[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16046]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            WILLIAM R. MOTE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to say a few words about William 
Russell Mote. Mr. Mote passed away a few days ago after a long and 
productive life, as Members heard my colleague, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Miller), announce from this podium a few minutes ago.
  I suppose not every American may know the Mote name, but surely they 
have been affected by his life and his generosity. William Mote 
contributed measurably to our understanding of the oceans and the 
fishes and other life in the oceans, helping us to learn how to be good 
stewards, taking care of these natural resources.
  Mr. Mote's accomplishments are very many, but I think his most 
notable one from my perspective was the establishment and the 
sustainment, the very generous sustainment, of the world-recognized 
Mote Marine Research Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida.
  Prior to redistricting in 1990 in Florida, I used to represent 
Sarasota and the Mote Marine Lab where it is. I can tell Members that 
today it is one of the premier marine laboratories in the world, an 
opinion that is quickly seconded by experts in this field, I would add.
  Mote Marine is a very busy, very professional, and very accomplished 
institution, just like its founder. While Mr. Mote has passed on, all 
of us are going to continue to benefit enormously from his life and the 
Mote Marine Laboratory, which continues on. We are in his debt for 
that.
  I would like to pass along to the many members of the Mote Marine 
laboratory community and their families my sincere condolences from 
myself and my wife, Mariel, and of course from other friends from 
southwest Florida which I now represent who understand the Mote Marine 
Laboratory and knew Mr. Mote well.
  We appreciate greatly the legacy that he leaves us of awareness about 
the oceans and how fragile they are, and that the fishes and the 
critters and mammals in that ocean do need stewardship, now that 
mankind has made such a strong imprint on our globe; the educational 
efforts that are being made at Mote Marine to share knowledge with 
people who need that knowledge and want that knowledge to push forward 
into the horizons of the unknown in our oceans; and of course, the 
research that is done there in so many areas.
  I have memories myself going back when I was a city councilman in the 
city of Sanibel trying to deal with the scourge of red tide, which is 
something that occasionally visits the Florida beaches. It is a very 
unpleasant thing, with dead fish and a bad smell, and it is bad for 
tourism, but it obviously says that something is wrong with the 
environment. We tried to understand that.
  That was my first meeting with Mr. Mote, going to his laboratory and 
saying, can you help me understand red tide? Is there something we can 
do about that? That pursuit still goes on. That was back some 20 or 25 
years ago, I think.
  Bill Mote was a hands-on activist. He got very enthusiastically 
involved. He had a wonderful, charming way about going into a project. 
He was very pleasant. He was very knowledgeable. He was very eager to 
share whatever knowledge he had and pass it along.
  He certainly raised awareness about sharks. I think most of us are 
familiar with the movie, but the facts about sharks, what they really 
are, how they live, what goes on with shark populations in the world, 
we owe a huge debt to the Mote Marine laboratory and the work that has 
been done there.
  Dolphins, I remember going to Mote Marine to get assistance in 
writing legislation for dolphin protection. There is such a thing as 
dolphin captive program legislation now to protect our dolphin 
inventories, because they were being exploited at one point.
  Manatee rescue operations, an endangered species in Florida. Those 
who have seen manatees know in what perilous shape they are and how 
wonderful they are, what great creatures, and the work that has been 
done there to try and make sure that we will continue to have manatees 
on this globe. All of these kinds of things are wonderful parts of the 
natural resource that Bill Mote found and fell in love with and decided 
that he would do something about.
  I would suggest that Bill Mote met the test that most of us would 
like to meet. He left life a little better on this planet for the work 
that he did. I think that is his best and most wonderful legacy.




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