[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6500]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING CHRISTOPHER W. WHITE

 Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, in the past couple of years, the 
economy took a turn for the worse, and the Community Legal Aid Society, 
Inc.--CLASI, for short--in my home State of Delaware, was hit with a 
triple whammy. More people needed help while there were fewer private 
and government contributions to go around.
  CLASI's executive director, Christopher W. White, faced these new, 
increasing, and difficult challenges bravely and with an amazing sense 
of determination. Some would say Chris did his best work when the going 
got particularly tough.
  Today, the Legal Aid Society is a wonderful and esteemed nonprofit 
law firm dedicated to providing advice to people with low incomes or 
disabilities as well as those who are elderly. The success of CLASI is 
in large part due to Chris's almost two decades of hard work, 
direction, and excellent fundraising abilities. His devotion to CLASI 
was clear during the recent recession, when he lowered his own salary 
so that others could keep their jobs.
  However, the Delaware and legal communities faced a tragic blow last 
week when Chris's life was tragically cut short on Wednesday, April 21. 
He was 48.
  You can't go far in Wilmington without hearing that Chris was a 
brilliant advocate and overall great person. When you talked with 
Chris, his passion and drive would rub off on you. He had the effect of 
making everyone who knew him want to become a better person.
  Much of this was owed to Chris's charisma. He was one-of-a-kind, and 
his intelligence never came off as pretentious. Everything that Chris 
did was driven by his heart--not politics or career-climbing--and a 
strong desire to make things better in his community.
  Chris was a preacher's son and a graduate of Boston College and 
Suffolk University Law School. During law school, Chris had a summer 
internship at Harvard Legal Aid, which changed his life. He could have 
been a private attorney with a high salary and a fraction of the 
workload of a public interest attorney. However, Chris devoted his 
entire professional career to Delaware's Community Legal Aid Society. 
Some of the highlights of his very bright career were when he argued 
before the Delaware Supreme Court.
  One of his passions was the issue of safe, affordable, and adequate 
housing. The original Legal Aid Society dates back to 1946, but just 
recently CLASI added the Fair Housing Program to enforce fair housing 
rights for all people regardless of race, color, religion, sex, 
national origin, age, disability, and familial status. This is in large 
part due to Chris's commitment to this issue. He was involved with many 
community development and housing organizations and took up the cause 
before the State general assembly. He wrote a new State law to settle 
conflicts between manufactured-home owners and landlords. He also 
reworked New Castle County's landlord-tenant code so tenants could 
better understand their rights.
  Chris's hard work was widely recognized by his peers. He received the 
New Lawyers Distinguished Service Award from the Delaware State Bar 
Association in 1999 and the Kind Policy Award from the Delaware Housing 
Coalition in 1997.
  Only days after his passing, one of his many projects was opened in 
downtown Wilmington. He had led the renovation of an abandoned 
commercial space into ``Shipley Lofts,'' a 23-unit artist community. 
The 1,500-square-foot gallery has been named the Christopher W. White 
Gallery in his memory, and the nonprofit organization that oversees the 
project has been renamed the Christopher W. White Community Development 
Corporation.
  Chris gave everything he had--mind, body, time, resources--to those 
without a voice. Tragically, he was hit by a car in front of the 
building he worked so hard to develop as a place of vitality and 
creativity.
  The loss of Christopher W. White is a great loss to Delaware. He will 
be truly missed. My sympathies go out to his family, friends, and 
colleagues, especially his wife Leandria and their children, Josh and 
Kayla, and his mother, Donna.

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