[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 76 (Thursday, June 3, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S6447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SAMUEL JOHNSON

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to the life 
of Samuel Johnson, an environmental champion, an inspired business 
leader and one of Wisconsin's greatest philanthropists.
  Sam Johnson, who passed away on May 22, 2004, was known 
internationally for taking his 118-year-old family business called 
Johnson Wax and turning it into the consumer products giant, SC Johnson 
& Son, Inc. Sam was as generous as he was successful. He was beloved by 
his home community of Racine as well as the entire State of Wisconsin 
for his generous donations to the communities where he did business, 
and to the long list of organizations and causes that he served. Sam's 
generosity was instrumental in revitalizing his home community of 
Racine.
  After attending Cornell and Harvard, Sam served as an Air Force 
intelligence officer. When Sam returned to Wisconsin, he joined the 
family business, helping make products like Pledge and Glade household 
names. Sam became the fourth generation to take over the family 
business in 1966 and helped it grow into four global businesses 
employing over 28,000 people before retiring in 2000 and leaving the 
business to a fifth generation.
  Sam was widely recognized as a defender of the environment. In 1975, 
he proactively banned the use of harmful CFCs in aerosol products 3 
years before the U.S. banned the ozone-harming substances. He served as 
chairman of the board for the Nature Conservancy, to which he donated 
$1 million in 1994 and later donated 18,000 acres in Brazil. In 1993, 
Fortune Magazine called him ``corporate America's leading 
environmentalist.''
  A few years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a 
project undertaken by Sam, as well as Fisk and Curt Johnson, two of his 
children. Sam and his sons took their piloting skills to Brazil to 
recreate and document a flight made by Sam's father, Herbert, in 1935, 
while searching for carnauba palm wax in Brazil. The documentary that 
resulted from the trip was a moving testimony to Sam's own troubles 
with alcoholism and distant relationship with his father. The film 
earned national attention and helped people across the country deal 
with their own problems with alcohol. I was deeply honored when I was 
asked to help host a screening of this incredible film.
  That documentary was just one of the many achievements for which Sam 
Johnson will be remembered and just one of the many reasons he will be 
so deeply missed. I know that I am grateful for his lasting 
contributions to the State of Wisconsin, and for his unwavering 
commitment to the communities and causes he served so well.

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