[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 37 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DR. ERNEST S. GRIFFITH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 20, 1997

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late Dr. 
Ernest S. Griffith, who passed away at the age of 100 on January 17, 
1997. Dr. Griffith served the Congress faithfully for 18 years as 
Director of the Legislative Reference Service, now the Congressional 
Research Service.
  Considered by many to be the father of the Legislative Reference 
Service, Dr. Griffith transformed a fledgling agency into a vital 
source of expert information and analysis for Members of Congress and 
their staffs. When he came to the LRS in 1940, Dr. Griffith had a staff 
of 40 to handle some 25,000 requests per year. Resources within the 
legislative branch were scarce, and the Congress depended largely on 
the executive branch and special interests for its information.
  By the time Dr. Griffith left the LRS in 1958, his staff had grown to 
200, and the number of congressional requests received per year had 
tripled. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 had expanded the 
LRS's mission and given it a permanent statutory basis for the first 
time in its history. Experts had been recruited from all manner of 
disciplines to provide the legislative branch with its own pool of 
knowledge and information. For the first time, the Congress had 
available to it a select group of experts who were both knowledgeable 
and nonpartisan, and who could be trusted and called on at any time for 
help. If ever a man left his mark, Ernest Griffith left his indelibly 
on the Legislative Reference Service.
  Prior to 1940, Dr. Griffith's career was largely in university 
teaching and administration. After receiving his A.B. degree from 
Hamilton College, he was appointed a Rhodes scholar and received a 
Ph.D. from Oxford University. While at Oxford, he was the warden of 
Liverpool Settlement House. He taught economics at Princeton and 
government at Harvard, and was the undergraduate dean at Syracuse 
University before moving to Washington in 1935.
  In 1935, Dr. Griffith served as dean of American University's 
graduate school, where he also taught political science. He returned to 
American University in 1958 as the founding dean of the School of 
International Service. Dr. Griffith was a Fulbright visiting professor 
at Oxford and a lecturer at New York, Birmingham, and Manchester 
Universities, Swarthmore College, the University of Oslo, and the 
University College of Swansea.
  After retiring from American University in 1965, Dr. Griffith was 
visiting professor at the International Christian University and Rykko 
University in Japan, and lectured on American government in Turkey and 
Brazil. He was professor of American government at Alice Lloyd College 
in Kentucky in his middle eighties.
  A prolific writer, Dr. Griffith authored numerous articles and books 
about the Congress, the Presidency, and the history of American city 
government. His book, ``The American System of Government,'' was 
translated into more than 25 languages.
  Between lectures and his duties as Director of the Legislative 
Reference Service, Dr. Griffith devoted himself to serving and 
improving the world around him. He founded the Pioneers, a forerunner 
of the Cub Scouts, chaired the policy board of an interuniversity 
training center for Peace Corps volunteers, and chaired the Council of 
Social Agencies, a predecessor of the United Way. He taught Sunday 
school, served as a delegate to the Third World Council of Churches, 
and was treasurer of the Wilderness Society. He was also vice president 
of the American Political Science Association and president of the 
National Academy of Economics and Political Science.
  Mr. Speaker, Ernest Griffith was a man of intense passion and 
boundless energy, who dedicated his life to serving the public good. 
This is his legacy to us, and this is the legacy we honor here today. 
To his children, Margo, Alison, Lawrence, and Stephen, his 
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, I extend our deepest 
sympathies.

                          ____________________