[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JERRY ELMER

 Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I rise today to honor Mr. 
Elmer, one of Rhode Island's leading advocates for humanitarian and 
environmental causes. Mr. Elmer is set to retire after a long and 
successful career, most recently with the Conservation Law Foundation.
  After graduating from Rhode Island College and Harvard Law School, 
Mr. Elmer devoted the first part of his career to humanitarian, peace, 
and security issues. He was codirector of Rhode Island's American 
Friends Service Committee, where he focused on nuclear disarmament and 
human rights. He also traveled extensively in South and Southeast Asia 
to research the status of human rights and the effect of Western 
military and economic aid programs in the region.
  Mr. Elmer's work yielded important, lasting change. He authored a key 
referendum to freeze the production and deployment of nuclear weapons, 
which appeared as a ballot question in Rhode Island in 1982. He then 
led the successful statewide campaign for that referendum. The 1982 
nuclear freeze measure was, at that time, the largest nationally 
coordinated voter referendum in U.S. history.
  Later in his career, Mr. Elmer turned to the fight for climate action 
for renewable power in Rhode Island's energy market. At the 
Conservation Law Foundation, Mr. Elmer appeared before Federal and 
State courts and the Public Utilities Commission to enforce Rhode 
Island's renewable energy laws. He was the principal author of several 
of Rhode Island's major renewable energy statutes. Notably, he drafted 
the long-term contracting statue, which gave rise to the Nation's first 
offshore wind project, the Block Island Wind Farm, and helped to write 
the distributed generation standard contracts law, to create a 
comprehensive framework to spur development of small, local renewable 
energy projects across the State. In recent years, Mr. Elmer led 
successful opposition to the siting of a fossil fuel power plant in 
Burrillville, RI, and has been one of Rhode Island's great 
environmental litigators.
  Mr. Elmer is a staunch advocate for human rights, peace, and action 
on climate. His tireless efforts on behalf of the Conservation Law 
Foundation and Rhode Island echo far beyond our State. I am proud to 
recognize his service and thank him for such an impressive career in 
battle for great causes.

                          ____________________