[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 109 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ALLEN GILBERT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to recognize the 
achievements and contributions of a remarkable advocate and 
distinguished leader in my home State of Vermont.
  This summer, Allen Gilbert will be stepping down from his position as 
executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont. 
For more than 12 years, Allen has inspired Vermonters and many others 
as an advocate for personal freedoms.
  When Allen began at the ACLU-VT, the office had three staff members, 
only one of whom was full time. Under Allen's leadership, the office 
has grown to a staff of five, with two lawyers committed to the State's 
legislative activities. Allen has become widely known for expanding the 
work and visibility of the ACLU-VT. Those who have had the privilege of 
working with Allen cite his boundless wisdom and passion for civil 
liberties among his many notable qualities.
  During his time with the ACLU-VT, Allen has been a champion of free 
speech, government transparency, and privacy rights, not just in 
Vermont but nationwide. I have long counted him as an ally in my own 
work. I was proud to invite him to testify before the U.S. Senate 
Judiciary Committee in 2007 about the REAL ID Act. More recently, 
Allen's contributions were extremely helpful as I developed reforms to 
curtail government surveillance powers, culminating in the enactment of 
the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015. Allen and I have also worked together to 
end Federal vehicle checkpoints near White River Junction.
  Among many successes, Allen is well-known in Vermont for his work on 
cases to protect students' rights to freedom of speech and political 
expression and the rights of the LGBT community. More recently, Allen 
and the ACLU-VT have worked to create more consistency among Vermont 
law enforcement agencies regarding the use of force. And Allen's work 
highlighting automated license plate readers, cell phone tracking 
devices, facial recognition technology, and the use of domestic drones 
has helped to educate Vermonters and its policymakers about the need to 
address these evolving technologies. In doing so, Allen has once again 
demonstrated his leadership in protecting Vermonters.
  I am not alone in recognizing Allen's talents and tenacity. In 2012, 
the Vermont Press Association awarded him with the Matthew Lyon Award 
for his lifetime commitment to the First Amendment and protecting the 
public's right to know. The award is named after the Vermont 
Congressman who won reelection from jail in 1798, while serving time 
for violating the Sedition Act because he challenged the power of the 
Presidency. Matthew Lyon is considered one of our Nation's earliest 
free speech heroes.
  Allen's commitment to freedom of speech and equality extends far past 
his 12 years at the ACLU-VT. In earlier years, Allen was a reporter and 
editor at the Rutland Herald and the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. He 
also taught writing at a number of Vermont colleges and served as chair 
of the Worcester, VT, School Board while it supported a case for equal 
education opportunity. That 1997 Vermont Supreme Court case ultimately 
changed the way we fund public education in Vermont.
  Although Allen is leaving ACLU-VT, I know he will remain a lifelong 
advocate for the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. As Allen has 
said, ``There's a saying that civil liberties are never permanently 
won; you have to continue to fight for them constantly.'' He is an 
exemplary Vermonter, and I know he will continue that fight.

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