[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