[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 TRIBUTES TO SEVERAL DEPARTING MEMBERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Houghton] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Speaker, I am not going to be able to duplicate the 
words of, eloquent words of Mr. Michel or the Speaker or other people 
who have talked, but I would like to take just a few minutes and talk 
about some of the people who have been very meaningful to me.
  I think that they also have been meaningful to this whole 
institution.
  Now, I know I am going to get somebody's nose out of joint because I 
will not mention them, but I can only mention a handful. I want to 
start, if I may, with my dear friend, the gentleman from New York, 
Hamilton Fish.
  Ham and I were in college together. We both got out of the service 
after World War II. We went to college. He has been a close, dear 
friend of mine.
  He was elected in 1968 and everyone knows the famous Fish name, from 
his father, who served here for many years, to other members of his 
family who started during the Revolutionary War and had distinguished 
careers.
  Ham was distinguished particularly because of what he did when he 
first came in here and during those arduous times of Watergate. But he 
has been involved in the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil 
Rights Act. He has been a wonderful, decent person who has meant a lot 
to me.
  I just wanted to record that and share it with some of my associates.
  The next Member I would like to talk about is a fellow called Fred 
Grandy, whom we all know.
  Mr. Speaker, he used to work in the office of Wiley Mayne of Iowa.
  Mr. Mayne left Congress, and Fred went into acting. I was present at 
the White House when he first came here in 1956, and he struck up an 
immediate relationship with President Reagan because of his acting 
career. He is an extraordinary guy.
  I knew Fred particularly on the Committee on Ways and Means, where he 
was an expert on health care and welfare reform. His is a rare talent.
  I am sorry he is not going to be with us, but I want him to know how 
much his life and his influence have meant to me.
  The third person I would like to mention is Alex McMillan.
  Alex and I had sort of a common bond, we were both chairmen of our 
respective companies. He is a very astute man, very knowledgeable, 
smart, he understood the flow of economics and did an extraordinary 
job.
  Mr. Speaker, I see the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Kasich, and I yield 
to the gentleman.
  Mr. KASICH. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I would like to take just a short second or two to say that I think 
Alex McMillian is one of the classiest individuals whom I have met in 
my lifetime. Alex sat next to me in the Committee on the Budget for 2 
years. He and I were a great working team and there is no other one 
like Alex.  Alex is going to leave here to do some wonderful things in 
the private sector and still contribute to what we are trying to do up 
here to tame the Federal deficit monster.
  I am going to miss him as a colleague, but I am going to miss him as 
just a great person here in the Congress.
  And I appreciate the very distinguished gentleman from New York for 
yielding to me.
  Mr. HOUGHTON. I appreciate the gentleman's comments because I feel 
that way strongly about Alex.
  The next chairman of the Committee on the Budget has just spoken, and 
he is a wonderful person in his own right, and he knows that many times 
when you are dealing with economics, dealing with numbers or dealing 
with the arithmetic of Government, you have to feel it, you just cannot 
intellectualize it. Now, that is something that Alex has done.
  We are going to miss him.
  The next person is Peter Hoagland. That is the gentleman from 
Nebraska, a wonderful person, a very sensitive individual, a neighbor 
of mine down the hall. I would like to feel that Peter will go on to 
great things in his young life. I am really going to miss Peter.
  The last person I would like to talk about is Jake Pickle.
  Jake, I think, has been the most decent, the most fair, the most 
broad-gauged chairman with whom I have ever dealt. He means a lot to 
me.
  I hope our friendship will continue for a long time. He epitomizes to 
me what is so important about this House, that our main focus is about 
this country; it is not about Republicans or Democrats.
  Also, he is able to work with a variety of issues without an edge, 
without a hard edge. He is always able to see the bigger picture.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield the balance of my time and thank 
you very much for letting me talk about these distinguished gentlemen 
and how much they meant not only to me but this entire Congress.

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