[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1017]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           DEDICATION OF THE RICHARD BOLLING FEDERAL BUILDING

                                 ______


                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 1995
  Ms. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the members of this 
body that on Sunday, May 13, the people of the Fifth Congressional 
District of Missouri will pay tribute to the late Dick Bolling, a 
Member of the House of Representatives from 1949-1983. We come together 
this weekend to dedicate the Federal Building in downtown Kansas City 
as the Richard Bolling Federal Building.
  Dick Bolling represented my congressional district for 34 years and 
it is a fitting tribute that this building be named in his honor. This 
building resulted from his vision--the vision of a man who understood 
how vitally important it is for the employees of the Federal Government 
to live and work in local communities like Kansas City throughout the 
country.
  Dick Bolling will long be remembered as a giant of the House, and a 
voice for his constituents on the national political stage. He is a 
shining example of the generation we so recently honored on VE Day, a 
generation that fought economic depression, went overseas to defend our 
freedom, and returned to build a new society with opportunity for all.
  Initially intent on an academic career after college, World War II 
intervened and Dick Bolling enlisted as a private and emerged 5 years 
later as a lieutenant colonel with a Bronze Star. Continuing as he 
began, Dick Bolling battled entrenched forces all of his life--the 
armies of ignorance, segregation and machine politics. His first post-
War job brought him to Kansas City as Director of Student Activities 
and Veterans Affairs at the University of Kansas City, now known as the 
University of Missouri-Kansas City.
  While at the University Dick Bolling became very active in the 
American Veterans Committee and the Americans for Democratic Action. 
His political activities led to his decision to run for Congress in 
1948 against the Pendergast machine candidate in the primary and 
against a one-term Republican who was perceived to have a lock on the 
district. Mobilizing a core group of activist veterans, Dick Bolling 
characterized his election on President Truman's coattails as a fluke. 
He went on to be re-elected, by overwhelming victory margins, to 16 
additional terms.
  It is difficult to describe in a few short sentences the career of a 
man who served in this institution for 34 years. He was passionate 
about the House of Representatives. He was not afraid to be critical of 
the House as he was in his best known book, ``House Out of Order,'' and 
he devoted much of his career to reform of its shortcomings. Known for 
his parliamentary skills, he was particularly proud of his 
contributions which led to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the 
first meaningful civil rights legislation enacted after Reconstruction.
  Dick Bolling served as an adviser to many of the great political 
personalities of his time: Speakers of the House of Representatives, 
Presidents and presidential contenders, and other national leaders. I 
have also been moved by the statements of his colleagues made in 
tributes at the time of his retirement from the House in 1982 and at 
the time of his death in 1991. He was a mentor to many of those elected 
to serve in this body and clearly the hero of countless more both 
inside and outside of the House of Representatives.
  Perhaps Dick Bolling's greatest contribution to those who knew him or 
who know of him was his spirit. He never shied from fighting for a 
cause in which he believed. He urged his fellow members to work hard, 
to serve their constituents, to be honest, and to have the courage of 
their convictions. He is a role model to me and to countless others of 
my generation who have chosen public service. His leadership is a 
contribution which will not be forgotten in his congressional district 
or by the country. On behalf of the people of the Fifth District of 
Missouri I am proud to join in the dedication of the Richard Bolling 
Federal Building.


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