[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H6316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 THE RETIREMENT OF E.C. ``GUS'' GUSTAFSON, CHIEF REPORTER OF OFFICIAL 
                          REPORTERS OF DEBATE

  (Mr. TRAFICANT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, when the House adjourns this week, it 
will literally mark the end of an era. From the days of the Pharaohs, 
from the days of Moses, to the time of King Arthur, to the founding of 
our great Constitution and the words of our Founding Fathers, all of 
the great spoken words were memorialized by hand, pen, quill, and ink.
  Not any more. Now this new high-technology stenotype machine, handled 
by lovely people such as Ms. Mazur and others of the official Office of 
the Reporters of Debates, shall memorialize all the great debates that 
take place in the House, including that today on foreign operations.
  But the reason why this great era is ending, Mr. Speaker, is because 
a beautiful man, the chief of the Office of the Reporters of Debates, 
E. Charles Gustafson, known to us all as Gus, is finally retiring.
  My colleagues, this beautiful man was born in 1921, on June 26, in 
West Clarksville, NY. Gus then graduated from the Gregg College of 
Court Reporting in Chicago, IL, and began his great career in the early 
1940's in nearby Cleveland, OH, to my hometown of Youngstown. Many of 
my colleagues may not realize that when the war broke out, World War 
II, Gus enlisted in the Navy and served his Nation aboard the 
battleship U.S. New Jersey and in the Philippines, and upon his 
discharge, Mr. Speaker, Gus resumed his career in my hometown, 
Youngstown, OH, and from 1946 to 1972 did tremendously, establishing 
the foundation of what would be called the ultimate for a reporter, to 
in fact be summoned to Washington, DC.
  When the House adjourns this week, my colleagues, Gus Gustafson will 
join his beautiful wife, Betsy, his two sons, Charles and Richard, and 
his beautiful grandchildren, Ann and Alex, in that retirement.
  My colleagues, if Gus could speak on the floor, he would say: ``Take 
care of your country, take care of America; that's why you were 
elected.''
  He would also say, ``Help the American people get jobs, and they 
won't need that much government,'' and he would also say, ``Pass H.R. 
390 to change the burden of proof in tax cases.''
  My colleagues, I want to present on his retirement, Gus Gustafson. 
Hear, hear, Gus. My colleagues, one of the great men of the United 
States Congress.

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