[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 76 (Thursday, May 10, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING PATTY BIRKHOLZ

  (Mr. HUIZENGA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember a friend and 
former colleague, former State Senator Patty Birkholz. I join my 
colleagues and friends in Lansing today by wearing purple in her honor, 
as she was affectionately known as Purple Patty. Literally down to the 
ink pens that she used, everything was purple.
  Senator Birkholz was first elected to the State legislature in 1996, 
as the first woman from Allegan County in the western side of Michigan. 
Then she became the first female Republican speaker pro tempore. After 
that she was elected to the State senate, where she served two terms.
  Upon leaving the legislature, Senator Birkholz was appointed director 
of the Office of the Great Lakes by Governor Rick Snyder and as the 
Michigan representative to the Great Lakes Commission. President Barack 
Obama appointed Senator Birkholz to the National Sea Grant Advisory 
Board, a position she continued until she passed away.
  Senator Birkholz was a passionate advocate for Michigan's natural 
resources and passed significant legislation, creating the Great Lakes 
Interbasin Compact, water withdrawal assessment laws, and ballast water 
standards that have affected all of the Great Lakes region. In 2010, a 
291-acre portion of the 1,000-acre Saugatuck Dunes State Park was 
renamed the ``Patricia Birkholz Natural Area'' by the Michigan 
Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
  She was a friend and a colleague who fought hard for her beliefs. She 
was tough, she was compassionate, and she was a great legislator. She 
will be deeply missed. Blessings to her family as we mourn her loss.

                          ____________________