[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 21, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3515-S3516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF BOB HATTOY

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, Senator Dianne Feinstein and 
I pay tribute to Bob Hattoy, a cherished friend and one of America's 
most passionate warriors for the environment and human rights. We will 
miss him dearly.
  We first met Bob during his decade of service to the Sierra Club as 
its regional director for California and Nevada. He was an outspoken 
advocate in the campaigns to protect our precious coast and desert, 
always increasing awareness about threats to California's environment 
with a unique mixture of inspiration and irreverence.
  It was only fitting that he was tapped by then-Governor Bill Clinton 
to serve as his Presidential campaign's top environmental adviser. But 
just as he was set to join the campaign, Bob's doctor discovered a lump 
under his arm that signaled his HIV had progressed.
  His instinct was always to fight on, so between agonizing treatments, 
Bob traveled the country relentlessly to speak out against AIDS.
  Taking on this fight--both privately and publicly--was a remarkable 
choice. But for those who were blessed to know him, it was not 
surprising.
  We will never forget the historic and moving address he gave at the 
Democratic National Convention in 1992. The first openly gay American 
with HIV/AIDS to speak at a political convention, Bob brought so many 
of us to tears and action by showing the real costs of AIDS and the 
real meaning of courage.
  He said that day: ``You see, I have AIDS. I could be an African-
American woman, a Latino man, a 10-year-old boy or girl. AIDS has many 
faces. And

[[Page S3516]]

AIDS knows no class or gender, race or religion, or sexual orientation. 
. . .''
  Over the next 15 years, as many other activists moved on to other 
challenges, Bob never gave up the battle to make sure America truly 
lived up to its ideals. Sometimes that meant working tirelessly to 
elect progressive candidates.
  Sometimes it meant standing up and speaking out, whether it was 
taking on a bureaucrat or a President. Most recently, it meant moving 
to Sacramento to devote more time to serving as president of 
California's Fish and Game Commission.
  The last time we saw Bob was 2 months ago in Washington, DC, as we 
all celebrated the new majority in Congress and the historic election 
of Speaker  Nancy Pelosi.
  If Bob was sick or struggling that day, he certainly didn't let on. 
He wanted to reminisce about the past and toast the future with that 
same larger than life personality that made him so special.
  Now, as so many friends mourn his passing, we also celebrate his 
life. We celebrate his candor and compassion, his sense of humor and 
sense of purpose, his ability to amuse and inspire us all. And we 
celebrate his lasting legacy in the relationships he forged, the rights 
he championed, and the natural resources he protected for generations 
to come.

                          ____________________