[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10510-S10511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF PAUL SCOTT HOWELL

 Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, on Wednesday, July 28, Paul Scott 
Howell of Edmond, Oklahoma was shot and killed as he pulled into the 
driveway of his parents' home. The apparent motive is carjacking. At 
the time of his death, Mr. Howell was returning from a shopping trip 
for school supplies with his daughters and his sister. Fortunately, his 
daughters and sister were not harmed.
  On Monday, August 2, the City of Edmond mourned this senseless death. 
It was clear from the tone of the service and from those who attended 
that Paul was loved and admired by many. Although I never had the 
pleasure of knowing Paul, I suspect that not only have his family and 
friends suffered a great loss but the entire country has as well 
because Paul was one of those people that we all wish we could be like. 
I think Carol Hartzog, the Managing Editor of the Edmond Sun newspaper 
says it best in a recent column, ``You would have liked Paul Howell.'' 
Mr. President, I ask to have printed in the Record Ms. Hartzog's 
tribute to Paul Scott Howell.
  The tribute follows:

                  [From The Edmond Sun, Aug. 3, 1999]

                    You Would Have Liked Paul Howell

                           (By Carol Hartzog)

       Paul Howell's life went full circle.
       Four-year-old ``Paulie'' was blessed by a security that 
     only a 1950s-era Edmond could provide. It was an idyllic 
     time. Forty years later, Paul was gunned down dead in his 
     boyhood neighborhood last Wednesday. He was a blessed 
     youngster, and through life's trials, has been gifted as an 
     adult. He would in turn bless all who knew him.
       Despite his death, his testament will live on.
       Often, the media will make a victim of random violence into 
     a larger-than-life character.
       But in this case, Paul Howell ministered to so many, young 
     and old. On one hand, he would light up a room with his 
     bounding presence, his boisterous, fun-loving way. On the 
     other hand, in an unassuming way, this 45-year-old man would 
     mentor to those who had fallen victim of the bottle and 
     sought help from Alcoholics Anonymous.
       Not only was he a recovering alcoholic, but he had such a 
     passion for it that his story will live--and benefit--so many 
     long after his death. He carried the message to other 
     alcoholics, and mentored them through their steps of 
     recovery.
       ``Paul didn't just use AA,'' his brother Bill told me. ``AA 
     used him to continue to reach out to others. . . . He grabbed 
     hold of it. He was available all the time, and pushed other 
     people into it, and I was so proud of him doing it.''

[[Page S10511]]

       ``It takes a special person to let go of that anonymity,'' 
     Bill said. Paul really didn't care. He was so happy that AA 
     had changed his life, he wanted to reach out and change as 
     many people as he could.
       ``That's the real wonder of Paul.''
       Paul took AA's philosophy to the ultimate degree--one day 
     at a time. A funeral for an alcoholic often gathers a handful 
     of people. Often, there has been no road to recovery, only to 
     death, either by your own hand or another's.
       In contrast, Paul Howell's funeral Monday was a 
     celebration--a celebration of one who had triumphed. And with 
     Paul's gifts of an award-winning smile, his sense of humor an 
     his good looks, he helped so many because of his Maker.
       Because of his hardships, he connected with the youth of 
     his church, relating his failures and his message, ``Don't do 
     to your parents what I did.''
       Howell's funeral Monday brought people from all the 
     ``walks'' of his life--his boyhood chums, his AA friends and 
     the community of faith that had been there, literally, from 
     the beginning.
       I never had the pleasure of meeting Paul. But it was 
     evident from the many I visited with that what I have said is 
     true. He and his family touched many lives. His family roots 
     extend to the Land Run here.
       Sitting next to me was the 80-something year-old retired 
     church organist, who accompanied Paul's mother, Dorothy, and 
     the rest of the choir. The musician watched little Paul and 
     his older brothers grow up.
       On the other side of me was Larry, a business associate in 
     the insurance industry. Paul would visit Larry's office at 
     least monthly. He has a gregarious nature.
       ``I expect by now, he's met everyone in heaven and they all 
     like him,'' he said. ``He never met a stranger. Although, 
     last week, he did.''
       And then there's the teen-ager who was in Paul's ninth- and 
     10th-grade Sunday School class.
       ``He was really cool,'' Matt said. Paul would occasionally 
     give him tickets to University of Oklahoma ball games.
       Leroy spoke at Howell's funeral Monday. Leroy is ``A friend 
     of Bill W.,'' as the funeral bulletin would state. That 
     reference is to the founder of AA.
       Through powerful, audible terms, all those who attended the 
     funeral knew Paul's influence through AA. When Leroy spoke 
     from the pulpit and said, ``Hello, my name is Leroy and I'm a 
     recovering alcoholic. . . .'' I would surmise a third of 
     those in attendance said, ``Hello, Leroy,'' the standard 
     response spoken in unison at AA meetings. You knew Paul was a 
     testament to the power of AA.
       The diversity of Paul's scope of influence was apparent. 
     The sanctuary was overflowing. There were hundreds lining its 
     walls, in the foyer, the crying rooms and other anterooms--
     1,200 people in all, it's estimated. The altar area was 
     covered with 25 flower arrangements--the huge kind that would 
     only look small in the setting of a British cathedral. Dozens 
     more lesser arrangements filled in what space was left.
       Paul's memorial service was also a testament to Edmond--a 
     community coming together to pay its respects to the victim 
     of such a random, senseless act.
       In the 1950's this then-small town would give Paulie a 
     Rockwell-esque setting in which to grow up. The town's 
     population was 9,000. First Christian Church provided the 
     security that came with that.
       He and his two older brothers would bound over fences to 
     the neighbors' houses where the Gibsons and the Rices lived. 
     He grew up in a tight-knit neighborhood where many of his 
     playmates remained to adulthood and to adult 
     responsibilities. That's unique in Edmond today, where a 
     third of our population didn't live here five years ago.
       His youthful years became troubled with normal teen-age 
     problems, drinking being a part of that.
       Twelve years ago, his life took another turn when he 
     admitted his alcoholism and sought help with AA. That road 
     would take him to a new high, a pinnacle that few reach when 
     struggling with alcoholism.
       His community of faith at First Christian Church would walk 
     with him. And along that long stretch, he touched so many. He 
     had been given a gift of new life through AA, and he has been 
     giving back over the years.
       This community has pulled together before--the 1986 tornado 
     that struck our town but miraculously took no lives. The post 
     office massacre that same year that took 15 citizens. And the 
     Murrah Building bombing that took 19 Edmond residents.
       We don't get any better at coping.
       But we know, as the Rev. Kyle Maxwell so eloquently stated 
     Monday, that ``suffering got us here (through the crucifixion 
     of Christ on the Cross).''
       Let's not ``try to make sense out of the senseless crime,'' 
     Maxwell said.
       ``The `why?' of it is that God created us to be free. 
     Sometimes that's too heavy a burden for some people.'' He has 
     given us the freedom to be compassionate and the freedom to 
     take another's life, Maxwell said.
       I believe that Christians are to be people of grace and of 
     forgiveness. We are as sinful as the people who took Paul's 
     life. In this case, society places consequences on those sins 
     acted out. But, Jesus said that any sin is just as deadly, 
     even if it is, unspoken and remains in the heart.
       You are to forgive, for if you don't, anger will literally 
     eat away any energy or beauty that Paul may have placed in 
     your hearts.
       That's what it's all about. Grace. And if you are not at 
     that point to forgive in your journey, say so. Make a 
     commitment to try.
       The families of those in jail who are on this side of 
     heaven and going through a worldly hell need your prayers.
       I believe Paul would have been right there, leading the 
     prayer service for those sinners like himself. He has 
     experienced his own private hell and knew from whence they 
     came.

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