[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 82 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MEMORIES OF A CONGRESSIONAL PAGE

                                 ______


                         HON. GERALD D. KLECZKA

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 1996

  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Albert Anness of Waukesha, WI, served 
as a congressional page in the House of Representatives during the 
first session of the 81st Congress. His experience as a page was the 
beginning of a lifetime of political involvement and activism.
  Recently, Mr. Anness wrote a particularly touching vignette about a 
unique and special moment during his service as a page. Below is his 
story, which I think we will all find very interesting.

                             Chance Meeting

       (By Albert R. Anness, House Democratic Page, Spring 1949)

       In the story I am about to tell, I was alone. The only 
     footsteps were mine; no human voice was within earshot. 
     Solitude was my only companion.
       It was past mid-afternoon as I passed through the Rotunda 
     of the Capitol and neared the House of Representatives. The 
     statue of Will Rogers stood gazing down upon the House 
     Chambers. The large doors by which President Truman had 
     recently entered to deliver his State of the Union message 
     were now closed. The House Chambers were quiet and dark.
       I don't remember why I was in the Capitol Building that 
     afternoon. The House stood in adjournment and besides being 
     assigned to the Ways and Means Committee, I had no floor 
     duties. I was probably running some long forgotten errand.
       Turning left, I began walking down the corridor toward the 
     Democratic cloakroom door. I was heading for the underground 
     passage returning to the New House Office Building.
       Walking down the corridor I recall the sunlight streaming 
     thru, the large window was beginning to lose its brilliance 
     as evening began its resolute march to darkness.
       As I neared the cloakroom entrance, my solitude was broken 
     by the arrival upon the scene of the only other participant 
     in my story, Congressman Joseph W. Martin of Massachusetts. 
     The Democratic cloakroom door opened and out he stepped. This 
     was a little surprising, because, at the time, he was the 
     Republican Minority Leader.
       In a corridor usually bustling with activity, Congressman 
     Martin and I were totally alone. He was a friendly man of 
     medium height with jet black hair that belied his age in the 
     mid-sixties. Congressman Martin was also the last Republican 
     Speaker of the United States House of Representatives until 
     Newt Gingrich, forty-six years later in 1995.
       We barely had said hello, when he stumbled and began 
     falling down the cloakroom stairs. If I had not been passing 
     at that precise moment, he would have had a very nasty fall 
     on the marble floor. As it happened, he fell harmlessly into 
     my arms escaping injury. Congressman Martin thanked me and 
     went on his way. This happened more than forty-six years ago, 
     but it will forever remain indelibly in my memory.

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