[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 14, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING DR. JAMES G. LAWS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 14, 1998

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. 
James G. Laws, a man with a sincere passion for improving the lives of 
the people who suffer in remote areas of the world. He sets an example 
that we all should strive to follow and I am proud to have such a man 
in my district. Dr. Laws is the president of Knightsbridge 
International, a humanitarian relief organization. As such, he works on 
relief missions which bring much needed medicines to remote areas of 
the world. Dr. Laws often finances them himself and personally delivers 
the supplies. His commitment regularly brings Dr. Laws into the midst 
of armed conflicts, but he persists. For his dedication, his bravery, 
and his generosity, Dr. Laws deserves our thanks.
  Dr. Laws is a cardiologist from Germantown, Ohio and a member of the 
Knights of Malta, an order dating back to the Crusades. Together with 
Dr. Edward Artis, a friend and fellow Knight, Dr. Laws confounded the 
humanitarian relief group, Knightsbridge International.
  In 1994, Dr. Laws, Dr. Artis, and Knightsbridge were active in 
Rwanda. One of their successful missions is a remarkable story. A boy 
was lost in a sea of refugees after having watched his mother and 
sister murdered by soldiers. His father, who was studying in New 
Orleans, somehow spotted him on a newscast from Africa. The man 
appealed to Knightsbridge for help in finding the beloved son he had 
believed to be dead. Dr. Laws and his organization tracked down the 
terrified boy and brought him back to his grateful father.
  That same year, Dr. Laws also helped to deliver 25,000 doses of 
antibiotics to needy clinics in Rwanda, and helped facilitate a 
contribution of a quarter of a million dollars to an orphanage built 
with Mother Teresa's help.
  In 1996, Dr. Laws and Dr. Artis traveled to Nicaragua to investigate 
the possibility of constructing a new clinic on Corn Island. They 
envisioned a small, multipurpose medical center and dental facility 
which would be accessible to the impoverished islanders. Today, the 
clinic is fully functional. It provides the people of Corn Island with 
much needed health care and works together with the local clinic.
  In 1997, Dr. Laws secured the donation of a cardiac unit from the 
Grandview Hospital of Dayton and transported it to Bishek, the capital 
of Kyrgyzstan. The donation upgraded the hospital's heart facility and 
enabled it to provided better medical care. Dr. Laws also was active in 
Azerbaijan, Daghestan, and Chechnya, helping deliver hundreds of 
thousand of dollars worth of medical supplies to them.
  Most recently, Dr. Laws, Dr. Artis, and Knightsbridge International 
have been working to relieve the suffering in Afghanistan. Their first 
humanitarian mission took them to Kabul, where they provided local 
hospitals with $250,000 in medicines and medical supplies. Subsequent 
trips were to Bamiyan, the capital city of the Northern region, where 
some 400,000 people were on the verge of dying from hunger and disease. 
Dr. Laws defied death threats and braved a civil war zone to personally 
help bring more than a million dollars worth of critical medicines to 
the suffering people of Hazaristan.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I ask you and my colleagues to 
join me in acknowledging the lifesaving work that Dr. James Laws does. 
He is a hometown hero whose activities I observe with pride. He has 
proven himself to be a true humanitarian who is dedicated to easing all 
suffering. His missions have brought relief and improved medical 
resources to countless communities, and, I hope, to many more to come. 
Dr. James Laws deserves our respect and thanks for the compassion he 
has shown, and continues to show, to the needy people of the world.

                          ____________________