[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE WILLIAM D. FORD

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 4, 1994

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of the most 
valuable Members of this institution, a Representative whom we will all 
miss very dearly upon his retirement this year: the Honorable William 
D. Ford.
  As a 20-year-old when William Ford first joined the Congress in 1965, 
I was not aware of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
and Higher Education Act of 1965, much less of the role he played in 
crafting them.
  I was an administrator in Community School District 7 in South Bronx 
when Representative William Ford worked on the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Amendments of 1967, which supported dropout prevention 
projects and bilingual education programs. At that time I was not as 
attuned to the Federal legislative process as I might have been, but I 
was certainly appreciative of the results.
  When Representative Ford helped craft and pass the Carl D. Perkins 
Vocational Educational Act in 1984, I was a senior member of the New 
York State Assembly Committee on Education, and I understood very well 
the significance of his efforts. Then 4 years later, as the chairman of 
that assembly committee when Representative Ford worked on the 
Childhood Education and Development Act, I understood his contribution 
even better.
  However, Mr. Speaker, it was not until I had the privilege of joining 
what in 1990 had become his Committee on Education and Labor, did I 
fully comprehend the magnitude of his leadership on our Nation's 
educational policies. And I will always treasure the memories of his 
guidance in the crafting and passage of my very first bill, the School 
Dropout Prevention and Basic Skills Improvement Act of 1990.
  Mr. Speaker, this House of Representatives--and this Nation--will 
miss the leadership of Chairman William Ford very deeply. But those of 
us who have had the pleasure of working with him will miss him all the 
more.

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