[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10290-S10291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PAUL BRUHN: PRESERVING VERMONT FOR ALL GENERATIONS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure today to 
congratulate Paul Bruhn and the Preservation Trust of Vermont on an 
anniversary that marks 25 successful years of protecting and 
celebrating Vermont's historical treasures.
  I am proud to be able to call Paul not only an accomplished Vermonter 
but also a very good friend. He was my first campaign manager and my 
first chief of staff, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont is only one 
of his significant gifts to the Green Mountain State.
  Paul became the founding executive director of the Preservation Trust 
of Vermont in 1980, after helping me find my way through the Senate 
during my first term. Since then he has helped the Preservation Trust 
save countless architectural treasures in every corner of the State, 
helped reinvent communities that had eroded through years of neglect, 
and helped our State capitalize on its unique identity. Thanks in large 
part to his leadership, the Preservation Trust of Vermont has been a 
respected, appreciated, and integral part of Vermont's culture for the 
past quarter century.
  My wife Marcelle and I consider ourselves highly fortunate to call 
Paul a close personal friend. Before my campaign in 1974, we saw in 
Paul attributes that we knew would bring Vermont wonderful things. As 
the consummate connector, Paul has been a humble servant of the public 
interest, forging and leading broad community coalitions to overcome 
some of the most difficult growing pains of development--retaining a 
community's character. He has used these talents to bring attention to 
and preserve the most unique and defining aspects of Vermont. From 
making sure Vermont music legend Sterling Weed had a band stand, to 
bringing attention to the wonderful architecture at the St. Johnsbury 
Athenaeum, he has helped Vermonters embrace their unique spirit and 
storied history.
  Paul has always understood that a community's future vitality is 
directly linked to its past. When the city of Burlington was preparing 
to level the historic firehouse on Church Street--one of the most 
beautiful and unique buildings in the city--it was Paul who convinced 
me to open my first Senate office there to save the building from the 
wrecking ball. Years later, as historic downtowns across the country 
were being shuttered and demolished because of urban sprawl, Paul 
helped me work with local and State officials to find millions of 
dollars in Federal investments to revolutionize Burlington's historic 
center of commerce, turning Church Street into an award-winning 
pedestrian marketplace. Today the historic facades that have hung over 
Church Street for a century or more remind shoppers of Burlington's 
rich history.
  There is hardly a nook or cranny, village or gore, throughout Vermont 
that has not felt the touch of Paul and the Preservation Trust of 
Vermont. Whether through a small Preservation Trust grant for the 
refinishing of a church tower, or through a multimillion dollar 
campaign led by Paul and the talented people he works with, every 
corner of the State from Burke to Bennington has benefited from Paul's 
community- and consensus-building.
  Just last year, this native Vermonter was at the heart of an effort 
to have the entire State of Vermont designated as one of the top 10 
endangered places by the National Preservation Trust. It

[[Page S10291]]

was the first time in the organization's history that an entire State 
was added to the list. He helped the city of Rutland persuade Wal-Mart 
to anchor in the community's historic downtown instead of outside of 
town in a vacant field, a victory that few other communities across the 
country have won. That was not enough though, and he has brought 
Rutland's story to other communities throughout the State, where no 
matter the outcome, he has helped empower community leaders to make 
decisions rather than bow to the whims of out-of-state developers.
  In my lifetime of public service, I have never met a person so adept 
at bringing people together and finding ways to make sure everyone has 
a voice. Years before he came to work for me, Paul was a key player in 
setting up the consumer fraud office within the Vermont attorney 
general's office, where he not only protected consumer rights, but also 
helped the office create a toll-free number that revolutionized the way 
Vermonters communicated with their government. When I entered the 
Senate, Paul and I brought this concept to the greatest deliberative 
body in the Senate by operating the first toll-free phone line in the 
Congress.
  Paul has always put the interests of all Vermonters ahead of himself 
or any organization he has ever steered. The Preservation Trust of 
Vermont has been no different. Through his involvement, Vermont is a 
better place and Vermonters have realized the wonderful things our past 
has to offer. Thank you Paul, and congratulations to you and everyone 
who has ever helped make the Preservation Trust of Vermont the success 
it is today.

                          ____________________