[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 46 (Thursday, April 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO DR. JOEL FORT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 1998

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to invite my 
colleagues to join me in recognizing the accomplishments and 
contributions of a truly remarkable man, Dr. Joel Fort.
  Dr. Fort was an early visionary in the field of public health. He was 
one of the first professionals to understand that social problems such 
as substance abuse and violence were not going to be solved by the 
criminal justice system alone, but rather required a collaborative 
approach which included public health expertise. Dr. Fort's personal 
commitment to this field brought about the creation of the San 
Francisco Department of Health's Center for Special Problems and the 
Center for Solving Special Social and Health Problems. These Centers 
have reached thousands of individuals, and serve as a model for 
replication throughout the United States and abroad. Not satisfied to 
stop there, Dr. Fort influenced a generation of public health and 
social service professionals by taking his philosophy into the 
classroom--teaching at several universities on subjects of drug abuse, 
criminology, ethics and conflict resolution. Dr. Fort's many 
achievements have earned him numerous accolades, most notably the 
recent completion of Oral History of Joel Fort, M.D.: Public Health 
Pioneer, Criminologist, Reformer, Ethicist, and Humanitarian by the 
Regional Oral History Office of the Bancroft Library, University of 
California, Berkeley.
  Throughout this rich and varied career, Dr. Fort always held his 
family as his top priority. Therefore, it is only appropriate that we 
join with his wife of 46 years, Maria Fort, and his three children and 
three grandchildren, in celebrating his life and his legacy. Dr. Joel 
Fort is an undeniably outstanding member of our community, and I speak 
for the entire U.S. House of Representatives in this tribute to him.

                          ____________________