[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 26, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E889-E890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING WILLIAM ``BILL'' ROOT ON HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2023

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to a local hero on his 
100th birthday. William ``Bill'' Root of East Lansing, Michigan, began 
serving his country in World War II and has never stopped, taking on 
various high level governmental and advisory positions over the course 
of his long and fruitful career, and devoting his life to working for 
global peace.
  Born on September 20, 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts, it's not likely 
that a young Bill Root aspired to one day be named the ``Grandfather of 
Export Controls,'' but he did know he wanted to use his life to make 
his Nation a stronger, better place. After graduating from Colorado 
College, Bill was spurred into action after the attack on Pearl Harbor 
and joined the United States Navy. There, he served as a radar 
maintenance officer in the Pacific Theater, and upon his honorable 
discharge from the Navy, Bill was in the first graduating class from 
what is now the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia 
University where he received his Master's Degree along with a 
certificate from the Russian Institute. Around the same time, he 
married the love of his life, Constance Young. Over the course of their 
incredible 72 year marriage, the Roots would go on to raise four 
children, and those ``roots'' have spread with seven surviving 
grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
  Bill's first civilian job was with the Bureau of the Budget, where he 
worked from 1948 to 1950, before joining the State Department later 
that year. There he stayed for 33 years, serving as an economics 
officer in various United States embassies including Germany, Denmark, 
and Vietnam. Root learned years later that he was the only State 
Department employee stationed in Vietnam who filed a message protesting 
the U.S. invasion of Cambodia using the dissent channel that was 
formally established to communicate outside the normal chain of 
command. In 1976, he became director of the Office of East-West Trade 
at the State Department. He resigned from that position in 1983 in 
protest over inter-departmental deliberations about export control 
policy.

[[Page E890]]

  For the last 30 years, Bill has consulted on export controls, first 
from his home near Washington, D.C., and then, virtually, from East 
Lansing, Michigan, where he moved in 2015. In 1989 he co-authored the 
book, ``United States Export Controls,'' which he updated regularly 
through 2013 and is still today considered the definitive volume on the 
issue. In recent years he has continued to provide expert commentary on 
export controls with respect to China, Russia, and global issues like 
the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. At 100, Bill is still widely 
regarded as a leading national expert on the topic.
  Since leaving the federal government, Bill has pursued his passion 
for working for world peace by participating in the Friends Committee 
on National Legislation and other organizations with a global focus. 
For a full century, he has lived an extraordinary life of principled 
service, and continues to give back to the Nation and global community 
he so intricately understands and loves. As he now celebrates his 100th 
birthday, I ask that my colleagues in the United States House of 
Representatives join me in congratulating him on this milestone and 
thanking him for his myriad contributions.

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