[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO MILLARD FULLER

 Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to Millard 
Fuller, a great American entrepreneur who dedicated his life to 
sheltering the poor. Millard passed away on February 3, 2009. He leaves 
behind a great legacy of leadership and of service to the world's most 
vulnerable residents.
  Millard was born in 1935 in Lanett, AL. It was in this town that 
Millard, at only 6 years old, earned his first profit by selling pigs 
and chickens. His entrepreneurial spirit would certainly carry him far. 
After some time working as a door-to-door salesman selling silk hosiery 
and underwear, Millard attended Auburn University to study economics. 
Following his graduation, Millard attended my alma mater, the 
University of Alabama School of Law, and it was there that he married 
his wife Linda.
  While a law student at the University of Alabama, Millard expanded 
his entrepreneurial horizons and began selling Christmas trees and 
mistletoe with our fellow student, Morris Dees. Together, they would go 
on to form a lucrative direct marketing business selling cookbooks and 
other items. This business would make Millard a millionaire by the time 
he reached the young age of 29. When his work and devotion to monetary 
success began to threaten his personal relationships, however, Millard 
and Linda made the decision to simplify their lives by selling their 
possessions and dedicating their lives to their Christian values.
  In 1965, Millard and Linda moved to Koinonia Farm in south Georgia. 
It was there that Millard and Linda met and became close friends with 
the farm's founder, Clarence Jordan. Clarence and Millard had much in 
common and together they developed the concept of a housing program 
that would provide no-interest loans to people to build modest homes. 
This idea eventually grew into Habitat for Humanity.
  In 1976, from a tiny house in Americus, GA, Millard and Linda 
established Habitat for Humanity. Today, the organization has built 
more than 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 
million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, 
affordable shelter. In April 2009, Habitat for Humanity's Alabama State 
Support Organization will celebrate the completion of its 1,500th 
house.
  Millard is loved and will be missed by his wife Linda and their four 
children. He will also be missed by the thousands of volunteers who 
found inspiration through his dedication. It is because of Millard that 
thousands of people across the world have a place to call home. I ask 
this entire Senate to join me in recognizing and honoring the life of 
Millard Fuller.

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