[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 64 (Thursday, April 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5337-S5338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE JIMMY STEWART MUSEUM IN INDIANA, PA

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, Senator Specter and I rise today to 
honor a native son of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who is going to 
be honored next month in Indiana, PA--the birthplace of Jimmy Stewart--
with a museum that is going to open right about half a block away from 
the birthplace of Jimmy Stewart.
  Many of us have been working long and hard on this museum, trying to 
get a suitable museum for a man like Jimmy Stewart.
  Jimmy Stewart asked, when the people of Indiana, PA, went to him and 
asked to do a museum for him, that it not be anything fancy; that he 
wanted it to be very modest. He did not want the University of Indiana, 
PA, to have a big museum dedicated to him. He wanted something very 
simple.
  In fact, he refused to have anyone from Hollywood participate in any 
of the fundraising. He said he wanted it to be something from the 
community and not anything that was generated with a lot of money and a 
lot of fanfare; that that would make him feel uncomfortable.
  So the people of Indiana, PA, have set about the process of raising 
the money locally and secured the third floor of an old house, just a 
very small amount of space. Mr. Stewart donated the artifacts for the 
museum, some of his personal memorabilia. And, in fact, he still has 
several old friends who have been sort of shepherding this cause along.
  I am rising today with Senator Specter to pay tribute to him and to 
the people of Indiana, PA, a little town in western Pennsylvania; a 
town that, frankly, has had some tough times of late. In fact, Indiana 
County has the highest unemployment rate of any county in the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
  But they pulled themselves together and are putting together this 
really fine and lovely and modest tribute to Jimmy Stewart.
  The man is an incredible man in America. He is an actor who has 
appeared in 71 films. Obviously, we all know the famous films that he 
has been in. Who has gone through a Christmas holiday without seeing 
the brilliant George Bailey part that he played and that we all can 
identify with as someone who has gone through some tough times and been 
able to face those tough times, and the spiritual role that he played 
in that movie.
  I can still relate to him as I watch ``Mr. Smith Goes to 
Washington,'' and the role he played as a U.S. Senator in fighting for 
what the people of his State called for.
  He has been an inspiration not only on the movie screen, but he has 
been a tremendous inspiration as a war hero.
 He was assigned to the Army Air Corps, rising from private to bomber 
pilot, to commander of the Eighth Air Force Bomber Squadron. He, 
himself, flew 21 missions over enemy territory, including Berlin, 
Bremen and Frankfurt. By the time it was over Over There, James M. 
Stewart would be known as colonel, and he would be later decorated with 
an Air Medal, The Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Croix de Guerre. 
All told he accumulated 27 years of service in Active and Reserve Duty, 
even attaining the rank of brigadier general.
  On May 20 in Indiana, PA, we will be celebrating Jimmy Stewart's 
birthday and the opening of the Jimmy Stewart Museum. And, in so doing, 
we really do honor a great American, someone who takes life in stride 
and who is just a wonderful example of the goodness that is in America.
  I just want to read a couple of quotes from Jimmy Stewart that I 
found to be amusing and somewhat typical of the man. He said once:

       Jean Harlow had to kiss me, and it was then I knew that I'd 
     never been kissed before. By the time we were ready to shoot 
     the scene, my psychology was all wrinkled.

  On his experience in the military and in the war:

       I always prayed, but I didn't really pray for my life or 
     for the lives of other men. I prayed that I wouldn't make a 
     mistake.

  And finally, when he was flying a plane back for the Army, he ran 
into engine trouble while flying a tour of duty in 1959, but managed to 
bring his plane to a safe landing. He was quoted after he got out of 
the plane:

       All I could think of was not my personal safety, but what 
     Senator Margaret Chase Smith (who was then chairman of the 
     Senate Armed Services Committee) would say if I crashed such 
     an expensive plane.

  [[Page S5338]] That is the kind of down-to-earth goodness and 
humbleness that Jimmy Stewart brought to the stage and to the screen 
and to the families of millions and millions of Americans and millions 
around the world.
  He, frankly, deserves a greater tribute but, frankly, I cannot think 
of a more appropriate tribute to a modest man, to a good man, than a 
modest museum in his own hometown.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. SPECTER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my 
distinguished colleague, Senator Santorum, in commemorating the opening 
of the museum in Indiana, PA, on May 20 of this year, which will 
commemorate the 87th birthday of a great American.
  James Stewart spoke in the Senate of the United States to a 
spellbound crowd in the movie ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,'' unlike 
those assembled here today, who are still conducting some substantial 
business as we near the completion of this important appropriations 
bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will suspend while we get order on 
the floor.
  Could we please have order in the Senate?
  I thank the Senator.
  The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I feel a particular affinity for James 
Stewart for many reasons. In addition to playing a U.S. Senator for the 
movies, he was also the lead actor in ``The Philadelphia Story,'' for 
which he won an Academy Award.
  He is a Pennsylvanian from a small town, Indiana, PA, which has a 
very striking statue in his honor.
  In opening this museum on May 20--we talk about it on an 
appropriations bill--it is relevant to know that there is no Federal 
funding, at least to my knowledge, for this museum, which the people 
are offering as a tribute to James Stewart.
  He has really a remarkable career as an actor and as a great patriot, 
one of the first movie stars to enter in World War II. He rose from the 
rank of private to the rank of colonel. He had 20 missions over Bremen, 
Frankfurt, and Berlin. He is an all-American hero. He reminds us of 
that when he appears frequently on television and in the reruns of 
``It's a Wonderful Life.''
  James Stewart is an American success story, and it is entirely 
appropriate that he be honored in his hometown on May 20 of this year.
  Jimmy Stewart's achievements on and off the silver screen are well 
known to us, and Indiana, PA, is indeed fortunate to claim him as one 
of its own. He was born in Indiana, PA, on May 20, 1908, and graduated 
from Princeton University in 1932 with a degree in Architecture. 
Shortly after his graduation, Jimmy joined a summer theater group, 
debuting that same year in a production of ``Goodbye Again.'' After 
several years of performing in Broadway productions, Jimmy made his 
film debut in ``The Murder Man'' in 1935. His legendary film career was 
launched, and over the next several years he would bring us such 
classics as ``It's A Wonderful Life,'' ``Destry Rides Again,'' and 
``The Philadelphia Story.'' His 1939 ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' 
stands before us all--here in Washington and all throughout our 
country--as an abiding testimony to the importance of courage and 
integrity.
  Jimmy Stewart's excellence in film, however, is matched by his sense 
of duty and patriotism. When his country called him to serve in World 
War II, he answered willingly; he served as a bomber pilot in the U.S. 
Air Force with dedication and distinction, earning several medals and 
commendations--and yet all the while with a sense of modesty and 
humility that belied the star-of-the-screen status he had left behind. 
By the time he returned home to the States, Mr. Jimmy Stewart had 
become Col. Jimmy Stewart, and over the course of his continued service 
in the Air Force Reserve in the years after the war he rose to the rank 
of Brigadier General.
  His post-war return to the world of film brought us some of his 
greatest cinematic achievements, including such collaborative efforts 
with Alfred Hitchcock as ``Rear Window,'' ``The Man Who Knew Too 
Much,'' and ``Vertigo.'' In 1950, he brought us ``Harvey,'' in 1953, 
``The Glenn Miller Story,'' and in 1962, ``The Man Who Shot Liberty 
Valance.'' And in the most gloriously atypical fashion, he and his wife 
Gloria remained together through it all year after year until her 
recent passing.
  Jimmy Stewart's many contributions to the world of film, as well as 
the steadfast humility of his character and the tremendous sacrifice 
that he made as he served in behalf of his country, have endeared him 
to us all, and the occasion of the opening of this museum in his honor 
is a special one indeed. I am personally grateful for the joy that he 
has brought to us in his films and for the tremendous model of 
integrity and selflessness that he has exhibited for so many years, and 
I am hopeful that this modest museum erected in his honor will serve to 
enshrine his contributions and his character for many generations to 
come.
  These remarks, along with the remarks by my distinguished colleague, 
Senator Santorum, as we pay tribute to this very, very distinguished 
American and Pennsylvanian.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota has been 
recognized.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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