[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 22 (Thursday, March 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   A FURTHER TRIBUTE TO BILL NATCHER

  (Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute, and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, when I was elected to the 100th Congress 
and came to Washington to go through the orientation process, I 
immediately realized what a giant of a man Mr. Natcher is. We had a 
routine that we went through, because we would always talk about 
Kentucky, which is my native States, and whenever I would speak to him 
or ask him about anything, he would always say to me, ``Aren't you from 
Pulaski County?'' And after I said, ``Yes, sir, I am,'' then we could 
get on with the business of the day.
  I want to comment, not only on his voting record, which will never be 
equaled in the universe, but on the fact that he loved his 
grandchildren so much and every day he sat down and wrote an individual 
letter to each one of them. Last year he lost one of his beloved 
grandsons in an automobile accident, and his grief was painful to 
watch.
  What I would like to say to Mr. Natcher, if I could, is, ``Mr. 
Natcher, lay down that burden of never missing a vote. The people in 
the Second District certainly understand your faithful service.''
  Mr. Speaker, I do not think anybody else in the country could ever 
follow or match his reelection record. I am told that the most Mr. 
Natcher ever spent on a campaign was $50, and that that money was only 
for gasoline. He had no pamphlets, no bumper stickers, no media. He 
simply drove around his district every 2 years, and without any 
question, unfailingly, they sent him back.
  It has been a wonderful record, Mr. Natcher, and when you come back, 
you can complete it. But nobody has voted more than you, and your 
record will stand. We hope that you really will not worry about it. 
Just get well.

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