[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LIFE OF ALFRED J. DUNLAP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Yoho) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to honor the memory of a 
friend, a man from Ocala, Florida, a man I consider a friend of mine, 
Mr. Al Dunlap.
  I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Dunlap at a charity event in my 
district, where he and his wife of 50 years, Judy, were providing 
scholarships for local schoolchildren. A self-described ``nothing kid 
from the slums of Hoboken, New Jersey,'' he was a tough guy, a shrewd 
businessman known around the world, but a man with a big heart.
  Mr. Dunlap earned a degree in engineering at the United States 
Military Academy, West Point, and served our Nation in the U.S. Army. 
He went on to lead many successful businesses around the world and had 
dined with kings and queens and just wealthy people around the world.
  He moved his work down to the Ocala, Florida, area, where I live. But 
it is not his work in the business world that he will be most 
remembered for. Mr. Dunlap was an important part of his community and 
was always there to lend a helping hand to his friends, his neighbors, 
and his community.
  He supported my rival university in our State, Florida State 
University, to the tune of over $40 million, and we always had fun 
ribbing each other about the Gators and the Seminoles.
  During his lifetime, the kindness and selflessness of Mr. Dunlap and 
his wife, Judy, touched many lives, and he will be greatly missed.


                   Honoring the Life of Murrel Hines

  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who was a pillar 
in our community and in the agricultural community, Mr. Murrel Hines. I 
have known Mr. Hines, Murrel, for more than 35 years. In fact, I knew 
him before I became a veterinarian and was able to work on their family 
farm.
  He and the rest of the Hines family had a profound impact on my 
professional career as a large animal veterinarian but also as a 
person. The Hines family farm is a generational farm that goes back to 
the 1850s. Today, the Hines family is the cornerstone of the Gilchrest 
community.
  When you look at farm families in America, they are the salt of the 
Earth. Mr. Hines and his family were those people. They were the salt 
of the Earth. They would do anything for you at anytime, anywhere, any 
day, and ask nothing from you in return.

  Some of my earliest memories as a young veterinarian, not even out of 
vet school yet, included working with the Hines family on their farm. I 
can recall working cows in their pens in the morning and joining the 
family for lunch, where there was no shortage of homemade biscuits by 
his wife, Ms. Betty Jo. Jokes and stories ran wild, and we always had a 
great time. He was the pillar of the family, the patriarch.
  One thing about Mr. Murrel, there was never a shortage of work ethic 
in the man. I saw him working cattle up into his 80s every day, from 
morning until night. In fact, he said he had retired, but he would show 
up at 7:30 and work until 9 at night.
  Despite quitting school at the age of 13, Mr. Murrel had more common 
sense and business acumen than most who go all the way through college. 
He successfully grew watermelons, tobacco, peanuts, hay, grass, and 
cattle. He also grew his father's cattle operation beyond what others 
said could be done.
  Mr. Murrel knew, according to the Scriptures in the Psalms, that the 
Lord had no need for a bull or a goat, for every beast of the forest 
was His, as were all the cattle on a thousand hills. Murrel himself 
sure knew what it was like to have that many cows. But seriously, he 
was a proud caretaker of the Lord's land and a man of conviction and 
faith.
  Just last year, he was presented the Conservation Stewardship Award 
for his work in best farming practices. To him, recognition and awards 
weren't necessary. He just always did what was right.
  He was, in every sense of the word, a true cowboy. A vise-like grip, 
an easy smile, a man of great faith but of few words, he was a family 
man. Married to his wife, Betty Jo, for over 70 years, he was an 
example to us all when it came to family, work, common sense, giving 
back, and, ultimately, life.
  It is my honor to have known him and worked beside him and to have 
shared so many memories with him and the rest of the Hines family over 
the years.
  Mr. Speaker, in honor of my friend and mentor, Mr. Murrel Hines, I 
would like to close with ``The Cowboy's Prayer.''
  ``Heavenly Father, I pause, mindful of the many blessings You have 
bestowed upon me. I ask that You will guide me in my life. Help me, 
Lord, to live my life in such a manner that when I make that last ride 
to the country up there, where the grass grows lush and the water runs 
cool, that You will take me by the hand and say, `Welcome home, 
cowboy.' Amen.''

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