[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 25 (Thursday, February 25, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSMAN SONNY CALLAHAN--2009 ``MOBILIAN OF THE YEAR''

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 25, 2010

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate my dear friend and 
predecessor, former Congressman Sonny Callahan, for being selected as 
2009 Mobilian of the Year by the Cottage Hill Civitan Club.
  To the people of South Alabama, Sonny needs no introduction. He has 
dedicated much of his life to serving our area. A Navy veteran and a 
self-made local business success, Sonny has never known a time when he 
was not giving back to his community.
  First elected to public office representing Mobile in the Alabama 
House of Representatives in 1971, Sonny embarked on a journey that took 
him to the Alabama State Senate and eventually to Washington, DC, where 
he labored in this House for no less than 18 years.
  He quickly made a name for himself in these Halls, earning the gavel 
of one of the 13 subcommittee chairmanships on the House Appropriations 
Committee after only 10 years in office. He was named chairman of the 
powerful Subcommittee on Foreign Operations in 1995, protecting 
America's interests and investments around the world.
  In 2000, he became the chairman of the House Appropriations 
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. In this position, Sonny 
worked closely with the Bush Administration to develop and finance a 
new national energy policy.
  While chairman of this subcommittee, he also served as vice chairman 
of Foreign Operations and was a member of the Transportation 
Subcommittee.
  In an era of stark partisanship that too often divides this Chamber, 
Sonny Callahan knew only friends as he served in Congress. His ability 
to reach out across the aisle won him universal praise and enabled him 
to accomplish much for his district and the State of Alabama.
  After retirement from Congress in 2003, Sonny has refused to settle 
down into a quiet life of leisure. In addition to work in his own 
government consulting firm, Sonny was named by Governor Bob Riley to 
serve on the Alabama Port Authority Board. In 2004, Sonny was named 
Patriot of the Year by local veterans groups, and in 2005, the Boys and 
Girls Clubs of Mobile named its Theodore activity center the Sonny 
Callahan Boys and Girls Club Building.
  I wish to personally congratulate Sonny Callahan for having received 
the honor of ``Mobilian of the Year,'' and on behalf of the people of 
South Alabama, I thank Sonny, his wife, Karen, and their children and 
grandchildren, for their continued service and dedication to the state 
and the people we so dearly love.

                          ____________________