Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

The House assembled at 10:00 A.M.

Deliberations were opened with prayer by the Chaplain of the House of Representatives, the Rev. Dr. Alton C. Clark as follows:

Our Father in Heaven, on this day significant to South Carolinians by the coming of the President of the United States, make us grateful to be a part of one Nation where "in God we trust". We thank You for our heritage as Americans. Cause us to continue to do our part in making this great Nation greater. In our relationships with each other and with other States in this democracy, teach us, Lord, how to build bridges rather than walls. As You have made us heirs of a great heritage and trustees of priceless things, keep us strong with insight for our times and courage for our challenges. May we never forget that it is only as we follow the teachings of the ten Commandments and live the principles of the Sermon on the Mount can this Nation "under God" remain great.

Lead us, Lord, by Your teachings. Amen.

Pursuant to Rule 6.3, the House of Representatives was led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America by the SPEAKER.

After corrections to the Journal of the proceedings of yesterday, the SPEAKER ordered it confirmed.

The following was received.

February 14, 1989
The Honorable Sandra K. McKinney
Clerk of the S.C.     (Doc. No. 1064)

House of Representatives

Dear Mrs. McKinney:

Pursuant to Act 176 of 1977, I have received on February 14, 1989 regulations concerning Elevator Safety Code from the State of South Carolina Department of Labor.

They are hereby referred to the Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry for consideration.

Sincerely,
Robert J. Sheheen

Received as information.

The roll call of the House of Representatives was taken resulting as follows.

Alexander, M.O.        Alexander, T.C.        Altman
Bailey, G.             Bailey, J.             Bailey, K.
Baker                  Barber                 Barfield
Baxley                 Beasley                Bennett
Blackwell              Blanding               Boan
Brown, G.              Brown, H.              Brown, J.
Brown, R.              Bruce                  Burch
Burriss, M.D.          Burriss, T.M.          Carnell
Chamblee               Clyborne               Cole
Cooper                 Corbett                Cork
Corning                Davenport              Derrick
Elliott                Faber                  Fair
Fant                   Farr                   Felder
Ferguson               Foster                 Gentry
Glover                 Gordon                 Gregory
Hallman                Harris, J.             Harris, P.
Harvin                 Harwell                Haskins
Hayes                  Hearn                  Hendricks
Hodges                 Holt                   Huff
Jaskwhich              Johnson, J.C.          Johnson, J.W.
Kay                    Keegan                 Keesley
Keyserling             Kirsh                  Klapman
Kohn                   Koon                   Lanford
Limehouse              Littlejohn             Lockemy
Manly                  Martin, D.             Martin, L.
Mattos                 McAbee                 McBride
McCain                 McEachin               McElveen
McGinnis               McKay                  McLellan
McLeod                 McTeer                 Moss
Neilson                Nesbitt                Nettles
Phillips               Rama                   Rhoad
Rogers, J.             Rogers, T.             Rudnick
Sharpe                 Sheheen                Short
Simpson                Snow                   Stoddard
Sturkie                Taylor                 Townsend
Tucker                 Vaughn                 Waites
Waldrop                Washington             Wells
Whipper                White                  Wilder
Wilkes                 Wilkins                Williams, D.
Winstead               Wofford                Wright

I came in after the roll call and was present for the Session on February 15, 1989.

Richard M. Quinn, Jr.

I was not present during the Session but arrived in time to attend the Committee meetings on Tuesday, February 14, 1989.

Rep. James H. Hodges

Announcement was made that Dr. David Rodgers of McCormick is the Doctor of the Day for the General Assembly.

On motion of Rep. BARFIELD the House stood at ease subject to the call of the Chair.

At 10:45 A.M. the House resumed, the SPEAKER in the chair.

At 10:50 A.M. the Senate appeared in the Hall of the House.

The President of the Senate called the Joint Assembly to order and announced that it had convened under the terms of a Concurrent Resolution adopted by both Houses.

H. 3462 -- Rep. Sheheen: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION INVITING GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, TO ADDRESS A JOINT ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN THE HOUSE CHAMBER AT 10:45 A.M. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1989.

The Honorable George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States, was escorted to the rostrum by Governor Carroll A. Campbell, United States Senator Strom Thurmond, Senators Waddell, Nell W. Smith, Lee, Courson, and Mitchell and REPS. J. ROGERS, KLAPMAN, WILKINS, WHITE and BENNETT.

The President of the Senate recognized his excellency, Carroll A. Campbell, the Governor.

Governor Campbell welcomed the President to South Carolina and presented him to the General Assembly as follows:

Gentlemen of the General Assembly and my fellow South Carolinians, this is a great day in the history of South Carolina because we are honored today by the presence of two national champions the Furman Paladins and the President of the United States. It has been my privilege to know the President for many years and I'm proud to call him a friend. He is a man of integrity and compassion and a man of vision and a man of accomplishment. And the American people probably know him as the best prepared person to be the President of the United States in the history of this country. It is a tremendous burden to be a leader of the free world. I've seen him in the public life and I've seen him in the private life. I've seen him take the time with a small child just as he would take with a leader of a country. The fact that the Vice President of the United States, at that time, when I saw him, took the time to pay attention to small children when he could be doing other things, spoke volumes about the man. Mr. President, I say this not as a matter of introduction because I know better than to introduce a President. I say it to tell you we appreciate you for a lot of reasons. South Carolina and the Nation have both benefitted tremendously during the last eight years. Our state is doing well and a lot of that is because of the work you've been about this time. We appreciate you for the vision you've offered us, a vision of a sound economy and a Nation at peace, a strong National defense and a vision of kindness and gentleness. We appreciate you for the First Lady and for the exemplary way that the two of you live your lives of public service with the single-minded dedication to the people of America. We showed our appreciation in South Carolina during the General Election. And this Assembly of South Carolina's Leadership, men and women, Democrats and Republicans, all working together, is another expression of our admiration for you. It is therefore, my privilege and a distinct honor to present to the people of South Carolina the President of the United States.

President Bush then addressed the Joint Assembly as follows:

Thank you very much. Thank you all. I thank all of you. Thank you members of the Legislature for that really friendly South Carolina welcome and thank you particularly Governor Campbell, my friend. Lt. Governor, Mr. Speaker, members of the Congress that are with us here today; Senator Thurmond, Floyd Spence and maybe I'm missing some and so I apologize. And Ladies and Gentlemen I thank all of you.

It is a great honor to be addressing this Joint Session of the General Assembly. And I really mean that. This is a chamber rich in history and tradition, and I am grateful for the privilege of joining you in this hall today. There's something wonderful about how the United States comes together and the driving in that great big long car and having the school kids and others out there really demonstrating their respect for the institution of the presidency is something that is special to me, and I think of it as something that South Carolinians understand very, very well indeed. I was just saying this to the Lieutenant Governor. One very concrete way that I plan to express my appreciation is by not going on too long. If I exceed my limit, and we start to press up against lunch time. I expect that the spirit of the late Speaker Blatt, will rise up and in this chamber will echo with the words: "It's Cornbread and Buttermilk time."

...And now I speak to you today with great respect and in accordance with the plan our Founding Fathers designed two centuries ago: as a President of the United States addressing the freely-elected Government of a Sovereign State. And I speak to you in the spirit of bi-partisanship, I've got to...you've got us outnumbered. And I realized, that some of you people favor the Tigers and others favor the Gamecocks...and of course some people one or another set of Bulldogs, but as President, I must remain neutral. I stand with the people and this morning in that same spirit of neutrality, Lee Atwater, as far as I'm concerned will be thought of simply as one native son of South Carolina, who happens to be a Rhythm and Blues guitarist. God save the Republic. But I don't have to be neutral now in recognizing and thanking for appearing and congratulating the division 1AA National football champions. The Furman Paladins, I just met them downstairs and we are all, nationwide, very proud of that team and what it has accomplished.

A President cannot stand here without noting that the Great State of South Carolina has one of the oldest histories in our Republic, spanning nearly five centuries.

But with all of South Carolina's great sense of tradition, this has also in recent years been the site of dynamic economic growth that has so greatly improved the lives of the people of this State. I believe that South Carolina is proof that an abiding respect for traditional American values is not a hindrance to success in a modern economy, but, in fact, it is essential to it. And I want to keep the economy expanding so that it reaches every person in South Carolina and in the Nation.

There are a number of very sound provisions South Carolina uses in its budget process which I think our Nation as a whole would benefit from. I think it is long overdue for the Federal Government to catch up with South Carolina by giving the chief executive a line-item veto and by adding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

These are essential elements disciplining the Executive Branch as well as the Legislative Branch for controlling Government spending: you have them, you use them, they work, and they help protect the pocketbooks of the working people, men and women of South Carolina. I believe that the rest of the American people deserve the same at the Federal level, and they deserve a budget process that they can point to with pride. And I will work for the budget reforms that we need.

Your Governor, Carroll Campbell, has been an innovative leader who has set an example that is being acknowledged around the country. He and you, working together, have made South Carolina a model of what can be accomplished with sound policies and wise leadership. I particularly want to recognize and applaud your Governor's plan for promoting even greater economic growth by modernizing the tax code and by cutting the State capital gains tax.

Our experience at the National level is clear: reducing the capital gains rate has resulted in more revenue to the Federal Government, not less. It spurs investment. Investment means more jobs. Jobs mean opportunity. And opportunity is the foundation of American progress. And a lower capital gains rate helps our international competitiveness -- all of our biggest trading partners, including Japan and West Germany, tax capital gains modestly if at all. Even as you are taking up this issue in South Carolina, my proposal at the Federal level is to cut the capital gains rate down to 15 percent for investments held for three years or more.

Now, as you know, last week I proposed a budget plan for the Federal Government. You may have heard about it, it's getting some attention. And I'm pleased to say no one has said it's D.O.A. If anyone does, I'll interpret that as: "Defining Opportunity for America."

But when it comes to the Washington budget process, so much of the rhetoric is, as you know, a bit extravagant. Once in the heat of budget politics, a former member of this chamber, Goat Leamond, stepped back from the fray to utter the now immortal words: "When in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." Washington! All over again.

But in Washington, with all the shouting that sometimes occurs, the words don't mean the same things that most people think that they mean. When they talk about budget cuts in Washington, that usually doesn't mean that spending is going down, and this is the key point, which would seem to be the obvious meaning but it is not. No, it usually means that spending is going up, but at a slower pace.

Senator Rudman of New Hampshire said this week: "Washington is the only town where a man making $20,000 can ask his boss for a $10,000 raise; and, then, when the boss gives him instead a $5,000 raise, the story comes out: 'Man's salary cut by $5,000'."

On the revenue side, I have taken a pledge to the American people, and I am going to keep it: No new taxes. I believe that's what the people of this State and the American people as a whole voted for. And the bottom-line in the Federal budget is that it's not my money, it's not the Congress' money, it's the American people's money.

One group in Washington, Citizens for a Sound Economy, commissioned the Roper Organization to conduct a poll on taxes, spending, and the budget deficit. Three out of four Americans surveyed said that the way they want us to reduce the deficit is by holding down spending. Controlling the growth of spending. Only five percent wanted to do it by raising taxes.

My budget is based on a flexible freeze with no new taxes. This budget recognizes that there are three ways Government must serve the people: First, by not taking any more of their hard-earned money than is absolutely necessary. Secondly, by creating the environment that permits economic growth, new jobs, and greater opportunity. And finally, by doing the very best to help people with the money that is spent by the Government, caring for those in need, protecting what we hold in common, and serving the people with efficiency and compassion.

Even in times when reducing the deficit means tough choices, we must still set priorities. And my budget is a realistic plan that does more for education, more for the environment, and more for the space program. It makes a larger investment in scientific research, to help keep America competitive into the next century. It spends more on the Head Start program to help make America strong into the next generation. And there is another $1 billion in outlays to fight drugs, because we cannot let this menace rob our children of their future.

We propose a new child care initiative, targeted at low-income families, and designed to give real choice to families. The family unit is vital to the economic fabric of our society. Government must not discourage parental choice and family involvement.

In this budget, we also restore and double the tax deduction for adopting special needs children. And we commit a billion dollars to deal with the problems of the homeless.

We do not touch Social Security -- that's off-limits. And we keep our defenses strong. Defending America is one task which is an absolute responsibility for the Federal Government. This budget enables our national defense to keep up with inflation. It's gone down, net terms for four out of the last four years. When our young men and women make the commitment to join our armed services, they have the right to know that we will give them the tools to defend themselves and to defend America.

This budget helps assure a sound economy by not raising taxes and by cutting the Federal deficit by more than $75 billion. That will not only meet the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings targets, but it does even better than that. This budget will bring the deficit as a percentage of Gross National Product to its lowest level since the 1970's.

Now already some people have asked me how is it possible to do all this without raising taxes. The answer is straightforward, and it needs to be emphasized again and again.

Because of economic growth, and you've seen this here in South Carolina, because of economic growth tax revenues are going up with no new taxes. Our projections show that without raising taxes, the Federal Government will get an additional $80 billion to spend. The Congressional Budget Office, using their own set of economic assumptions, predicts -- not my estimate, but theirs -- that Federal tax revenues will increase next year by even more, by $86 billion. I think our number is closer, but whether you use the Congress's number or the OMB number, that's enough money to reduce the deficit down to the levels required by Gramm-Rudman-Hollings and to spend more money on priority programs.

But to do this does require that choices be made, which is what the budget does. And I am prepared to work with the Congress to make those hard choices. We weren't sent to Washington to sit on our hands -- either to pass the cost of indecision onto working Americans by raising their taxes, or to fail to reduce the deficit, which will cause the cuts to be done automatically under the law.

That's why we must make choices that keep the economy growing, preserve our national defense, and allow Government adequately and compassionately to perform the services which it should. If we do, we can get the job done-- but not with business as usual.

One of the great United States Senators, John C. Calhoun, once said, "The very essence of a free Government consists in considering offices as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party." And it is that spirit that I will seek to work with the United States Congress -- not as members of competing political parties, but as cooperating public servants.

And the members of this legislature have a vital role to play. You are closer to the people than those of us up in Washington. You not only serve your constituents -- you are their neighbors. And you speak with the authority of people who know Government first hand. As we form the Federal budget and reduce this deficit, I want your voices to be heard. We need your leadership. And working together we can make a great difference for all of America.

You know, I've visited South Carolina enough times to learn that the State flower is the yellow jessamine. I've been told that it was selected not just for its fragrance, but for its resilience. The budget debate is important, but even more important is the knowledge that America is strong and she is great and yes, she is resilient. We are thriving as a Nation, thriving in the world, we are the envy of the world. And we are providing for our people. We've got to do better.

As Americans, we do not seek a world without challenge, but, rather, a chance to overcome the challenges that are before us and to leave this Nation that we love a little better for our having passed this way. I am glad that you and I are passing this way together.

Thank you members of this Assembly and God bless each and everyone of you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.

Upon the conclusion of his address, the President and his escort party retired from the Chamber.

The Joint Assembly stood at ease, subject to the call of the Chair.

At 12:00 Noon, the Joint Assembly resumed.

The CLERK of the Senate read the following Concurrent Resolution:

H. 3252 -- Reps. Mattos, M.O. Alexander, Baker, Blackwell, Clyborne, Fair, Fant, Haskins, Jaskwhich, Vaughn, Wilkins and Manly: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CONGRATULATING THE FURMAN UNIVERSITY PALADINS FOOTBALL TEAM ON WINNING THE NCAA DIVISION I-AA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE 1988 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON BY DEFEATING A TOUGH GEORGIA SOUTHERN TEAM IN THE TITLE GAME AT POCATELLO, IDAHO, RECOGNIZING THE PALADINS' NUMEROUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THE SEASON, INVITING THE FURMAN TEAM, COACHES, STAFF, AND THE UNIVERSITY'S PRESIDENT TO ATTEND A JOINT SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT 12:00 NOON ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1989, AND INVITING HEAD COACH JIMMY SATTERFIELD TO ADDRESS THE JOINT SESSION.

The Honored Guests and distinguished party were escorted to the rostrum by Senators J. Verne Smith, Mitchell, Stilwell, Thomas and Bryan and REPS. MATTOS, BLACKWELL, FAIR, MANLY and VAUGHN.

Lt. Governor Theodore welcomed the following special guests:

David Adams     Ed Patterson

John Bagwell     Brian Pitts

Elton Bailey     George Quarles

Bill Balland     Mike Radcliff

Patrick Baynes     Angelo Richardson

Venton Bell     Chris Roper

Ken Berry     Wade Sexton

Jeff Blankenship     Ron Sherwood

Mike Bobrovsky     Dan Smallwood

Wayne Burr     Brad Stephens

Don Clardy     Dwight Sterling

David Cobb     Billy Stockdale

Glen Connally     Keith Swilling

Fe Cowan     Pat Turner

Paul Craven     Sammy Walker

Bobby Daugherty     Eric Walter

Frankie DeBusk     Cherod Webber

Julius Dixon     Dean Williams

Steve Duggan     Mike Wood

Kelly Fletcher     Allen Edwards

Bill Foster     Tom Griffith

Kennet Goldsmith     Bruce Leicht

William Hall     Donald Lipscomb

Richie Harris     Kyle Lowery

Corey Holden     Steve Norris

Ivan Johnson     Taylor Quarles

Mike Jones     Scott Raeber

Kevin Kendrick     Bill Roach

Greg Key     Eric Robinson

Mike Kierman     Paul Siffri

Robbie Love     Clay Tiedeman

Al Maxwell     John Whitemire

Bruce Fowler     Jimmy Neal

Clay Hendrix     Tim Sorrells

Bobby Lamb     Steve Wilson

Tommy Marshall

Brian Allison     Mark Cagle

Kirk Burnett     Greg Wood

SPEAKER SHEHEEN made the following remarks about our special guests:

"Thank you Lt. Governor Theodore...Members of the General Assembly, our distinguished guests from Furman, we want you to know that we bought these robes especially for today, we usually wear a different color. It's a distinct pleasure for us to invite you here today, not because we want to honor you, but to thank you for allowing us to share in the National Championship that you've won for South Carolina and for your school. Today is a time in which we celebrated the United States of America and had the President here. But, today we also asked you to come and for the first time in 13 years since I've been here, we've printed our calendars on purple Furman paper for you. We wanted you to know how much we thought about you. And, the Clerk of the House had that idea, Sandy McKinney, and I want you to know why she had that idea, at least why I think she had that idea, it's because we live in a time when we pick up the newspaper everyday and we read about all the bad things that young people do. It's a time when everyone talks about what's wrong with the young people in South Carolina and across the country. And, sometimes we fail to talk about what's right, and those of you who do what's right for us and for yourselves, and those of us in political office recognize that young people all across this country need heroes and we want you to know that you have assumed that burden of being heroes to many young people in South Carolina, and to us, too, because you represent what's best about the young people in South Carolina and the young people across this country. So, we welcome you today, but say thank you when we welcome you for letting us share in that National Championship. We're glad to have you."

Lt. Governor Theodore recognized Rep. MATTOS who made the following remarks:

"Lt. Governor Theodore, Speaker Sheheen, and honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, and members of the General Assembly...Today has been a most memorable one for all of us. First, the Joint Session with President Bush, and now the Joint Session with the National I-AA Football Champions, Furman University, of which we are indeed proud of what you gentlemen have accomplished and what you stand for, and what you exemplify. But, let me take this opportunity to thank you for all the hard work that has made this occasion a reality for all of us. The Speaker said we all need heroes, and you are our heroes. You are the right kind of heros because you exemplify that student athlete in more that just a term. You are student athletes of the first order, and we are extremely proud of that. We would like to thank the coaches for a job well done because having been one for a few years, I understand the rigors and the times that you spend away from your family. You brought this honor not only to yourselves, but to Furman University and the state of South Carolina, and we're grateful. At this time, I'd like to recognize some very special people: Dr. Johns and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. George Bennett, the athletic director, Dr. and Mrs. Bonnick. And now, a very special group of people, and I didn't realize this, but my wife used to tell me this, that you just don't know what it is like, you work and you go away and you do the coaching and you do the playing and you have a good time, and you leave me at home with the three children which I raised, and you never get any recognition. So, today I want the following ladies to stand and be recognized for the sacrifices you've made, not only for Furman, but for your family...Mrs. Satterfield, the wife of Jimmy Satterfield, Mrs. Johnson, wife of Coach Bobby Johnson, Mrs. Wilson, Steve Wilson's wife, Mrs. Jimmy Neal, she's teaching, she's doing her job, Mrs. Tommy Marshall, Mrs. Bruce Fowler, and Mrs. Tim Sorrells. Let's give these ladies a round of applause. We would like to recognize also, members of the Furman University family that are with us today, those avid supporters, because I am going to tell you that up there in the foothills of Dill Blackwell's community is where Furman University is. Many folks didn't know where Furman was, but you know that all the roads now lead to Furman, and we are very grateful. So, all of the supporters from Greenville and the state of South Carolina that are in the audience please stand at this time. Once again, let me say thank you, and welcome to Columbia."

Lt. Governor Theodore introduced Jimmy Satterfield as follows:

"Mr. Mattos, I am really impressed that you recognized those lovely ladies of the coaches because we recognize that behind every great man is a little lady and a very surprised mother-in-law. We recognize also the fact that in business, government, religion or any endeavors of life, certain individuals must be responsible. We're proud at Furman University to have President John Johns to lead this University through the years. He has been an outstanding president and now, we would like to recognize the head football coach, the man who had been working in the trenches for years, and who, as Senator Giese said earlier, was a quiet athlete, who is still a quiet coach most of the time, at least where we can see him, but achieves the purpose of athletic championship and even more important, the honor of young men being pursued in this nation of ours. Let me present to you my friends, a friend of mine, a great South Carolinian, Coach Jimmy Satterfield."

Coach Satterfield made the following remarks:

"Thank you...It is amazing how relaxed the security has gotten all of a sudden. Lt. Governor Theodore, Speaker Sheheen, members of the House and Senate...lt is a great honor for me to be here at this moment to represent Furman University and the Furman University Football Team. It is a great day for South Carolina, it is a great day for Furman University, and it is a great day for me personally to be with the leaders of our state and to have a chance to speak to you about our players, about our team, and about our accomplishments. It gives me a thrill. Someone asked me earlier about meeting the President, and about what I thought about it, and so forth, and you know you really don't realize the magnitude of these kind of things until you are involved in it, and probably a lot of you felt the same way. You knew the President was coming and you knew you were going to be there, but you didn't think too much about it until it actually happened, and you had the magnitude of your team and your players, and your friends having the chance to meet the President because of Furman football. I think that is really great. Lt. Governor, we brought a couple of hats for you, with Furman National Champions on it. We brought one for you and one for the Governor, and we know you got his name wrong the other day, and this might help you get it straight. Speaker Sheheen, we want to make a Paladin out of you, so, we brought you a hat, along with us, so you will be able to become a Paladin. I would like to say a few things about our Furman team, of course, we were honored that the President came down to South Carolina to meet our team. We didn't realize it was that important of an event until he did that. He came to South Carolina to meet our team and Notre Dame had to go to Washington to meet the President. When I was thinking about that, I thought that he might like Baptists better than he does Catholics. I don't know. There are a lot of people that I would like to thank for the things that we have been able to accomplish. You don't realize that the members of this assembly, you don't realize how much you have had to do with the success of Furman football. Several years ago, I don't remember the year, but it was probably about 1974 or '75, somewhere along there, a bill was passed, called the State Tuition Grant. We've got 25 guys right here that live in South Carolina and fill out the State Tuition Grant every year that helps us use our scholarships more wisely. When you did that, and you vote for that bill every year, it helps us. We would not have been able to win this championship or have the success we've had at Furman without the bill that you passed several years ago and have voted for every year since. It has helped us tremendously and we appreciate you for it. Obviously, Dr. Johns has been a very dear friend of mine during the years that I've been at Furman. He came there in 1976, and the first game we went to was N.C. State and we won that game and we've been winning ever since. Dr. Johns and his wife, Martha, are very dear friends of mine, and we couldn't have done it without him. George Bennett is our athletic director. He and his wife, Nancy, go to every event. He just makes my job much easier. It's easy for me to do my job because he is so supportive and does so many things for us. Jim Mattos has mentioned all of the wives and the time that they spend while we are at the school watching films. They have to put up with all of the hours that we spend. All of our coaches are very dedicated and they do a tremendous job with putting up with us. Hunter Reid, our Sports Information Director, is fantastic and gets out great brochures and publications for our team and for the honors our team gets. I want to tell you a little bit about our coaches. They are tremendous people. They are not only great coaches, but they are great role models for our players. They are people that I coached at Furman. All of our coaches, except for myself and Bobby Johnson, are graduates of Furman and we're proud of that. We're proud that our team is made up of so many South Carolina people and people from Georgia, people from North Carolina, people from Tennessee, and people from Florida. We've got 25 players from South Carolina, we've got 23 from Georgia, 7 guys from North Carolina, 5 from Tennessee, and 2 from Florida. This is a southern team. This team is made up of southern folks and we're proud that our team is led by South Carolina people. Dr. Johns is a graduate of Furman. Seven out of nine of our coaches are graduates of Furman. I'm a graduate of a school from South Carolina. Bobby Johnson is from Columbia. George Bennett is a graduate of Dreher High School. So, the leaders of Furman University are South Carolinians and South Carolina people and we're proud of it. There's something about our team that I would like to tell you. People ask me all the time how you win a National Championship. I don't really have an answer to that, but these guys right here in front of you are the ones that did it. I want to tell you a few things that I think about these guys are important. They are important for any of our students. They are true student-athletes. The juniors in this group, I don't know the stats for all of them, but, the rising seniors had an average SAT score of 1080 when they came into Furman, and that was several years ago. I don't remember all of the stats for all of them. These guys right here are over achievers. We get some guys that maybe aren't quite big enough or maybe aren't quite strong enough, but they are over achievers. There are over 20 guys on our team that bench press 400 lbs. since 1980. Because they are over achievers, they have character. They stand for something. They believe in something. They believe in each other. We lost 32 seniors last year and we had the least number of returners in the Southern Conference coming back last year. But, these guys believed in each other and believed that they could do it. Our seniors had a meeting and we all said we want to do better than we did last year. We want to be the very best that we can be. I think that is a good goal for all of us; All of these guys are my heroes. You have mentioned that they were your heroes, they are my heroes, too. These coaches are my heroes. I'm proud of the accomplishments that they have been able to make. Another thing about this team is that they are unselfish. They are a bunch of unselfish people. We had guys move from tailback to fullback. We had a first team offensive tackle move from first team to second team nose. We had an offensive coach move to defense. We had a guy that coached quarterbacks and had played quarterback at Furman coach defensive ends. We had people get hurt and other people step in there for them because they were unselfish. This is the kind of people we have. I think you have to have loyalty when you've got a group of people, a group of coaches and a group of players together. These guys had loyalty. They had pride. Someone came up to me before we played Clemson and Clemson was the number three rated team in the nation and obviously they've got the greatest players in the nation. They recruit all over the nation. They've got some great people and they do a super job. Someone came up to me and said, coach, ya'll are going to get slaughtered. That doesn't sit too well with me, that we're going to get slaughtered and we possibly could have been playing a team that good. I told our players that someone said we were going to get slaughtered. That didn't sit too well with our players. They've got pride. They've got pride in themselves. So, the only thing that we had to play for in that game, and we talked about it before the game, is pride. We've got our own pride at stake. We aren't going out there to get slaughtered. We went down to play Florida State a few years ago and they were the number two rated team in the nation that year and finished that year number two. We had a tailback that rushed for 125 yards. Nobody had rushed for that all year. We had them 7-0 in the first quarter and the reason we had them 7-0, and the reason we played them so hard was because of pride that these guys have in themselves and in each other. Something else that I think is hard to get on a football team that people sometimes don't like to talk about, but we like to talk about it at Furman. These guys have love and they have love for each other. They have love for themselves and love for their coaches, love for their teammates and they don't want to go out here and do something that is going to hurt their teammates. The President was talking about the problem we have with drugs. We wouldn't have a problem with drugs if everyone was like these guys right here in front of you. There wouldn't be any problem with drugs in this country. We've never had a guy to test positive for drugs since we have been testing at Furman University and we're very proud of that. It is very disturbing when we read the paper today and yesterday about teams in the nation that have problems with their athletes and have problems within their academic dorms and problems with different things. You even hesitate to talk about that as a coach because you've got a 100 players and you don't know how those 100 players are going to react when they are out there on their own. But, we're proud of our players and proud of the fact that they've done what's right. We want them to do what's right. We want them to say yes sir or no sir when they speak to people that are their elders. We want them to do what's right when they are in restaurants and we're on planes together. When we go to games and you see our players on a plane or in a restaurant, they are going to look like these guys right here that you see are all-American people and that's the way we want them to look and that's the way we want them to act and they have done a great job of it. One thing that I want to point out to you about some of the accomplishments of our team that we are proud of and I know you would be proud of. We have won a National Championship and everyone knows about it. Since 1980, we've won more games than anybody in South Carolina. We've won 83 games, lost 23 and tied 4. That's the best record in South Carolina since 1980. It is also the best record in I-AA, except for one team in the nation. We are very proud of that. We have been conference champions six times at Furman University since 1980. We've been in the national play-offs five times and we're very proud of that. Every senior has graduated at Furman University since 1980 except two. We are very proud that we have been able to graduate our seniors. 48 out of 48 seniors have graduated in the last two years. We've got 16 seniors in this group right now and I hope that every one of them graduates and we are going to work very hard to see that they do. We've got five post-graduate scholarships won by our Furman players since 1980. Dr. Bonner, who was introduced a minute ago, is in the NCAA and is very instrumental in helping these guys get these post-graduate scholarships. We've had four academic all-Americans. Kelly Fletcher, who is in this group was an academic all-American. Chris Roper was recognized in the National Championship game for having about a 3.7 or something in Physics at Furman University. We are very proud of that. We've got three players that graduated within the last three years in Medical School in Augusta. Some of these guys right here are in pre med. Wayne Burr, who is from Columbia is in pre-med and we are very proud of that. These guys are good football players, but they are also going to be very good citizens and leaders for our state and country when they get through at Furman University. I've always been one that would want to accentuate the positive. I remember when we came to Furman University in 1973, Coach Baker brought me and Dick Sheridan and Steve Robertson and a lot of people were talking about what Furman University did not have. We did not have an elaborate weight room, we did not have as many scholarships as everyone else, and we had more academic requirements that made it harder to get good players. Coach Baker told us all this when we first got there and he said we don't need to talk about what we don't have, but we need to talk about what we do have and stress what we do have and be positive about it. That's what these players did this past year and that's what we've done at Furman University over the years and made it a good football school and a good academic school to boot. Because of the positive things which we have been able to sell, which is Furman football players, Furman coaches and the academic program we have at Furman University. I know Warren Giese mentioned in the Senate a minute ago, and I didn't know that he was going to do that, but he taught me a long time ago when I was at the University of South Carolina that you can talk about plays and x's and o's and winning football games and doing these things, but it really gets back down to the fundamentals, you've got to block and tackle. He taught me that a long time ago and these guys did that. Bobby Johnson led our defense to the top rated defense in the nation in scoring defense, the second rated defense in the nation in rushing defense, and the fourth rated defense in the nation in total defense. It gets right down to old fashioned things, blocking and tackling, and also about character. It just gets down to the old fashioned things about character of doing what's right, being honest, having integrity and that's what these guys have and that's what we are so proud of. Art Baker laid this foundation for Furman University a long time ago. Dick Sheridan came in and built it to one of the most successful teams in the country in I-AA. With the help of these young coaches, we carried it to the height of Furman University and to a National Championship and we thank you."

The Lt. Governor then presented the ORDER OF THE PALMETTO to Coach Jimmy Satterfield.

Upon the conclusion of the presentation, the honored guests and their escort party retired from the Chamber.

The purposes of the Joint Assembly having been accomplished, the PRESIDENT announced that under the terms of the Concurrent Resolutions the Joint Assembly would recede from business.

The Senate accordingly retired to its Chamber.

At 12:30 P.M. the House resumed, the SPEAKER in the Chair.

Rep. McLELLAN moved that the House do now adjourn, which was adopted.

At 12:35 P.M. the House in accordance with the motion of Rep. McLELLAN adjourned to meet at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow.

This web page was last updated on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 1:22 P.M.