[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                A TRIBUTE TO REPRESENTATIVE DON EDWARDS

                                 ______


                               speech of

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 1994

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring our distinguished 
colleague, Representative Don Edwards, who is retiring from the House 
of Representatives at the end of this, the 103d Congress, 
Representative Edwards, the dean of the California delegation, has 
represented his San Jose district with considerable distinction since 
1962.
  Representative Don Edwards was born and raised in the community that 
he now represents. He attended public schools in San Jose and received 
both his bachelors and juris doctorate degrees from nearby Stanford 
University. Don served as a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent from 
1940 to 1941, and during World War II as a Naval intelligence officer 
and gunnery officer at sea. He and his wife, Edith B. Wilkie, a native 
New Yorker and presently executive director of the Arms Control and 
Foreign Policy Caucus, raised five sons: Judge Leonard Perry Edwards 
and Judge Thomas C. Edwards, both of Santa Clara County Superior Court; 
Samuel Dwyer Edwards, a software designer living in Portola Valley; Dr. 
Bruce Haven Edwards, a mathematics professor at the University of 
Florida; and William Don Edwards, a San Jose lawyer. By perpetuating 
the leadership and commitment to serving fellow human beings, these 
five men will serve, perhaps, a Don and Edith's greatest legacy.
  Matching his legacy of congressional service, which he will bestow 
upon the Members of this body in a few short weeks, will prove 
difficult, if not impossible. Upon arriving in Washington, he made 
clear his goals to serve the people of San Jose and southern San 
Francisco Bay and to defend the liberties and laws of the Constitution. 
Working with both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Representative 
Edwards was the floor leader in the enactment of the 1964 Omnibus Civil 
Rights Act and the Voting Rights of 1965. He participated in civil 
rights demonstrations and marches in Washington and throughout the 
South. In 1963, he visited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 
Birmingham Jail. Later, he helped to shepherd the equal rights 
amendment through the House and authored both the Freedom of Choice Act 
and the Religious Freedom Act. His respect for civil liberties and 
consistent support of those principles have led many of us to refer to 
Mr. Edwards as ``The Conscience of the Congress.''
  Representative Edwards never wavered in his adherence to those 
principles, even when it led to helping those outside of this body's 
realm. Whether referring to his work on oversight of the FBI, United 
States involvement in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Vietnam, or South Africa, 
Don brought his integrity and decency with him. It has touched all who 
know him.
  And by doing so, Don Edwards has better served his constituency and 
his country. In his 32 years of service, Mr. Edwards's legislation has: 
doubled the size of the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge; established 
environmental education centers in Alviso and Fremont; given copyright 
protection to semiconductor manufacturers; streamlined export 
licensing; helped build the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Courthouse and 
Federal Building in San Jose, and many other highway, flood control, 
earthquake relief, and rail projects.
  I find it perfectly appropriate that we honor Representative Edwards 
in the same week that this body honored President Nelson Mandela of the 
Republic of South Africa and welcomed him here to address Congress and 
the Nation. Like President Mandela, Don Edwards believes that our 
society's enemy is never an organization, an event, a symbol, or a race 
of people. Humanity's true enemies are tyranny, contempt for liberty, 
and injustice. In waging a never-ending battle against these foes, Don 
has transcended the legislative works of this body. In doing so, he has 
inspired generations of constituents, colleagues, and friends, 
including this humble legislator.

                          ____________________