughout his entire career, which is why even his adversaries are his friends. It is why he has served as cochair of the general assembly's joint committee on legislative ethics, making him the only Republican in leadership in the legislature. It is why he has been such an effective representative for his constituents in western Maryland. It has been a challenge because, as George has noted, ``A lot of people where I live don't think people in other parts of Maryland think we're in Maryland.'' As Maryland State Senate President Bill Ferguson said, George has ``made sure every senator understood the needs of his district and always approached negotiations from a standpoint of getting to a resolution, not to obstruct.'' Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King, a former chair of the budget and taxation committee, summed it up when she said, ``You can't say no to George because he's such a nice guy.''
In 1946, Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher famously quipped,
``Nice guys finish last.'' Durocher never met George, who has always come in first by putting his constituents first. Being nice is not the same as being obsequious. George is a true conservative, a rarity in today's politics. He and I have different points of view on some major issues like gun safety and government regulation, but that has never stopped us from working as a team on behalf of his and my constituents.
We have worked together to support and expand Federal-State partnerships such as the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Economic Development Administration, Community Development Block Grants, and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Program. We have worked together to secure funding from Maryland and Pennsylvania and the Federal Government to complete the North-South Appalachian Highway initiative connecting I-68 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike via US-219. We have worked together to expand rural healthcare access and opportunities through federally qualified community health centers, regional hospitals, and other Federal partnerships in the region. We have worked together to support higher education and workforce development programs through Frostburg State University, the Western Maryland Consortium, and the region's three community colleges.
We have collaborated to provide State and Federal grant training for local emergency management and first responders to ensure they have the resources they need to protect their communities. We have collaborated to ensure that small businesses have access to State and Federal resources to grow their businesses. We have collaborated on casework for our constituents with State and Federal agencies related to healthcare, veterans' benefits, housing, banking and taxes, passports, and other issues.
George's legislative accomplishments are too numerous to list, so I will mention just a few. He fought to alter a State revenue formula to provide additional funding to counties, such as Garrett and Allegany, where the State owns 15 percent or more of the land. He secured changes to Maryland's Program Open Space, a land acquisition and recreation program, to give Garrett and Allegany Counties the flexibility they need to use the program without impeding economic development. He increased Allegany County's share of revenue from the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and increased the county's flexibility with respect to how it can spend that revenue. He succeeded in increasing the speed limit on parts of I-68 to 70 miles per hour, which is understandable considering that his Senate district--district 1--stretches 125 miles from Red House at the far western end of the State to Williamsport in Washington County. Earlier this year, Governor Hogan signed into law a bill George sponsored to establish the Western Maryland Economic Future Investment Board and Senator George C. Edwards Fund to provide $50 million over the next 3 years in State grants and loans for capital infrastructure and business development projects in the region. Of course, George is far too modest to suggest naming something after himself; his colleagues voted unanimously to amend the bill to be named in his honor.
When George announced his retirement, he noted that he had spent the equivalent of 10 years in Annapolis, away from his family. So I would be remiss if I failed to mention Linda, his beloved wife of 55 years, and their two children, Kristin and Paul. Paul has followed in his father's footsteps and serves as chair of the Garrett County Board of County Commissioners. All Marylanders, but especially his district 1 constituents, owe a debt of gratitude to his family for sharing him with the public. He and Linda are the proud grandparents of eight children, and I certainly understand his desire, after half a century of public service, to spend more time with his family.
In Shakespeare's play ``Hamlet,'' Polonius counsels his son Laertes,
``This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.'' This describes George Edwards and his life of public service. He has been true to himself and never false to his colleagues or to his constituents. I am honored to count George as a friend and want, on behalf of the entire U.S. Senate, to extend my congratulations and deepest appreciation to him and wish him and Linda and their family all the best as he returns home to Mountain Maryland.
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