HR 9103

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution honoring the memory of former United States
3	Representative William Lehman.
4
5	WHEREAS, former United States Representative William
6	Lehman, born in Selma, Alabama, on October 5, 1913, a son of
7	privilege who realized early in life that most people were less
8	fortunate than he, died in Miami Beach on March 16, 2005, a
9	respected, compassionate gentleman who "never lost his common
10	touch," and
11	WHEREAS, a graduate of the University of Alabama, William
12	"Bill" Lehman moved to Miami in the 1930's, where as a car
13	dealer for many years he also became a public school teacher,
14	began his political career in 1966 as a member of the Dade
15	County School Board, and was elected to Congress in 1972,
16	serving for the next 20 years as a representative from Miami-
17	Dade County, and
18	WHEREAS, Representative Lehman rose through House ranks to
19	become the powerful chair of the appropriations subcommittee
20	overseeing highways, seaports, and mass-transit systems and,
21	along with Congressmen Dante Fascell and Claude Pepper, made up
22	the Florida delegation, one of the most influential in the
23	House, bringing billions of dollars in federal aid to South
24	Florida, and
25	WHEREAS, Representative Lehman won the respect of
26	conservative Cuban exiles in 1988 when he went to Cuba and
27	brokered the release of three political prisoners, an effort
28	that followed his 1981 negotiation of the release of a political
29	prisoner in Argentina and his smuggling in 1984 of a synthetic
30	heart valve to a young patient in the Soviet Union, and
31	WHEREAS, admired and loved, hailed as a visionary on racial
32	issues and public transit, Congressman Lehman has left a legacy
33	for thousands in the form of various transit systems serving the
34	Miami-Dade area, dozens of roads and bridges, and Interstates 95
35	and 595, as well as numerous facilities that bear his name,
36	including an elementary school and a research center at the
37	Ryder Trauma Center at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital, and
38	WHEREAS, his example of grace, dignity, courage, and
39	commitment to public service serves as a model for all
40	Floridians, NOW, THEREFORE,
41
42	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
43	Florida:
44
45	That the life and contributions of the late Congressman
46	William Lehman are recalled with much honor and gratitude, his
47	death is deeply mourned, and sincere condolences are extended to
48	Mrs. Joan Lehman, his wife of 66 years, to his two sons, Tom and
49	Bill, Jr., and to his eight grandchildren, Justin Dash, Rebecca
50	Geller, Deborah Lehman, John Lehman, Mark Lehman, Tom Lehman,
51	Sean O'Conner, and Matthew Weiner.
52	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
53	presented to Mrs. Joan Lehman as a tangible token of the
54	sentiments expressed herein.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.