Over one hundred people gathered Saturday morning in support of current U.S. Senator Max Cleland.

The event, which was held at in Jo’s Banquet Room, began at 9 a.m. and was made possible by the Polk County Democratic Party.

Many local dignitaries such as Sen. Nathan Dean, Rep. Bill Cummings and a host of local office holders were present at the rally.

Carolyn Sullins, former president of the Polk County Democratic Women’s Association, opened the assembly and was followed by Cummings. The state representative introduced Cleland to the audience, receiving a standing ovation.

Cleland delivered a speech that focused on the events of Sept. 11 and the “new world” which all Americans are learning to come to terms with.

Senator Cleland stated, “We have a challenge to be great in response to this attack. We are fighting a war against catastrophic terrorism, and if the terrorist doesn’t lose, he wins.”

During his comments, Cleland made the crowd aware that he wants to add 25,000 troops to the American military in the next few years, and eventually add 40,000 troops over the next five years.

He also voiced his concerns over Centers for Disease Control operations.

The CDC is based in Atlanta and has recently been in the public eye due to the numerous cases of Anthrax reported shortly after the attacks in September.

Cleland hopes to “dramatically upgrade the CDC” and has allocated $300 million dollars as a supplemental budget for the CDC.

Also on Senator Cleland’s agenda is providing continued support for Medicare Prescription Drug benefits.

He is a co-sponsor of S-10, the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Act of 2001, which would create a universal but voluntary, prescription drug benefit in the Medicare program.

Senator Cleland supports measures to reduce prescription drug prices by allowing pharmacists and wholesalers to import United States-made drugs from other countries, provided that it poses no additional risks to public health and safety, the end result being lower prescription drug costs for Americans.

A native Georgian, Cleland was born in Atlanta in 1942 and grew up in Lithonia.

After graduating from Lithonia High School in 1960, he attended Stetson University, where he joined the ROTC program and majored in English.

Upon graduation, he took a Second Lieutenant’s commission in the Army and went on to earn a Masters Degree in Emory University.

Both have since awarded Cleland honorary doctorate degrees.