[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9859-H9861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JIM KENNELLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Gejdenson] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today first as a senior member of 
the Connecticut delegation to give our condolences to a colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut, Barbara Kennelly, who lost her husband 
this weekend.
  Jim Kennelly was my speaker when I was first elected to the State 
House in 1975. Speaker Kennelly was one of the individuals that every 
Member, Republican and Democrat, respected for his incredible knowledge 
of the rules of the House. In every legislative opportunity, Speaker 
Kennelly really showed his brilliance. As a legislator, he was second 
to no one. He held such a commanding presence on legislative matters in 
the State House.
  Mr. Speaker, I think that of all those 151 Members that served those 
two sessions that I served in the Connecticut General Assembly with 
Speaker Kennelly, it was clear he was felt to be the most brilliant 
Member of the body, the most dedicated public servant working late into 
the night.
  We are going to miss Jim, and we obviously feel for our colleague and 
friend, Barbara Kennelly. I have known the Kennelly's now for in the 
range of 20, 25 years. The intensity of political life is such that it 
bonds you in a way that almost no other experience except for war may 
do to individuals. And for Democrats and Republicans alike, as we have 
tremendous battles over substantive issues, our feelings for our 
families and for our friendship is that much more intense. I will miss 
Jim Kennelly, and I pain for my colleague and friend, Barbara Kennelly.
  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GEJDENSON. I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut.
  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Connecticut.
  Both Sam and I served in the Connecticut State Legislature when Jim 
was Speaker of the House of Representatives. While Sam served directly 
under him, I felt his influence in the upper chamber. Jim Kennelly was 
probably as brilliant a legislative mind as any State has enjoyed. But 
not only was he a fine legislator, he was an extremely able politician 
in the best sense of that word.
  He really did listen to the concerns of people from different parts 
of the State with different difficulties, different problems, and, kind 
of in the tradition of Tip O'Neill, he led in the best sense of that 
word. The gift that the gave to Connecticut during his years of 
political involvement, though naturally we did not all agree, was a 
gift that every single citizen enjoyed with or without their direct 
knowledge.
  As we join on the floor here tonight to remember Jim Kennelly, I 
would like to comment on my heartfelt sympathy for Barbara, his 
extremely able wife and our colleague, for she has served Jim and her 
family, this Congress and her constituency and our Nation with 
extraordinary ability. They were a close couple, a strong family, the 
best kind of model both of public servants and capable leaders that 
America is capable of producing.
  I join you in paying tribute to Jim Kennelly, an outstanding 
political leader and a special person in the hearts of every Member of 
the Connecticut constituency.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. I would like to thank the gentleman from Utah, Mr. 
Hansen, who has agreed to wait a couple extra minutes so that we can 
complete our respect and concern for Barbara.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro].
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues, Sam 
Gejdenson and Nancy Johnson, and I wish we did not have to take the 
floor this evening for this sad occasion. Connecticut truly today did 
lose one of its finest public servants in Jim Kennelly. My colleague, 
our colleague, Barbara Kennelly, lost so much more today, and we extend 
to Barbara and to her family and to her children our heartfelt 
sympathy. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the Kennelly family.
  We pay tribute to a man who was truly a powerhouse, an unbelievable 
legislator in his own right, and as well a political spouse. There were 
none better in that role. It was 1959 that Jim and Barbara were 
married, and they became a political power couple in the State of 
Connecticut. Jim was a rising star. Barbara was heir to one of 
Connecticut's most famous political dynasties.
  Together they shared the dream and, as our Nancy Johnson just said, 
they were a wonderful couple. They were a political couple. They were a 
caring couple. They cared about what happened to people in the State of 
Connecticut and all over this country. 

[[Page H 9860]]
They pursued their dreams and their dedication together. Jim Kennelly 
ran for public office in 1966. He was elected as a State representative 
in the State House. He climbed that ladder to the very top rung. He 
served as the Speaker of the House. I did not have the opportunity to 
serve with him there, but he was there from 1975 to 1978.
  As my colleagues on both sides of the aisle mentioned, he had the 
respect of Republicans and Democrats in that body. No one will question 
Barbara Kennelly's rise also as a star in proving her adeptness in a 
political world, and she climbed that ladder as did her husband.
  I often had the opportunity to watch Jim Kennelly watch Barbara 
Kennelly as she spoke and as she went out and she did her work. There 
was a great love, great affection, and great pride in his eyes as he 
watched her.
  There are those of us who know what the demands of political life are 
all about. And for women Members oftentimes there is a lot expected to 
balance that nontraditional role of being a Member of the Congress and 
at the same time also being a wife and a mother. Women in Congress 
understand the need to have a very supportive spouse. Jim Kennelly was 
such a man.
  He was comfortable and content to be at the top rung in political 
life as well as being the supportive spouse.
  So I join my colleagues tonight in offering our sympathy and our 
heartfelt prayers for Barbara and her family.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GEJDENSON. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank the 
gentleman and the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mr. Johnson], for 
taking this time to pay respects to Jim Kennelly. I did not know him in 
his legislative capacity, but the stories and the testimony of his 
accomplishments are legend about his service in the State legislature.
  I had an opportunity to know him as Barbara's husband and had a 
couple of chances to travel with him and to spend time, and he was a 
wonderful, wonderful human being. He was very generous in his time to 
other spouses on the trip. He was insightful about politics. He was a 
very good storyteller. He made people very comfortable to be around 
him. His company was enjoyed and sought by those who would share any 
kind of time with him.
  I just want to express my sympathies and concerns and my prayers and 
those of my wife Cynthia for Barbara and for the children. Jim was a 
wonderful husband and a wonderful friend and a wonderful person to know 
I thank the gentleman very much for taking the time.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GEJDENSON. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues from 
Connecticut and California for this tribute.
  One of the rewards of public service is the friendships that you 
make. It has been my great fortune to make the friendship of Barbara 
Kennelly and her husband, Jim. These friendships extend beyond business 
hours when we have a chance to relax and get to know one another.
  I came to know the Kennelly family; what a great legendary political 
family they are. Jim, who served with such distinction at the 
legislative level, was known to me when I worked at the State 
legislative level for his leadership not only in Connecticut but across 
the Nation. Then I came to meet Barbara and realized what she 
contributed to our country here in her service to the U.S. House of 
Representatives.
  As the gentlewoman from Connecticut , [Mrs. DeLauro] said, Jim 
graduated from the role of speaker and legislative leader to the role 
of political spouse, not an easy burden to carry for many men, but he 
carried it so well. He respected Barbara's contribution. He was part of 
her decision process. He was supportive of her. All of us in public 
life depend so much on that support and he did such a great job.
  I am sorry to hear of his passing. I extend my condolences to Barbara 
and the family, and I hope that this special order is an indication 
that Jim's contribution to Connecticut and the country will be long 
remembered.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, just a few more words. There is no, I 
think, statement that a legislator can make about one of his colleagues 
that is more respectful than speaker. And for me the first speaker I 
ever served under was Speaker Kennelly. He was a brilliant and powerful 
speaker. He was someone with a great concern for the rank and file 
members. I was a freshman of the general assembly, but the door was 
always open to Speaker Kennelly. He was always there to help us.
  My second term in Connecticut--the speaker appoints the chairman of 
committees--he appointed me the chairman of the labor and industrial 
relations committee. Not something you have happen very often, 
especially in the old days, making somebody new and somebody young the 
chairman of a committee.
  One of the meetings I was coming to, my car had broken down and I was 
hitchhiking in and his daughter picked me up hitchhiking and she did 
not know I was a State legislator. We both ended up walking into the 
speaker's office almost together. I am not sure he was that happy that 
his daughter was picking up hitchhikers, but he was an amazing speaker. 
He was an amazing friend. He is legend in Connecticut for his knowledge 
of Robert's Rules of Order. And while today knowing the process and 
knowing the rules is not as respected as it used to be, it is critical 
to the operation of a legislative body. Virtually without reference, he 
could deal with any complicated legislative situation on the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to my colleague, Mr. Shays.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, Jim Kennelly was the best speaker that I have 
ever seen in my life in the 20 years I have been a member of the State 
house and Congress.

                              {time}  1900

  He was someone who believed so passionately in the institution and 
his responsibilities of guiding the chamber that he was quite willing 
to make a ruling that may not have been what he wanted to make, and may 
have caused tremendous problems for the operation. But he would, on 
occasion, agree that the minority's point was well taken, and in spite 
of the pressure that he might have gotten from a whole host of 
different people and in spite of the pressure he might have felt for 
himself to move business along, he was willing to concede that the 
process was so important that he would adjust his timetable and his 
schedule and accept the ruling that was in fact against his own wishes.
  He was extraordinarily kind. He was as intelligent as I have ever 
known anyone to be. He was a leader in terms of our constitutional 
convention when we established our new Constitution for the State of 
Connecticut. He was a man you could go to and always know you were 
going to get a straight and direct answer and know that it came with a 
great deal of thought and energy.
  He was a wonderful man. He enriched my life. I used him as a model. I 
am not saying that I followed him. The gentleman would probably say I 
did not follow him well at all, but I certainly knew what an ideal 
legislator was like, and he was it.

  Mr. GEJDENSON. Just reclaiming my time for one moment, you always 
felt intellectually challenged when you went in to meet Speaker 
Kennelly, whether you were with him on the issue or as you were on many 
occasions on the opposite side of the issue, that he always gave you an 
honest and very tough intellectual presentation. You had to prove your 
point. You had to know your facts. You knew when you went in to see 
him, he certainly knew the facts and the law.
  Mr. SHAYS. I would just say that he is part of an incredible family, 
the Bailey family. John Bailey, his father-in-law, the chairman of the 
Democratic Party in Connecticut, in fact brought that Democratic Party 
from minority status to extraordinary majority status, helped elect the 
first Jewish Governor, the first woman Governor. He was all part of 
this incredible family.
  There is a real loss in Connecticut with the passing of Jim Kennelly. 
I thank both my colleagues for allowing me the opportunity to really 
say something that I feel very deeply about.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Before yielding to the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. 
Burton], I must add that Chairman Bailey 

[[Page H 9861]]
was also national chairman under President John Kennedy.
  Mr. SHAYS. He sure was.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. This was a family, on the Kennelly and the Bailey 
side, that had an incredible impact on the country.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Just briefly, and I thank the gentleman for 
yielding. I only met Mr. Kennelly a couple of times, but whether we 
have philosophical or political differences around here or not, we are 
all family. Once you go through the wars like we have, we build up a 
very strong mutual respect for one another, even though we do have 
those differences.
  Barbara Kennelly is one of the finest people I know in this Chamber, 
and her husband likewise was a fine person. On behalf of the people who 
are not here tonight on our side of the aisle, we want to express our 
condolences to her and her family. I know this is a very difficult 
time. As part of the House of Representatives family, we want to 
express our concern for them.
  Mr. SHAYS. If the gentleman would just yield so I could express my 
admiration and love for Barbara Kennelly, and let her know that 
everyone on our side of the aisle has extraordinary respect for her and 
hopes that the next few days are as easy as possible for her.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. I yield to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. 
Pelosi].
  Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for taking this 
special order mourning the loss of Jim Kennelly and extending our 
condolences to our colleague.
  As a fellow graduate of Trinity College, Washington, DC, as our 
colleague Barbara Kennelly is, I know how important her family is to 
her, how much she loved her husband, how proud her mother is of her 
entire family and this proud tradition that the Bailey family and the 
Kennelly family have brought to Connecticut, indeed to the entire 
country.
  I hope it is a consolation to Barbara that so many of her colleagues 
express their love and admiration for her tonight. As was said this 
morning, as we mourn the loss of those who die, in this case Jim, let 
us thank God that he lived.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I just wanted to add that I said I did not serve with 
the Speaker because I did not serve in the Connecticut State 
Legislature. But given where Jim Kennelly was in the firmament of 
Connecticut politics, and John Bailey, if the walls could tell stories, 
I think it would be pretty wild.
  In fact, I think Connecticut has lost a piece of its history today. 
We all want Barbara to know that she too and her family are 
Connecticut's history, part of the history of this body here, and that 
it is a tribute to her and to Jim to have so many of her colleagues on 
their feet tonight loving and being with her in spirit and thought and 
prayers.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, I would just close by saying the family, 
the Kennelly children and the Baileys, Jim's other relatives, that we 
all give them our deepest sympathies, but to say that for Jim, his 
legacy are his accomplishments.
  As Speaker of the Connecticut House, he molded every piece of 
legislation that went through it. He was an active Speaker that led the 
issues, fighting for change, and improving Connecticut's cities and its 
citizens' lot. For that he will always be remembered by the rest of 
society; by his family, of course, as their father and husband. We will 
all miss him.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair joins with all Members of the 
House in expressing our deepest condolences to Congresswoman Kennelly 
and her family.

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