[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    TRIBUTE TO MAJOR SMITH, DECEASED

  (Mr. McCLOSKEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. McCLOSKEY. Mr. Speaker, as we grind down to the waning minutes of 
this session, one thing that strikes me is that all the great employees 
and staff personnel that give us so much support hardly ever receive 
the particular or general thanks that they really deserve.
  I do not have a formal statement with me, but one of the particular 
sadnesses that I have as I leave tonight and go away from the Congress 
tomorrow is that this was a year that an outstanding Capitol Hill 
policeman, one Major Smith, passed away. I think many of us know 
``Smitty'' from our walkings around the Hill.
  He was usually posted on the very, very bottom floor, in the 1st 
floor of the Cannon. Though he will never be famous, I shall remember 
him to my dying day as one of the more outstanding individuals I have 
ever met.

                              {time}  2240

  He was truly honest, caring, brave and concerned.
  I got to know Smitty and his family, his family to a lesser degree, 
over the years, but he really had an amazing life. He did everything 
right, was a distinguished Air Force veteran of some 20 years in the 
Air Force, not quite as long as with the Capitol Hill Police, but he 
was a gentleman who made a great impression on any person that he ever 
met.
  It was a particular element of heartbreak to me that within 2 or 3 
months after Smitty had earned a well-earned retirement after all these 
years that, as is often the case, he was struck with cancer, and within 
a matter of several months was gone, but his spirit lives on, and I 
think he exemplifies the best of Federal and Capitol service.
  I know all the people that know him over the years agree, and 
particularly, I guess as we all live in stressful times, I want to 
thank the Capitol Hill Police, of which he was an outstanding member, 
for all the services, the dedication and the security they give to us.
  I will have a formal statement by Monday morning, Mr. Speaker, in 
Smitty's memory, and I really appreciate this opportunity.
  Mr. MYERS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. McCLOSKEY. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. MYERS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I join with my good friend, the 
gentleman from Indiana [Mr. McCloskey], a fellow Hoosier, in 
remembering Smitty. There are so many people like Smitty around here 
that make our job a lot easier, who contribute to making the country a 
better place, who are unsung heroes. They are never on television. 
Never are their names out in the limelight. We do not see their names 
in the legislation that passes or does not pass. There are heroes who 
do or do not do something for this country, there are a lot of people 
like that that serve Capitol Hill that are the unsung heroes that we 
every once in a while should stop to say, ``Thank you,'' for the job 
they do.
  A lot of people say, ``Oh, they got paid for their job. Why should we 
thank them?''
  But they are really working for all our country when they serve here. 
They had other careers, many of them military.
  Mr. McCLOSKEY. He was in the Air Force.
  Mr. MYERS of Indiana. But there are so many people like that who have 
really contributed so much to our job and our country. They are true 
heroes, and we ought to stop more often than we do, maybe, and thank 
them for the job they do because they are really the heroes.
  And some of us get on television, we do all these things, but they 
are the people that really make the country great.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman, ``Thank you for honoring Smitty 
tonight.''
  Mr. McCLOSKEY. I say to the gentleman, ``Thank you, Mr. Myers.''
  I say in closing again, Mr. Speaker, he will always be remembered and 
appreciated, and more than once he gave me advice and counsel to help 
me immeasurably in my day-to-day activities out here.

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