[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  TRIBUTE TO PAUL LEHTO, RECIPIENT OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY'S 
            PRESIDENT'S AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED CITIZENSHIP

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                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 30, 2001

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to an 
individual in my congressional district, the 1st District of Michigan. 
This individual personifies the best qualities of community 
volunteers--vision, dedication, leadership, and humility. He has served 
as a coach for youth sports, as a local elected official with three 
decades of service, and he has headed up the citizens's advisory board 
for one of our newest national parks since the panel was formed. Truly, 
Paul Lehto of Calumet Townships has served his community and his 
country well.
  I salute Paul Lehto today, Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of his having 
received from Northern Michigan University the President's Award for 
Distinguished Citizenship.
  But for you and our House colleagues to really understand the 
accomplishments of Paul Lehto, Mr. Speaker, I need to review a little 
bit about the unique area where he has worked and served for so many 
years.
  The Keweenaw Peninsula, which sticks far out into Lake Superior, is 
the only place in the world where commercially abundant quantities of 
elemental coper have been found. From the 1840s to 1968, more than 11 
billion pounds--80 percent of the cooper in the world today--was 
extracted from mines as deep as 9,000 feet and shipped all around the 
world.
  The history of this process and region is so unique and so important 
to the growth of this nation that in 1992 Congress passed a bill 
creating the Keweenaw National Historical Park.
  Paul was raised and schooled in Kearsarge, a small village in the 
Keweenaw, where he still lives today. As a lifelong resident of the 
area, Paul was a personal witness to the demise of mining. After 
graduating from local schools he went to work for the Calumet and Hecla 
Mining Co. As a laborer and truck driver, and he served as treasurer of 
a local union until the mines closed in 1968.
  He was elected supervisor for Calumet Township in 1972, and he has 
been re-elected every term since then. He has faced major challenges, 
not the least of which were economic. In the mining heyday, Calumet was 
so prosperous and progressive that it came within one vote of being 
named Michigan's capital. By the late 1970s, however two-thirds of the 
storefronts in Calumet were vacant and 67 percent of the welfare 
recipients in Houghton County were in Calumet's zip code. A key to the 
vitality of the township, Calumet was in danger of being a ghost town.
  The end of the mining industry allowed homeowners for the first time 
in the region's history to purchase the land on which their homes sat, 
and during Paul's time in office township neighborhoods were platted.
  Paul recognized the importance of protecting the region's historical 
heritage by leading his township to be the first in the western Upper 
Peninsula of Michigan to enact the historic preservation and land-use 
ordinances. When the Keweenaw National Park was created and Paul 
assumed the post of chairman of the park's Advisory Commission, a task 
he continues to this day. Capitalizing on the region's history and 
natural beauty are keys to economic survival, and Paul has been on the 
cutting edge of this effort. A 16-acre lakeshore community park is 
another of his accomplishments.
  Amidst his other tasks, Paul Lehto has found time to coach youth 
hockey on several levels, and he has served as a commissioner on the 
Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission. 
This planning and re-granting agency has worked for years to assist 
with housing infrastructure and economic redevelopment projects in the 
region hit hard by the end of the copper business.
  I'd like to add a few personal comments, Mr. Speaker. Paul Lehto's 
accomplishments are great, but in many respects he is a true man of the 
region--a ``Yooper'' as we in the U.P. of Michigan style ourselves. As 
a typical Yooper, he does what needs to be done without looking for any 
award, and he accomplishes his tasks without fanfare. He will fight for 
what he believes in, but he will accept his victories with humility.
  In therefore gives me special pleasure to call your attention and 
that of our colleagues to the great honor from Northern Michigan 
University that has been bestowed on my friend, Paul Lehto.

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