[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 43 (Tuesday, April 19, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        THE MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

                                 ______


                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 1994

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, it was a most moving sermon, and I have 
included a portion of it for printing in the Congressional Record 
because Pastor Bridges not only eulogized Mr. Natcher but also 
Government officials who will carry on in Mr. Natcher's absence.

       The local paper ran a headline the other day: ``Who Will 
     Replace Natcher?'' The story beneath it speculated on the 
     identity of the man or woman who would next represent this 
     district. But when we picked up the paper and read the 
     headline we all said, silently yet as though we spoke with 
     one voice, ``No one. No one will replace him.'' After all, we 
     thought, he was one of a kind. But we were wrong to think it.
       One of the reasons we have gathered from across the country 
     in this church house today is that as long as Bill Natcher 
     was in Congress we maintained our faith in the institutions 
     of government. But an honest man can never serve alone. He 
     can only serve when he is in the company of others equally 
     brave, equally devoted, and equally without guile.
       The word is abroad in the land that government is bumbling, 
     caught in gridlock, impossibly incompetent, foolishly 
     distracted. That word is false.
       The word is abroad in the land that government is populated 
     only by the shrill voices of rancor, only by people of zero 
     virtue, seeking their own gain, and playing loosely with the 
     truth. That word is false.
       The word is abroad in the land that government cannot be 
     trusted, that it serves causes other than those of the 
     people, that it is mired in the culture of only one American 
     city, that it is blind to the values that are right and good 
     and noble. And that word is false.
       I know it to be false because I knew Bill Natcher. Because 
     he was part of the government. I knew that the American 
     character was intact, that the American dream was alive, and 
     that the American vision was undimmed.
       Mr. Natcher would have us remember here at this hour that 
     he was not alone. The truth is, there are thousands of them--
     strong men and strong women--who are in government service 
     this very day. His replacements are already in office, 
     already employed, already at work, men and women of decency, 
     faith, virtue, and honor who serve the American people.
       It is true: the robe of Lady Liberty is frayed at the 
     cuff, perhaps a smudge or two that needs to be cleaned, 
     and it is wrinkled from overwork and great stress, but 
     beneath the grayed robe there may be found the heart and 
     soul of the American government that is as pure and as 
     deep as gold.
       Mr. Natcher was not the only good and decent man to ever 
     serve this nation. The American people need to know that 
     there are more--many more--great hearted men and women like 
     Mr. Natcher in the government today. And there are more of 
     them than those who seek their own pitiful private aims. Many 
     of them are in this room today.
       We are somewhat amused that only now, at his death, has the 
     rest of the country discovered him. The country, as a whole, 
     did not know that for forty years, this great and good man 
     was one of those politicians who made the country work. That 
     fact should stand as a reminder to us whenever anyone, 
     regardless of his or her credentials, levels sweeping 
     condemnation of the government, let them pause to remember 
     that good men and women deserve better, that great men and 
     great women hard at patriotism's honest tasks outnumber the 
     shiny laggards and that decency and love of country have not 
     evaporated from the chambers of delegated power.
       The nation stands secure today on the shoulders of the 
     political brothers and sisters of William Natcher.

                          ____________________