[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 203 (Wednesday, December 13, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7996-S7997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Remembering Thomas Galyon

  Mr. President, last year, I stood on this floor and said a few words 
about a fellow Arkansan: Thomas Galyon of Rogers. We had just met to 
discuss his work with the Arkansas chapter of the National ALS 
Association. He had been diagnosed with ALS in 2014, and never one to 
let the grass grow under his feet, he had been a tireless advocate for 
ALS research ever since then.
  Well, I am sorry to report that Tom died last month on November 22. 
He lived 3 years after his diagnosis, which is about average these days 
for people with ALS. With his death, the National ALS Association lost 
one of its great champions.
  Tom was always bursting with energy. He was born in 1946 in Abingdon, 
VA, and he graduated from Emory & Henry College. He spent 33 years in 
the tourism industry, and after a rather brief and, I must say, failed 
stint in retirement, he went back to work as the property manager for 
the Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary's in Northwest Arkansas. As luck 
would have it, the ALS Association was headquartered in that very 
building, so he could give both organizations his all.

[[Page S7997]]

  When we met last year, Tom asked me to help fix a problem that people 
with ALS have when applying for disability insurance. There is a 5-
month waiting period to receive benefits, you see. Though that might be 
a prudent anti-fraud measure in many cases, for people with ALS, it 
consumes a lot of their remaining time in this world. So I joined with 
Senator Whitehouse to sponsor the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act, 
which would waive the waiting period for people with ALS. Tom's death 
should be a reminder of the urgent need to defeat this disease and to 
finally pass this bill into law. It is the least we can do to 
commemorate a man who gave this effort so much because, even in death, 
Tom's commitment was complete. By his request, his brain and spinal 
cord were donated to the Brain Bank of Miami, FL, to continue the 
search for a cure for ALS. It is not hard to understand why.
  He himself used to stress the positive in every situation. His motto 
was ``Blue skies always,'' and he certainly did all he could to bring 
blue skies into his life and the lives of those around him.
  So now that he has joined our Heavenly Father in the blue skies, I 
want to recognize him and the family he leaves behind: His wife of 44 
years, Sally Armstrong, their two children, and their two 
grandchildren.
  Our State is better off for Tom having lived in it, and all of us are 
better off for having known him. May he rest in peace.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Maryland.