[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S10897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HONORING HAL POTE

 Mr. BROWN. President, today I pay tribute to the life and 
legacy of Harold Pote. Hal, the founder and president of the Spina 
Bifida Foundation, SBF, passed away suddenly on June 26, 2007. My staff 
and I are deeply saddened by this loss, which is felt not only by his 
friends and family but by many of us on Capitol Hill. My staff and I 
first had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Mr. Pote nearly 6 
years ago when he began a campaign to increase congressional awareness 
of--and the national attention paid to--spina bifida, the Nation's most 
common, permanently disabling birth defect.
  Hal's nephew Gregory was born with spina bifida almost 22 years ago. 
Spina bifida occurs in the first month of pregnancy when the spinal 
column does not close completely. In the United States, spina bifida 
occurs in approximately 7 out of 10,000 live births and currently there 
are 70,000 men, women, adolescents, and children living with spina 
bifida. Hal supported his nephew through more than 20 surgeries and was 
there to share in many wonderful moments, including the moment in 2004 
when Gregory carried the Olympic torch. Hal was dedicated to ensuring 
that Gregory and others living with spina bifida enjoy a high quality 
of life. He also maintained a steadfast commitment to helping prevent 
spina bifida by promoting efforts to educate women of childbearing age 
about the importance of daily consumption of a multivitamin containing 
folic acid.
  Hal joined with a group of colleagues to form the Spina Bifida 
Foundation in 1999. In its 8 years of existence, the SBF, under Hal's 
steadfast leadership, made remarkable progress on behalf of the spina 
bifida community. Not so long ago people born with spina bifida did not 
live past their teenage years. Thanks to research and outreach enabled 
in part by Hal's exceptionally effective foundation, many children with 
spina bifida are now living to be adults and are enjoying a higher 
quality of life than previous generations.
  Hal's achievements go beyond his philanthropy and advocacy on behalf 
of people with spina bifida. He was born in Penns Grove, NJ, in 1946 
and received his bachelor's degree in economics from Princeton in 1968, 
and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1972. In 1984, at the 
age of 37, he was named chairman and CEO of Fidelity Bank. Hal left 
Fidelity in 1989 and that same year co-founded the PFR, a private real 
estate group, which was later acquired by Prologis. In 1993, Hal 
cofounded the Beacon Group, a Manhattan-based investment partnership 
later acquired by Chase Manhattan. He led Chase's regional banking 
group and after that bank merged with JP Morgan he became chairman of 
retail financial services for JP Morgan Chase. After retiring from JP 
Morgan Chase, Hal returned to Philadelphia in 2006 to serve as CEO of 
the American Financial Realty Trust.
  Hal Pote's sudden death is a tragedy. Yet his life was a triumph. I 
offer my heartfelt condolences to his family--his wife Linda Johnson, 
his mother Lucille Bock Pote, his two brothers Frank and Corey Pote, 
and his nephews.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life and honoring 
the many achievements of this extraordinary man.

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