[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 138 (Wednesday, September 28, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            TRIBUTE TO FORMER REPRESENT- ATIVE EDWARD PATTEN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Speaker, New Jersey and our Nation suffered a tragic 
loss last week with the passing of our former colleague and friend, 
Congressman Ed Patten. Rutgers University, our State University, also 
lost a great and loyal friend.
  I would like to take a few moments to reflect upon his life, and to 
pay tribute to this man who was surely one of New Jersey's finest sons. 
He was a big man, with a gentle smile and pleasing and outgoing 
personality.
  Eddie Patten was also one of the most colorful, congenial and 
compassionate individuals to ever grace the Halls of Congress. To 
remember him any other way would be unfair to a man who built his 
reputation on the basis of his warmth, great sense of humor and genuine 
love of Congress and the people he served.
  When I first came to the Congress in 1975, Eddie Patten was one of 
the senior Members of our delegation, one who I looked to for guidance 
and good counsel. I must confess, I at first never knew when to take 
him seriously.
  He was always telling stories, cracking jokes, and hatching the kind 
of schemes which made him a legend around the Capitol, such as the time 
he clipped off another Member's tie with a pair of scissors so he could 
replace it with one manufactured in his hometown of Perth Amboy.
  No matter how tense the situation might be, or how difficult the 
issue was that we were facing, you could always count on Eddie to come 
up with a well-placed joke or one-liner that would ease the pressure 
and help everyone get through the crisis at hand. He was quite a 
character.
  But Eddie was also one of the most able and effective Members of our 
delegation. As a Member of the House Appropriations Committee, he 
helped lead the fight for education and job training programs. He 
worked tirelessly in support of programs to create jobs and put people 
to work.
  Just as importantly, Eddie never lost sight of the people he served. 
Indeed, it was difficult to go anywhere in his district that people 
didn't know him by name and enjoy being around him. To Eddie, the 
people always came first.
  I am very proud to have had the opportunity to serve with Eddie 
Patten, and to get to know him as a legislator and a friend. I wish to 
extend my condolences to his daughter Catherine and to the citizens of 
New Jersey on the loss of this wonderfully kind and productive public 
servant. We will miss him.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, Congressman Edward James Patten, who 
served in this body from 1963 until his retirement in 1980; passed away 
on September 17, 1994, at the age of 89.
  Mr. Patten spent his entire life in public service. He graduated from 
Rutgers Law School; and, at age 27 became the youngest mayor in the 
history of Perth Amboy. He then served as the Middlesex County clerk 
and secretary of state for the State of New Jersey under Gov. Dick 
Hughes.
  Following the 1960 census, New Jersey's 15th Congressional District 
was created. Ed Patten was selected by the county Democratic 
organization to run for Congress in the newly established district.
  He went on to win that election in 1962 and each subsequent election 
through 1978. During that time, he had only one serious primary 
challenge and that was during the Vietnam war.
  Ed Patten loved the House of Representatives. He was a Democrat who 
believed that we had a responsibility to meet the needs of the 
Republic's people. He felt privileged to serve with former Speakers of 
the House John McCormick and Tip O'Neill.
  He sat on the House Appropriations Committee for many years, during 
which time he was an impassioned fighter for education. During his 
tenure on the Labor--Health and Human Services--Education Subcommittee, 
he championed the growth of higher education and our State university, 
Rutgers, held a special place in his heart.
  He was also an advocate of the work done at Princeton and worked hard 
for the Princeton Plasma Physics Center, which as we all know has done 
recordbreaking research in the field of fusion.
  But, Mr. Speaker, people remember Ed Patten for his love of his 
family, his fellow human beings, and for his love of Perth Amboy, NJ. 
He was Perth Amboy's favorite son. He lived in the same house on Market 
Street for his entire married life. He was enormously proud of his 
daughter, Sister Catherine Patten, to whom I want to extend my deepest 
sympathy. He was a man who could relate to the people because he was 
one of them. His favorite hours were spent in Perth Amboy at the Elk's 
Club. His office was open every Saturday, where he and his late wife, 
Anna, would see constituents all day. He was a good man with a generous 
and caring heart, and the problems his constituents had became his 
problems.
  Mr. Speaker, it seems that here, in the House of Representatives, 
everyone who knew him has an Eddie Patten Story. Mine concerns one of 
his congressional elections, where his opponent publicly stated that, 
``running against Ed Pattern is like running against Santa Claus.''
  I never had the privilege of meeting Ed Patten, but I wish I had.

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