[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5566]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                          MR. HENRI LANDWIRTH

 Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to 
acknowledge the accomplishments of Mr. Henri Landwirth, a great 
philanthropist from my home State of Florida. Mr. Landwirth, a 
Holocaust survivor born in Belgium in 1927, has beaten the odds to live 
the true American dream. In addition to his success in the hotel 
industry, Mr. Landwirth has founded several charitable organizations. 
His countless acts of charity continue to affect tens of thousands of 
lives. Mr. Landwirth has received numerous honors for his contributions 
to society, and today I rise to show my appreciation for all that he 
has done for the state of Florida and for people in need.
  Henri Landwirth spend most of his teenage years during World War II 
in death camps and labor camps in Nazi Germany. He narrowly escaped 
with his life after a Nazi firing squad marched him into the woods to 
be shot and decided at the last minute to spare his life. After the 
war, Mr. Landwirth immigrated to the United States in 1950 with only 
$20 to his name. He was drafted into the United States Army within 
three years. After serving in the military and learning English, he 
enrolled in a course in hotel management and found entry-level 
employment in a New York hotel, quickly mastering his job and learning 
every job in the hotel.
  Mr. Landwirth moved to Florida in 1954, and became Manager of the 
100-room Starlite Motel in Cocoa Beach near Cape Canaveral, home of the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, Kennedy Space 
Center. The original seven astronauts, referred to as the ``Mercury 
Seven''--M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John Glenn, Jr.; 
Virgil ``Gus'' Grissom; Walter Schirra, Jr.; Alan Shepard, Jr.; and 
Donald ``Deke'' Slayton--chose the Starlite Motel as their temporary 
residence. During this period, Mr. Landwirth developed strong 
friendships with these astronauts, which still bind them together.
  Mr. Landwirth is now a partner in a successful Central Florida hotel 
company, with John Glenn and others, and he has spearheaded several 
initiatives to help those in need. He and the Mercury Seven astronauts 
founded the Mercury Seven Foundation, now known as the Astronaut 
Scholarship Foundation, which provides scholarships to young science 
students. In the 1970's, Mr. Landwirth founded an organization in honor 
of his mother, the Fanny Landwirth Foundation, through which he built a 
school and a center for senior citizens in Orlando, Florida. He also 
created a scholarship program, which allowed underprivileged Israeli 
students to come to the United States as visiting scholars.
  In 1986, Mr. Landwirth founded Give Kids the World, a non-profit 
resort in Kissimmee, Florida, that provides terminally ill children and 
their families an all-expenses paid week-long vacation to central 
Florida and its popular attractions. Give Kids the World has served 
over 55,000 children throughout the United States and worldwide. The 
organization has grown from serving 329 children in its first year to a 
51-acre resort that can accommodate 7,000 families a year.
  In 1999, Mr. Landwirth founded Dignity U Wear, a Jacksonville-based 
foundation that provides new clothing to children and families who are 
homeless, abused, abandoned, or neglected. The operation donates new 
clothing, shoes and personal hygiene items to 98 shelters in 16 states, 
and is currently working to expand into 30 states across the nation.
  In 2001, Mr. Landwirth founded Building for Life based in 
Jacksonville, which works in collaboration with other organizations, 
Operation Hope and FreshMinisters, an interfaith organization, of which 
Mr. Landwirth serves on the Board of Trustees. This most recent 
charitable organization aims to refurbish neglected homes while 
providing an opportunity for the homeless to learn new job skills.
  I am proud to have Henri Landwirth as a citizen of the great state of 
Florida. On behalf of all Floridians, I offer him thanks and 
appreciation for all that he has done to help those in need.

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