Peter Visclosky: “I have kidded Mr. Yates in the past that one of the advantages he has over me is that during the summer months…”

“I have kidded Mr. Yates in the past that one of the advantages he has over me is that during the summer months potentially half of his constituents tend to live in my Congressional District along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. But what I would like to remember about Mr. Yates tonight is not only the fact that he is a true gentleman, in every sense of the word, but as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) just pointed out, his unflinching devotion and energies to preserving the environment of the United States of America as well as this planet and, in particular, the closeness to which he held the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to his heart, one of the great natural resources of this country. I have a picture in my office of my son John when he was 8 years old, and he had a look of bliss on his face as he was jumping off a small bluff along the southern shore of Lake Michigan on the day a fence was torn down and the Dunes was expanded to include an area called Crescent Dune in the Michigan City area. It was the last 36 acres of undeveloped property along the 45-mile southern lakeshore of Lake Michigan. And that property was included for future generations forevermore because of the strenuous efforts and commitments of Sid Yates to the environment.”