September 9, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 143 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S5357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO LOIS BOUTON

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Lois Bouton, 
a WWII veteran who honorably served her country and has inspired 
generations of members of the U.S. Coast Guard with her letters. I am 
pleased to recognize this remarkable Arkansan as she celebrates her 
100th birthday.
  Lois has spent her life serving among and connecting with members of 
the Coast Guard--first, as a member of the SPARs, the Woman's Reserve 
of the U.S. Coast Guard, and then as a visitor to patients--especially 
members of the Coast Guard at Naval Station Great Lakes Hospital--and 
now through the letters she diligently writes to USCG members across 
the country which earned her the nickname the Coast Guard Lady.
  ``I like to write letters,'' Lois said during an interview my staff 
conducted with her for the Veterans History Project. In the decades 
since she started outreach to coasties through the mail, she has 
written nearly 50,000 letters.
  In the early 1970s, the Boutons retired to northwest Arkansas. That 
is when her outreach to coasties began to take off. She started writing 
to Coast Guard units in Alaska, and soon, she had the directory with 
addresses of units across the country.
  While far from the coast, her Rogers, AR, home is a museum of Coast 
Guard memorabilia. Her collection includes the Meritorious Public 
Service Award she received from the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the 
second highest civilian award issued by the Coast Guard. In 2013, she 
was named an honorary chief petty officer.
  Her love and appreciation for the Coast Guard is unmatched as 
demonstrated by her decades-long practice of correspondence to show her 
support for the men and women who wear the Coast Guard uniform. She is 
well-known among members of the Coast Guard and receives hundreds of 
letters and cards from them in return. She continues to serve as an 
inspiration for others and is widely admired for her service to our 
country, the men and women of the Coast Guard, and veterans across the 
Nation.
  I want to thank the Coast Guard Lady, Lois Bouton, for her service 
and continued support of the U.S. Coast Guard and wish her a very happy 
100th birthday.

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