[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 28, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E267-E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF BRUCE HAMILTON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2012

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Bruce Hamilton who is 
retiring as Executive Director of HIP Housing after eight years of 
outstanding leadership.
  I share many things with Bruce: a deep friendship, a birthday and a 
passion for his organization that has enabled thousands of San Mateo 
County residents to live independently and self-sufficiently in safe, 
low-cost homes.
  Attending a HIP Housing graduation officiated by Bruce Hamilton is a 
bit like attending a revivalist meeting. Men, women and children 
traipse to the microphone for over an hour and tell stories of how HIP 
Housing and their own will power set them on the straight and narrow. A 
man just down on his luck found a home in which he can be both an aide 
and a friend to the homeowner. Rent? Sure, it's important to the 
homeowner, but in the world of Bruce and HIP Housing, what matters most 
is that yet another man became a success. A young mother with an 
abusive husband found a safe haven for herself and her three children. 
Another woman explained how she came to HIP and developed her life and 
parenting skills, earned her GED and landed a job. Bruce beamed like a 
proud dad. We often proclaim that we should ``Make it in America''. 
Well, Bruce Hamilton and HIP Housing make human dignity by the boatload 
in America, every day and all year long. Now that's a product worth 
making.
  Before Bruce joined HIP Housing, he held an impressive variety of 
positions all over the country. He was the Executive Director of the 
Alliance on Aging in Monterey, California, Administrator at the 
Unitarian Church in Palo Alto, California; Executive Director of the 
State Bar of Arizona/Arizona Bar Foundation in

[[Page E268]]

Phoenix, Arizona, Director of the-State Bar of California in San 
Francisco, California, County Supervisor in Lancaster County, Nebraska, 
Partner in the Law Offices of Hamilton, German & Robinson in Lincoln, 
Nebraska, Assistant Director of the American Bar Association in 
Chicago, Illinois and Public Defender at the Legal Aid Agency in 
Washington, DC.
  Bruce's career is a clear testament to his passion for public 
service, justice and our democracy and so are his commitments in his 
spare time. He has volunteered for a long list of organizations 
including the Peace Corp in Ethiopia, the Housing Leadership Council, 
Thrive, HEART, Meals on Wheels, Community Health Care Corporation, Work 
Force Investment Board and United Way in Monterey County.
  Bruce was born in 1942 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his BS in 
Secondary Education and his J.D. Degree from the University of 
Nebraska.
  He is the proud father of his son Alfred and grandfather of Ashley 
and Lindsey.
  Mr. Speaker, Bruce Hamilton personifies the old adage, ``Walk a mile 
in my shoes.'' Bruce has walked many miles in the shoes of many of his 
clients over the years of his service to our community, and it is due 
to his capacity to empathize that he is being honored upon his 
retirement. His is a life's work well done.

                          ____________________