[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FAREWELL TO SAM GIBBONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Pureto Rico [Mr. Romero-Barcelo] is 
recognized during morning business for 1 minute.
  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, I speak for the people of Puerto 
Rico in saying that we wish Sam Gibbons the best of times following his 
retirement from the House of Representatives. After 34 years of 
devoting himself to the welfare of the people of Florida, his home 
State, and to the welfare of the American people, he more than deserves 
the opportunity to devote his time to himself and his family. I again 
speak for the people of Puerto Rico in saying that we also view his 
departure with a strong sense of personal loss. We have no voting 
representation in Congress, but we have always had the benefit of a few 
special friends who have shown great understanding in working to 
protect the interests of 3,700,000 disenfranchised U.S. citizens. Sam 
Gibbons is one of these special friends.
  Sam has honorably represented his home district in Congress since 
1963, while never losing sight of the importance of being fair to the 
people of other districts. The intensity of his commitment to the 
principles of fairness and compassion for the disadvantaged and the 
deserving against all odds, can be summarized in one word--
fearlessness.
  More than 50 years ago Sam Gibbons parachuted into Nazi-occupied 
France on the night before the Normandy invasion. Upon his entrance to 
Congress almost two decades later, he immediately began applying this 
same fearlessness to the defense of the disadvantaged of this country.
  His early battles included floor managing President Johnson's anti-
poverty programs, including Head Start, and supporting the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965. He has continued this fearless fight in recent 
years, cosponsoring the civil rights restoration bill of 1990 and 
fighting for health care reform and for legislation to aid the elderly. 
In his work as a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee he has 
also fought for the equal participation of the people of Puerto Rico in 
Federal programs and has stood against legislation which would harm the 
disadvantaged.
  Sam has also been a strong advocate of politics aimed at creating 
peace and security for our country and for the rest of the world. He is 
well known for his view that a ``world bound together by the ties of 
trade is a world strongly inclined toward economic growth and peace.'' 
As chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade he has successfully guided 
through the House such important and controversial trade legislation as 
the North American Free Trade Agreement, the General Agreement on 
Tariffs and Trade and the Caribbean Basin Initiative. This last 
initiative has been particularly important to the development of the 
economies of several countries and the security and regional 
integration of the Caribbean Basin.
  It is a loss to the Nation and particularly to the people of Puerto 
Rico to have a man of such compassion and fearless idealism leave this 
institution. With gratitude for all he has done, I speak for the people 
of Puerto Rico in wishing him and his family the best in his retirement 
years and the recognition he so definitely deserves.

                          ____________________