[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3010-S3011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE PASSING OF WILLIAM JENNINGS DYESS

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, William Jennings Dyess, a long-time 
Foreign Service officer and State Department official, passed away 
recently at his home here in Washington. He was buried in his hometown 
of Troy, AL. An alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he received 
his B.A. and M.A. degrees and earned a Phi Beta Kappa key, Bill Dyess 
served for 25 years in the Foreign Service.
  The University of Alabama National Alumni Association recently 
announced that a scholarship endowment had been established in his 
memory. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the announcement be 
printed in the Record. It tells the story of a remarkable public 
servant whose achievements in his field will long serve as benchmarks 
for those who follow him into diplomatic service.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       William Jennings Dyess Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund

       Adopted and raised by a local barber and his wife, Tommie 
     J. and Leota Mae Dyess, Billy--as he was affectionately known 
     to his friends--started a ten-year career at The Troy 
     Messenger, at age nine. He began first as a newspaper carrier 
     and progressed through the ranks, to sports editor, and 
     finally, city editor. Educated in the public schools of Troy, 
     his senior year in 1947 he edited the Troy High School 
     newspaper, which took five national honors.
       Bill's passion for journalism found him at the University 
     of Missouri, making Phi Eta Sigma honors, but an out-of-state 
     tuition increase forced a return to his home state. Enrolling 
     at the University of Alabama to train as a political 
     scientist, he earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and graduated with 
     a B.A. in 1950 and an M.A. in 1951. Although poor eyesight 
     precluded his playing football, Bill's time at the University 
     fueled his love for the sport. A Rotary International 
     Scholarship, awarded by the Troy Chapter, took him to post-
     graduate work at Oxford University (St. Catherine's College). 
     Later, he studied at Syracuse University's Maxwell School.
       After college, Bill began a career that would take him far 
     away from his hometown roots in Troy. One of his first stops 
     would be a tour with U.S. Army Intelligence in Berlin from 
     1953-1956. In 1958, Bill left his Ph.D. studies at Syracuse 
     to enter the foreign service of the U.S. Department of State. 
     Serving primarily as a political officer in Belgrade, 
     Copenhagen, and Moscow, and as chief of liaison in Berlin, he 
     soon became a European specialist. In Washington, DC, he 
     served tours as both the Czech and Soviet desk officer.
       No matter where Bill was based, his central mission was 
     meeting the Soviet challenge confronting the United States 
     and its allies. He grappled with the Soviets mostly over 
     bilateral affairs, maritime matters, and the status of a 
     divided Berlin. Persona non grata in Moscow, Foreign Minister 
     Gromyko attacked him by name before a group of U.S. Senators; 
     Moscow denied him a visa and they seriously harassed him 
     inside the Soviet Union, claiming he was an intelligence 
     agent, which was false. Bill acknowledged, ``Their real gripe 
     was that as Soviet desk officer, I knew how to make life in 
     Washington difficult for the KGB, and I did.'' In November 
     1974, Bill escorted Lithuanian-American Seaman Simus Kudirka 
     and his family to freedom.
       Bill left Soviet affairs in late 1975, ``partly in order to 
     lift my nose from the US-USSR bilateral grindstone and to see 
     better the issues worldwide,'' he said. He then served as 
     Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, and in 1980, 
     was appointed by President Carter as Assistant Secretary of 
     State and later as interim spokesman. Drawing on his Soviet 
     expertise, Dyess delivered dozens of talks before diverse 
     audiences, using these occasions not merely to present 
     Department views on such issues as nuclear deterrents, the 
     grain embargo, and SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty) 
     but also ``to listen closely to what American citizens where 
     saying. The State Department has learned that any foreign 
     policy that lacks broad public support cannot be long 
     sustained.''
       Over the years, Bill's duties frequently brought him into 
     contact with the U.S. Congress, where his work on inter-
     agency committees made him well-known in the executive levels 
     of government. He received the State Department's Superior 
     Honor Award and Meritorious Honor Award. White House contacts 
     extended over several Republican and Democratic 
     administrations and in 1981, President Reagan appointed Bill 
     as Ambassador to The Netherlands.
       As Ambassador, Bill was responsible for every phase of U.S-
     Dutch relations, including military installations. He was 
     credited with persuading Dutch officials and Parliamentarians 
     to reexamine their positions on fulfilling NATO goals after 
     the peace movement's protests stirred strong public anti-
     American sentiment. Bill enjoyed strong ties with the Dutch 
     business community, then the largest direct investor in the 
     U.S. from abroad. Before his retirement in 1983, The 
     Netherlands awarded him the Grand Cross in the Order of 
     Orange-Nassau, the highest decoration given to foreigners.
       For Bill, retirement from government service meant another 
     exciting beginning as he started his own consulting business, 
     WmDyess Associates, Inc., in Washington, DC. Clients--he did 
     not work for foreign governments--were in publishing, 
     manufacturing, shipping and oil explorations.
       Aside from running his own business, Bill was able to 
     devote much of his time to the alumni activities of both 
     Oxford University and the University of Alabama. He was 
     particularly active with his local Alabama alumni chapter, 
     the National Capital Chapter, where he promoted scholarship 
     fundraising events. Serving as honorary scholarship chairman, 
     on one such occasion, he organized a scholarship dinner for 
     former University of Alabama President Dr. Frank Rose. On 
     another occasion, Bill brought in Pulitzer Prize winner, Dr. 
     Edward O. Wilson. Bill was a generous contributor of his time 
     and money to the Alumni Associations' efforts.
       An avid college football fan, Bill was a loyal supporter of 
     the Alabama Crimson Tide. He read a book a week and was 
     devoted to the subject of astrophysics. Bill was fluent in 
     German, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian.
       After a long bout with prostate cancer, at 66, Bill passed 
     away on January 6, 1996 at his home in Washington, DC, and 
     was buried with full military honors at Green Hills Cemetery 
     in Troy, Alabama, next to his parents. His son, Chandler, and 
     his beloved Jack Russell terrier, Pistol Ball, live in 
     Washington, DC.

[[Page S3011]]

       In memory of Bill's dedication to public service, his 
     friends, with his family's support, have established a 
     scholarship endowment at the University of Alabama National 
     Alumni Association.

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