[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7529]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING MS. PAULETTE W. WILLIAMS ON THE OCCASION OF HER 
    RETIREMENT AS DIRECTOR OF THE MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA EMERGENCY 
                           MANAGEMENT AGENCY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 20, 2005

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and pleasure that I 
rise to honor Ms. Paulette Williams on occasion of her recent 
retirement from the position of director of the Mobile County Emergency 
Management Agency. Throughout her 40-year career, Paulette has 
contributed her extensive knowledge and expertise at the local, State, 
and Federal levels of emergency management and civil defense.
  As an area frequently impacted by natural disasters and other such 
events, particularly during hurricane season each year, Mobile County 
has a well-established need for an efficient and well-run emergency 
management system. Paulette Williams has provided the leadership for 
such an organization, and her presence and expertise has been extremely 
helpful numerous times during the past several years, most 
significantly during Hurricane Ivan which made impact on Alabama's Gulf 
Coast on September 16, 2004. In the hours and days immediately 
following the storm, Paulette worked tirelessly with her team and with 
officials from all levels of government to coordinate the emergency 
relief so vitally needed by the tens of thousands of residents in the 
county. The work was incredibly difficult and the hours quite long, but 
through it all she maintained a firm hold on the situation and worked 
to ensure the county returned to as normal a life as possible in as 
short a time period as possible.
  This work ethic has been a hallmark of her entire career and has 
resulted in numerous professional accomplishments. In 1992, she was 
selected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as one of four 
emergency management staff members from Alabama to assist in the State 
of Florida following Hurricane Andrew. In 1994, she was invited by the 
United States Department of Defense to participate in the first 
International Emergency Management Conference. The Alabama House of 
Representatives appointed her to serve as a member of the State's 
Homeland Security Task Force in 2003, and the next year she was chosen 
by Alabama Governor Bob Riley to serve on the Alabama Citizens Corps 
Council.
  At the present time, she serves as president of Alabama 3, one of the 
state's two disaster assistance medical teams, and serves on the 
executive board of the Greater Mobile Emergency Planning Committee. She 
also serves as the legislative chairperson of the Alabama Association 
of Emergency Managers.
  In addition to her impressive professional resume, Paulette has been 
recognized numerous times during her career for her outstanding 
contributions to her career field and her community. She was selected 
to be included in Who's Who in America for the 1998-1999 year, and she 
was listed in Who's Who of American Women between 1995 and 2000. 
Additionally, Governor Riley honored her when he selected Paulette as 
the first female and first merit employee ever selected for the post of 
Director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.
  Mr. Speaker, there are few individuals who have provided more 
invaluable service to their community, their county, and their state 
than Paulette Williams. She is an outstanding example of the quality 
individuals who have devoted their lives to public service, and I ask 
my colleagues to join with me in congratulating her on the occasion of 
her retirement. I know her colleagues, her family, and her many friends 
join with me in praising her accomplishments and extending thanks for 
her many efforts on behalf of Mobile County and the state of Alabama, 
and I would like to wish her much success in all future endeavors as 
she enters this new phase of her life.

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