[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 159 (Tuesday, December 11, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING BILL LAUER FOR HIS LIFETIME OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 
                      NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 11, 2012

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize William H. 
``Bill'' Lauer for receiving Devotion to Children's Community Legacy 
Award. As a native of the Washington area, Bill has followed the age-
old advice to ``bloom where you are planted'' and set a model example 
for using your talents to help not only yourself but also your 
neighbors.
   Devotion to Children is a Northern Virginia nonprofit organization 
dedicated to working with other community partners to provide high-
quality education and child-care programming for low-income families 
and children under the age of six. The Legacy award is presented 
annually at its Red, Heart and Soul Gala to recognize someone who has 
promoted public awareness of the organization and local needs, provided 
funding for programs and services, collaborated with other community 
organizations to support local children, or engaged in other activities 
that support the organization's mission. Bill Lauer has done each of 
those and so much more.
   To many people, Bill may be known more for his professional 
accomplishments. He has spent the last four decades working in the 
residential and commercial real estate market. Bill worked for some of 
the region's premier homebuilders early in his career, including Gulf 
Reston, which led the visionary development for the new town of Reston. 
Bill founded Tetra Partners in 1981 and has amassed a distinguished 
record in the real estate industry. He is a former president and Life 
Director of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, which 
recognized him with its highest honor, the Emil Keen Award, for 25 
years of exemplary work within the industry. He is a past president and 
board director for the National Association of Industrial and Office 
Properties Northern Virginia Chapter. He also has played a role with 
several of the local chambers of commerce and was a charter member of 
the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
   Those are no doubt noteworthy achievements, but it is Bill's 
charitable activities that have proven invaluable to the community and 
that serve as an inspiration to a new generation of community leaders. 
Bill has been an active and financial supporter of local Habitat for 
Humanity and Ronald McDonald House, and he is a member of the board of 
Reston Interfaith. I was pleased to have him serve on the Affordable 
Housing Task Force that I launched during my tenure as Chairman of the 
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Through that effort, he worked to 
help expand rental and home ownership opportunities for low-income 
families. Bill and I also worked together on my homeless prevention 
initiative, and he continues to serve on the governing board of the 
Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness. Thanks to the efforts of 
Bill and the Partnership, Fairfax has been one of the few communities 
to actually reduce homelessness during the Great Recession.
   And, of course, Bill is active with Devotion to Children. During the 
past decade, Bill has worked to expand awareness of the growing need 
for affordable child care and early childhood resources, and he has not 
only supported those efforts with his own resources but also recruited 
his colleagues in the private sector to join in the cause. Bill also 
has helped develop new partnerships with Devotion to Children, Reston 
Interfaith and the Reston YMCA, including an evening child care program 
to help those parents taking nighttime classes.
   Mr. Speaker, based on Bill's lifetime of professional and charitable 
accomplishments, this recognition could easily have been renamed the 
``devotion to community'' award. I want to personally thank Bill for 
his tireless efforts to assist at-risk families and children across 
Northern Virginia, and I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Bill on this well-deserved recognition. His work is a reminder to us 
all that our community's strength and success is the product of every 
child and every family having an opportunity to succeed.

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