[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING MEMBERS

                                 ______


                         HON. ROBERT H. MICHEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994


                        Tribute to Hamilton Fish

  Mr. MICHEL. Mr. Speaker, we are saying goodbye to many of our long-
time colleagues as the 103d Congress ends. Among them is our good 
friend, Ham Fish, ranking minority member of the House Judiciary 
Committee. Ham is a member of a distinguished New York family, and he 
has carried on the family tradition of public service. One Hamilton 
Fish was President Grant's Secretary of State. Another, the father of 
our good friend, was a Member of the House for 24 years. Ham always has 
carried out his duties with that sense of duty and pride in public 
service which is the legacy of his family.
  Ham has given the Judiciary Committee many years of distinguished 
service. His approach to difficult political and legislative questions 
has always been one in which reason, civility, and respect guided his 
actions. He has truly been one of the fine gentlemen of the House and I 
want to thank him for the guidance and support he has given me in my 
role as Republican leader over the years.


                      Tribute to Dan Rostenkowski

  Mr. Speaker, during my years in the House it has often occurred to me 
that the center aisle that divides the two parties can be see as a moat 
dividing us or a road joining us, depending upon the mood of the House 
and the nature of the issue. If it is always seen as a moat, you never 
get to really know the men and women of the other party; if it is 
always seen as a road, you lose that sense of party solidarity so 
necessary to the successful outcome of legislative debates.
  But no matter how you view the middle aisle, there are always Members 
of the opposing party with whom you strike up a friendship, and I am 
happy to say that one of the enduring friendships I have been fortunate 
enough to forge in this House has been with my Illinois colleague, Dan 
Rostenkowski.
  I came to the House in 1957. Rosty joined us only 2 years later. 
There we were, a political odd couple if there ever was one: A 
Republican from Ev Dirksen's old district and a Democrat from Mayor 
Daley's Chicago. And yet, improbably enough, we became friends and it 
is a friendship that has survived through many twists and turns of the 
political road over the years.
  As both of us like to relate, in the early days we used to drive back 
to Illinois each weekend, along with our good friend Harold Collier, to 
be with our families. We would each take turns driving, while one of us 
slept in the back seat. You get to know each other pretty well under 
such conditions and it was in those long hours on the road that our 
friendship grew.
  Since I announced my decision not to seek reelection little over a 
year ago, I have been interviewed many times by the media. In many of 
the discussions I am asked what I will miss when I leave the House. And 
I tell them that what I will miss the most is the friendship, the 
camaraderie, the sense of mutual respect, the knowledge that we in the 
House have the privilege granted to relatively few human begins in 
history, that of representing free people in a freely elected national 
legislature. What an honor it has been. And it has been all the more 
rewarding because of the wonderful men and women I have been fortunate 
enough to know, among whom I am proud to count my good friend Rosty. 
Neither he nor I will be returning to the next Congress, so I want to 
take this opportunity to let him know I wish him the very best.


                     tribute to george sangmeister

  Mr. Speaker, there is a special bond between members of a State 
delegation. While we might--and often do--disagree on policy and 
programs, there is always that sense of community that comes when you 
all share allegiance to a great State.
  The State of Illinois has been fortunate in having a delegation that 
reflects the general outlook I have just referred to. I think of our 
Illinois State lunches, where Democrats and Republicans gather to talk 
about what is in the best interests of our State. One of the most 
admirable members of that group is our colleague George Sangmeister. He 
is a Democrat. I am a Republican. But we both represent Illinois 
districts and we both try to do what is in the interest of our people. 
You get to know colleagues in your own delegation, especially when you 
get the chance to visit foreign countries with them as I did with 
George.
  George served in the Illinois legislature from 1972 to 1976 and he 
came to the House with the hands-on experience that can be gained only 
by working in the legislative process at the State level. He has the 
distinction of having held office in every branch of government, as 
magistrate, State's attorney and, of court, legislator. My very best 
wishes go to George and his family as he begins a new life.


                        tribute to alex mcmillan

  Mr. Speaker, in the next Congress, the Ninth Congressional District 
of North Carolina will be losing the services of a fine representative 
and a valued colleague of ours, Alex McMillan. Alex has decided to 
return to private life when he was so successful for many years as a 
business executive, a long-time civic activist, and a problem solver 
for the people of Charlotte, his hometown, and other communities in his 
district. Alex would rather find solutions than dwell on difficulties, 
and he brought that spirit of problem solving with him to the House.
  A Charlotte newspaper once said of him that he was ``the 
personification of the city's leadership core,'' and it is this quality 
of leadership that made Alex such an effective Congressman. On issues 
ranging from the budget to health care, he has always demonstrated the 
common sense and personal character that earns respect on both sides of 
the aisle. I have always believed that those who come to us from the 
business world give our proceedings a good dose of common sense they 
might otherwise lack. Alex McMillan certainly has shown that assumption 
to be true.


                        Tribute to Jamie Whitten

  Mr. Speaker, a legend of the House will be leaving at the end of this 
Congress. I refer to our good friend and esteemed colleague, Jamie 
Whitten. He was first elected in a special election back in 1941, just 
a month before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and has served his 
constituents, his State, and his country with distinction ever since. 
Having served longer in the House than anyone in history, he has 
already carved out for himself a place in this institution's historic 
memory.
  From 1949 until 1992, he served as the chairman of the Agriculture 
Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, except for one term 
of Republican control, an amazing record of political longevity.
  It was my good fortune as a junior Member of Congress to have Jamie 
Whitten as one of my first subcommittee chairmen when I began my first 
12 terms on the Appropriations Committee. He was indeed a good tutor. I 
learned so much from him that eventually helped me become a better 
legislator.
  Beyond our professional relationship we had occasion to travel 
together to the far corners of the globe, and become good friends in 
the process.
  I shall never forget those firebrand speeches of Jamie when he got 
all fired up over an issue. While he could be very passionate in his 
delivery, he never lost his head in the heat of debate.
  He is indeed a legend in his own time and I shall always cherish his 
friendship and respect him as one of the giants of the House during my 
tenure.


                          Tribute to Bob Smith

  Mr. Speaker, one of the glories of the House is the variety of 
backgrounds of those who make up our membership. Lawyers and social 
activists, businessmen and business women, teachers, athletes, actors, 
farmers, and journalists--each brings something special to our 
deliberations. Bob Smith of the Second Congressional District of 
Oregon--one of the Nation's largest districts--came to us after a 
career as a cattle rancher and as a distinguished member of his State's 
legislature, including periods as Speaker of the Oregon House of 
Representatives and Senate Republican leader.
  That combination of experience in the private sector and a great 
record as a long-time State legislator gave Bob a special advantage 
when he came to us in 1983. His fine work as a member of the 
Agriculture Committee and the Natural Resources Committee earned him 
the admiration of his constituents and the respect of his colleagues.


                         tribute to j.j. pickle

  Mr. Speaker, the Almanac of American Politics has this to say about 
our very good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Texas, Jake 
Pickle: ``[He is] conscientious, hard-working, kindly, politically-
adept but also principled.''
  I believe that any one of us would be honored to receive even one of 
those accolades. But Jake Pickle deserves them all, because he is a 
gentleman and public servant who is not only respected but admired on 
both sides of the aisle. I guess it can be said that old-timers like 
myself have a special affection for those of us who have for so long 
labored in the political vineyards, in good times and in bad. So my 
great affection for Jake is rooted in part in the fact that he and I 
have been colleagues for so many years.
  But there is another reason that I have admired Jake for so long. He 
has always been first and foremost the conscientious, kindly, 
principled man that the Almanac of American Politics wrote of. Time has 
a way of erasing memories of who voted with you and who voted against 
you on issues of long ago. But qualities of character and warmth and 
just plain decency remain indelibly etched in the memory. Jake Pickle 
exemplifies these qualities, and I want to join all our colleagues in 
wishing him the very best.


                        tribute to al mccandless

  Mr. Speaker, our good friend and colleague Al McCandless has decided 
to move on to private life. As Congressman from California's 44th 
District, he represented a desert area of great weather all year 
around, and also one that is the fastest-growing in population. A 
former Marine who rose through the ranks from enlisted man to captain, 
a successful auto dealer, a former chairman of the board of supervisors 
of Riverside County, CA, Al came to the House with the kind of wide 
experience calculated to make him an effective legislator.
  As ranking Republican of the Banking Consumer Credit and Insurance 
Subcommittee, Al worked diligently on the important issue of credit 
reporting legislation, and fought the good fight for economic growth in 
his district and the Nation. The House will miss his solid, dependable 
approach to legislation.


                          tribute to tim penny

  Mr. Speaker, Tim Penny of the First Congressional District of 
Minnesota has decided not to seek reelection and will be leaving the 
House in January. Although we are on different sides of the aisle, I 
just want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to his consistent 
efforts on budget reduction, including his cosponsorship of what became 
known as the Penny-Kasich bill, a bipartisan attempt at restoring 
economic common sense to our deliberations.
  Such an effort is not the easiest thing to do in the face of 
opposition from the leadership of your own party, and I believe Tim 
Penny deserves our admiration for the principled stand he has taken in 
favor of budget reduction. He has always acted out of sincere 
conviction and I believe such a principled stand deserves bipartisan 
recognition.


                          Tribute to Tom Lewis

  Mr. Speaker, one of the benefits of public service in the House is 
the opportunity to get to know colleagues with widely varying 
backgrounds. Our colleague Tom Lewis, who will be leaving the House 
after the 103d Congress, came to us after 11 years as a member of the 
U.S. Air Force and has been a pilot for 40 years. As a representative 
of Florida's 16th Congressional District, his interests have ranged 
from providing distant early warning of hurricanes to fair play for 
Florida citrus growers, from building a veterans' hospital to aviation 
safety.
  It is this kind of versatility and dedication that has made Tom such 
a fine Congressman and a well-respected colleague. My very best wishes 
go to Tom and his family as they enter a new phase of their lives.


                       Tribute to Romano Mazzoli

  Mr. Speaker, there is one political virtue that many in Congress 
claim and all of us praise, but which is not actually put into practice 
very often. I refer to the virtue of independence. What one person may 
see as bipartisanship, another may see as disloyalty to party 
principles. But when a colleague shows signs of demonstrating true 
independent thinking on some tough issues, I think we hold him in 
esteem.
  I am reminded of this fact by the decision of our Democratic 
colleague, Romano Mazzoli, not to seek another term. In the 1980's, 
when he voted with Republicans on a challenge of an election result, he 
did so out of a sincere conviction that Republicans had made the better 
argument in the debate. That's the kind of independent judgment we see 
all too rarely. There have been issues on which Romano Mazzoli and I 
have disagreed, but I have always admired his independent judgment, and 
I believe it will be missed in the next Congress.


                       tribute to j. roy rowland

  Mr. Speaker, as you know, I have always been fascinated by the 
different strengths that individual members contribute to the House of 
Representatives. Each member brings to our deliberations the values of 
a unique community, the historic outlook of a region, the special pride 
of a state, the vantage point of a specific profession or job--and, of 
course, the views of a distinct and well-defined personality. This 
mixture of gifts makes the House a most interesting place in which to 
work.
  J. Roy Rowland--Doc Rowland--is a family physician. His insights into 
health issues are therefore not the product of political views, but the 
result of a lifetime of dedication to the alleviation of human 
suffering and the desire to educate the public on issues relating to 
health care. He has given us a different vantage point from which to 
judge the various complicated health care proposals that have come 
before us. As chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Hospitals and 
Health Care Subcommittee, he has shown exemplary leadership rooted in 
conservative principles of government.
  I guess I am also partial to Doc because he shares with me the very 
great honor of being able to wear the Combat Infantryman's Badge. For 
heroic action in Germany during World War II he was also awarded the 
Bronze Star. The House of Representatives will miss his sage advice, 
and I wish Doc the very best as he returns to private life.


                         tribute to earl hutto

  Mr. Speaker, there have been countless words written and said over 
the years about the virtues of bipartisanship in the House. 
Unfortunately, bipartisanship is all too often more praised than 
practiced. In order for that virtue to become a reality, there have to 
be certain members of the House who, on specific issues, are willing to 
transcend partisan differences for the good of the country. I believe 
it can be said of Earl Hutto, of the First District of Florida, that he 
has always been willing to side with those of both parties who favor a 
strong national security policy.
  As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Earl Hutto has 
demonstrated a willingness to put country first when it comes to 
national defense issues. The House will miss his dedication and his 
patriotism.

                          ____________________