[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 8, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E747-E748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO JOHN R. GARRISON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 8, 2001

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to John R. 
Garrison, Chief Executive Officer of the American Lung Association. 
This July, Mr. Garrison is retiring after eleven years of leading the 
American Lung Association, this nation's oldest voluntary health 
agency.
  Over the last two decades, Mr. Garrison's work has made a vital 
contribution to public health and a significant difference in shaping 
national policy. Millions of Americans live in a safer, cleaner, and 
healthier world because of his work. He has been a national leader in 
the battle against the tobacco industry, the efforts to eliminate 
tuberculosis, the quest to curb asthma, and the continuing fight for 
cleaner air.
  Throughout his career, Mr. Garrison has been in the vanguard of 
public health efforts. When the tobacco industry proposed a weak 
tobacco settlement with state attorneys general in 1997, Mr. Garrison 
was the first leader of a major health organization to step forward and 
oppose giving the tobacco industry immunity. Mr. Garrison also served 
on a tobacco advisory commission chaired by former Surgeon General C. 
Everett Koop and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, playing a 
pivotal role in crafting the commission's final report, which remains a 
visionary blueprint of the policy changes needed to protect the public 
health from tobacco.
  Under Mr. Garrison's leadership, the American Lung Association led 
the recent battle for tougher ozone and particulate matter standards 
under the Clean Air Act. In addition, he expanded the American Lung 
Association's commitment to lung disease research. These efforts led to 
the development of the Asthma Clinical Research Center program, a 
nationwide network of 19 clinical research centers designed to conduct 
a broad range of clinical studies on asthma.
  From building a formal alliance with the Canadian Lung Association to 
assuming a leadership role in the International Union Against 
Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Mr. Garrison has worked tirelessly to 
reduce the impact of lung disease around the world. This work continues 
with the American Lung Association's advocacy for a strong, enforceable 
global tobacco control treaty, the World Health Organization's 
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
  From asthma to air pollution, from tobacco control to the elimination 
of tuberculosis, Mr. Garrison has been a leader. Millions of people 
around the globe breathe easier because of his efforts. It is my 
distinct pleasure to ask my colleagues to join me in saluting John 
Garrison for his outstanding achievements and thank him for his service 
to the American Lung Association and the nation in fighting lung 
disease and promoting lung health.

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