[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7253-7254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     80TH BIRTHDAY OF CARL LINDNER

  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, today, my dear friend, and one of 
Ohio's and America's most successful businessmen, Carl Lindner, is 
celebrating his 80th birthday. I extend to him my sincere best wishes.
  Carl got his business start in 1940, founding United Dairy Farmers 
along with his father and his brothers, Bob and Dick and his sister 
Dorothy.
  From that first beginning, Carl Lindner fine-tuned his business 
acumen and has never looked back. As he says, ``only in America.'' 
Today, he is chairman of the board and chief executive officer and 
founder of American Financial Group, one of our Nation's largest 
insurance firms.
  He is also chairman of the board and CEO of Chiquita Brands 
International as well as the Great American Group of Insurance 
Companies.
  He is active in a number of organizations and institutions in the 
Cincinnati area and in Washington.
  He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades--and there are a 
number of them--including the Golden Plate Award by the American 
Academy of Achievement in 1978. He is also a 33rd degree Mason and is 
the recipient of the Van Rensselaer Medal--one of only 14 people 
worldwide to receive such a distinction.
  In 1998, he was awarded the Gourgas Medal, which is the most 
distinguished honor given by the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite 
``in recognition of notably distinguished service in the cause of 
Freemasonry, country or humanity.''
  A religious man, Carl Lindner has given of himself to those of faiths 
other than his own. In 1989, the Hebrew Union College awarded Carl the 
Jewish Institute of Religion Interfaith Award. In 1995 he received the 
Jewish National Fund's International Peace Award--the highest 
international honor and award given by the Jewish National Fund.
  Carl's civic and business accomplishments run the gamut, from the 
Friars Club's Centennial Award in 1985 to the National Council of the 
Boy Scouts of America's ``Silver Beaver'' award in 1995 to the 
Distinguished Service Citation by the National Conference of Christians 
and Jews.
  He has also been inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Business Hall 
of Fame and the Junior Achievement National Business Hall of Fame. 
Further, in 1997, he received the Heritage Award from the Cincinnati 
Urban League.
  Carl Lindner is also a great believer in quality education, and has 
devoted his time, energy and resources to encourage students and 
provide them with institutions in which to learn. His service and 
generosity have earned him three honorary doctorates from Judson 
College in 1983, the University of Cincinnati in 1985 and Xavier 
University in 1991. He was also presented with the Lincoln Award from 
Northern Kentucky University in 1993.
  In addition, the College of Business Administration at the University 
of Cincinnati is housed in Carl Lindner Hall and the school has 
established the Carl Lindner Annual Medal for Outstanding Business 
Achievement and a new honors program--the Carl Lindner Honors-Plus 
program. Xavier University has dedicated the Carl Lindner Family 
Physics Building. Carl and his wife Edyth are also major benefactors of 
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, a school founded by their son, Carl 
Lindner III.
  The generosity of Carl and Edyth Lindner has been felt by the 
Cincinnati Zoo with its Lindner Family Center for Reproduction of 
Endangered Wildlife, the Museum Center with its Lindner Ice Age 
Exhibit, the Health Alliance of Cincinnati with its Lindner Center for 
Clinical Cardiovascular Research Center, and the Scottish Rite with its 
Lindner Learning Center.

[[Page 7254]]

  Carl Lindner's success in business is only surpassed by his 
outstanding service to his fellow man. He is not a man to point to his 
achievements; people only know a fraction of what he has contributed to 
the community. He has given to scores of charities that no one knows 
about, and he gives because he has a tremendous heart. In fact, he goes 
out of his way to avoid publicity.
  I will never forget that when in 1996 the gambling interests in the 
country were trying to bring casino gambling into Ohio. As the 
Governor, I didn't think it was in the best interest of the State to 
have casino gambling, that the liabilities far outweighed the benefits. 
Those in favor of gambling were spending money like water on 
advertising. I wanted to oppose it, but I didn't have the money to 
match even a fraction of what they were spending. I called upon Carl 
Lindner.
  I explained to him the other side of the story on gambling and why we 
needed to keep it out of Ohio. Fortunately, I didn't have to convince 
him. He, too, agreed that gambling was not the way for Ohio and he 
offered whatever assistance we needed to ensure that gambling did not 
come to our state. The proponents of gambling fought hard, but we 
fought back thanks to Carl. And we won--two-thirds of the voters 
rejected casino gambling in Ohio. I will say today on the Senate floor, 
without Carl Lindner's help we would not have won that battle.
  It is because of his selflessness and humility that I felt it 
important to rise on the Senate floor today to pay tribute to this 
great American. There are few people in this nation who have the kind 
of strength of their beliefs that Carl Lindner has, and usually they 
end at people's wallets, but Carl backs up his beliefs with his support 
both in time and money. We need more people in this country like Carl 
Lindner.
  And one more thing that impresses me about Carl is his relationship 
with his wonderful family. Carl rejoices in his marvelous family, his 
children and particularly his wife, Edyth. Edyth has been a wonderful 
partner of his over the years, and they have a great marriage. And I 
know Carl is especially proud of his sons. As a father, I understand 
that so often the successes of our children surpasses anything we do in 
our own right.
  Mr. President, there are few Americans I know who have done as much 
and have given as much to their nation as Carl Lindner. I have been 
truly blessed with his friendship and I am inspired by his warmth and 
humility, and Mr. President, if you look up humility in the dictionary, 
there should be a picture of Carl Lindner. May Carl and his beloved 
family celebrate many more birthdays together.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  (The remarks of Mr. Bingaman pertaining to the introduction of S. 864 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. BINGAMAN addressed the Chair.

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