[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7323-S7324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              GUEST CHAPLAIN DR. FREDERICK W. PFOTENHAUER

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, it is my privilege today to say a 
few words about the reverend doctor who offered a word of prayer on 
behalf of this country and this institution this morning.
  The Rev. Dr. Fritz Pfotenhauer has given me permission to refer to 
him personally as Fritz, but he is a most distinguished pastor and 
minister of the gospel. He is the pastor of the Hilltop Lutheran Church 
in South Bend, IN. He is descended from a long line of Lutheran 
ministers in an unbroken father-son succession dating back to the time 
of the great reformer, Martin Luther.
  Dr. Pfotenhauer completed his Ph.D. in pastoral theology at the 
University of Notre Dame where he also taught for 20 years until his 
retirement recently.
  He will also retire at the end of this year as the pastor of Hilltop 
Lutheran after 36 years of service to that community and 46 years as an 
ordained minister.

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  I think it is significant that this good brother is not just trained 
for the ministry and knows the ivory tower and knows the depths of 
theology, but he knows how it is to minister, how it is to change the 
human heart and help lift people from the wrong path. This is a man, as 
you meet with him, who can talk deep in terms of gospel principles but 
also knows personally what it is like to change the human heart and to 
set it on the course of righteousness.
  Pastor Pfotenhauer is the father of Kurt Pfotenhauer, who is my 
friend and my former chief of staff for nearly 6 years. Dr. 
Pfotenhauer's wife, Carolyn, is in the audience today. We welcome her. 
We honor her, as well as her grandsons, Jon and Ben, and her daughter-
in-law, the pastor's daughter-in-law, Kurt's wife, Nancy. They are all 
with him today.
  We honor you, sir. We thank you for your service to us today. We 
thank God for your service to his children.
  I yield the floor.

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