Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory of one of Dallas's finest people, my good friend Rev. E. K. Bailey.

Reverend Bailey, founder and pastor of Concord Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, dedicated his life to the betterment of the city of Dallas. Dr. Bailey founded Concord in 1975 with fewer than 200 members and quickly turned it into one of the city's most vibrant African-American churches. Its current membership numbers 3,500.

In 1989, he founded E. K. Bailey Ministries Inc., a progressive non-profit organization that helps black pastors and lay leaders improve their own churches. He was a tireless public advocate who was not afraid to fight for his constituents. Dr. Bailey's accomplishments are great. When Dr. Bailey tackled a project, no matter how challenging, he did so with enthusiasm, vigor, and integrity.

He will long be remembered for his mission to provide the basic principles and practices of Biblical church growth to African American pastors and lay leaders in order to empower and revitalize African American churches to impact the world for personal and social change. Based in part upon the name recognition of Dr. E. K. Bailey in the African American community and the needs the organization was designed to meet, this ministry found instant credibility. At its first conference--Discipline and Developing the African American Male--over 600 men came to Dallas to learn and acquire resources to take back to their churches.

Above all else, Reverend Bailey was a devoted father and loving husband. Dr. Bailey is survived by his wife, Sheila, and their three grown children. Those who knew Reverend Bailey well understood that the time he spent with his wife and family were the greatest times of his life. After 33 years of marriage and three cancer diagnoses, he said ``If I found myself in a ship, or on a ship, in the middle of a storm, there's only one person I'd want on that ship with me, and that's Sheila Bailey,'' he said.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Reverend E. K. Bailey. And I join with the city of Dallas and the State of Texas in mourning the loss of an outstanding citizen and friend.