Speech #990007572

Speaker. I would like to pay tribute today to a remarkable woman named Ingrid Walter. On March 1. she will be retiring as director of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. a voluntary resettlement agency. after more than 34 years of service to refugees. I have been honored to know her and to work with her for the past 8 years. She herself was a refugee. She fled both Nazi and Communist occupation of Estonia in 1945 and worked as a resettlement officer in West Germany until 1949. when she came to the United States as a displaced person. Since Joining the staff of the Lutheran refugee program in 1950 and becoming its director in 1976. she has helped more than 125.000 refugees find safety and a chance for a new life in the United States. Among these 125.000 was the Nguyen family of Milton. PA. whose daughter. Jean. was cited in the Presidents recent State of the Union Address for her fine achievements at West Point. Ingrid Walter has worked with the massive influx of refugees following World War II. with persons expelled from Uganda in 1972. with the wave of Indochinese refugees after 1975. as well as East Europeans. Afghans. Ethiopians. and others. Over the years. she has chaired committees and worked with many others on issues pertaining to immigration law and policy and the rights of the foreign born to bring about constructive changes. In January 1980. she was named one of the 10 most influential American Lutherans in "Missouri in Perspective." When awarded an honorary doctor of humanity degree in 1981 by