[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 28, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S7588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DR. JIM SAMPSON

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I wish to honor an illustrious individual 
in both Oregon and the Nation's HIV/AIDS research and treatment 
community who passed away on October 4 of this year. Dr. Jim Sampson, 
while born a Georgia southerner, made Portland, OR, his home for the 
past 36 years. As a father, husband, brother, uncle, and friend, Jim 
generated an inclusive atmosphere of passion, love, and laughter 
wherever he went. As a medical doctor and a fervent leader in the fight 
against HIV/AIDS through research and treatments, Jim brought hope and 
compassion to his daily interactions with colleagues and patients 
alike. For Jim, no person or job was too big or too small to embrace.
  In 1979, after Jim graduated from Emory University and the Medical 
College of Georgia, he moved to Portland to become the medical director 
of the health services division and the HIV/AIDS program at Multnomah 
County Health Department. At a time when a lack of public education and 
stigmatization of HIV/AIDS stymied research in America, Jim fought to 
build a greater understanding of the disease. Because of Jim's desire 
to see HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment improve through extensive 
research and because of the way he showed love and hope in his 
interactions with his patients, Jim helped push the doors open wide in 
the fight against HIV/AIDS.
  Over the years, Jim expanded his involvement in the community and the 
field of HIV/AIDS research and treatment. He would go on to become the 
chairman of the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners; cofound the Oregon 
AIDS taskforce; cofound Art AIDS; and sit as executive director and 
principal investigator at the Research and Education Group, where Jim 
and his colleagues conducted clinical research. Jim even managed to 
find time to serve on the board of trustees for the Portland Institute 
for Contemporary Art and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Also, 
over the past 35 years, both Jim and his husband, Geof Beasley, created 
an unbelievable Sherwood, OR, garden, Bella Madrona, a place where 
Jim's love of community, advocacy, and family still live on. The Bella 
Madrona garden has been nationally and internationally recognized, not 
only for its remarkable beauty, but as the site for many benefits 
through the years, including human and animal rights, environmental 
causes, and the arts.
  Jim was a valued and loved leader, a healer, and a family man worthy 
of emulation. With a full and loving heart and an ambitious mindset, 
Jim selflessly served Oregon and the Nation. While Jim will be 
remembered by those whose lives he touched, he will especially be 
remembered as a loving husband and partner of 47 years to Geof Beasley; 
dedicated father to daughter Adele; and caring brother to sisters, 
Miriam Tillman and Elizabeth Martin, and brother, George. I honor the 
esteemed life and career of Dr. Jim Sampson and thank him for his 
enduring legacy.

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