[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 26130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE DAVID R. BROWER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening with deep respect, and with 
profound sadness in paying tribute to one of the greatest 
environmentalists of our time, Mr. David R. Brower, who passed away on 
Sunday, November 5, at his home in Berkeley, California.
  Mr. Brower's distinguished career of dedication and commitment to the 
preservation of our environment spanned more than fifty years.
  As a young man, Dave Brower fell in love with our planet, which he 
called Earth Island.
  He served as the executive director of the Sierra Club in 1952, and 
later, founded two important environmental organizations, the Friends 
of the Earth and the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies.
  In addition, in 1982, he founded Earth Island Institute, an 
organization that promotes protection and conservation of wilderness 
around the world.
  During his lifetime, he led hard fought fights to establish numerous 
national parks and seashores, including Point Reyes in northern 
California, the Northern Cascades, and the California Redwoods.
  Among these accomplishments, in the 1960's, Mr. Brower's activism was 
instrumental in preventing the construction of two major dams in the 
Grand Canyon.
  He was also successful in stopping plans to build dams at the Green 
River in Utah that would have seriously altered the landscape of the 
Dinosaur National Monument.
  Furthermore, Mr. Brower played a crucial role in the passage of the 
Wilderness Act of 1964, which preserved millions of acres of public 
land so that its natural conditions will remain for future generations 
to enjoy.
  Mr. Brower's strong conviction and foresight did not come without 
personal sacrifice.
  He took many hard stances for environmental protection that he 
believed would benefit humanity, sometimes against his colleagues, and 
many times against governmental agencies. And these sacrifices make Mr. 
Brower truly heroic.
  The death of Mr. Brower is a great loss to our nation. I, along with 
Mr. Brower's immediate family, friends, admirers and supporters, feel 
this monumental loss.
  But as we mourn his death, we also remember the legacy of hope and 
inspiration David left behind for us as a true leader in conservation.
  His passion for preserving our planet's remaining wilderness, our 
national parks, and seashores is a remarkable model of how one person 
can mobilize people's consciousness to change and to better our lives 
and our world.
  I cannot fully express enough gratitude for the contributions David 
Brower has made to our society and to the viability of our planet, but 
I can say that he literally changed the world for the better.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the 
late Mr. Brower's wife Anne, his four children Kenneth, Robert, 
Barbara, and John, his grandchildren, his friends, and supporters 
throughout the world.
  To Mr. Brower--May the Earth receive you with the love and compassion 
that you gave it, and may God Bless You.

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