You may have heard that Dr. Harlon Crimm has announced his retirement as president of Chattahoochee Technical College.

In the past 24 years, Dr. Crimm’s contributions to Chattahoochee Tech have been profound.    He quadrupled enrollment, making Chattahoochee the largest technical college in Georgia.  He oversaw the college’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  He instilled a sense of mission and pride in the institution, helping it gain national prestige.

But Harlon has been molding Georgia’s young minds for nearly half a century.  He began his career as a high school teacher in Mississippi, later becoming the principal of Lockheed Elementary School in Marietta and director of personnel for Marietta City Schools.

I want to publicly thank Dr. Crimm for his years of service educating Georgia’s young minds.  In fact, Dr. Crimm eloquently summed up his own work when he referred to the past 44 years in education not as a job or career, but as a calling.

If you’d like to watch the video of a speech I delivered before Congress today honoring Harlon Crimm, click HERE.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting some very sad news this morning. Army Sgt. Brian D. Ardron of Acworth was killed in Iraq this week when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Please keep Sgt. Ardron’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.  Our deepest respect is due to every brave man and woman who has made the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation.  They are heroes and our nation owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Most of us know that Methamphetamine abuse is having a devastating effect on our citizens and communities.  But did you know that important research into this crisis is taking place right here in Georgia? Kennesaw State University was recently awarded a grant through the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the problem of methamphetamine abuse in our nation’s suburbs.  The researchers won’t have to look far; after all, one of the largest methamphetamine busts in the nation took place in Smyrna. I am proud that Kennesaw State is helping lead the effort to study this problem and how we can fight it.  The battle against drugs is a community-wide effort, and we have to examine ways to reduce abuse through prevention, treatment, supply reduction and law enforcement.

The late C.W. with his son and grandson, both of whom now help run the family business 

Today, I attended the funeral of long-time Cobb County businessman C.W. Matthews. Mr. Matthews passed away on Sunday at the age of 84, and with his passing our nation lost one of its most inspired industrialists. The service was held at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, with Rev. Ernest Easley and Rev. Nelson Price officiating.

In the 1940s, a 23-year old Matthews established the C.W. Matthews Contracting Company, which today is the largest highway contractor in the Southeastern United States. C.W. was a natural businessman, making friends with ease and growing his company the old fashioned way: through hard work. In fact, Mr. Matthews – with only an 8th grade education – created one of the most successful family-run businesses in the nation.

Our entire community shares in the Matthews’ loss. We will always remember C.W. as a man of passion, drive and ingenuity.

You can click HERE to read more about Mr. Matthews, and HERE to watch a video of me delivering a speech before Congress in his memory.

It’s not too often I get to see my friend and Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson here in Washington. But today, he stopped by my office with some very important guests: 8th grade students from Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw.  Glenn’s son, Will, is a student at Mt. Paran, and I appreciated having the opportunity to share a little insight on Congressional life with the students.

Pictured above (from left to right): Will Richardson of Hiram, James Henderson of Dallas, U.S. Congressman Phil Gingrey, Darryn Hutchinson of Marietta, Jordan Hoffman of Powder Springs, Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, Jackson Corn of Marietta.

This weekend, the Marietta Daily Journal’s editorial board opined:

President Bush has kept his veto pen in his pocket for nearly all of his presidency, but has promised to use it when a bill arrives on his desk passed by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate this week that sets an Oct. 1 deadline for us to start retreating from Iraq, whether the war is going well at that point or not.

We urge him to waste no time in vetoing that emergency supplemental spending bill, if he has not already done so by the time you are reading this. There are numerous good reasons for doing so. It would put Congress in the position of micromanaging the war; it was larded with pork by Democratic leaders in hopes of picking up more votes; and most important of all, it would tell al-Qaida and our other enemies that we lack the stomach to stand up to a determined enemy. The people of this country are disgruntled with the way the war has been fought, but most of them - at least those who are not members of the Democratic caucuses on Capitol Hill - are not yet ready to surrender.

It’s already abundantly clear that the Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill lack the will to fight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada even went so far as to proclaim the war is lost and to call new U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus a liar when the general accurately said things there were beginning to improve.

Now, amazingly, the Democrat-led Congress not only is trying to cut Petraeus (and our troops) off at the knees, he has been deliberately snubbed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who refused to attend a special briefing with him this week in Washington, claiming scheduling conflicts. In other words, Pelosi - who found time to jet halfway around the world to cozy up with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad - can’t find the time to meet with our top general in Iraq. She and Reid are embarrassments not only to this country, but should be considered embarrassments by their party as well.

… The better option is for Bush to veto the bill, and for the Democrats in Congress to shift their focus to finding ways to win the war in Iraq, rather than trying to their level best to find a way to lose it.

To read Phil’s thoughts on the “Democrats’ surrender bill”, click HERE.

This afternoon, I met with the 8th grade class of Midway Covenant Christian School (located in Powder Springs). The group was on a class trip to Washington, and I had the opportunity to briefly discuss both the congressional process and our war on terror with the students. For additional photographs from the visit, click HERE.

If you want to find the 2008 Georgia Teacher of the Year, you don’t have to travel any farther than Marietta. This year, the prestigious award was given to Emily Jennette, a teacher at Sawyer Road Elementary School.

This award could not have gone to a more deserving candidate.  Ms. Jennette is an exceptional educator, praised by fellow teachers for her innovative teaching techniques, a commitment to learning, and an outstanding ability to engage her students.

Another Cobb County teacher, Ms. Jennifer Dawson of Lost Mountain Middle School, was also named a top ten finalist. 

Educators are among our communities’ most valuable assets.  Their gifts impact students in the classroom, and their lessons follow our children throughout life.  Georgia is fortunate to have teachers like Emily Jennette and Jennifer Dawson educating our children, and I know she will make our state proud at the National Teacher of the Year competition.

Believe it or not, the artwork above was created by one of our budding young Georgia artists: Yeo Jin Jung, a student at Kennesaw Mountain High School. Yeo Jin is this year’s 11th District Congressional Art Competition winner, and I’m excited her artwork will be representing Georgia’s student artists at a nation-wide art exhibit in the U.S. Capitol.  The piece is titled “Patriotism,” and it is a powerful tribute to our troops stationed around the world. Yeo Jin created it using oil on canvas.

I also want to thank Yeo Jin’s art teacher, Linda Nicholson, and principal, Sue Gunderman, for submitting the artwork.  Here is a photograph of me awarding Yeo Jin the blue ribbon for her painting:

I know the painting will move many Americans as it hangs in Washington.�

The Campaign for Children’s Health recently honored two 11th District students who showed great insight into the importance of access to health coverage for our children. These students won a state-wide essay contest discussing children’s health. As you may know, Congress is working to reauthorize the S-CHIP program, which in Georgia is known as PeachCare. The state of Georgia has done an exemplary job enrolling children in the PeachCare program, and this essay contest underlines the importance of that effort.

Winning the ages 9-13 competition was Kalley McMuller, a 7th grader from Marietta. Kalley wrote:

“My brother Trent has been very blessed to have a wide variety of doctors available. He has fractured several bones, including his wrist, arm, pinky finger, and thumb…. A broken bone may be a minor injury to Trent, but for numerous children out there, a broken bone is a major and devastating setback…. Around the world, many young people do not have the luxury of healthcare, but every single child is worthy of it.”

Winning the ages 14-18 competition was Casey Butler, a senior from Cartersville. Casey wrote:

“I am a senior in high school and I am doing an apprenticeship at a local medical facility… The problem of a lack of health care compounds itself. A small problem such as a fever or something, if left untreated, could escalate to maybe pneumonia or bronchitis. This is unfortunate because if the problem was treated to begin with and caught by a health care professional them it would not have gone to the extreme of one of these problems.”

Congratulations to Kalley and Casey for their thoughtful insight on the health of our children.

I had a great time speaking with students from Jones Elementary (Bremen, Ga.) and Marietta Middle School today.  The Bremen kids peppered me with questions about Congress and President Bush, and I spoke with the Marietta students about the importance of a strong education in civics and government.

 Jones Elementary Students and Parents

Marietta Middle School

 A student askes me about my job as a U.S. Representative

 Bremen students and parents are all smiles, despite the cold weather.

I know these students are going to have a great time touring Washington this week.

One of my favorite times in Washington is spring - and not just because the weather finally turns warm.  I enjoy spring because so many school trips and families come to visit our nation’s capital over spring break.  In fact, yesterday I visited with University of West Georgia students and Rome’s student safety patrollers.

 Safety Patrol students from Rome

 University of West Georgia students

Later this morning, I’ll be speaking with Marietta Middle School’s civics class and students from Jones Elementary in Bremen. I’ll post photos from those meetings later today. A visit to Washington makes for a fun and educational vacation, and I’m certainly enjoying having these young minds around the office.

In today’s papers, Phil gives us his take on President Bush’s speech last night. The Associated Press reports on Phil’s appeal for bipartisanship on Iraq:

“It is so important to give this a chance, to give victory a chance,” Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta said of Bush’s plan to send more troops and money in an effort to stabilize Iraq. “The president I think is making a very reasonable request of the Congress.”

In the Cartersville Daily Tribune, Phil calls the President’s comments on Iraq courageous:

President George W. Bush delivered his sixth State of the Union Address Tuesday night to Congress and the country with what has been declared the lowest approval ratings of any president since Richard Nixon.

That shows just how much courage he has, according to Rep. Phil Gingrey. Attributing the low poll numbers to the negative news about progress in Iraq, Gingrey said the American people are tired of losing. However, he feels reassured that “the president is committed to victory.”

But in the Marietta Daily Journal, Phil explains he didn’t see eye-to-eye with everything the President had to say – especially on immigration:

“I am concerned the President’s guest worker program amounts to amnesty for illegal immigrants,” Gingrey said. “The state of Georgia has felt the full impact of illegal immigration on our health care, education and social welfare systems, and amnesty would only exacerbate these problems.”

To read more of Gingrey’s comments, click HERE.

Today’s Marietta Daily Journal ran an op-ed from Phil detailing his vision for a way forward in Iraq:

Victory can be defined in several ways: the establishment of a free, stable and democratic nation for the Iraqi people; the development of an Iraqi Army capable of defending its nation; the establishment of a democracy in a region full of tyrants and terrorists.

Phil discusses the idea of embedding U.S. military advisors in Iraqi battalions and sending these Iraqi troops into combat in unstable provinces:

This strategy achieves four important goals: It allows these Iraqi units to become battle-hardened, building combat ability and unit cohesion; it helps us judge where our training has been successful; it allows U.S. troops to redeploy to safer areas as Iraqi troops take their place; and it allows the Iraqi army to build rapport with the Iraqi people. By transitioning control of combat zones to the Iraqi Army, we can achieve our goal of fostering an Iraq that can defend itself.

Finally, Phil reminds us what is at stake in this fight:

[B]oth the Iraqi and American people are counting on us to find a way forward in Iraq. Our goal must remain victory, ensuring the Iraqi people can defend themselves and preserve their hard-earned freedoms.

A free, stable and democratic Iraq will prove a decisive victory over terrorism in the Middle East, and any policy the U.S. implements should be aimed at this goal.

To read the complete op-ed, click HERE.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports this morning on efforts to reduce drug trafficking in the Atlanta area:

White House Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters on Monday named Cobb as one of two metro-Atlanta counties that will benefit from a federal crackdown on illegal drug trafficking.

Walters and Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) made the announcement at Cobb Police headquarters Monday morning as they presented a check for $1.1 million to Jack Killorin, director of the Atlanta-area High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.

Walters explained the critical nature of Atlanta’s drug problem:

“That Atlanta area has become a hub,” Walters said. “It has become a way in which traffic coming across the southwest border comes up and is distributed in the eastern part of the United States. It’s not coming from Miami. It’s coming from Atlanta.”

Phil noted that while the inclusion of Cobb County in this anti-trafficking program was a tremendous step forward, there is still more to be done in the future:

“We felt it very necessary that we expanded the (Atlanta-area program),” Gingrey said. “We want to eventually get into northwest Georgia where there are a lot of clandestine laboratories for the production of methamphetamines, which is ruining a lot of people’s lives.”

For more information on the $1.1 Million grant, click HERE.