[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 65 (Monday, May 23, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            TRIBUTE TO THE LATE HONORABLE WILLIAM H. NATCHER

                                 ______


                               speech of

                         HON. ROMANO L. MAZZOLI

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 1994

  Mr. MAZZOLI. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a statement 
prepared by Diane Rihely and the staff of the gentleman from Kentucky, 
Mr. Natcher, which has many personal reflections which I wish there 
were time to talk about tonight, but there is not. They will be in the 
Record.
  I also include an extensive biography of Chairman Natcher which is 
concluded by that wonderful citation on the Presidential Citizens 
Medal, the medal that President Clinton awarded to Bill while Bill was 
out at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. The citation itself is very 
important.
  Mr. Speaker, I also include various newspaper stories, various 
obituaries, material that would enhance the image of Chairman Natcher.
  Last but not least, Mr. Speaker, I take this moment to express to the 
family of Congressman Natcher our condolences, our sympathies on the 
loss of their loved one, but I would also extend the fact that each one 
of us in a sense entitled to some of those same sympathies, because we 
have lost a great friend and a great mentor.
  The material referred to is as follows:


                                 U.S. Department of Education,

                                   Washington, DC, April 11, 1994.
     Hon. Thomas S. Foley,
     Speaker of the House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Speaker: On behalf of the U.S. Department of 
     Education, I join the Congress in paying tribute to William 
     H. Natcher, a distinguished lawmaker and a true friend of 
     education.
       Over the past 40 years, Bill Natcher exerted a major 
     influence on the Federal role in education. When he came to 
     Congress in 1953, Federal assistance to education was limited 
     to Vocational Education and Impact Aid, and the Department of 
     Education had an annual appropriation of $200 million. The 
     Federal presence today has grown to 240 programs that span 
     every area of education and affect, in one way or another, 
     all of the Nation's 64 million elementary, secondary, and 
     postsecondary students. Under Bill Natcher's leadership on 
     the Appropriations Committee, funding for these programs has 
     grown to over $30 billion per year. He worked with twelve 
     Commissioners of Education and six Secretaries of Education 
     of both political parties and a variety of philosophies--and 
     always with admirable grace and decorum.
       Bill Natcher was famous for his often-stated belief that 
     ``if we take care of the health of our people and the 
     education of our children, we will continue to live in the 
     strongest country in the world.'' There is no doubt that he 
     lived as he believed, and did more than his part for a strong 
     America.
       Bill Natcher will be missed not only in the halls of 
     Congress, but in every school in this Nation where young 
     people are getting a better education because of him.
           Yours sincerely,
                                                 Richard W. Riley.

                          In Remembrance * * *

(Diane Rihely and the staff of Congressman William H. Natcher, April 6, 
                                 1994)

       We wish to share with his friends, colleagues and 
     acquaintances, our fond remembrances of our boss, our leader, 
     and most importantly, our friend. We are privileged and feel 
     honored to have worked with such a truly wonderful and 
     outstanding man.
       We always knew when he was approaching the office--he 
     hummed. As a matter of fact, he hummed all the time. Even on 
     the House Floor (microphones on or off).
       He frequently, while stirring in front of yet another stack 
     of constituent mail, would wonder aloud ``how many times I've 
     signed my name? I'll bet it's a million this year alone.''
       Monday mornings, he would share with us his weekend 
     activities--most of the time he'd talk about speaking 
     engagements at various events in the Second Congressional 
     District--but sometimes, he would tell us of how he lovingly 
     washed and waxed his 1968 Chevrolet Impala--by himself and in 
     the garage of his apartment building. There was always 
     comments from passersby like--``when you get finished, mine 
     is in space number fourteen'' or ``looks like you do good 
     work.''
       Many people have heard Mr. Natcher utter phrases for which 
     he became known--such as ``If we take care of the health of 
     our people and educate our children, we will continue to live 
     in the strongest Country in the world.''
       Probably only a handful, however, have heard him say, when 
     asked if he was having a busy day, ``I'm just standin' on my 
     head.'' Or, when it had been a long, hard day, ``Let's get 
     out of this salt mine.'' (Meaning the office, of course).
       And, when there was a particularly difficult issue or piece 
     of legislation on the House floor, as he was preparing for 
     the ensuing battle, his remark would be ``I'm going over to 
     put my dog in this fight.'' We always inquired if the dog had 
     eaten nails for breakfast.
       Some of his favorite phrases--
       ``I know what you mean.''--He always knew.
       ``I'll tell you frankly.''--He always would.
       ``Let's do it right.''--He always did.
       Another favorite phrase of Mr. Natcher as he walked out of 
     the office was ``I'll be seeing you all in the sweet bye-and-
     bye.'' Mr. Natcher, we look forward to seeing you in the 
     sweet bye-and-bye.''
       For now though, we stand silent before the reality that 
     when a giant passes on, there remains a void that cannot be 
     filled.
       William H. Natcher; Democrat of Bowling Green, Warren 
     County, Kentucky, is the son of J.M. Natcher and Blanche Hays 
     Natcher, both deceased. He was educated in the public schools 
     of Bowling Green, Kentucky, with high school at Ogden 
     Preparatory Department, Ogden College. He obtained his A.B. 
     Degree at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, 
     Kentucky, and LL.B. Degree at Ohio State University, 
     Columbus, Ohio. On June 17, 1937, he married Miss Virginia 
     Reardon of Bowling Green, Kentucky; two daughters, Celeste 
     and Louise. He practiced law in Bowling Green from March 18, 
     1934, until elected to Congress. During this period, he 
     served as Federal Conciliation Commissioner 1936-37 for 
     Western District of Kentucky; elected County Attorney of 
     Warren County for three four-year terms and then elected 
     Commonwealth Attorney serving from 1951 to August 1953, when 
     elected to Congress. Baptist, member of the Kiwanis Club, Odd 
     Fellows, VFW, American Legion Post 23, and 40 & 8 Mammoth 
     Cave Voiture 1146; past president of the Young Democrats of 
     Kentucky; during World War II served in U.S. Navy from 
     October 1942 to December 1945. Elected to the 83rd Congress 
     on August 1, 1953, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of 
     Garrett L. Withers and sworn in as a Member of Congress on 
     January 6, 1954; reelected to the 84th, and each succeeding 
     Congress through the present, 103rd Congress; home address: 
     638 East Main Street, Bowling Green, Kentucky; district 
     offices: 414 East Tenth Street, Bowling Green, Kentucky; 
     Suite #4, 312 North Mulberry Street, Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
       Representative Natcher is the Chairman of the Committee on 
     Appropriations. As the Chairman, he serves as an Ex-Officio 
     member on the thirteen Subcommittees. Representative Natcher, 
     in addition, serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
     Labor, Health & Human Services and Education Appropriations, 
     and has served in this capacity since 1979. The Committee on 
     Appropriations is a privileged committee, and members serving 
     on this committee cannot serve on another standing committee. 
     As provided for in the Constitution all appropriations and 
     tax bills must originate in the House.
       As a member of the Committee on Appropriations, he has 
     taken the lead in programs concerning agriculture, education, 
     health, pollution, recreation, new industry in Kentucky, 
     along with all projects pertaining to small watershed 
     programs, research, marketing, extension, school lunch milk 
     programs, sewer, water, airport, flood control, navigation, 
     multi-purpose REA, and all programs essential to and of 
     assistance to the development of private industry.
       Representative Natcher has never missed a day in Congress 
     or a roll call vote since he has been a Member. The records 
     of Congress, both the House of Representatives and the United 
     States Senate, show that with the exception of Representative 
     Natcher, no Member has served, beginning with the opening 
     date of the first Congress on March 4, 1789 and continuing 
     for a period of 32 consecutive years or longer from the date 
     the Member was sworn in, without missing one or more votes. 
     Representative Natcher was sworn in on January 6, 1954, 
     and from this date through March 2, 1994 he has 14,161 
     consecutive roll call votes and, in addition, 4,240 quorum 
     calls. When added together, the total is 1,401. The 1978, 
     1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994 editions of the Guinness Book of 
     World Records contain a citation concerning the voting 
     record of Representative Natcher. This is now recognized 
     as the world record.
       Awards: Distinguished Service Award from National Education 
     Association of the United States; Soil Conservation Citation 
     for services rendered, 1964; Distinguished Service Award by 
     the Legislative Commission of the National Education 
     Association, 1968; National Honorary Membership in Future 
     Homemakers of America; Honorary Member of 4-H Club; Special 
     Meritorious Commendation from AMVETS, 1969; Honorary 
     Membership in Kentucky Association of Future Homemakers of 
     America, 1969; National Legislators Award from National 
     Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1970; Award 
     by the College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, for 
     conspicuous and significant contributions to agriculture, 
     1970; Citation by the United States Military Academy for ten 
     consecutive years as a member of the Board of Visitors, 1971; 
     Citation by the Department of Agriculture of the Commonwealth 
     of Kentucky for leadership and diligent service, 1971; 
     recipient of the 1971 Kentucky American Legion Distinguished 
     Service Award; Citation by Third District Association of 
     School Administrators for contributions to education in the 
     United States, 1972; Citation by Elementary and Secondary 
     Education Group of Kentucky for services rendered on Title I 
     programs, 1974; National Multiple Sclerosis Society 
     Appreciation Award, 1976; Distinguished Service Award for 
     Development and Progress of the Nation's Agriculture, by the 
     Limestone Institute, 1977; Appalachia Educational Laboratory 
     Award for efforts on behalf of education in the Nation and 
     the Appalachian Region, 1978; Distinguished Service Award, 
     American Society of Allied Health Professionals, 1979; 
     National Honorary Extension Fraternity, State Friend of 
     Extension Award, 1979; Lifetime Honorary Membership Award in 
     Kentucky Young Democrats, 1979; Honorary Doctor of Laws 
     Degree from Western Kentucky University, 1979; Health Service 
     Award, National Association of Community Health Centers, 
     1980; Meritorious Service to Field of Education Award, Adult 
     Education Association of the United States, 1980; 
     Congressional Award from Young Democrats of America, 1980; 
     KACE Award, Outstanding Proponent for Adult and Continuing 
     Education, 1981; Appreciation Award for Outstanding Service 
     to 4-H, 1982; Selected for membership in the National 
     Honorary Extension Fraternity, 1983; Congressional Award, 
     National Council for Resource Development and American 
     Association of Community and Junior Colleges, 1984; 
     Congressman of the Year Award, National Multiple Sclerosis 
     Society, 1985; Appreciation Award, National Association of 
     Federally Impacted Schools, 1985; Public Service Award, 
     Federation of American Societies for Experimental 
     Biology, 1985; Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, Howard 
     University, 1986; Recognition Award, American Federation 
     for Clinical Research, 1986; Honorary Membership in 
     National Association for Dental Research, 1986; George M. 
     O'Brien Award, National Kidney Foundation for leadership 
     in the establishment of six new Kidney and Urological 
     Research Centers, 1986; American Association of School 
     Administrators ``I Care'' Award, 1986; Award, Bowling 
     Green Human Rights Commission, 1986; National Collegiate 
     Athletic Association, Distinguished Service Award on 
     behalf of the National Youth Sports Program, 1986; 
     National Education Service Award, Association of Community 
     College Trustees, 1987; Distinguished Service Award, 
     National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 1987; 
     Henry Paley Award, National Association of Independent 
     Colleges and Universities for Outstanding Advocacy Service 
     to American Higher Education, 1988; J.W. Marriott, Sr. 
     National Public Service Award for Distinguished 
     Achievement in the field of Public Service, American Heart 
     Association, 1988; Distinguished Service Award, The 
     Committee for Education Funding, 1988; Conservation Person 
     of the Year, Kentucky Association of Conservation 
     Districts, 1988; Award from Edison Job Corps Center, 
     Edison, New Jersey, 1988; Distinguished Rural Kentuckian 
     Award, 1988 by the Kentucky Association of Electric 
     Cooperatives; Carl Perkins Humanitarian Award, American 
     Vocational Association, 1989; Political Leadership Award, 
     Coalition for Injury Prevention and Control, 1989; 
     Recognition for Outstanding Contributions, Southeastern 
     Association of Educatonal Opportunity Program Personnel, 
     1989. Laureate Award from National School Boards 
     Association for leadership on behalf of America's school 
     children, 1990; Friend of Housing Award, Kentucky Housing 
     Corporation, 1990; President's Award, The American Legion, 
     1990; Henry T. Yost Award in recognition of outstanding 
     service in support of American higher education, American 
     Association of University Professors, 1990; Certificate of 
     Appreciation for support of Medicare and Medicaid 
     Programs, National Council of Senior Citizens, 1990; Award 
     for efforts to advance biomedical research from the 
     American Academy of Otolaryngology, 1990; Special 
     Recognition Award, Association of American Medical 
     Colleges, 1990; Certificate of Appreciation, Association 
     of American Universities, State Universities and Land-
     Grant Colleges and American Council on Education, 1990; 
     James G. O'Hara Education Leadership Award, Committee for 
     Education Funding, 1990; Award for contributions to 
     programs to assist the blind, National Federation of Blind 
     of Kentucky, 1990; Dr. Nathan Davis Award, American 
     Medical Association, 1990; Silvio O. Conte Public Service 
     Award, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 1991; 
     Public Service Award in recognition of outstanding support 
     of libraries, Friends of Libraries, U.S.A., 1991; Award 
     for Distinguished Public Service, Medical Library 
     Association, 1991; Award, Society for Neuroscience for 
     continued and outstanding devotion to health and 
     betterment of U.S. citizens, 1991; Kentucky Affiliate of 
     American Heart Association award for continuing support of 
     biomedical research, 1991; Certificate of Meritorious 
     Service in recognition and appreciation of distinguished 
     contributions toward advancement of the practice of family 
     medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, 1991; 
     Award from Friends of National Library of Medicine for 
     conspicuous service, 1991; Epsilon Sigma Phi, National 
     Honorary Extension Fraternity, Inc., National Friend of 
     Extension in recognition of outstanding public service and 
     support of Cooperative Extension Services, 1991; Housing 
     Hero Award, Homebuilders Association of Kentucky, 1992; 
     Inspector General's Special Integrity Award for steadfast 
     and unswerving support of Office of Inspector General and 
     outstanding service to the American people as chairman of 
     Subcommittee on Labor/Health and Human Services/Education 
     Appropriations, 1992; Citation for Outstanding Public 
     Service, Council For Exceptional Children, 1992; Academic 
     Consortium Special Commendation, the Academic Consortium 
     of The American Psychiatric Association, 1992; 1992 
     Distinguished Leadership Award, National Dissemination 
     Study Group; Dean's Appreciation Award, The Johns Hopkins 
     University School of Hygiene and Public Health in grateful 
     appreciation for furthering the cause of public health, 
     1992; Recognition by the National Institutes of Health for 
     outstanding service to the Nation with a groundbreaking 
     ceremony for the William H. Natcher Building, a conference 
     and office complex to house over 3,000 employees at the 
     Bethesda campus; An Award from The National Breast Cancer 
     Coalition, in appreciation of his contribution in the 
     fight to eradicate the breast cancer epidemic, 1993; The 
     Kentucky School Boards Association's 1993 Friend of 
     Education Award for outstanding contributions to 
     education, 1993; First Annual Award from the National 
     Institutes of Health Alumni Association for his strong 
     adcovacy and support of biomedical research; The American 
     Legion Certificate of Appreciation, 1994; National Farmers 
     Union Congressional Appreciation Award in recognition of 
     an outstanding voting record supporting the Family Farm 
     System of Agriculture, 1994; The 1993 National Race for 
     the Cure Certificate of Merit for exceptional leadership 
     and support for legislation pertaining to women's health 
     issues, especially the fight against breast cancer, 1994; 
     Distinguished Alumnus of the Commonwealth's Association of 
     Kentucky, having served as Commonwealth's Attorney for the 
     8th Judicial Circuit, 1993; Certificate of Appreciation 
     from the Kentucky Association Educational Opportunity 
     Program Personnel for his many years of service to 
     Kentucky's TRIO Students, 1994; Certificate from the Clerk 
     of the United States House of Representatives on casting 
     his 18,401 consecutive vote since being elected to the 
     United States House of Representatives on August 1, 1953, 
     March 2, 1994; Awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal 
     from The President of the United States of America, for 
     his distinguished career in the Congress, March 3, 1994;

             The President of the United States of America

                              Awards this

                      Presidential Citizens Medal

                                   to

                           William H. Natcher

       Few legislators in our history have honored their 
     responsibilities with greater fealty, or shunned the 
     temptations of power with greater certainty, than William 
     Huston Natcher. Mr. Natcher is a citizen-legislator who reads 
     and answers his own mail, who declines political 
     contributions and pays for his own campaigns, and who has 
     cast, along with his 18,401 consecutive votes in Congress, an 
     unbroken chain of reverence for the opinions of his 
     constituents in Kentucky. On the House Appropriations 
     Committee, he has successfully fought to better cure disease, 
     advance education, and promote the public welfare. Throughout 
     his distinguished career in the Congress, Mr. Natcher has 
     written essays of service that will be read and practiced as 
     lessons by our citizens always.
                                               William J. Clinton.
     The White House,
     Washington, DC., March 3, 1994.

               [From the Courier-Journal, Mar. 31, 1994]

      Kentucky Gentleman Gave Second District and Nation His Best

                            (By Mike Brown)

       Washington.--William H. Natcher, the Kentucky congressman 
     who outlived his era to become a political phenomenon revered 
     by colleagues of both parties, died Tuesday night at Bethesda 
     Naval Hospital. He was 84.
       The Bowling Green Democrat, who made national headlines 
     recently as he fought to keep intact his record of having 
     never missed a vote in the House, died of heart failure.
       ``His death was peaceful and in the company of his family 
     and friends,'' Natcher's office said yesterday morning.
       Natcher's health had deteriorated during the past several 
     months, and it was widely reported in Washington that he had 
     congestive heart failure. An intestinal blockage complicated 
     his condition earlier this month.
       Natcher won widespread attention for his record of never 
     missing a roll-call vote in his 40 years in the House. His 
     string reached 18,401 on March 3 when his frail condition 
     forced him to stay in the hospital. The day before, his 
     determination had brought him to the House floor on a gurney, 
     surrounded by Navy medical personnel and with tubes in his 
     nose and arm.
       But more than his attendance record, it was Natcher's 
     gentlemanly demeanor and rectitude that won the respect of 
     his House colleagues. This was a politician who shunned the 
     press, publicity and many of the modern accouterments that go 
     with public office, including a fax machine. He was a 
     legislator of the 1950s that spawned his House career rather 
     than the 1990s that saw it end.
       State Sen. Walter Baker of Glasgow, one of the few 
     Republicans to mount a serious campaign to unseat Natcher, 
     once likened running against him to ``running against God. 
     He's up there by himself.''
       Natcher was born in rural Warren County Sept. 11, 1909. He 
     graduated from Western Kentucky State College (now Western 
     Kentucky University) in 1930 and received a law degree from 
     Ohio State University three years later.
       Elected Warren County attorney in 1937, his 12-year tenure 
     was interrupted by World War II service in the Navy. In 1951 
     he was elected commonwealth's attorney for Warren and Allen 
     counties, and in 1953 he won a special election to Congress, 
     succeeding Rep. Garrett L. Withers, who had died in office.
       ``They never sent a congressman from the 2nd District who 
     wanted to come up here as bad as I did,'' he said after 
     winning the seat. He took office in January 1954.
       While the 2nd District frequently went Republican in 
     statewide elections, the GOP came close to defeating Natcher 
     only in 1956. That was the year of President Dwight 
     Eisenhower's second-term landslide, which helped put 
     Republicans Thruston Morton and John Sherman Cooper in the 
     U.S. Senate.
       But Natcher, running against Republican R.H. Blankenship, 
     won with 52 percent of the vote.
       Unlike most congressmen, who usually return for long 
     weekends in their districts, Natcher's fear of losing his 
     roll-call record kept him in Washington and, according to 
     critics, limited his effectiveness.
       In later years Natcher himself conceded his record had 
     become a burden, and urged newcomers not to follow his 
     example. ``I've told them it might be best in the very 
     beginning to just miss one and get it over with,'' he said.
       Natcher would return to Bowling Green during long recesses 
     and make what he said were solitary drives to county seats to 
     meet constituents individually and hold private luncheons. 
     That was the informal way he always campaigned, though the 
     description is based on his recounting because he refused to 
     let reporters accompany him.
       The truth is, the only reporter he ever liked was an absent 
     one. ``I'd appreciate it if you would let me alone,'' he once 
     told a Courier-Journal reporter preparing what turned out to 
     be an entirely positive Natcher profile.
       Through his informal contacts and on the strength of his 
     reputation, he was able to hold on to the sprawling district 
     that stretchers north form the Tennessee border to the Ohio 
     River. In addition to Bowling Green (Warren County), it 
     includes Owensboro (Daviess County), Elizabethtown (Hardin 
     County) and parts of Jefferson County.
       For 18 of his years on Appropriations, Natcher was chairman 
     of the subcommittee on the District of Columbia, by most 
     standards an unwanted job.
       In that position he drew the enmity of local Washington 
     leaders by blocking plans for construction of the Washington 
     subway until the District completed work on a freeway system 
     mandated by Congress. A citizens' committee called Natcher 
     ``a run-of-the-mill politician'' who practiced ``unabashed 
     extortion'' to force construction of the freeway. His critics 
     were certain he had secret links to the auto and highway 
     industries or to some other special interest. The Washington 
     Post sent a reporter to Bowling Green to check him out. They 
     turned up nothing.
       Courier-Journal reporter Ward Sinclair wrote later: ``What 
     most don't realize, and they would have no way of realizing 
     since Natcher doesn't talk, is that his intractability most 
     likely goes directly to his background and his reverence for 
     Congress as an institution.
       ``Many find it hard to believe when he says simply that the 
     freeways must be built because Congress passed a law in 1968 
     directing that they be built.''
       In a 1970 profile, Sinclair wrote of Natcher:
       ``Always conservatively attired and groomed to a fault, 
     Natcher wears stiffly starched white shirts. He doesn't 
     smoke; doesn't drink; is deeply devoted to his family; drives 
     a well-used automobile. His thoughts, his triumphs and 
     his defeats are recorded in a personal daily journal that 
     next year will go into its 18th leather-bound volume. The 
     books are kept in an office safe, and only members of the 
     Natcher family are allowed to read them.''
       In 1979, Natcher became chairman of the appropriations 
     subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and 
     Education, which controls the purse strings to most social 
     programs.
       In January when Congress convened for the new session, 
     Natcher, who had always appeared robust and far younger than 
     his years, returned week and frail, and rapidly grew more so.
       In early February he spent a weekend at Bethesda and 
     checked in again on Feb. 11 for what proved to be his final 
     stay. Although he left temporarily on three days to make 
     floor votes, he never returned to his Washington apartment.
       Natcher is survived by two daughters. Louise Murphy of Los 
     Angeles and Celeste Jirles of Cambridge, Ohio, seven 
     grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His wife of more 
     than 50 years, Virginia Reardon Natcher, died in January 
     1991.
       Arrangements are pending
                                  ____


                [From the Courier Journal, Apr. 7, 1994]

                          Words About Natcher


                           president clinton:

       ``Why is it that I am so moved by this man? * * * What is 
     it that he had done that if the rest of us could do it we 
     could really be true to the founders of this country, true to 
     the challenges of our time, we could bring more harmony and a 
     strong sense of community to our people? What is it exactly? 
     And I think what it was is that he found a way to live in 
     Washington and work in politics and still be exactly the way 
     he would have been if he'd been here in Bowling Green running 
     a hardware store. And this country works well when people in 
     Washington treat each other the way they would have to treat 
     each other if they were living in Bowling Green. And it 
     doesn't work very well when everybody up there thinks, `Oh, 
     this is a different place and we have to treat each other 
     differently and we have to muscle each other around' * * * 
     But somehow Bill Natcher just had enough internal strength 
     and coherence, maybe he was just enough old fashioned, that 
     he literally was able to live every day as he would have 
     lived had he been here all the time. That was the beauty of 
     his legacy.''


  a humorous clinton on meeting natcher and on natcher's help on the 
                                 budget

       ``I didn't know Mr. Natcher when I became president. I knew 
     about him; nearly everybody in American politics did. 
     Everybody's asking: Can this young guy from Arkansas who has 
     only been a governor, never been in Congress, be president? I 
     was saying: Can a man who doesn't have a fax machine run the 
     appropriations committee?''
       ``He came to see me one day. We sat alone in the Oval 
     Office and he almost held my hand, which is just about what I 
     needed.''
       ``He said * * * we're going to get through this all right. 
     And you're going to make some hard decisions, and I'm going 
     to help you. Then if we're really lucky we'll get it through 
     the Congress. And you'll have to be willing to be 
     misunderstood for a while, which I thought was a delicate way 
     of putting the position I was in.''


                       house speaker thomas foley

       ``Public office is a gift, a free gift of a free people. 
     And it is given with a chance to use it in a way that will 
     advance their interests, their needs, their future, their 
     welfare. If anybody I have served with in the last 40 years 
     represented that standard better than Bill Natcher, I know 
     not who he or she is.''


   jo ``top'' orendorf, natcher's lifelong friend from bowling green

       ``Bill never became Mr. Chairman to the people in Bowling 
     Green. He remained Bill. And none of us here learned anything 
     when he was recognized on the floor of Congress as the 
     gentleman from Kentucky. We knew he was a gentleman long 
     before he left Kentucky.''
                                  ____


                [From the Courier Journal, Apr. 7, 1994]

                   Clinton, Other Leaders Say Goodbye

                             (By Al Cross)

       Bowling Green.--A flock of political leaders rarely if ever 
     seen in Kentucky said hail and farewell yesterday to William 
     Natcher, the congressman famous for never missing a vote 
     until he was on his deathbed and for never taking a campaign 
     contribution.
       Natcher's legacy is larger than that. President Clinton and 
     House Speaker Tom Foley told dozens of congressmen, other 
     officials and just plain folks at Natcher's funeral.
       Both leaders spoke of Natcher's service to others through 
     the federal budget, but ``the beauty of his legacy.'' Clinton 
     said, is the courtesy and civility that he took from this 
     Southern Kentucky town to the Capitol and displayed until he 
     died.
       ``This country works well when people in Washington treat 
     each other the way they would have to treat each other if 
     they were living in Bowling Green,'' the president said.
       As he boarded a small version of Air Force One at the 
     Bowling Green airport, Clinton was asked if there would ever 
     be another Congress member like Natcher, who served in 
     Congress 40 years and died of heart failure March 29 at age 
     84.
       ``It would be hard, probably, to never miss a vote and 
     never to take a campaign contribution, but it wouldn't be so 
     hard to try and conduct yourself in Washington as you would 
     if you were still living back home on Main Street.'' Clinton 
     said. ``That was the really important thing he did.''
       Natcher really did live on Main Street in Bowling Green, 
     and he was a member of First Baptist Church, where the 
     funeral would have been held, but a fire had destroyed the 
     sanctuary. The service was moved to the town's largest 
     church, Eastwood Baptist, and a joint choir sang.
       That combination of circumstances and compromise, so 
     important in politics and Congress, befit the man whose body 
     lay in the flag-draped casket that will be buried in Fairview 
     Cemetery this morning.
       ``I never met anyone like him,'' said Foley, of Washington 
     state, who served with Natcher for more than 29 years. ``I 
     don't know anybody who epitomizes congressional service * * * 
     more than Bill Natcher.''
       Before and after he became House Appropriations Committee 
     chairman in 1992, Natcher headed the subcommittee that 
     handles the health, human-services and labor budgets, and one 
     of his favorite aphorisms was that this country would be 
     the world's greatest if it educated its people and kept 
     them healthy.
       Said Foley, ``There are in so many places today in this 
     country, there are so many millions of people whose lives are 
     better, whose health is stronger, whose future is brighter 
     because of the daily work of Bill Natcher.''
       Natcher, who represented the 2nd District, also often said 
     that the only epitaph he wanted was, ``He tried to do it 
     right,'' Foley said, ``He not only tried. He did it right * * 
     * I don't think he will ever be equaled.''
       Clinton said Natcher gave the nation ``a great gift'' last 
     year by helping him pass a budget with a lower deficit and 
     more spending on education and research.
       The president said that he and Natcher grew close during 
     that process, and that when they were alone in the Oval 
     Office, ``he almost held my hand, which is just about what I 
     needed.
       ``He said, `Now, Mr. President * * * we're going to get 
     through this all right and you're going to make some hard 
     decisions, and I'm going to help you * * * and you'll have to 
     be willing to be misunderstood for a while'--which I thought 
     was a delicate way of putting the position we were in.''
       Clinton spoke of other such warm moments in the hour he 
     spent with Natcher's immediate family before the funeral, 
     said Dave Turner, director of Johnson-Vaughn Funeral Home, 
     who was present for the visit.
       ``I was blown away. He was very nice and very gracious,'' 
     Turner said. ``You saw a person who was genuinely concerned 
     and genuinely moved by Natcher.''
       During the service, Clinton got a laugh from the crowd when 
     he recalled that when some wondered whether a young governor 
     from Arkansas could handle the presidency, he had asked, 
     ``Can a man who doesn't have a fax machine run the 
     Appropriations Committee?''
       Natcher was known also for his frugality, spending less on 
     his office than any other member of Congress, and for his 
     old-fashioned manners and dress.
       After reciting those and other virtues and trademarks, 
     Natcher's pastor, the Rev. Richard Bridges, noted that some 
     have called Natcher an anachronism, but he said, ``Honor and 
     integrity and duty and faithfulness and civility never go out 
     of style.''
       Bridges also said, ``If his name were to appear on the 
     ballot at the next election, he would be re-elected * * * 
     because most of us would rather vote for a dead Bill Natcher 
     than a living somebody else.''
       Though Bridges said ``there is a great hunger in the land 
     for men and women just like him,'' he said Natcher is also 
     proof that those who sweepingly condemn the government are 
     wrong. ``An honest man can never serve alone,'' Bridges said. 
     ``He can only serve in the company of others who are equally 
     brave, equally as devoted and equally without guile.''
       That may have been welcome news for the 200 or so guests 
     from Washington, including Labor Secretary Robert Reich, 
     Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, many 
     congressional staffers and members such as Rep. David Obey, 
     D-Wis., Natcher's successor as appropriations chairman.
       Also in the congressional seating area were former Reps. 
     Larry Hopkins, a Republican, and Chris Perkins, a Democrat. 
     Natcher was close to Chris Perkins' father, former Rep. Carl 
     Perkins, and delivered the eulogy at his funeral in 1984.
       Perhaps the most moving eulogy yesterday came from retired 
     Bowling Green banker-lawyer Jo T. ``Top'' Orendorf, Natcher's 
     friend of 70 years. ``Bill never became `Mr. Chairman' to the 
     people in Bowling Green,'' Orendorf said. ``He remained 
     Bill.''
       Orendorf said he wasn't able to visit Natcher in Bethesda 
     Naval Hospital, where he died. But he said he would have told 
     him. ``Goodbye, Bill You did it right. See you soon.''
                                  ____


               [From the Courier Journal, Apr. 10, 1994]

                   Natcher's Full Story Not Yet Told

       Bill Natcher began our last interview without giving me a 
     chance to ask a question.
       ``I have one thing to say'' the congressman from Bowling 
     Green began, using his firm, familiar tone that brooked no 
     interruption. ``I will be a candidate for re-election.'' We 
     were at the annual Daviess County Democratic picnic last 
     August. The most curious political news of the week was that 
     Natcher's 2nd District had a new resident, former 1st 
     District Rep. Caroll Hubbard, and there had been some silly 
     speculation that Hubbard would try to gain the seat if 
     Natcher gave it up.
       No chance of that, Natcher made sure we all knew. He stood 
     more than an hour, greeting everyone who approached and 
     introducing them to each other. It was an amazing performance 
     for a man who would turn 84 in a month and would be dead in 
     little more than seven. He bubbled with interesting (but just 
     short of news-worthy) observations about the new president, 
     and it was easy to imagine Bill Clinton serving his term and 
     leaving office and Natcher still a Washington fixture. After 
     all, he went to Congress before I was born, and for about 
     half my life as a voter, he had been my congressman.
       I admired Natcher, but for much of my life as a reporter, 
     he was a major frustration because he always refused to let 
     me join him on his solitary sojourns in the district. Maybe 
     he considered such coverage superfluous for a congressman who 
     voted on every question and answered his own mail. Finally, I 
     staked out his home before sunup in hopes of tailing him. He 
     apparently had left before I arrived.
       Maybe word of that got back to him. A year later, when I 
     showed up at one of his discreetly arranged lunches with 
     friends and acquaintances in county-seat towns, he introduced 
     me to a friend as ``the meanest man in Kentucky.'' Seems that 
     he blamed me for failing to report that he had given the 
     formal eulogy a few weeks before at the funeral of his 
     colleague and close friend, Carl Perkins of Hindman.
       He got over that slight, perhaps learning that it was 
     someone else's omission. I did think his eulogy deserved 
     little mention because it was formal and stiff, without the 
     rich personal analysis that Clinton and those close to 
     Natcher gave at his funeral last week. Natcher relied on 
     formality and tradition, and it didn't always serve him well 
     as the world around him changed.
       When he wrote the District of Columbia's budget in secret 
     hearings in the late 1960s, and held up construction of its 
     subway system until expressways were built, many there 
     suspected his motives. But it turned out he was in thrall to 
     a law, not to highway builders, and when the hearings were 
     opened in the Watergate era he earned high marks for his 
     fairness.
       His fixation on his chosen course is still with us, is the 
     choice of his successor. In December and January, he was 
     clearly at risk of not finishing this term--much less the 
     next one--and there was quiet talk of other candidates.
       But Natcher signed his filing papers in his usual bold hand 
     on Dec. 15, and when the Jan. 25 deadline passed, he was 
     still the only Democratic candidate. No strong Republican had 
     dared to file against him.
       The combination of his candidacy and death puts the choice 
     of his replacement effectively in the hands of the district's 
     county Democratic committees, which are closely aligned with 
     Gov. Brereton Jones and former state Sen. Joe Prather, 54, of 
     Vine Grove, who was Jones' campaign chairman and is now the 
     likely nominee. That boxes out Owensboro Mayor David 
     Adkisson, 40, a rising political star who might have won an 
     open-seat primary.
       Adkisson's fate is ironic. He is a protege of U.S. Sen. 
     Wendel Ford, whose father, E.M. Ford of Owensboro, was a key 
     player in choosing the Democratic nominee in the last special 
     election in the 2nd District. That was in 1953 and the 
     nominee was Bill Natcher.
       We may never know whether Natcher consciously passed up a 
     chance to return the favor to Ford, or whether he returned it 
     long ago in another way. Maybe he thought staying in the race 
     was the best way to make sure Democrats kept the seat, and to 
     keep himself from being a lame-duck chairman of the House 
     Appropriations Committee.
       My best guess is that like many people with gradual heart 
     failure. Natcher kept thinking he would get better. Why else 
     would he have allowed the House to suspend business for a day 
     while he was hospitalized and then, a day later, have himself 
     wheeled in on a gurney to cast his final votes?
       The answer to these and other questions about Natcher and 
     his era may be in the daily journals he wrote from the start 
     of his congressional career but refused to make public--with 
     some rare and unremarkable exceptions--until after his death.
       Natcher wouldn't let us tell his full story while he lived. 
     Here's hoping that he wanted to tell it himself.
                                  ____


 Representative William H. Natcher, Dies at 84; Chaired Appropriations 
                               Committee

                            (By Bart Barnes)

       William H. Natcher, 84, the chairman of the House 
     Appropriations Committee and an influential and powerful 
     figure on matters of federal spending, died March 29 at 
     Bethesda Naval Medical Center. He had heart and lung 
     ailments.
       Mr. Natcher, a Kentucky Democrat, served more than four 
     decades in Congress, and in 1992 he was elected by fellow 
     Democrats to be chairman of the Appropriations Committee, 
     which controls most discretionary spending.
       From 1979 until his death, he also was chairman of the 
     Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human 
     services, which has legislative jurisdiction over the funding 
     of hundreds of billions dollars in social service, health and 
     educational programs.
       From 1961 until 1979, Mr. Natcher was chairman of the 
     Appropriations D.C. subcommittee, and in that capacity he 
     exercised vast powers over spending by the city government of 
     the nation's capital. He clashed repeatedly with D.C. 
     officials, especially over his insistence that various 
     highway projects be completed before the release of funds for 
     Metro rail construction.
       These exchanges grew particularly heated during the final 
     years of Mr. Natcher's leadership of the D.C. subcommittee, 
     when officials of a newly reorganized city government 
     contended that the congressman was refusing to recognize the 
     District's right to manage its own affairs.
       On Capitol Hill, Mr. Natcher was known as a figure of 
     consummate courtesy and integrity who did not miss a roll 
     call or a vote from his first day in office until March 3, 
     1994. His record of 18,401 consecutive votes earned him a 
     place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
       The day before his streak ended, Mr. Natcher was wheeled 
     onto the House floor on a hospital gurney. He cast the last 
     four votes of the streak while connected to an oxygen tank 
     and intravenous tubing. On the previous day, the House 
     suspended all legislative action at Mr. Natcher's request to 
     permit the streak to continue.
       On the day Mr. Natcher missed his first vote, he was 
     visited in his hospital room by President Clinton, who 
     presented him with the Presidential Citizen's Medal, the 
     nation's second-highest civilian award. The citation said, 
     ``Few legislators in our nation's history have honored their 
     responsibilities with greater fealty or shunned the 
     temptations of power with greater certainty than William 
     Houston Natcher.''
       In a statement issued by the White House press office 
     yesterday, the president said, ``In an era of sound bites and 
     high-tech media campaigns, Bill Natcher was a rarity.
       ``Some may think that Bill Natcher's death marks the end of 
     an era in politics. I hope not. I hope that Congressman 
     Natcher's devotion to public service serves as an inspiration 
     to the young men and women of America for as long as his 
     voting record stands.''
       As a politician, Mr. Natcher accepted no political 
     contributions, took no honoria for speeches and served as his 
     own press secretary, administrative assistant and legislative 
     assistant. His office staff consisted of ``five ladies,'' as 
     he described them, who answered the telephones, greeted 
     visitors and took dictation.
       Erect and immaculate in a starched white shirt and dark 
     suit, it was Mr. Natcher's custom to arrive at work at 7 
     a.m., open his own mail and remain on the job until dusk. He 
     kept a daily journal of his congressional activities, which 
     had grown to more than 50 leather-bound volumes after four 
     decades in office.
       As a legislator, Mr. Natcher opposed efforts to add pork 
     projects to appropriations bills, and he abhorred 
     governmental waste and disorder. At the same time, he always 
     made sure his own congressional district got its fair share 
     of federal dollars. Flood control projects and educational 
     programs for the disadvantaged were among those measures.
       He also was proud of the growth in funding for the National 
     Institutes of Health under his legislative stewardship, from 
     $73 million when he first took office in 1953 to more than 
     $10 billion today. On his 83rd birthday in 1992, NIH broke 
     ground on a new office building complex named after him.
       ``I have always believed that if you take care of the 
     health of your people and educate your children, you continue 
     living in the strongest country in the world,'' he often 
     said.
       Mr. Natcher was born in Bowling Green, Ky., and maintained 
     his official residence there all his life. He graduated from 
     Western Kentucky State College and received a law degree from 
     Ohio State University. While in law school, he memorized 
     Robert's Rules of Order, and he remained a stickler for 
     proper parliamentary procedure throughout his professional 
     career.
       After law school, he had a private law practice in Bowling 
     Green. He was county attorney for Warren County, then during 
     World War II served three years in the Navy. After the war, 
     he was county attorney again and then a state prosecutor. He 
     also was president of the Kentucky Young Democrats.
       In a 1953 special election, he won a seat in the House of 
     Representatives from Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District 
     after the death of the incumbent. Party leaders united behind 
     Mr. Natcher, and he ran unopposed.
       Over the years, Mr. Natcher kept in touch with his 
     constituents the old-fashioned way: He traveled around and 
     talked to them. Rarely did he spend more than $7,000 in an 
     election campaign, and he always used his own money.
       During his years as chairman of the Appropriations D.C. 
     subcommittee, Mr. Natcher headed a panel with authority over 
     each line item in the D.C. budget.
       In the chambers of the D.C. Council and on the editorial 
     pages of Washington's newspapers, he often was attacked for 
     cuts in the city's budget, ranging from slashes in the annual 
     federal payment to reductions in such measures as staffing 
     for the advisory neighborhood commissions and funding to 
     permit low-income residents to make down payments on homes. 
     Such decisions were the responsibility of local officials, 
     Mr. Natcher's critics contended.
       The congressman argued that he was only trying to eliminate 
     inefficiency and duplication in the city government.
       In 1937, Mr. Natcher married Virginia Reardon. She died in 
     1991.
       Survivors include two daughters, Celeste Jirles of 
     Cambridge, Ohio, and Louise Murphy of Los Angeles; and seven 
     grandchildren.
                                  ____


                  [From the Roll Call, Mar. 28, 1994]

   Representative Bill Natcher, `Old Bull' in Best Sense of the Word

                        (By Norman J. Ornstein)

       Brace yourself for the shock, but Rep. William Natcher (D-
     Ky) is *** an Old Bull! Yes, one of that hated class, targets 
     of sidewalk camera muggings by ``Prime-Time Live,'' vicious 
     slurs by ``60 Minutes,'' and general obloquy by journalists 
     and ``public interest'' lobbies everywhere.
       It is hard to think of Natcher in that light after the 
     well-deserved praise directed at him from all quarters, 
     including television news shows, when he first made his 
     18,401st consecutive roll call vote from a hospital gurney, 
     and then was forced by debilitating illness to miss out on 
     number 18,402.
       From his post on the Appropriations Committee, and with his 
     courtly demeanor Natcher has not been as highly visible to 
     the Washington press corps or to New York producers as, say, 
     Reps. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill), Jack Brooks (D-Texas), or 
     John Dingell (D-Mich).
       The fact is, he could have stood at the corner of 
     Connecticut Avenue and K Street at lunchtime any day in the 
     past four decades and attracted no attention whatsoever. He 
     became the focus of airtime and column inches only because 
     his illness brought his incredible roll call record to 
     broader journalistic attention.
       That attention now, at the tail end of his time in the 
     House, has finally shown most Americans the Bill Natcher 
     Congresswatchers have known, one whose 
     career has been a model of rectitude and exemplary conduct; 
     its tale could itself be a chapter in William Bennett's best-
     selling ``The Book of Virtues.''
       Over his 41 years in the House, he has shown time and again 
     the kind of personal style and professional behavior that 
     exemplify all the ``old'' virtues--honesty, modesty, hard 
     work, fairness, prudence, compassion, decency, institutional 
     loyalty--that we could find in any Frank Capra movie.
       Natcher is best known generally for his mind-boggling 
     voting record; he is best known to Congressional insiders and 
     regular C-SPAN viewers for his frequent stints presiding over 
     the House. For years, any time a partisan of ideological 
     controversy has arisen, both sides have agreed on one thing: 
     Save Tom Foley (D-Wash), only Bill Natcher, with his utterly 
     impeccable record for fairness, should sit in the Speaker's 
     chair.
       Voting on the House floor, of course, is not the most 
     significant thing lawmakers do; neither does presiding over 
     the chamber rank, say, with marking up legislation in 
     subcommittees. But these activities speak to the broader 
     personal qualities Natcher has brought to his job, that have 
     made him so special among his colleagues. As Rep. Randy 
     ``Duke'' Cunningham (Calif), one of the fire-breathing GOP 
     junior Members, noted on the House floor, Natcher has always 
     reached out to give insight and the benefit of his 
     experiences and perspective to all Members, especially the 
     junior ones.
       Moreover, longtime observers of Congress and especially the 
     appropriations process also know that Natcher's imprint is on 
     most of the social policy that has been implemented over the 
     past three decades, from his post as chair of the 
     Appropriations subcommittee and Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, which he achieved after many years 
     of service on the panel--i.e. via that dreaded disease, 
     seniority.
       And if Natcher has been known for his courtliness and 
     warmth, he has also shown a steely side when it comes to his 
     own sense of national priorities and of careful use of the 
     people's money; Washingtonians with long memories will recall 
     Natcher's toughness when the issue of extended funding for 
     the Metro subway system was considered.
       More than anything else, in fact, what Natcher's career 
     demonstrates is commitment to his work as a public servant 
     and to his institution. Bill Natcher never ran for Congress 
     by running against Congress. Bill Natcher never took a 
     gratuitous swipe at his own institution of his colleagues on 
     either side of the aisle. Bill Natcher has spent more than 40 
     years trying to assemble majorities in the Appropriations 
     Committee and in the House to make policy for the public.
       There is nothing more difficult in a complex, 
     geographically, ethnically, and ideologically diverse 
     democracy than assembling majorities. Stitching together 
     widely disparate, independently elected Members of Congress 
     from widely disparate backgrounds and viewpoints into 218 
     votes for meaningful public policy is tough work.
       What distinguishes the best of the ``Old Bulls'' (in both 
     parties, by the way; the Michels and Hydes as well as the 
     Natchers and Foleys) from the rest of the House is their 
     dedication to doing so--to making things happen when 
     something needs to be done but there is no consensus, to 
     fulfilling their charge as legislators. What distinguishes 
     many of the junior colleagues of the ``Old Bulls'' is their 
     dedication to posturing over legislating.
       Many of Natcher's fellow ``Old Bulls'' have far rougher 
     edges, more partisan leanings, and more personal 
     peccadilloes--and have gotten far more press attention over 
     the years. Most of it, at least recently, has been 
     relentlessly negative, trashing not just their personal 
     habits or styles but their very existence as old, out-of-
     touch, corrupt-by-definition, and, worst of all, ``career 
     politicians.''
       But for all their rough edges, most of the ``Old Bulls,'' 
     the Rostenkowskis, Fords, and Dingells, have a lot of 
     Natcher's virtues as well. They too are loyal to their 
     institution and their country, have their word as their bond, 
     work hard, and are more interested in making public policy 
     than logging minutes on camera or jockeying to jump to the 
     next rung on the career ladder.
       Bill Natcher is a quintessential career politician, a 
     charter member of the ``Old Bulls.'' As such, he is an 
     extraordinarily valuable role model for all his colleagues--
     but most especially the younger ones who show no appreciation 
     for their own institution, little sense of fairness or non-
     partisanship, little grounding in any of the old virtues he 
     represents.
       If they achieve their ardent desire and implement term 
     limits for the House, aided by the usual kind of press 
     coverage that treats the term ``Old Bull'' as an epithet, 
     there will be no more Bill Natchers, or Dan Rostenkowskis, 
     Bob Michels, Henry Hydes, or John Dingells--and likely, many 
     fewer old virtues, along with much poorer legislating and 
     legislation, in the House.
                                  ____


                [From the New York Times, Mar. 30, 1994]

     William H. Natcher Dies at 84; Held Voting Record in Congress

                           (By Michael Wines)

       Washington.--Representative William Huston Natcher, a 
     Kentucky Democrat whose political longevity and spotless 
     reputation won him the most powerful committee post in the 
     House, died of heart failure late Tuesday. He was 84.
       Outside of Congress, Mr. Natcher was best known for his 
     streak of 18,401 uninterrupted roll-call votes in the House, 
     a feat that ended on March 3, when failing health forced him 
     to miss a vote (on a minor procedural matter) for the first 
     time since he took office in 1954.
       But on Capitol Hill, Mr. Natcher was an icon, a lawmaker 
     who educated himself on the issues rather than rely on his 
     staff, who took no campaign contributions, who was visibly 
     offended by hints of corruption and who honored legislative 
     procedures and courtesies to their last jot.
       He once said that he wanted his epitaph to read, ``He tried 
     to do it right.''
       Those qualities, and his seniority, landed Mr. Natcher the 
     chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee in 1992, 
     but only after Jamie L. Whitten of Mississippi surrendered 
     the job.


                        obeyed rules of courtesy

       The chairman, who effectively controls House action on much 
     of the Federal budget, is one of most powerful figures in 
     Congress. House Democratic leaders had beseeched Mr. Natcher 
     to take the job fro Mr. Whitten months earlier, after Mr. 
     Whitten suffered a stroke, but Mr. Natcher refused to 
     overthrow his colleague.
       That sense of fairness also led House colleagues to make 
     him chairman of the body's internal gymnasium committee, 
     where they could be assured that he would allot court time 
     and other amenities without regard to politics or personal 
     favors.
       Mr. Natcher was said to take more pride in his voting 
     record, his daily entries in a diary and the weekly essays on 
     history that he sent to his seven grandchildren than in his 
     eminence in the House.
       In his district, in central and western Kentucky, he 
     generally campaigned by placing a few newspaper 
     advertisements and driving from town to town in his own 
     automobile. And in contrast to many House members, who 
     operate publicity machines of Wurlitzer proportions, Mr. 
     Natcher issued one press release each year, summarizing his 
     voting record.


                         took no contributions

       In 1990 he spent $6,768 of his own money to rack up 66 
     percent of the vote against an opponent who had spent 
     $144,315. One Republican who tried to unseat him in the 
     1980's likened the race to running against God.
       Mr. Natcher was born in 1909 in Bowling Green, a middle-
     sized town in Kentucky's rolling limestone cave country. He 
     was awarded a law degree from Ohio State University in 1933. 
     After Navy service in World War II and a string of private 
     and public legal jobs, he won a special election to the House 
     in August 1953.
       Mr. Natcher's record of continuous votes, believed to be 
     the longest in Congressional history, became a burden to him 
     in later life. He regularly urged newly elected members to 
     miss a vote early in their careers to avoid this fate.
       As his wife Virginia lay dying in Kentucky in 1991, Mr. 
     Natcher shuttled almost continuously between her bedside and 
     the House floor to avoid missing votes.


                          house suspends work

       He was visibly weak in January, when the House returned to 
     business after its winter recess. After he entered Bethesda 
     Naval Hospital, the House suspended voting business on March 
     1 for one day to allow him to keep his voting stream intact, 
     something the House had never done before for a member.
       On March 2, Mr. Natcher left his hospital bed and had Navy 
     aides wheel him onto the House floor on a gurney. There, 
     studded with intravenous tubes but clad in a dark suit, he 
     cast several votes on routine issues.
       The next day he was unable to leave his bed, and both his 
     streak and his tenure on the Appropriations panel effectively 
     ended. But while House Democrats voted to place 
     Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin in command of the 
     panel, they allowed Mr. Natcher to keep the title of chairman 
     until his death.
       Besides his grandchildren, Mr. Natcher is survived by two 
     daughters, Celeste Jirles of Cambridge, Ohio, and Louise 
     Murphy of Berkeley, Calif., and two great-grandchildren.
                                  ____


          [From the Louisville Courier Journal, Mar. 31, 1994]

                          The Final Roll Call

       They don't make 'em like Bill Natcher anymore.
       It wasn't just his record of 18,401 consecutive House 
     votes, a record that seems likely to last as long as there is 
     a U.S. Congress.
       Mr. Natcher, who died Tuesday night at age 84, did more 
     than just show up for quorum calls. He also epitomized 
     virtues that have become all too rare in American political 
     life, and in much of the rest of American society, as well: 
     courtesy, frugality, honesty.
       He accepted no campaign contributions and appeared in no 
     high-priced TV commercials. His campaigns were financed out 
     of his own pocket. In 1992 he spent $6,624. The average spent 
     by House incumbents seeking re-election that year was nearly 
     $600,000.
       Of course, he didn't usually have tough competition at 
     election time during his 40 years in the House. Folks in the 
     Second District liked and respected him, and we suspect that 
     most of them couldn't imagine anyone else representing them 
     in Congress.
       Many of his colleagues in the House may also find it hard 
     to accept that he's gone. He was admired, and as chairman of 
     the Appropriations Committee, he had a lot of clout--though 
     he wasn't the sort to threaten or intimidate.
       Younger politicians can look to his career for guidance. 
     They needn't focus on not missing a vote--in fact Mr. Natcher 
     once said he advised newcomers in the House not to try. It 
     would be enough, it would be a national blessing, if they 
     were simply as decent and dutiful as he.
                                  ____


Representative Natcher Is Dead at 84--Family and Friends at His Bedside 
                  After Long Illness, Hospitalization

                            (By Mary Jacoby)

       Rep. William Natcher (D-Ky), the 26th chairman of the House 
     Appropriations Committee, died Tuesday night with family and 
     friends at his bedside, ending a distinguished 40-year House 
     career and closing the door on an era of whistle-stop 
     campaigning and no-gimmick legislating. Natcher, who was 84, 
     died of complications related to heart disease, according to 
     his office. He passed away around 10:30 p.m. at Bethesda 
     Naval Hospital, where he had been hospitalized almost 
     continuously since early February.
       Members rushed to praise the gentlemanly Natcher, who came 
     to Congress in 1953 at the age of 45.
       ``He set a standard of congeniality with his fellow Members 
     of both parties which is essential for any parliamentary 
     democracy, but harder to find in this modern era,'' Speaker 
     Tom Foley (D-Wash) said in a statement. ``His memory will 
     burn brightly.''
       Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo) called Natcher a 
     ``constant inspiration'' who ``weighed every legislative 
     decision with * * * weight and seriousness and purpose.''
       Rep. David Obey (D-Wis), elected acting Appropriations 
     chairman last week and soon to be head of the committee in 
     his own right, described Natcher as ``an absolute rock of 
     integrity.''
       Natcher's closest friends in the House remembered their 
     long association with the legendary Natcher, who set a record 
     of 18,401 consecutive recorded votes before his illness 
     forced him to abandon the string in early March.
       ``He was fun to be with because he was full of anecdotes,'' 
     said Rep. Sid Yates (D-Ill), who served 40 years with Natcher 
     in the House. ``He and I used to sit around and compare notes 
     about the early days under Speaker Rayburn.''
       Rep Sonny Montgomery (D-Miss) said he considered Natcher 
     one of his closest friends. But even friendship couldn't 
     shield a Member from Natcher's keen memory of legislative 
     events, he said.
       ``It was interesting. One time I voted against one of his 
     bills, and he didn't forgive me for two years. And I ate 
     breakfast with him every morning. He'd look up at me and say, 
     `Remember you voted against my bill three years ago?'''
       ``It's not going to be the same,''
       Montgomery added. ``We might just save his place down at 
     our breakfast table for a while.''
       Natcher ran his office like he ran his life--spartan and 
     efficient. He resisted the modern era, refusing to buy a fax 
     machine. His Washington staff numbered seven at his death--
     one-third as many aides as he was authorized to hire. He 
     employed all women and paid his top aide $50,000 a year, 
     according to House records.
       Remarkable in this age of million-dollar campaign budgets 
     and high-tech advertising, Natcher never accepted campaign 
     contributions and spent his own money on re-election.
       In 1982 and 1984, Natcher spent a combined $21,000 to win 
     elections against challengers backed collectively by hundreds 
     of thousands of dollars. Seven times in his career Natcher 
     was unchallenged in the general election. He usually won with 
     60 percent or more of the vote.
       Yates recalled a conversation Natcher said he once had with 
     Rayburn, a man from a modest Texas farming background who 
     adhered to Natcher's campaign values but found even he had to 
     bend to the modern era.
       Recalled Yates, ``Natcher went into the cloakroom one day, 
     and there was Speaker Rayburn sitting in one of the 
     armchairs. And Rayburn said to him, `I suppose you didn't 
     raise any money again for your campaign.'
       And Natcher said, `Yes, that's right, Mr. Speaker.' And 
     Rayburn told him, `Based on my experience, you're going to 
     regret that one day.'''
       Said Yates: ``Well, he never did. He always used his own 
     money.''
       Natcher never had to submit to exhausting fundraising 
     rituals--and the charge of selling his vote to special 
     interests--because he had built up a sturdy political 
     operation at home that ran on auto-pilot, Yates said.
       In Washington, Natcher exercised every day, riding an 
     ancient stationary bicycle in the House gym that was removed 
     last month after he became ill. At night, he would take a 
     long way.
       Natcher also kept meticulous diaries filled with his 
     impressions of House Members and events. Every 300 pages, he 
     would ship the volumes off to the Government Printing Office 
     to be bound at his own expense.
       Natcher had said the diaries would be released after his 
     death.
       Natcher--at age 83--became Appropriations chairman in 1992 
     after ailing Rep. Jamie Whitten (D-Miss.) stepped down.
       In the year Natcher headed the committee, he remained 
     opposed to earmarking and protective rules for the spending 
     bills on the floor, although the Rules Committee usually 
     issued rules anyway.
       But his wife's death in 1991 took its toll on Natcher, 
     according to friends. While she was seriously ill, Natcher 
     flew back and forth between Kentucky and Washington, 
     preserving both his devotion to his wife and to his voting 
     streak.
       Then, in February, Natcher drew national attention as he 
     struggled to maintain his voting record, leaving Bethesda 
     Naval Hospital during the day to vote and returning at night 
     to recuperate from the strain.
       In an unprecedented move, House leaders canceled 
     legislative business on March 1 to enable Natcher to seek 
     medical attention for intestinal blockage. Natcher had said 
     he would rather forgo treatment than miss a vote.
       The next day Natcher was wheeled onto the floor on a 
     hospital gurney to cast votes. He had tubes attached to his 
     arm and nose and returned, exhausted, to the hospital that 
     night.
       On March 3, Natcher released a statement saying he had 
     ``very reluctantly'' decided to remain in the hospital, 
     missing his first day of work in his professional life. His 
     streak was over.
       Natcher had been present for 18,401 consecutive recorded 
     votes--14,161 roll calls and 4,240 quorum calls.
       Yates said he once asked Natcher what would cause him to 
     miss a vote. Natcher recited a telephone number and said, 
     ``You can call this number to find out,'' Yates recalled.
       ``I said, `What's that?' He said it was the number of a 
     funeral home back in Bowling Green. And it was almost true, 
     except that at the end he was so close to death that he just 
     couldn't vote anymore.''
       Natcher was born in Bowling Green, Ky., and graduated from 
     Western Kentucky State College in his hometown in 1930. He 
     received a law degree from Ohio State University in 1933 and 
     moved back to Bowling Green to start a law practice.
       From 1938 to 1950 he was Warren County attorney and served 
     in the Navy from 1942 to 1945. He was elected to Congress in 
     a 1953 special election to fill a vacancy caused by the death 
     of Rep. Garrett Withers (D).
       Natcher is survived by seven grandchildren and two 
     daughters, Celeste Jirles of Cambridge, Ohio, and Louise 
     Murphy of Berkeley, Calif.
       Funeral arrangements are pending.
                                  ____


                [From the Courier Journal, Mar. 1, 1994]

                               Quiet Hero

                          (By John Ed Pearce)

       This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers. There are men 
     who can't be bought.'' From The People Will Live On, by Carl 
     Sandburg.
       It may well be as much saddening commentary on our times, 
     and on the low level of public service, as on the life and 
     times of William Natcher, that he is praised in recollection 
     to only for what he did but for what he did not do.
       In a day when far too many public men seemed steeped in 
     weakness, if not evil, he was, simply a good man, a man who 
     did his duty as he saw it, representing the people of his 
     district within the bounds of his conscience.
       It is a fortunate man who can do that today, and Natcher 
     was fortunate that he fit so well the part of our state he 
     represented. His was a congressional district remarkably of a 
     piece in a state of division and differences. He might not 
     have survived 40 hard years in Congress had he been sent by a 
     more diverse and demanding district, might not have been able 
     to answer the varying command of clashing races, of unions 
     against management, farmers against industry.
       So, too, was the Second District fortunate to have Bill 
     Natcher. For just as he was known as a man who did the right 
     thing as he saw it, so did he avoid the wrong. When the time 
     of choice arrived, he did not do the bad thing.
       What is the reward for the man who takes the political road 
     less traveled? Bill Natcher was one of the most powerful men 
     in Congress; he could have amassed a fortune, lived lavishly. 
     He could have, like most of his fellows, taken campaign 
     contributions, using for his own benefit those funds not 
     spent. No one would have blamed him for taking an easier way. 
     But surely he should be remembered for not doing so.
       His record reads with a peculiarly old-fashioned sound. He 
     was not a spectacular lawmaker, but he kept an eye on the 
     people's money. He opened his own mail, drove himself to work 
     each morning, watched office expenses.

                           *   *   *   *   *

       But he felt he was sent to Washington to vote, and so he 
     would vote. He never missed a vote in his 40 years in 
     Congress until time, age, the toll of work and a tired heart 
     cut him down.
       Those who chafe at the drag of custom and tradition and 
     feel the need to fit the changing times may well question the 
     impact of William Natcher on tomorrow. From a conservative 
     district, he was conservative. He seldom heard the call of 
     tomorrow strongly enough to move far ahead of today. The 
     Second District of Kentucky has seldom flown the banners of 
     liberalism. In this time, it nurtured the forces of the 
     Confederacy. Only recently did its tempo quicken from that of 
     the farm to that of the assembly plant. Change comes slowly 
     when it moves to the rhythm of seed time and harvest.
       And with the slow and steady pace of seasons, Bill Natcher 
     worked to serve his people, with a quiet virtue that made him 
     seem out of place among the bawling voices of mean attack and 
     self-praise that crowd the stage of Washington. He brought 
     home his share of lakes and roads and such projects as he 
     could defend in good conscience.
       He considered it improper to accept campaign contributions, 
     knowing such gifts made one obligated to the giver.
       He refused to make television commercials extolling his own 
     virtues and seeking to damage his opponent. In a day of the 
     talk show and the multi-microphone interview, he shunned 
     publicity, avoided reporters and kept in touch with his 
     constituents by the old-fashioned method of visiting and 
     talking with them.
       Progressives may question some of his votes, but no one can 
     question his character or his conduct. And it is worth noting 
     that a new health building will be named in honor of his 
     efforts on behalf of health improvement laws.
       It is said that the statues to the quiet heroes stand in 
     the hearts of those they served. And what monument can we 
     raise as reverent as the fact that in seeking his successor, 
     we will look for the virtues that marked him?
  


                       SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February 
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized 
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees, 
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This 
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate 
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules Committee--of the time, place, 
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or 
changes in the meetings as they occur.
  As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this 
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this 
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the 
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
  Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, May 24, 1994, may be found in the 
Daily Digest of today's Record.

                           MEETINGS SCHEDULED

                                 MAY 25
     8:00 a.m.
       Labor and Human Resources
         Business meeting, to continue markup of proposed 
           legislation to provide for health care security.
                                                            SH-216
     8:30 a.m.
       Governmental Affairs
       Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
         To hold hearings on international organized crime and its 
           impact on the United States.
                                                            SD-342
     9:30 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine issues relating to teenage 
           pregnancy.
                                                            SD-192
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Interior Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of the Interior.
                                                    S-128, Capitol
       Appropriations
       Military Construction Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for military construction programs, focusing 
           on Army and defense agencies.
                                                            SD-116
       Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
         To hold hearings on U.S. dual use exports to Iraq and 
           their impact on the health of Gulf War veterans.
                                                            SD-538
     10:30 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To continue hearings on S. 1822, to safeguard and protect 
           the public interest while permitting the growth and 
           development of new communications technologies, 
           focusing on education and telecommunications 
           infrastructure.
                                                            SR-253
     2:00 p.m.
       Appropriations
       District of Columbia Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the government of the District of 
           Columbia.
                                                            SD-138
       Judiciary
         To hold hearings to examine fraud in the health care 
           industry.
                                                            SD-226
       Labor and Human Resources
         Business meeting, to continue markup of proposed 
           legislation to provide for health care security.
                                                            SH-216
     2:30 p.m.
       Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
         To continue hearings on U.S. dual use exports to Iraq and 
           their impact on the health of Gulf War veterans.
                                                            SD-538
       Judiciary
         To hold hearings on pending nominations.
                                                            SD-628

                                 MAY 26
     8:00 a.m.
       Labor and Human Resources
         Business meeting, to continue markup of proposed 
           legislation to provide for health care security, and to 
           mark up S. 1513, authorizing funds for programs of the 
           Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
                                                            SH-216
     9:00 a.m.
       Armed Services
         Business meeting, to discuss procedures for markup of the 
           proposed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
           Year 1995.
                                                            SR-222
     9:30 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on S. 1350, to revise the Earthquake 
           Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 to provide for an 
           expanded Federal program of hazard mitigation and 
           insurance against the risk of catastrophic natural 
           disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and 
           volcanic eruptions.
                                                            SR-253
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold hearings to examine policy options for the 
           disposition of excess weapons plutonium.
                                                            SD-366
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the National Aeronautics and Space 
           Administration.
                                                            SD-106
       Finance
         To hold hearings on provisions of S. 1951 (pending on 
           Senate calendar), to establish a comprehensive system 
           of reemployment services, training and income support 
           for permanently laid off workers; to be followed by a 
           hearing and consideration of the nomination of Valerie 
           Lau, of California, to be Inspector General, Department 
           of the Treasury, and to consider the nomination of 
           Ronald K. Noble, of New York, to be Under Secretary of 
           the Treasury for Enforcement.
                                                            SD-215
       Governmental Affairs
         Business meeting, to consider pending legislation and 
           nominations.
                                                            SD-342
       Small Business
         To hold hearings to examine research by entrepreneurs on 
           childhood diseases.
                                                           SR-428A
       Joint Economic
         To hold hearings to examine deficit reduction and the 
           economy.
                                             2359 Rayburn Building
     2:00 p.m.
       Environment and Public Works
         To hold hearings on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Civil 
           Works program and its policies on recreation and 
           environmental protection.
                                                            SD-406
       Labor and Human Resources
         Business meeting, to continue markup of proposed 
           legislation to provide for health care security, and to 
           mark up S. 1513, authorizing funds for programs of the 
           Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
                                                            SH-216
     2:30 p.m.
       Appropriations
       District of Columbia Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the District of Columbia court system and 
           school system.
                                                            SD-116
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on S. 1989, to prohibit the transfer and 
           novation of an insurance policy without the prior 
           informed written consent of the policyholder.
                                                            SR-253

                                 MAY 27
     8:00 a.m.
       Labor and Human Resources
         Business meeting, to continue markup of proposed 
           legislation to provide for health care security.
                                                            SH-216
     10:00 a.m.
       Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
         To hold hearings to examine monetary policy.
                                                            SD-538

                                 JUNE 8
     9:30 a.m.
       Indian Affairs
         To hold hearings on S. 1936, to provide for the 
           integrated management of Indian resources, and S. 2067, 
           to establish an Assistant Secretary for Indian Health, 
           and to provide for the organizational independence of 
           the Indian Health Service within the Department of 
           Health and Human Services.
                                                            SR-485
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Interior Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Energy.
                                                    S-128, Capitol
       Foreign Relations
       International Economic Policy, Trade, Oceans and 
           Environment Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for foreign assistance 
           programs.
                                                            SD-419
     2:30 p.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Water and Power Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine water quality and quantity 
           problems and opportunities facing the lower Colorado 
           River area.
                                                            SD-366

                                 JUNE 9
     9:30 a.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Water and Power Subcommittee
         To continue hearings on water quality and quantity 
           problems and opportunities facing the lower Colorado 
           River area.
                                                            SD-366
       Rules and Administration
         Business meeting, to mark up S. 1824, Legislative 
           Reorganization Act, H.R. 877, Smithsonian National 
           African American Museum, an original bill authorizing 
           appropriations for fiscal year 1995 for the Federal 
           Election Commission, S. Res. 196, printing resolution 
           for Aging Committee, an original resolution authorizing 
           the purchase of 1995 wall calendars, H. Con. Res. 222, 
           authorizing acceptance and placement of a bust in the 
           Capitol, and other legislative business.
                                                            SR-301
       Indian Affairs
         Business meeting, to consider Indian health care 
           provisions of the proposed American Health Security 
           Act.
                                                            SR-485

                                JUNE 10
     9:30 a.m.
       Indian Affairs
         To hold oversight hearings on activities of off-
           reservation boarding schools.
                                                            SR-485

                                JUNE 14
     10:00 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on weather satellite conversions.
                                                            SR-253
     2:30 p.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
       Surface Transportation Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for rail safety programs.
                                                            SR-253

                                JUNE 15
     9:30 a.m.
       Indian Affairs
         To hold hearings on S. 2036, to specify the terms of 
           contracts entered into by the United States and Indian 
           tribal organizations under the Indian Self-
           Determination and Education Assistance Act.
                                                            SR-485
     10:00 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
           Administration, Department of Commerce.
                                                            SR-253
     2:30 p.m.
       Indian Affairs
         To resume hearings on S. 1021, to protect and preserve 
           the rights of Native Americans to express and exercise 
           their traditional religious beliefs, focusing on an 
           amendment in the nature of a substitute.
                                                            SR-485

                                JUNE 16
     9:30 a.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold hearings on implementation of the Department of 
           Energy's alternative fuel vehicle and fleet programs.
                                                            SD-366
       Rules and Administration
         To hold hearings on S. Res. 69, to require that an 
           evaluation of the financial impact that any Federal 
           mandates would have on State and local governments be 
           included in the committee report accompanying each bill 
           or resolution containing such mandates, S. Res. 157, to 
           require a supermajority for committee approval of bills 
           containing unfunded Federal mandates, and S. Res. 158, 
           to require a supermajority for Senate approval of bills 
           or amendments containing unfunded Federal mandates.
                                                            SR-301

                                JUNE 23
     9:30 a.m.
       Rules and Administration
         To hold hearings on the nominations of Lee Ann Elliott, 
           of Virginia, and Danny Lee McDonald, of Oklahoma, each 
           to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission.
                                                            SR-301
     10:30 a.m.
       Rules and Administration
         To hold oversight hearings on the operations of the 
           Office of the Architect of the Capitol.
                                                            SR-301

                             POSTPONEMENTS

                                 MAY 24
     9:30 a.m.
       Environment and Public Works
       Toxic Substances, Research and Development Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine issues relating to the 
           Environmental Protection Agency's research and 
           development programs, focusing on S. 1545, to authorize 
           funds for fiscal years 1994 through 1996 for 
           environmental research, development, and demonstration 
           activities and program management support of the Office 
           of Research and Development of the Environmental 
           Protection Agency.
                                                            SD-406