[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 31, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5657-S5658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Ron Forman

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I want to speak for a few minutes about 
a favorite son in Louisiana, but to do that, I have to give my remarks 
a little context.
  I think, like most Americans and, I know, like the Presiding Officer, 
I love animals. I grew up in a rural area in Louisiana. And let's see. 
We had dogs--not all at the same time, but we had dogs. We had cats. We 
had hamsters. We had chipmunks. We had squirrels. We had alligators, 
baby alligators.
  Now, the danger of a baby alligator is that they become a big 
alligator, and we used to keep our little, baby alligators--their names 
were Tim and Tubo--in a big washbasin in our backyard, and we put wire 
on the top. The alligators--they were about this long--were in the tub. 
Why would we keep wire on the top? Because the neighborhood cats would 
try to get in there and eat them.
  Well, Tim and Tubo grew, and they grew, and they grew, and, one day, 
we forgot to put the screen wire on the top of the washbasin with the 
water in which Tim and Tubo were residing. By this time, they were 
about this long. And one of our neighbor's favorite cats, all of a 
sudden, just had three legs. And we had to release Tim and Tubo at that 
point.
  Dad said: No, Tim and Tubo are too big. We have got to release them 
back to the swamp.
  Well, I remember we had a baby possum, and I am probably leaving some 
varmints out. But I love animals. I especially love dogs. I have two at 
home. I wouldn't ask Becky to choose between me and our pups. And I 
love when people bring their dogs to work.
  I am not going to wade into this fierce debate about what kind of pet 
and what kind of animal is best, but I think we can all agree that 
there is a special bond between our species and our animal friends. 
Animals can teach us a lot. Animals teach us love. Animals teach us 
patience. Animals teach us compassion. Animals, especially dogs, teach 
us responsibility. Animals teach us to appreciate God's creation. 
Through our connection with animals, including but not limited to dogs, 
we all gain a deeper respect for the world around us.
  Now, in Louisiana, we are blessed to have many animal havens. Some of 
our animals, of course, are wild. I can remember in my State when 
alligators were almost extinct. Now we have more alligators than 
people. By the way, the alligators are surprisingly well organized. So 
be careful.
  But we also have a lot of zoos. We have aquariums, none better than 
those in New Orleans, and those of you who have been to New Orleans may 
know this. New Orleans is home to what we call the Audubon Nature 
Institute. That is a nonprofit that we set up in Louisiana. It operates 
the Audubon Zoo in Uptown New Orleans; the Audubon Aquarium on the 
riverfront, down near the French Quarter--the Audubon Aquarium and 
Insectarium we call it; the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center; the 
Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species; and the Audubon 
Coastal Wildlife Network. It is sort of our group of institutions all 
under the umbrella of the Audubon Nature Institute, and they also do 
world-class research and work in conservation.
  Every year, the Audubon Nature Institute and all of its institutions 
that make it up bring thousands of Louisianians and hundreds of 
thousands of visitors in our State closer to nature. It fuels our love 
for wildlife, and it fuels our love for the outdoors.
  Audubon Park, where our zoo is located--our first institution before 
we added the aquarium and the other animal havens--wasn't always a 
prized institution. It wasn't. One man--one person--had a lot of help, 
but one person

[[Page S5658]]

led the effort to turn what most of us once referred to as an animal 
ghetto--our zoo in Audubon Park. It was. It was an animal ghetto but 
what today we call both an animal haven and an animal heaven. That 
man's name is Ron Forman--Ron Forman.
  Ron joined the Audubon Park and Zoo in 1972. That seems like 
yesterday to me, but to our pages here in the front row, it is a long 
time ago. Ron started when he was young. He started as a liaison to 
city hall in New Orleans.
  At the time, the zoo in Audubon Park was a disaster. It was just a 
disaster. The enclosures for the animals were small. They were dirty. 
They were really filthy. They were prison-like. Ron was asked to 
describe them one time.
  He said:

       They are prison-like.

  This is unacceptable. The condition in which we placed our animals 
was an embarrassment to the city. It was an embarrassment to the people 
of Louisiana, and the people knew it. Ron Forman sensed that. He had 
the vision to be able to say: You know, I can lead an effort. I am not 
just going to go to government and ask for a bunch of money. I can lead 
an effort, Ron said, in the community to build support for the zoo, and 
he did.

  He not only improved the zoo--we have an aquarium. We have an 
insectarium. We have an R&D--a research and development--park. We have 
a conservation park. Ron Forman delivered. He delivered for the human 
species, and he delivered for our animal friends.
  By 1977, Ron had climbed the ranks, and he became director of the 
Audubon Zoo. Then he took off and so did our zoo and our animal havens. 
He led the effort to transform Audubon Park, which you know is right 
across from Tulane University, into the Audubon Nature Institute, 
which, as I said, is the nonprofit conservation and zoological system 
we know today.
  Ron helped--and he had a lot of help. I mean, there are thousands of 
people who contributed, but Ron led the charge. He helped transform a 
cramped and dirty zoo into a state-of-the-art conservation network, 
including a zoo, an aquarium, an insectarium, gardens, research 
institutions, and conservation efforts. And the Audubon Nature 
Institute has thrived. It hasn't been easy, but it has thrived in large 
part, in substantial part because of Ron Forman.
  Now, we got hit by Hurricane Katrina, and it was bad. When we did, 
the Audubon Zoo and the insectarium and the aquarium and Audubon Park 
were terribly damaged. Ron didn't get discouraged. He saw the zoo, for 
example, as a beacon of hope--not as an object of depression but as a 
beacon of hope.
  First of all, because of the precautions that he and his team took, 
we only lost three animals in the storm at the zoo. And if you have 
been to the zoo, there are trees everywhere. It is just a small 
miracle. God smiled on us in that respect. The aquarium, unfortunately, 
down on the river, suffered substantial, substantial losses.
  It wasn't easy to rebuild all of those facilities. It was very, very 
hard, but Ron Forman understood. He understood instinctively that we 
needed to get these institutions back up on their feet because families 
needed a place to go to forget their hardships.
  Hurricane Katrina hit in late August. Ron Forman stood up. I thought 
he had lost his mind. He stood up, and he said: I am going to have 
Audubon Zoo reopened by Thanksgiving weekend.
  We were hitting August. Forman stands up in front of God, country, 
and Louisiana and says: I am going to have the zoo open by November.
  I thought Ron had been day drinking. I said: It can't be done.
  I didn't say that publicly. I thought, if anybody can do it, Ron 
Forman can. He did.
  This is what he said. He said: We are a city without kids and 
families, and a city without kids and families right now--because so 
many of our families and kids have left--is a city without soul. It is 
a city without heart. So we just thought it was critical to get the 
thing open for Thanksgiving weekend.
  And he did. The zoo opened on Thanksgiving weekend. We were able to 
give thousands of parents and children a sense of normalcy and optimism 
during the holiday season at a very difficult time for my State and for 
my city.
  Now, Ron also led us through the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many 
businesses and many institutions, the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium and 
Gardens had to close or restrict attendance to try to help stop the 
spread of the virus. Attendance at the zoo dropped 50 percent--50 
percent. We had almost no cashflow. Under different leadership, we 
wouldn't have made it. We wouldn't have made it, but we had a secret 
weapon. We had Ron Forman, because Ron had the passion, and he had the 
business sense, and he had the support of the community and the support 
of government to guide the nonprofit through the pandemic.
  Now, for the first time in 50 years, Louisiana is looking for a new 
leader for the Audubon Nature Institute because Ron is stepping down.
  I am sad to see him go. I am happy for him. He is still going to stay 
on as president emeritus, and we are still going to be able to access 
his big heart and tap his big brain, but we are going to have a new 
leader. But thank God Ron is going to stick around for a while to 
continue his advocacy while we look for a new CEO.
  Ron Forman made the Audubon Zoo--he made New Orleans home to one of 
the country's--one of the world's best zoos. He made New Orleans home 
to one of the world's best aquariums and best insectariums and best 
research and development centers and best conservation efforts. He 
didn't do it alone, but he led us, and that is why I wanted to rise 
today. I just wanted to thank Ron. I wanted to thank Ron Forman for his 
vision. I wanted to thank Ron Forman for his guts. Some of the things 
Ron did were not always popular. They were right. But it took courage. 
I want to thank Ron Forman for his dedication. I want to thank Ron 
Forman for his love of animals, and I want to thank Ron Forman for his 
love of people. He brought us all together in New Orleans. I just will 
never forget him for what he did for us.
  So, Ron, if you are listening, thank you, my friend, for giving so 
much to our animal friends. Thank you, Ron Forman, for giving so much 
to the people of Louisiana and the people of America. Thank you, Ron 
Forman, for your leadership.
  I yield to my colleague.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

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