E1366 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks July 31, 2012 

HONORING NATALIE DELL AND 

CHRISTA HARMOTTO FOR MAKING THE USA OLYMPIC TEAM 

HON. BILL SHUSTER OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring two outstanding 

athletes selected to the United States Olympic 

Team from the 9th Congressional District of 

Pennsylvania: Natalie Dell and Christa 

Harmotto. 

Natalie Dell, raised in Clearville, PA was a 

standout track star throughout her high school 

career. Upon attending Penn State University, 

Dell decided that she had reached her full potential in track and field and wanted to pursue 

another competitive sport. She chose to begin 

rowing where she quickly fell in love with the 

sport. After graduation, she continued to hone 

her strength and technique and joined the Riverside Boating Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although Natalie was less experienced 

than the rest of her peers, her talent and status advanced rapidly as she soon became a 

member of the U.S. National Rowing Team. 

Her rigorous training and the perfection of her 

skill proved to be well worth the effort. Dell 

achieved a position on the 2012 Olympic 

Women’s quadruple skulls boat and is the first 

alumnus from Penn State to row for the USA 

National Rowing Team. Her six day per week, 

two-a-day training has aptly prepared this courageous woman to represent the United States 

and the 9th district of Pennsylvania. The second great Olympian from our district 

is Christa Harmotto. Harmotto was brought up 

in Hopewell Township, PA where she excelled 

at sports from a young age. In high school, as 

a multiple year letterman for volleyball and 

basketball, Christa won the Pennsylvania 

Gatorade Player of the Year. She then transferred her high school success to that at Penn 

State, where she chose to continue her pursuit 

of volleyball. Her student athlete career was 

one of great success and achievement, as she 

acted as an integral member of a two-time national championship team, while simultaneously attaining All-American status for four 

straight years. A prominent figure on the 

squad as a middle blocker, Christa makes her 

Olympic debut in 2012. I am positive she will 

fight valiantly and work hard for her side in 

their journey to win the gold medal. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate these two heroes of Pennsylvania’s 9th district. With their 

effort and determination, these two women are 

destined to do great things for our country and 

the 9th district of Pennsylvania. I am very 

proud of their hard work and determination to 

win for the United States Olympic Team. I 

hope you join me in wishing them and the rest 

of our Olympic athletes well in their respective 

competitions at this year’s Games. 

f 

125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

HISTORIC TOWN OF EATONVILLE 

HON. CORRINE BROWN OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 

Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise 

today in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the 

Historic Town of Eatonville, the Oldest Incorporated African American Municipality in 

America. Eatonville is a source of pride for the 

entire State of Florida and it gives me great 

pleasure to represent them in the U.S. House 

of Representatives. 

Eatonville is a town rich in black history, 

tucked away just north of the city of Orlando 

and home to more than 2,000 people. 

Eatonville is known as one of the first incorporated black towns and was formed after the 

signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Eatonville is named for Union Army Captain 

Josiah Eaton. He owned the land and sold it 

to a group of African-American men who wanted to start their own city. 

On August 15, 1887, twenty-seven registered voters—all African-American men—met 

and voted to incorporate their parcels of land, 

creating the first African-American town in 

America. 

The city thrived in music and arts and in 

1897, the Robert Hungerford Normal and Industrial School was founded. For years, the 

school was the most important school for 

blacks in the state of Florida. Boys and girls 

from all over the state came to Eatonville to 

learn about great poets, writers, painters, and 

composers. 

It stayed a private school until 1950 when 

the courts gave it to Orange County as a public trust, and is now known as Robert 

Hungerford Preparatory High School—Orange 

County’s first all-magnet high school. 

Eatonville hosts the annual Zora Neale 

Hurston Festival. Indeed, the Zora Neale 

Hurston Festival of Arts and Humanities in 

Eatonville, Florida is simply a prize for 

Eatonville and for the State of Florida. 

People come from throughout the country 

and from around the world to visit and to participate in this great annual event, to celebrate 

not only the legacy of Zora, but of the cultural 

contributions made by African Americans 

around the globe. There have been twentythree annual festivals and I have yet to miss 

one! 

Please join me in honoring the Town of 

Eatonville, and I look forward to celebrating 

this town and its rich history for many years to 

come. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ATHLETIC DIRECTOR MAL 

MOORE 

HON. JO BONNER OF ALABAMA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 

Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Coach Mal Moore, the respected, 

longtime Athletic Director of The University of 

Alabama who was recently named the 2012 

recipient of the John L. Toner Award from the 

National Football Foundation (NFF) and the 

College Hall of Fame. 

The Toner Award is presented annually by 

the NFF to an Athletic Director who has demonstrated superior administrative abilities and 

shown outstanding dedication to college athletics, particularly college football. 

For those who closely follow University of 

Alabama athletics, there is little doubt that Mal 

Moore deserves this tremendous honor. As 

Alabama’s Athletic Director since 1999, he has 

guided the University’s sports program to a 

new era of success, made improvements to 

athletic facilities and overseen numerous conference and national championships. This year 

alone, under his leadership, Mal Moore has 

been instrumental in the Crimson Tide winning 

four national championships in football, women’s gymnastics, women’s softball and women’s golf. 

Long a prominent figure in the ‘‘Alabama 

family,’’ Coach Moore played quarterback 

under legendary head football coach Paul 

‘‘Bear’’ Bryant, beginning in 1958, and was a 

member of the 1961 national championship 

team. A secondary and, later, quarterbacks 

coach for Coach Bryant’s Crimson Tide, 

Coach Moore became a fixture on the ‘Bama 

coaching staff until Coach Bryant’s retirement 

in 1982 when he was hired to be an assistant 

coach at The University of Notre Dame. In 

1990, he returned to Alabama to serve as offensive coordinator under Coach Gene Stallings. All total, Coach Moore has been a part 

of nine of Alabama’s 14 national championships. 

As Athletic Director, Mal Moore directs a 

$100 million budget and 21 men’s and women’s varsity sports teams. His record of leadership speaks for itself. Since 1999, the University has notched countless NCAA championships and even more SEC championships. 

Also during Coach Moore’s tenure as Athletic 

Director, the Crimson Tide football team has 

won two national championships (2009 and 

2011), posted six 10-win seasons, a 5–4 bowl 

record, appearances in four Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games and SEC 

championships in 1999, 2009 and 2011. 

Winning is not his only legacy; however, the 

face of the University of Alabama campus has 

also been transformed during Coach Moore’s 

tenure with more than $200 million in improvements to the athletic infrastructure. Alabama 

has erected new stadiums for soccer, softball 

and tennis; new facilities for women’s basketball and volleyball; a new golf clubhouse; and 

improved facilities for every other sports team, 

in addition to the renovation of the Bill Battle 

Center for Athletic Student Services and Coleman Coliseum. In 2007, The University of Alabama Board of Trustees officially dedicated 

the facility formerly known as the Football 

Building as the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility. 

Coach Moore also oversaw the expansion of 

Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2006 and 2009, 

pushing the venue’s capacity to 101,821, 

which ranks fifth nationally. 

Mal Moore will be officially honored at the 

55th NNF awards dinner at Waldorf-Astoria in 

New York City on December 4, 2012. He was 

elected to the State of Alabama Sports Hall of 

Fame in 2011. 

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Alabama and the entire Alabama Congressional 

Delegation, I would like to commend Coach 

Mal Moore for his exemplary leadership and 

congratulate him for receiving the John L. 

Toner Award. I know Coach Moore’s daughter, 

Heather, his granddaughter, Anna Lee and 

grandson, Charles, as well as his many, many 

friends and associates around the country 

share in this proud and well-deserved honor. 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with REMARKS