Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. David Price received the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce's Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award. The award is presented annually to an individual or groups that help foster a culture of citizenship and service to positively impact the lives of others.

Previous winners of the award include North Carolina House of Representatives Speaker Joe Hackney and former University of North Carolina Chancellor James Moeser.

Aaron Nelson, President and CEO of the Chamber, said honorees are also selected based on the exhibition of strong business values such as integrity, stewardship, inclusion, teamwork and accountability. Nelson said of Rep. Price:

Price champions our Universities as a leader on education and research. Price improves our confidence in government with his leadership on ethics and campaign reform. Price makes our local and regional transit and transportation system work as he champions our needs in Washington and helps deliver the resources to improve our infrastructure. Price supports our small businesses with exceptional constituent service and by making himself and his team available to Chamber members, staff and volunteers each and every time we call on him for assistance and support.

In his acceptance remarks, Rep. Price thanked the Chamber for their hard work on behalf of local businesses. Jumpstarting small businesses is one of the central issues before Congress. Programs under consideration would move aggressively to end the credit crunch and provide tax breaks for small businesses that create jobs.

"I recently held a Jobs roundtable with local business leaders and it's clear that businesses of all sizes need credit to start hiring again," Rep. Price said. "However, empowering small business is especially important because they are the primary engine of job creation and innovation in this country and they will play a critical role is sustaining an economic recovery."

Rep. Price also applauded the Chamber's recent service on behalf of Haiti relief efforts. As the Chairman of the House Democracy Partnership, Rep. Price has worked directly with the Haitian Parliament to strengthen its effectiveness as an institution, getting to know many of its members on a personal level.

"I would like to take a moment today to recognize the work that the Chamber does beyond the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community," Rep. Price said. "Yesterday, the Chamber organized many of its members to participate in Chapel Hill's Haitian Relief Day. A portion of participating businesses' proceeds were donated to the American Red Cross Orange County Chapter as part of their relief efforts in Haiti.

"My heart is with the people of Haiti in this time of extreme and profound tragedy, and I appreciate the efforts of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro business community to provide relief."

Rep. Price is a leader on service issues in the Congress. He co-chairs the Congressional Service Caucus and has introduced legislation to create additional opportunities for national service. Recently, he joined with Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) to introduce the Roosevelt Scholars Act, which would create graduate-level scholarships for students who commit to entering government service. Price also has been a consistent advocate for full funding and expansion of national service programs, such as AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve, and SeniorCorps.

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