[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               LEE BOTTS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 13, 2008

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Madam Speaker, it is with great honor and pleasure 
that I stand before you today to honor one of Northwest Indiana's most 
dedicated, distinguished, and honorable citizens. I have known Lee 
Botts for many years, and she is one of the most active and involved 
citizens I have ever known, especially when it comes to her service to 
protecting the Great Lakes and Lake Michigan's National Lakeshore. 
Today, Lee is celebrating a milestone, her 80th birthday. In her honor, 
a celebration will be taking place on Thursday, February 21, 2008, at 
the Metropolitan Club in Chicago, Illinois.
  Lee Botts spent her childhood in Kansas and Oklahoma, and as a young 
woman, Lee moved with her four children to Chicago's Hyde Park 
neighborhood. In Chicago, Lee became active in neighborhood 
associations, such as the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, and 
became active in the preservation of the Great Lakes. In 1966, Lee 
participated in the campaign to acknowledge the Indiana Dunes as a 
National Lakeshore. While Lee was active in the protection of the 
lakeshore, she was also a columnist for the Hyde Park Herald, a weekly 
community publication of which she later became the editor. As well as 
being active in community press, Lee also established the Hyde Park 
Garden Fair, which is still held on an annual basis. In the late 1960s, 
Lee also became a staff member of the Openlands Project in Chicago, an 
organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing public open space 
around Chicago and northern Illinois.
  In 1971, Lee founded the Lake Michigan Federation, known today as the 
Alliance for the Great Lakes. The Federation was the first independent 
citizen organization dedicated to the preservation of a specific Great 
Lake. As the leader of the Federation, Lee became dedicated to 
protecting the lakeshore and actively lobbied Congress to tackle issues 
of environmental protection, focusing on the first federal Clean Water 
Act. Because of her dedication to the environment, Lee served on the 
staff of the Environmental Protection Agency for several years when the 
agency was in its infancy, and in 1977 was appointed by President 
Carter as the head of the Great Lakes Basin Commission, headquartered 
in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Following this position, Lee worked with Mayor 
Harold Washington and the city of Chicago as a staff member and 
consultant for the city's newly developed Department of the 
Environment.
  Lee also founded the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center, a 
summer camp offering children of U.S. Steel employees an opportunity to 
learn about the environment and the necessity of its preservation. In 
addition to the numerous organizations Lee founded, she also made time 
to serve in various capacities at several other organizations, such as 
the Save the Dunes Council, the Northwest Indiana Quality of Life 
Council, Great Lakes United, the State of Illinois' Task Force of 
Global Climate Change, the State of Indiana Water Pollution Control 
Board, Chicago Wilderness, and the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning 
Commission.
  Madam Speaker, Lee Botts has given her time and efforts selflessly to 
the protection of our environment and lakeshore throughout her many 
years of service. At this time, I ask that you and all of my 
distinguished colleagues join me in commending her for her lifetime of 
service and dedication to her community. I also ask that you join me in 
wishing her a very happy 80th birthday.

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