[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 44 (Monday, April 10, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E519-E520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




A TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF BARBARA HOWELL, BREAD FOR THE WORLD'S DIRECTOR OF 
                          GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 10, 2000

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today I honor Barbara Howell, on the 
occasion of the 25th anniversary of her service to Bread for the World, 
a nonpartisan Christian citizens' movement against hunger. Barbara 
Howell has dedicated her career to fighting for the needs of hungry and 
low-income people.
  In April 1975, Barbara opened Bread for the World's first Washington, 
DC office--just across the street, on the fifth floor of the Methodist 
Building on Maryland Avenue. Since then, she has been instrumental in 
guiding Bread for the World's efforts to develop and support public 
policies to benefit low-income and hungry people in the United States 
and overseas. Barbara has provided expert testimony to Congress 
numerous times and has met with U.S. Presidents from President Carter 
to President Clinton. Due in large part to her leadership and advocacy, 
in 1995, the U.S. government implemented a ground-breaking measure to 
collect and report data on hunger and food insecurity in the United 
States annually.
  Perhaps because of the deep love Barbara holds for her own daughters, 
Leah and Marya, Barbara has been a tireless advocate for the Special 
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). 
Barbara's work in support of the WIC program has helped ensure its 
steady availability to more and more low-income women and their 
children--even during periods of time when a number of programs 
assisting low-income people were under attack. In 1999, the National 
Association of WIC Directors honored Barbara for her longstanding 
leadership by giving her their WIC Advocacy Award.
  Barbara is a woman of deep faith in God. She holds a master's degree 
in religious education from Union Theological Seminary. She has served 
her church as an elder and has chaired its missions council. Earlier in 
her career Barbara worked as a Methodist chaplain, serving three 
universities over a seven year period.
  Barbara Howell has devoted her life to bringing justice to the most 
vulnerable people in our world. Barbara and her husband Leon spent four 
years as free-lance journalists in southeast Asia, writing about 
economic, development assistance, and church-related issues. For the 
past 25 years, she has been a determined leader on behalf of effective 
federal policy for low-income people in the United States and overseas. 
She has attended three United Nations Women's Conferences--in 
Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985, and Beijing in 1995.
  Barbara is a rare individual, and deserves our heart-felt thanks for 
dedicating her life to

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serving others. I invite you and our colleagues to join me in thanking 
Barbara Howell for her distinguished commitment to making our nation's 
public policy more just for all people.

                          ____________________