Congressional Record – Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to pay tribute to a great American who we lost earlier this month.

Millard Fuller, the founder and former president of Habitat for Humanity, was a personal friend to me and many Members of Congress. Many of us worked closely with Millard Fuller, particularly in the last 15 years of his extraordinary leadership.

I wish to take a minute today to pay tribute to Millard and his family–his wife Linda, his son Christopher, his daughters Kim, Faith and Georgia and his nine grandchildren. He has left behind these loved ones who will carry on his important work. Linda was a cofounder of Habitat for Humanity, and a driving force in the creation of this organization that has touched the lives of literally millions of people around the world.

When I think of where Millard Fuller died unexpectedly earlier this month, near the small town of Americus, GA, I cannot help but be reminded of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the most inspiring documents ever written. This declaration reminds us that when we speak about human rights, we must remember that the recognition of these rights begins in small places close to home, places so small that they can’t necessarily be seen on maps.

It is in these small places that people long for dignity and respect.

Sometimes in the Senate, we get carried away with grand visions of universal rights and broad, sweeping policies to protect these rights. But when you get right down to it, our visions are carried out in our own neighborhoods, in our own courthouses and in very small places like Americus, GA.

By the age of 29, Millard Fuller had made his first million dollars. He was a man with a great mind and extraordinary leadership abilities, who could have made a great fortune for his wife, his children and himself. But instead, with his wife’s urging, Millard Fuller and Linda decided to take the multiple talents God had given them and refocus their lives on Christian service. They set their hearts on making a difference in the world, and the result was an organization that is one of the greatest nonprofits I have come to know.

In 1968, Millard Fuller and Linda began a Christian ministry on a farm in southwest Georgia where they built decent housing for low-income families using volunteer labor and donations. This concept was expanded into what is now Habitat for Humanity International and the Fuller Center for Housing. By 1981, Habitat had affiliates in 14 States, and was carrying out its mission to build homes with volunteer labor, ensuring that these homes were affordable to the poor and those of modest means.

Many Senators have commented privately and publicly about his extraordinary organization, and President Carter once remarked that Millard Fuller was one of the greatest talents he had ever known–serious words coming from a President. President Carter was a personal friend of Millard Fuller, and in 1984, he became a Habitat volunteer, giving his name and resources to Millard Fuller’s organization. President and Mrs. Carter became the faces of Habitat for Humanity, and would attract thousands of people to volunteer during the Jimmy Carter Work Project, an annual week-long effort to build Habitat homes all over the world. By 1992, Habitat had a presence in 92 nations.

I was very fortunate to have met Millard Fuller. He was an inspiration to me and, as I have said, to many Senators. Many of us come into our young adulthood and say we want to make a difference in the world, and we all try in our various ways. Many of us never quite accomplish that. But Millard Fuller did. He had an impact on the world, and the world will remember his life and his vision. The world will remember that in this great land of wealth and opportunity, Millard Fuller thought it was shameful that people were living without decency and respect.

He said it is not what Jesus would want. It is not what the Bible teaches. It is not what those of the Christian faith believe. He built Habitat on a simple principle that the poor are not lazy, but very industrious–that if the poor were given a chance, they could accomplish a great deal.

In order to occupy a Habitat house, the family who is going to live there gets to build the home with their neighbors, with the kind of old-fashioned, rock-ribbed community values of pitching in, building a home, and building upon that solid foundation.

Not only was it Millard Fuller’s vision to give families a decent place to live, he wanted to give them something to own. Owning a home paves the way for being able to finance against the equity in that home to build a business, to send children to college, and to establish a future.

I want people to know that paying tribute to Millard Fuller is about more than just building homes. Millard Fuller’s life was about building hope, building a future and literally changing the course of life–creating an upward trajectory for people around the world.

I don’t believe that Millard Fuller knew what an impact he had. I only hope we will remember him often. And when we do, as leaders in the Senate and the House, as Governors, and in the White House, we will recommit ourselves to realizing the simple principles that Millard Fuller lived every day.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the devastation that hit the gulf coast, Habitat was one of the first organizations on the ground. Millard and his wife Linda came to Louisiana and helped us to start building on higher ground. They built not just in the New Orleans area and along the gulf coast of Mississippi, but also in Shreveport, LA, where they joined with a group of local leaders to start new organizations that built homes for people in northwest Louisiana.

I would like to read one personal testimony from Cherie Ashley, who is the executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Northwest Louisiana. She and her family were beneficiaries of this work. Cherie was originally from New Orleans, but the flood waters of Katrina forced her out. She fled to Shreveport with her family. She said:

I was blessed with one of the first of the three homes that was built in Allendale, in Northwest Louisiana. Mr. Fuller was passionate about the work he did and he was passionate about eliminating poverty across this nation. The Fuller Center for Housing and Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Louisiana have provided me and my children the opportunity to regain stability and normalcy after such a life altering event–Hurricane Katrina. I am not just the Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Louisiana, most importantly, I am a proud Habitat homeowner, and that’s what God–through Millard Fuller–did for me.

He most certainly was a man who lived up to God’s calling. I believe we would do ourselves well to remember him often, to thank Linda and his family for the tremendous sacrifice they made, and to honor him by continuing his work.

I ask unanimous consent that his obituaries from the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution be printed in the Record.