3742 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 155, Pt. 3 February 12, 2009 based on our own analysis. But Amer- their lives on Christian service. They ness, to send children to college, and to ica is hurting, and Americans urgently set their hearts on making a difference establish a future. need our help. I believe this economic in the world, and the result was an or- I want people to know that paying recovery package will make a timely ganization that is one of the greatest tribute to Millard Fuller is about more and constructive difference across the nonprofits I have come to know. than just building homes. Millard country by creating and saving jobs, In 1968, Millard Fuller and Linda Fuller’s life was about building hope, making needed infrastructure invest- began a Christian ministry on a farm building a future and literally chang- ments, reducing the tax burden on in southwest where they built ing the course of life—creating an up- struggling families, and relieving the decent housing for low-income families ward trajectory for people around the strain on State budget deficits. using volunteer labor and donations. world. Vermonters are watching and wait- This concept was expanded into what is I don’t believe that Millard Fuller ing. Working families across the coun- now Inter- knew what an impact he had. I only try are watching and waiting. Time is national and the Fuller Center for hope we will remember him often. And running out. I will vote aye. Housing. By 1981, Habitat had affiliates when we do, as leaders in the Senate I yield the floor. in 14 States, and was carrying out its and the House, as Governors, and in the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- mission to build homes with volunteer White House, we will recommit our- ator from Louisiana is recognized. labor, ensuring that these homes were selves to realizing the simple principles f affordable to the poor and those of that Millard Fuller lived every day. modest means. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita TRIBUTE TO MILLARD FULLER Many Senators have commented pri- and the devastation that hit the gulf Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I vately and publicly about his extraor- coast, Habitat was one of the first or- come to the floor today to pay tribute dinary organization, and President ganizations on the ground. Millard and to a great American who we lost ear- Carter once remarked that Millard his wife Linda came to Louisiana and lier this month. Fuller was one of the greatest talents helped us to start building on higher Millard Fuller, the founder and he had ever known—serious words com- ground. They built not just in the New former president of Habitat for Human- ing from a President. President Carter Orleans area and along the gulf coast ity, was a personal friend to me and was a personal friend of Millard Fuller, of Mississippi, but also in Shreveport, many Members of Congress. Many of us and in 1984, he became a Habitat volun- LA, where they joined with a group of worked closely with Millard Fuller, teer, giving his name and resources to local leaders to start new organizations particularly in the last 15 years of his Millard Fuller’s organization. Presi- that built homes for people in north- extraordinary leadership. dent and Mrs. Carter became the faces west Louisiana. I wish to take a minute today to pay of Habitat for Humanity, and would at- I would like to read one personal tes- tribute to Millard and his family—his tract thousands of people to volunteer timony from Cherie Ashley, who is the wife Linda, his son Christopher, his during the Work executive director of Habitat for Hu- daughters Kim, Faith and Georgia and Project, an annual week-long effort to manity in Northwest Louisiana. She his nine grandchildren. He has left be- build Habitat homes all over the world. and her family were beneficiaries of hind these loved ones who will carry on By 1992, Habitat had a presence in 92 this work. Cherie was originally from his important work. Linda was a co- nations. New Orleans, but the flood waters of founder of Habitat for Humanity, and a I was very fortunate to have met Mil- Katrina forced her out. She fled to driving force in the creation of this or- lard Fuller. He was an inspiration to Shreveport with her family. She said: ganization that has touched the lives me and, as I have said, to many Sen- I was blessed with one of the first of the of literally millions of people around ators. Many of us come into our young three homes that was built in Allendale, in the world. adulthood and say we want to make a Northwest Louisiana. Mr. Fuller was pas- When I think of where Millard Fuller difference in the world, and we all try sionate about the work he did and he was died unexpectedly earlier this month, in our various ways. Many of us never passionate about eliminating poverty across near the small town of Americus, GA, I quite accomplish that. But Millard this nation. The Fuller Center for Housing cannot help but be reminded of the and Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Lou- Fuller did. He had an impact on the isiana have provided me and my children the Universal Declaration of Human world, and the world will remember his opportunity to regain stability and normalcy Rights, one of the most inspiring docu- life and his vision. The world will re- after such a life altering event—Hurricane ments ever written. This declaration member that in this great land of Katrina. I am not just the Executive Direc- reminds us that when we speak about wealth and opportunity, Millard Fuller tor for Habitat for Humanity of Northwest human rights, we must remember that thought it was shameful that people Louisiana, most importantly, I am a proud the recognition of these rights begins were living without decency and re- Habitat homeowner, and that’s what God— in small places close to home, places so spect. through Millard Fuller—did for me. small that they can’t necessarily be He said it is not what Jesus would He most certainly was a man who seen on maps. It is in these small want. It is not what the Bible teaches. lived up to God’s calling. I believe we places that people long for dignity and It is not what those of the Christian would do ourselves well to remember respect. faith believe. He built Habitat on a him often, to thank Linda and his fam- Sometimes in the Senate, we get car- simple principle that the poor are not ily for the tremendous sacrifice they ried away with grand visions of uni- lazy, but very industrious—that if the made, and to honor him by continuing versal rights and broad, sweeping poli- poor were given a chance, they could his work. cies to protect these rights. But when accomplish a great deal. I ask unanimous consent that his you get right down to it, our visions In order to occupy a Habitat house, obituaries from are carried out in our own neighbor- the family who is going to live there and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hoods, in our own courthouses and in gets to build the home with their be printed in the RECORD. very small places like Americus, GA. neighbors, with the kind of old-fash- There being no objection, the mate- By the age of 29, Millard Fuller had ioned, rock-ribbed community values rial was ordered to be printed in the made his first million dollars. He was a of pitching in, building a home, and RECORD, as follows: man with a great mind and extraor- building upon that solid foundation. [From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dinary leadership abilities, who could Not only was it Millard Fuller’s vi- Feb. 11, 2009] have made a great fortune for his wife, sion to give families a decent place to HABITAT FOUNDER’S GONE, BUT WORK CAN’T his children and himself. But instead, live, he wanted to give them something BE FORGOTTEN with his wife’s urging, Millard Fuller to own. Owning a home paves the way (By Lynda Spofford) and Linda decided to take the multiple for being able to finance against the During a time of renewed optimism yet ex- talents God had given them and refocus equity in that home to build a busi- treme economic distress, our country is

VerDate Mar 15 2010 09:14 May 17, 2011 Jkt 079102 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR09\S12FE9.000 S12FE9 erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BOUND RECORD February 12, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 155, Pt. 3 3743 searching for heroes. I can’t help but feel we As I read the news, I can’t help but note Mr. Fuller liked to tell and re-tell the sto- took a big step backward with the death of the irony of the hype and attention we be- ries of his earliest houses. One man had Millard Fuller last week. stow upon our celebrities and athletic cham- moved from a leaky shack into a new house. Like the country he loved, Millard Fuller pions, society’s heroes. I watch the tele- ‘‘When it rains, I love to sit by the window was a man of great contrasts. Someone once vision at night to find that even reputable and see it raining outside,’’ one new home- described him as part honey, part jet fuel, news organizations are wasting time on Jes- owner said, ‘‘and it ain’t raining on me!’’ and surely that was true. sica Simpson’s high-waisted jeans and other Another new resident saw his new home as Fuller was a highly educated son of the trivial Hollywood gossip. I wonder how many a literal resurrection. ‘‘Being in this house is Deep South who made his first million by other Millard Fullers are working in the like we were dead and buried, and got dug the time he was 29. A practicing lawyer, trenches we ignore while glorifying others up!’’ she said. Fuller was troubled by racial and economic with far less notable accomplishments. In 2005, a woman employed by Habitat ac- injustice and worked to redress it, first by Last week, our country lost a true hero. cused Mr. Fuller of verbally and physically defending black citizens in Sumter County, There was no halftime show, no parade, no harassing her, a widely publicized charge and later at Koinonia Farms—an interracial costumed dancers. He was buried in a plain that an investigation by the organization did community founded by for wooden shipping crate and laid to rest in a not prove. But he and a new generation of black people and white people to live and pecan orchard without a headstone. Habitat board members were disagreeing on work together in a spirit of partnership. I hope the world remembers. organizational and other issues, and he and There, Habitat for Humanity was formed. his wife agreed to resign. [From the New York Times, Feb. 4, 2009] As the founder of Habitat, Fuller trans- Mr. Fuller started a new organization formed the concept of philanthropy, mobi- MILLARD FULLER, 74, WHO FOUNDED HABITAT called the Fuller Center for Housing. It is ac- lizing armies of volunteers to shelter a mil- FOR HUMANITY, IS DEAD tive in 24 states and 14 foreign countries. lion people in need. For his vision, inspira- (By Douglas Martin) Millard Dean Fuller was born on Jan. 3, tion and labor, he was awarded the Presi- Millard Fuller, who at 29 walked away 1935, in Lanett, Ala., then a small cotton- dential Medal of Freedom. from his life as a successful businessman to mill town. His mother died when he was 3, When his 30-year career as founder and devote himself to the poor, eventually start- and his father remarried. Millard’s business president of Habitat for Humanity ended, ing Habitat for Humanity International, career began at 6 when his father gave him a Fuller started a similar organization in his which spread what he called ‘‘the theology of pig. He fattened it up and sold it for $11. own name. the hammer’’ by building more than 300,000 Soon he was buying and selling more pigs, In the four years it operated, the Fuller homes worldwide, died Tuesday near Amer- then rabbits and chickens as well. He dab- Center brought thousands of families and icus, Ga. He was 74. bled in selling worms and minnows to fisher- communities together to build decent, af- His brother, Doyle, said Mr. Fuller became men. fordable homes in places as close as the hur- ill with a severe headache and chest pains When he was 10, his father acquired 400 ricane-ravaged U.S. Gulf coast to as far away and was taken to a hospital in Americus, his acres of farmland, and Mr. Fuller sold his as Romania, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Bringing hometown. He died in an ambulance on the small animals to raise cattle. He remem- inspiration to the inner city, Fuller also set way to a larger hospital in Albany, Ga. bered helping his father repair a tiny, ram- about renovating low-income homes in poor Doyle Fuller said the cause had not been de- shackle shack that an elderly couple had in- condition, asking that the beneficiaries mail termined, but may have been an aneurysm. habited on the property. He was thrilled to Propelled by his strong Christian prin- modest contributions on a regular basis to see their joy when the work was complete. ciples, Millard Fuller used Habitat to de- keep the ‘‘repair cycle’’ going. Mr. Fuller went to , run- velop a system of using donated money and The Fuller Center model rested on the ning unsuccessfully for student body presi- material, and voluntary labor, to build small community efforts often deemed un- dent, and in 1956 was a delegate to the Demo- homes for low-income families. The homes worthy of the administrative hassle by cratic National Convention in Chicago. He are sold without profit and buyers pay no in- other, larger organizations. Yet it was pre- graduated from Auburn with a degree in eco- terest. Buyers are required to help build cisely these grass-roots programs that had nomics in 1957 and entered the University of their houses, contributing what Mr. Fuller the greatest appeal to Fuller. School of Law. called sweat equity. In defiance of those who felt he was too More than a million people live in the He and Morris S. Dees Jr., another law stu- slow to shed his unapologetic Christian bent, homes, which are in more than 100 countries. dent, decided to go into business together Fuller called his new organization a ‘‘hous- There are 180 in New York City, including while in the law school. They set a goal: get ing ministry.’’ Ironically, as he held tight to some that former President Jimmy Carter, a rich. the Christian origins that were part of the longtime Habitat supporter and volunteer, They built a successful direct-mail oper- founding of the group, his organization em- personally helped construct. Mr. Carter said ation, published student directories and set braced people of all backgrounds around the of him on Tuesday that ‘‘he was an inspira- up a service to send cakes to students on world to achieve his goals—Muslims, Hindus, tion to me, other members of our family, and their birthdays. They also bought dilapi- Christians and Jews—a multi-faith appeal an untold number of volunteers who worked dated real estate and refurbished it them- that is increasingly popular today. Fuller side by side under his leadership.’’ selves. They graduated and went into law knew what many evangelists often forget: Former President has also vol- practice together after Mr. Fuller briefly that decent shelter should be a matter of unteered on Habitat projects. When he pre- served in the Army as a lieutenant. conscience and action no matter who you sented Mr. Fuller the Presidential Medal of As law partners, they continued to make worship or what books you read. Freedom in 1996, he said, ‘‘I don’t think it’s money. Selling 65,000 locally produced trac- For those who followed him, he was part an exaggeration to say that Millard Fuller tor cushions to the Future Farmers of Amer- deity, part rock star. The people who gath- has literally revolutionized the concept of ica made $75,000. Producing cookbooks for ered in churches and town meeting halls to philanthropy.’’ the Future Homemakers of America did even hear him speak understood his almost other- Mr. Fuller said his inspiration came from better, and they became one of the nation’s world appeal. I knew him more as a kindly the Bible, starting with the injunction in Ex- largest cookbook publishers. By 1964, they grandfather and green-shade fiduciary who odus 22:25 against charging interest to the were millionaires. Mr. Dees went on to help took time to write personal responses to poor. He spoke of the ‘‘economics of Jesus’’ found the Southern Poverty Law Center. every letter and e-mail he received. A woman and insisted that providing shelter to all was Mr. Fuller’s life changed completely after from North Dakota always asked Fuller to ‘‘a matter of conscience.’’ Christianity his wife, the former Linda Caldwell, whom he send a stamp along with his reply so that she Today in 1999 called him ‘‘God’s contractor.’’ had married in 1959, threatened to leave him. could write back. (He did.) Another en- His skills included fund-raising finesse, an She was frustrated that her busy husband trusted his stewardship to everything she exuberant speaking style and a talent for was almost never around, and she had had an owned of value—a pencil, some loose change making use of the news media. In 1986, The affair, their friend Bettie B. Youngs wrote in and her wedding ring—all crammed into a Chicago Tribune quoted him asking a pub- ‘‘The House That Love Built’’ (2007), a joint padded envelope. licity man about a woman in front of her biography. For the rest of his career, he In the years he worked, he took a modest ramshackle apartment, ‘‘Don’t you think talked openly about repairing the marriage. salary for himself. In 2008, his annual salary that’d make some great pictures to show her There was much soul-searching. Finally, was $21,000 a year (often donating a portion in that rat-infested place?’’ the two agreed to start their life anew on back)—and he insisted on driving a 1992 Ford The article later said Mr. Fuller did not ex- Christian principles. Eschewing material Taurus with a torn roof liner. Yet he quietly pect to house the world. ‘‘Instead,’’ it said, things was the first step. Gone were the paid for college tuition for many bright ‘‘he sees Habitat as a hammer that can drive speedboat, the lakeside cabin, the fancy cars. young people who couldn’t afford it, includ- the image of a woman in a rat-infested The Fullers went to Koinonia Farm, a ing children he met when their families re- apartment as deep into the mind of America Christian community in Georgia, where they ceived a new Habitat house. He did this as the image of an African child with a dis- planned their future with Clarence Jordan, a quietly and without fanfare. tended stomach.’’ Bible scholar and leader there. In 1968, they

VerDate Mar 15 2010 09:14 May 17, 2011 Jkt 079102 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR09\S12FE9.000 S12FE9 erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BOUND RECORD 3744 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 155, Pt. 3 February 12, 2009 began building houses for poor people near- time he graduated from Whitman Col- challenge,’’ Ambassador Crocker did by, then went to Zaire in 1973 to start a lege in 1971, Ambassador Crocker had not sugarcoat the situation or present project that ultimately built 114 houses. already visited more of the world than an overly rosy scenario. He never does. In 1976, a group met in a converted chicken most Americans will throughout their He stressed just how hard the path barn at Koinonia Farm and started Habitat for Humanity International. Participants lifetimes. His extensive travel and in- ahead would be but stressed also that agreed the organization would work through terest in global politics and culture led it was not impossible. As he would local chapters. They decided to accept gov- him to join the Foreign Service in 1971. later testify before the Armed Services ernment money only for infrastructure im- Ambassador Crocker quickly devel- Committee, ‘‘hard does not mean hope- provements like streets and sidewalks. oped a reputation for incredible dedica- less.’’ Handwritten notes from the meeting stat- tion in the face of challenges. From his It was this combination—cold-eyed ed the group’s grand ambition: to build hous- early days at the State Department, he appraisal of the reality of Iraq com- ing for a million low-income people. That was assigned to some of the most dif- bined with hope that things could goal was reached in August 2005, when home ficult posts in the Foreign Service. He change for the better—that was so re- number 200,000 was built. Each home houses worked in Iran, Qatar, Egypt, and in freshing every time I visited Baghdad. an average of five people. In a true partnership with General The farm announced plans for a simple Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. He was in the public burial service for Mr. Fuller on Embassy in Beirut in 1983, when a Petraeus, Ambassador Crocker exe- Wednesday. Hezbollah suicide bomber killed 63 peo- cuted a civil military counterinsur- Besides his brother, Doyle, of Montgomery, ple. Thrown against the wall by the gency plan for Iraq that turned the tide Ala., and his wife, Mr. Fuller is survived by blast, Ambassador Crocker imme- of violence in a timeframe and to a de- their son, Christopher, of Macon, Ga.; their diately began helping others escape the gree that surprised even the optimists. daughters, Kim Isakson of Argyle, Tex., rubble. He ensured unprecedented cooperation Faith Umstattd of Americus, and Georgia He went on to serve as Ambassador between the military, the Embassy, Luedi of Jacksonville, Fla.; and nine grand- to Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan, and our allies. His decades of experi- children. ence in the Middle East proved invalu- After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the and Iraq. During his time in Damascus, Fuller Center built a house in Shreveport, demonstrators assaulted his residence able as he navigated an increasingly La., for a mother and her daughters, one and, in 2002, he reopened the U.S. Em- complex and contentious regional dy- named Genesis, the other Serenity. Mr. bassy in Kabul, which had been un- namic. His efforts, in coordination with Fuller loved the religious connotations he touched by Americans since 1989. A the brave men and women of the mili- saw in their names. newspaper account illustrates the spir- tary and State Department, are the ‘‘What will little Genesis become?’’ he it that animates this selfless patriot: reason we find ourselves in a situation asked at the time. ‘‘What will little Serenity many thought was not possible. become? We don’t know, but we know one He arrived to find a cobweb-strewn wreck full of 1989 newspapers, broken Wang com- Ryan Crocker’s determination to suc- thing: if we give them a good place to live, ceed in a situation where many would they’ve got a better chance.’’ puters and maps of the old Soviet Union. U.S. Marines outnumbered diplomats by 3 to have failed should inspire us all. Yet Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I 1, and all 100 Americans slept on cots and any who have followed the career of yield the floor. shared two working toilets. Yet Crocker was this skilled and extraordinary diplomat I suggest the absence of a quorum. upbeat. ‘‘The men and women of this mission shouldn’t be surprised. His creative and The PRESIDING OFFICER. The are extremely proud to be a forward ele- pragmatic approach to diplomacy has clerk will call the roll. ment,’’ Crocker told [Secretary of State] Powell at the time. earned respect both at home and The legislative clerk proceeded to abroad. His list of awards and achieve- Throughout all these assignments, call the roll. ments is long and distinguished, in- Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I ask Ryan Crocker has approached his work cluding the Presidential Meritorious unanimous consent that the order for with resolve, tenacity, and a unique Service Award, the State Department the quorum call be rescinded. ability to see the broader strategic Distinguished Honor Award, the Amer- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without issues in play. Had he never gone to ican Foreign Service Association objection, it is so ordered. lead the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, the Rivkin Award, and most recently the The Senator from Arizona is recog- American people would owe him deep Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Na- nized. gratitude. Had he not accepted the tion’s highest civilian commendation. f challenge in Baghdad, he would have I am immensely grateful for the nevertheless won the sincere apprecia- enormous contributions that Ambas- TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR RYAN tion and admiration of all Senators. CROCKER sador Crocker has made to the Depart- Yet it was in his decision to become ment of State, to our Nation, and the Mr. MCCAIN. Mr. President, I rise to America’s Ambassador to Iraq that people of Iraq. As he departs Baghdad, pay tribute to an American patriot, a Ryan Crocker has left his true mark on he will be sorely missed. We wish Am- man of the finest caliber, and a dip- history, and we are all the better off bassador Crocker and his family all the lomat whose skills and determination for it. best as he enters the next chapter of have helped alter history’s course for He was sworn in not here in Wash- his life. He has earned the respect and the better. ington, as is customary, but in Bagh- admiration of a grateful nation. In a few days, Ambassador Ryan dad, and in March 2007, as the surge of I have had the great honor for many Crocker will depart his post as the troops to Iraq was commencing, GEN years to travel the world and encoun- chief American diplomat in Iraq. His David Petraeus had taken over as com- ter many of our wonderful Foreign departure will mark the close of a sto- mander, and our Nation was making its Service personnel and the men and ried career, one of nearly 40 years of greatest, and possibly final, push to women who serve in posts throughout distinguished service to our country. In avoid disaster in Iraq. Let us remember the world. They serve with dedication dedicating his career to furthering that in 2007, as public support for the and most of the time without the ap- America’s interests and ideals in the war plummeted, we in Congress were preciation they deserve. I have been so far reaches of the globe, and in cou- engaged in a great debate about the impressed with the people who have pling his dedication with a tremen- way forward in Iraq. Sectarian violence dedicated their lives to serving this Na- dously adventurous spirit, Ryan Crock- was spiraling out of control, life had tion all around the world, in many er has become known informally as our become a struggle for survival, and a cases in the most difficult of cir- own ‘‘Lawrence of Arabia.’’ full-scale civil war seemed almost un- cumstances. I know of no one I have As a young man in Walla Walla, WA, avoidable. Al-Qaida in Iraq was on the met in my life who epitomizes public Ryan Crocker decided to depart not for offensive and entire Iraqi provinces service more than Ryan Crocker; a the beaches of southern California but, were under the control of extremists. quiet demeanor, modesty, and, frankly, rather, abroad, hitchhiking from west- Noting that ‘‘here in Iraq, America a knowledge of the issues and the com- ern Europe to Southeast Asia. By the faces its most critical foreign policy plexities which would take many hours

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