[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 56 (Thursday, April 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S4306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                    REMEMBERING ANDREA MEAD LAWRENCE

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
reflecting on the memory and deeds of a remarkable American, Andrea 
Mead Lawrence, who passed away March 31 in the town of Mammoth Lakes in 
Mono County.
  Andrea was born in Vermont, where she developed a life-long love of 
winter sports. At the age of 15, she participated in the 1948 Winter 
Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. In the 1952 Winter Olympics she 
won two Gold Medals in the Olympic Special and Giant Slalom races in 
Oslo, Norway. She also competed in the 1956 Olympics in Cortina 
d'Ampezzo, Italy. She was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of 
Fame in 1958 at the age of 25. In 1960, she was the torch lighter at 
the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, CA. She remains the only American 
double-Gold Medalist in Alpine Skiing. Additional honors and her love 
of winter sports continued the rest of her life.
  In 1967, she moved to Mammoth Lakes in California's spectacularly 
beautiful Eastern Sierra, a place that she fought to protect, for the 
rest of her life. Serving 16 years on the Mono County Board of 
Supervisors, she worked tirelessly to protect and restore Mono Lake and 
as a member of the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District, she saw 
that air pollution caused by the de-watering of Owens Lake was reduced. 
She founded the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers in 
2003 to work for environmental protection and economic vitality in the 
region she loved so much.
  Last summer, she testified before the Mono County Board of 
Supervisors in favor of the Eastern Sierra Wild Heritage Act, a bill 
that became law with the signature of President Barack Obama, the day 
before she died. Andrea knew that this legislation to protect nearly 
500,000 acres of her beloved Eastern Sierra had become law.
  Andrea Mead Lawrence passed away surrounded by her children, 
Cortlandt, Matthew, Dierdre, Leslie and Quentin, and leaves four 
grandchildren. She was 76 years old. Andrea had a remarkable and 
wonderful life and she will be sorely missed by all those who were 
fortunate enough to know her. She leaves a rich legacy that will 
continue to benefit present and future generations.

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