[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 109 (Tuesday, September 6, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING MR. DONALD G. WALDON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 6, 2005

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Mr. Donald G. Waldon 
on the occasion of his retirement as the Administrator of the 
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority. I am honored to 
stand before this body of Congress and this Nation to recognize his 
many accomplishments. He is truly a man who embodies the American 
principles of hard work, dedication to one's family and service to 
one's community.
  Don is a native of Columbus, Mississippi but grew up in Mobile, 
Alabama. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1961 with a 
Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and completed post graduate 
studies in science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology in 1963 and Texas A&M in 1964. He is a 1994 graduate of the 
University of Oklahoma's Economic Development Institute and the 
recipient of the Southern Industrial Development Council's 1994 Robert 
B. Cassell Award for Best Research Thesis.
  Don joined the Army Corps of Engineers in 1961, where he worked in 
Mobile until 1966, conducting feasibility studies for water resource 
projects such as ports and waterways, including some early ideas for 
the Tenn-Tom Waterway. In 1966 he went to work for the Office of 
Management and Budget of the Executive Office of the President where he 
advised OMB and White House officials, including the President, on 
major budgetary, policy and legislative matters involving natural 
resources.
  Don worked for OMB until 1974 when he was appointed as Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of the Interior, a position 
he held until September, 1975. His duties included management 
responsibilities for all land and water resource agencies within the 
Department of the Interior, which at the time had a budget of nearly $2 
billion and approximately 12,000 employees. He had oversight over 
reclamation projects and the development of oil fields, coal mining on 
public lands, the Alaska Pipeline, the measures taken under the Nixon 
Energy Initiative, and served on a number of White House task forces, 
involving energy.
  In 1975, on the advice of Tenn-Tom project Administrator Glover 
Wilkins, Don entered an exchange program inside the Federal Government 
and came to the Tenn-Tom on a 2-year basis, but ultimately stayed for 
30. In 1979 Don resigned from the Federal Government and remained with 
the Tenn-Tom, taking the position of Deputy Administrator. When Glover 
Wilkins retired in 1984 Don was appointed to the post of Administrator, 
a position he has held ever since.
  As Administrator of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development 
Authority Don has worked tirelessly to promote the development of the 
Waterway, exploring economic and trade opportunities, and addressing 
potential barriers to the Waterway's beneficial use. Under Don's 
leadership the Waterway has resulted in approximately $5 billion in 
expanded industry. The Waterway has had a tremendous impact on the 
local communities, not just with industrial development, but by 
bringing in recreation and tourism dollars as well.
  Apart from his leadership of the Tenn-Tom Waterway Authority, Don is 
active in a variety of organizations devoted to the development of our 
waterways. He is President of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway 
Development Council, Vice-Chairman of the National Waterways 
Conference, Inc., Director of the Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals, 
Inc. (a national trade group representing inland ports), Executive 
Committee member of the U.S. Maritime Administration's Heartland 
Intermodal Partnership, Vice-President of the Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers 
Coalition and an Advisory Board Member of the Mississippi Water 
Resources Research Institute.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to honor Donald G. Waldon for 
his many accomplishments and his enduring impact on his country, 
community, friends and family. He is a man of great dignity and 
character who takes pride in the accomplishments of those he has helped 
over the years. Don is an inspiring role model for all of us and I join 
his friends and colleagues in wishing him God's richest blessings in 
his retirement.

                          ____________________