[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF SERVICE OF W.L. PATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Weber) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WEBER of Texas. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to recognize the 
exemplary life of one Mr. W.L. Pate from Beaumont, Texas.
  Words cannot adequately express how deeply saddened Brenda and I were 
to hear of W.L. Pate's passing just the other day. As I think back, 
Madam Speaker, we are hard-pressed to remember anyone who gave more to 
their community than W.L. did to his--or ours, for that matter.
  The list of W.L.'s considerable accomplishments and contributions are 
far too numerous to be listed here, but here are just a few.
  W.L. was a two-term mayor of Beaumont. He was an Army veteran and had 
14 years of service as a city councilman. W.L. was the past president 
of the Texas Association of Mayors, Council Members and Commissioners. 
W.L. was on the board of the Texas Municipal League and served as TML 
president for Region 16.
  Never missing a chance to give back, W.L. assisted the District 14 
office every single year with military service academy nominations, and 
he was good at it and proud to be able to do it.

  I am particularly proud of W.L.'s passion project in recent years. 
W.L. was the driving force behind obtaining the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom that was posthumously awarded to Babe Didrikson Zaharias, a 
fantastic female athlete, given by President Donald Trump.
  I recognize and thank W.L. Pate for his servant leadership. Our 
deepest sympathy goes out to his family and friends, especially his 
daughters, Jennifer and Suzanne.
  This is a tremendous loss for Beaumont and the Nation. W.L.'s 
remarkable legacy of service and sacrifice is the epitome of what it 
means to be a great American. Our country would be well-served to have 
many more with such a servant's heart.
  Rest in peace, my friend. W.L. Pate, you done good.

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