Representative Bob Etheridge To Speak at VGCC BLET Class 80 Graduation Dec. 20

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will address the Basic Law Enforcement Training Class No. 80’s graduation ceremonies at Vance-Granville Community College on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Graduation will begin at 11 a.m. in the Civic Center on VGCC’s main campus in Vance County. The public is invited to attend.

Approximately 12 cadets from the area are expected to complete the 608 hours of classwork and training required to graduate. They must also pass the state certification exam which qualifies them to work as law enforcement officers throughout North Carolina.

Vance-Granville Community College conducts at least two BLET daytime training sessions each year and, if demand is great enough, evening classes are also held.

Wayne Bartholomew, a cadet in Class 80 from Wake County, invited Rep. Etheridge to speak at the graduation.

Etheridge has been a member of the U.S. Congress since 1997, representing North Carolina’s Second District. He was born in Sampson County, grew up Johnston County and makes his home in Harnett County where he has been a small businessman and tobacco farmer. He served in the North Carolina General Assembly and for eight years was the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction prior to being elected to Congress.

In the current Congress, Etheridge serves on the House Agriculture and Homeland Security committees. He is chairman of the Democratic Caucus Education Task Force and is co-chair of the Democratic Rural Working Group.

Etheridge has voted in Congress to balance the federal budget, to provide tax relief to family farmers and small businesses, and to supply bullet proof vests to protect law enforcement officers. In accepting the invitation to address the VGCC BLET graduates, Rep. Etheridge said, “Law enforcement is one of the most important jobs in our nation, and I am honored to speak before such admirable citizens.”