Mercy Ships Honored from the US House Floor

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Mercy Ships from the House Floor in Honoring the Humanitarian Service of Ann Gloag

Text from the Congressional Record

Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, a leading Scottish businesswoman and board member of the global charity Mercy Ships, Ann Gloag is being honored by the National Council of Women of the United States this evening at the United Nations as the inaugural recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Humanitarian Award in recognition of her humanitarian service in Africa.

The reason someone from east Texas would take note of this philanthropic humanitarian from Scotland is because she has done so much for Mercy Ships. It may surprise some that such an oceangoing charitable enterprise would have an international headquarters in my east Texas district, but it does, due to its founders.

Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world class health services to those without access in the developing world. Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries, providing life-saving and life-enhancing services to more than 2.16 million direct beneficiaries.

More than 1,200 crew work worldwide, representing more than 40 nations. They're joined each year by 2,000 short-term volunteers. Professionals, including surgeons, dentists, nurses, health care trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturists donate their time and skill to that effort. I've seen the results of the enormous charitable work this institution does, and it is gloriously moving.

As for the devoted Ms. Gloag, she has supported various charitable organizations, providing much needed medical care, housing, and education in Africa for over 30 years. In addition to establishing the Balcraig Foundation, the Gloag Foundation, and the Freedom from Fistula Foundation, Ms. Gloag has worked with Mercy Ships, including the funding of the Africa Mercy Ship, the world's largest nongovernmental hospital ship providing free medical and humanitarian aid to the people of Africa.

Through partnerships in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Kenya, the Freedom from Fistula Foundation alone is providing free surgeries to more than 1,500 women this year. In her home of Scotland, Ms. Gloag has already been honored for her work with Mercy Ships and has worked with the Scottish Government to promote its international development work in Malawi, where Ms. Gloag has also helped to establish a hospital.

Named for the American civil rights activist who helped form the National Council of Women of the United States, the Susan B. Anthony Humanitarian Award will be conferred annually on individuals dedicated to making a difference in people's lives, communities, or state of the world.

Don Stephens, founder and president of Mercy Ships, comments, ``Mercy Ships champions the selection of Scotland's Ann Gloag as the inaugural recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Humanitarian Award by the National Council of Women of the United States. Ann exemplifies a modern example of Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller, who almost delighted to use their wealth to assist the world's poorest. On board our new hospital ship Africa Mercy, I have personally observed Ann demonstrating
her compassion for others at the bedsides of women and children who received a free surgery on the ship that she helped fund. In parts of Africa, health care infrastructure and delivery is nonexistent. Ann enabled Mercy Ships to bring hope and healing where it is otherwise often not available. Ann has found a powerful way to share her blessings.''

We must congratulate Ms. Gloag for caring so deeply and acting so generously, responsibly, and personally to make such a difference in the world. May God bless Ann Gloag as she has so richly blessed others around the world.