The UNembargoed news

Guardharrell

Here’s the plan the Speaker unveiled today for helping our troops stranded in Mississippi. I provide it both as a Word file, for neat freaks, and in messy cut-and-paste text — for Cindi, who doesn’t believe in links:

Office of the Speaker
SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            Contact: Greg Foster
March 8, 2007                                                    (803) 734-3125
       fosterg@scstatehouse.net

Businesses to bring troops home to visit family
Speaker Harrell, S.C. Chamber and many others vow to make this possible

(Columbia, S.C.) – Today the Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell along with members of the House Republican Caucus, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and business leaders stood together at state’s Veterans Monument to pledge their support to bring our troops home to visit their families before being deployed to Afghanistan.

Our Guardsmen have been granted a 10-day leave to visit their families before their deployment in late April, but have not been provided with any transportation home.

Speaker Harrell said, “Our troops are leaving to go overseas to fight and protect the freedom all South Carolinians enjoy.  Our state needs to come together and thank them for their service by helping them come home to see their families before they leave on their mission.”  Speaker Harrell continued, “I want to thank Rep. Mick Mulvaney for advocating this just cause, and the South Carolina Chamber and our business community for pledging their support to make this happen.”

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is helping to raise money among our business community to go towards the Defenders of Freedom Fund.  Speaker Harrell also opened the fund to personal donations by donating $500 to the fund.  The fund will help provide bus transportation for any soldier wishing to return home during their leave. 

“Members of the South Carolina National Guard and others who serve in the military are the heart and soul of our state.  They are here for businesses and communities when disasters strike.  And they are risking their lives to fight in the war on terror for the future of our nation. The South Carolina Chamber is asking other businesses and community organizations to join us in bringing our troops home to visit their families before their deployment overseas,” said S. Hunter Howard, Jr., president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber has been instrumental in getting organizations like the S.C. Realtors, S.C. Trucking Association, S.C. Manufacturing Alliance, S.C. Farm Bureau, S.C. Home Builders Association, Association of General Contractors and the Greenville, Spartanburg and Greer Chamber of Commerce to step up and join this cause.  We hope many other organizations and businesses around our state will also take this initiative to assist our troops.

Please make all checks payable to the Defenders of Freedom Fund c/o Bobby Harrell, 8316 Rivers Avenue   Charleston, SC 29406. 

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And this time, I’m not even breaking the rules.