[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 23480] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]RECOGNIZING THE SONOMA COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA ______ HON. MIKE THOMPSON of california in the house of representatives Monday, September 29, 2008 Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today along with my colleague, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, to honor and acknowledge the Sonoma County Medical Association, SCMA. The SCMA will celebrate its 150th anniversary on November 11, 2008. Recently discovered documents place the first call to organize the forerunner to the SCMA on Apri1 10, 1858, with the creation of a constitution and by-laws. The group went through at least 2 subsequent reorganizations, the latter being in 1888, which had long been considered by medical historians to be the original founding date of the organization. From 1888 to 1910 the Sonoma County Medical Society, as it was then called, held monthly meetings around such topics as ``The Emotions in Their Relationship to Disease'' and ``Bubonic Plague: Keeping it Out of Sonoma County.'' In 1906, the association elected its first woman president, Dr. Anabel Stuart. During both World Wars, 29 percent of the medical society's membership served our country in uniform. Since 1951, the SCMA has had only 5 full-time administrators or executive directors. Josephine Quayle served as ``general helper'' until her retirement in 1963. She was succeeded by Norman Brown, who served from 1960 to 1982. Roger Brown served from 1983 to 1989, followed by Torn Wagner from 1989 to 2000 and Cynthia Melody from 2000 to the present. Over the years, the SCMA has made numerous contributions to the health of Sonoma County. In 1962, the SCMA coordinated a ``Knock Out Polio'' campaign that resulted in 92.3 percent of the county's population being immunized. From the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, the SCMA created several other affiliated companies that helped increase medical services to county residents, including the Specialty Physicians Association and the Children's Health Network. And, in 2000, the SCMA returned to its roots as a selfsustaining; non-profit county medical association supporting physicians and their efforts to enhance the health of the community. Madam Speaker, the SMCA has a long history of assisting physicians practicing in Sonoma County and of preserving the well being of county residents. It is appropriate that we honor this distinguished organization and its members for their past accomplishments and wish them well as they continue to work on behalf of the physicians and residents of Sonoma County. ____________________