TANNER APPOINTS SHIRLENE MERCER AS
REPRESENTATIVE TO JACKSON CRIME SUMMIT

JACKSON – Congressman John Tanner has announced that Shirlene Mercer will represent the Congressman at the July 28 crime summit in Jackson. Mercer, a community activist recognized nationally for her anti-crime efforts, also serves in Congressman Tanner’s Jackson office as Director of District Services.

Tanner will be unable to participate personally because Congress is scheduled to be in legislative session the evening of the summit. He announced Mercer’s participation in a July 21 letter to Sen. Don McLeary.

“I think Mrs. Mercer will represent our office well,” Tanner said in his letter. “Her name is synonymous with crime prevention in the Jackson community and the State of Tennessee as well. She has been at the vanguard in raising the public’s awareness of the crime problem in Jackson.”

Mercer was responsible for beginning the weekly crime marches in 1994 that have engaged other community members in fighting crime in Madison County. Her work has earned her many awards and accolades from local, state and national organizations.

Tanner wrote: “Just some of the awards for her work in crime prevention include: The Directors Community Leadership Award from the Director of the F.B.I., Mr. Louis Freeh; the Liberty Bell Award from the Jackson Bar Association; the Mason-Patterson-Ford Award from the Pentecostal Assembly Church of God in Christ; the University of Tennessee at Martin’s award to an Outstanding Contributor to West Tennessee in 2004; the Gene Harris Award by Rotary International; the National Crime Prevention Council’s Recognition for the Extraordinary Contribution to Preventing Crimes in 2000; and the Tennessee Education Association’s E. Harper Johnson Human Relations Award for Outstanding Leadership in Achievements in Human Relations.

“Perhaps more than any other individual in the community, Mrs. Mercer possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience with it comes to dealing with issues associated with crime,” Tanner wrote in his letter to McLeary. “Through the years, public officials from the Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senators, Congressmen, Governors, State Legislators, Mayors, and County officials have sought her advice and counsel on ways to combat crime.”

Read Congressman Tanner's letter.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714