[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 28, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E65-E66]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         A TRIBUTE TO BYRON SHER--PUBLIC SERVANT EXTRAORDINAIRE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 28, 2004

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
distinguished senator of the 11th senate district of California, my 
good friend, Mr. Byron Sher. My Congressional district overlaps with 
many of the communities in Senator Sher's district, and this has 
afforded me the opportunity to work closely with the Senator on 
numerous issues.
  Byron has based his long and productive political career upon the 
strong foundations of a distinguished academic pedigree. After an 
ambitious undergraduate career, he earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard 
Law School in 1952 and then was a Fulbright Research Scholar in New 
Zealand. Byron went on to teaching positions at some of the leading law 
schools around the country, including Southern Methodist, University of 
Southern California and Harvard Law School. Currently, he is an 
emeritus professor of law at Stanford University.

[[Page E66]]

  Mr. Speaker, Byron has been active in local and regional government 
since he came to Palo Alto in 1957, and since then, he has repeatedly 
shown his commitment to the community through dedicated public service. 
He was a member of the Palo Alto City Council for 9 years and served 
two terms as mayor. In addition, for many years, Byron has been an 
active participant in local, State, and national environmental boards.
  As a member of the California State Legislature, Byron has many 
notable achievements, however I wish to take a moment to mention some 
of the numerous legislative successes that Senator Sher has 
accomplished in the area of environmental protection. He is the author 
of landmark laws to protect California's environment, including the 
California Clean Air Act, the Integrated Waste Management Act, the 
Surface Mining Reclamation Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the 
nation's first law to prevent toxic contamination from leaking 
underground storage tanks. He also authored laws to strengthen 
California's timber regulations and added new rivers to California's 
Wild and Scenic River System, safeguarding them for future generations. 
He is consistently rated among the top legislators by the most 
respected environmental, consumer, law enforcement, education and 
housing groups. I applaud his conscientious hard work on the part of 
our community and California.
  It is always a privilege to pay tribute to an extraordinary public 
servant on his retirement from a long and illustrious career of public 
service. What makes Byron so special though, is that this is his second 
such retirement from public service. After eight terms in the 
California Assembly he was term limited out of office. In 1996, 
however, he found a way to continue his service to the people of 
California, winning a special election to fill a vacancy in the State 
Senate. Now having exhausted almost every public office available, we 
on the Peninsula wait with excitement to learn how Byron will use his 
exceptional talents to continue to give back to our community and the 
nation at large.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
Byron Sher as he completes a record of distinguished service in the 
California State legislature. The people of San Mateo County and the 
people of California have been well served by his extraordinary 
leadership and advocacy in both the State Assembly and the State 
Senate. I extend my personal best wishes to Byron and his family for a 
relaxing and well-deserved retirement.

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