[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 11, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1558-E1559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING LOU LAWLER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 11, 1996

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Lou Lawler, a community 
leader in my congressional district and a true heroine to many of us. 
Lou has brightened the lives of her neighbors in La Porte, TX, through 
a lifetime of selfless service, and she has touched the lives of 
seafarers from around the world through her work at the Barbours Cut 
Seafarers Center, which provides a home away from home for seafarers 
passing through the busy Port of Houston. I can think of no more 
appropriate way to honor Lou than by renaming the center the Lou Lawler 
Seafarers Center, and I am proud to join so many others in our 
community in congratulating and thanking Lou as she is so honored this 
Friday, September 13, 1996.
  Lou has been active in her community from the day she arrived in La 
Porte with her husband Jack in 1947. She has been an adviser to mayors, 
Members of Congress, and Governors. Organizations in which she has been 
active have included the American Cancer Society, American Heart 
Association, Rehabilitation Foundation for East Harris County, 
Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and Air National Guard. As a 
lifetime member of the PTA, she has worked tirelessly to improve our 
schools. As a member of the First United Methodist Church of La Porte, 
she serves on the inter-church council and the social concerns 
committee. She served on the board of directors of La Porte State Bank 
and Charter Bank. She has been an election precinct chairman for years. 
And in 1981, she became the first woman president of the La Porte-
Bayshore Chamber of Commerce.
  But such lists alone do not come close to doing her justice to Lou 
Lawler. They do not do justice to her tireless energy, her amazing 
creativity, her can-do attitude, and her tremendous love.
  These qualities are most evident in Lou's work with the seafarers 
center, which she helped establish in 1983. The center likely would not 
exist at all if not for Lou's unflagging efforts, and it has flourished 
because of her. The center provides many necessary services, from the 
spiritual to the medical to the social, for the more than 100,000 
seafarers who pass each year through the Port of Houston, the busiest 
trade port in the United States. The seafarers center truly does 
provide a home away from home for these seafarers, and it better 
enables the port to serve its vital function in our region's economy.
  Lou Lawler has done just about everything at the seafarers center, 
from volunteering to serving as chairman of the board. She currently 
serves as vice president of the Houston International Seafarers Center 
and is a board member of the North American Maritime Ministry 
Association. She was one of the first women to graduate from the 
Seafarers Center's Chaplaincy Training School. In 1992, Lou

[[Page E1559]]

was presented a special recognition from the Vatican for her efforts in 
working with the Apostleship of the Sea World Conference held in 
Houston. And last year, the seafarers center presented her with the 
Tall Ship Award, which goes to an individual not directly involved in 
the maritime field who has served the seafarers center.
  A recent profile of Lou Lawler in the Houston Chronicle had this 
headline: ``The Jewel of La Porte: Lou Lawler Loves to Give to the 
Community.'' Through her work at the seafarers' center, Lou's love has 
rippled around the world. Although we will never be able to match what 
Lou has done for us, this Friday is an opportunity for our community to 
give some of that love back to Lou. We thank her for her friendly smile 
and her warm greeting. We thank her for her leadership by example. We 
thank her for reminding us every day how much difference one person can 
make.

                          ____________________