[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. KENNETH HALL

 Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, today I would like to commend the 
extraordinary career of Buckner International CEO Dr. Kenneth Hall, who 
will soon be retiring from the Dallas-based organization after 19 years 
of dedicated service. Throughout his tenure, he has promoted founder 
R.C. Buckner's mission of bringing unconditional Christian love to 
needy children. Hall has been instrumental in expanding the scope of 
Buckner's activities, which are inspired by the biblical principles of 
James 1:27: ``Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and 
faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress 
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.''
  A Baptist minister by training, R.C. Buckner devoted his life to 
helping children whose families had been displaced or broken by war, 
poverty, and other hardships. The mustard seed of Buckner International 
was planted on a hot July day in 1877, when Dr. Buckner gathered 
concerned citizens around an old oak tree in Paris, TX, and asked for 
their assistance in building a home for orphans. From a humble 
collection that day of $27, Dr. Buckner created Buckner Orphans' Home 
in Dallas in 1879. Now known as Buckner Children's Home, it is one of 
the oldest orphanages west of the Mississippi River.
  One hundred and thirty-five years after the famous oak tree meeting, 
Buckner International is aiding more than 400,000 people in countries 
across the world. Dr. Hall became its fifth President and CEO in 1994. 
Under his leadership, the endowment surpassed $200 million, and the 
organization established a new global ministry program. It now does 
charitable work in China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, 
Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Sierra 
Leone, South Korea, and Vietnam. Buckner also runs several retirement 
communities in Texas, and provides an extensive array of services to 
assist and empower families in crisis.
  I am grateful for all that Dr. Hall has done to improve the lives of 
the vulnerable and underprivileged, both at home and abroad. I join my 
colleagues in saluting him for his tireless efforts, which have brought 
joy and comfort to so many. He deserves recognition as a true 
humanitarian and a true American patriot.

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