[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1383-H1384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING THE PASSING OF THE HONORABLE CHARLES G. HAYES, 
                       FORMER MEMBER OF CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Rush] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I am saddened this afternoon, as I have the 
responsibility to announce to the Members of this body, to the Nation, 
and to the residents of the First Congressional District that on last 
evening our friend, our colleague, former Representative Charles G. 
Hayes, died last night.
  Charlie Hayes, Mr. Speaker, as we know, was a man who was at the 
forefront of the struggle of poor people, minorities, women, trade 
unionists. He dedicated his entire life, Mr. Speaker, to promoting the 
interests of the disadvantaged, the downtrodden, the poor, the 
oppressed.
  Mr. Speaker, those of us who served with Charlie Hayes during his 
tenure, beginning in the 90th Congress, recall affectionately and 
vividly his loud voice at the rear of the room when things got unruly 
here. He would call out ``Regular order, regular order,'' in a 
distinctive manner, and everyone would be brought to attention because 
of his commanding voice.
  Mr. Speaker, his commanding voice called ``Regular order,'' indeed, 
in the affairs of this Nation, certainly as he saw injustices 
throughout the land, as he saw injustices in the union, trade union 
movement, as he saw injustices occurring in the city of Chicago and 
throughout the Nation.
  Charlie Hayes was one of the giants of this Nation. America could not 
have produced a more sincere, a more dedicated, a more courageous 
leader than Charlie Hayes.
  I knew Charlie Hayes on a lot of personal levels. I can recall 
moments when our community felt as though we were not being represented 
in the city of Chicago in a fair way, and Charlie Hayes was at the 
forefront, the leader of an organization, a committee, called the 
Committee to Elect a Black Mayor in the City of Chicago. The 
culmination of that committee's work was to elect Harold Washington 
mayor of the city of Chicago.
  Charlie Hayes was a man who reached out to all races, to all elements 
in this society. All that you required in order to get Charlie Hayes' 
commitment to you was that you be

[[Page H1384]]

discriminated against, that you be disadvantaged. If in fact you had 
those requirements, those prerequisites, then Charlie Hayes was indeed 
your champion and your leader.
  Charlie Hayes served gallantly in this Congress. He was the first 
trade union leader to become a Member of Congress. He served gallantly 
on behalf of the people who reside in the First Congressional District. 
He was indeed a man whose every step was on behalf of the poor and the 
downtrodden, whose every act as a Member of this body, whose every act 
as a member of the trade union leadership movement, whose every act as 
an adult individual, his every act was characterized by his commitment 
to humanity, to the upliftment of humanity.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very, very saddened as I stand before this body to 
deliver these few words of announcement that my friend, your friend, 
your colleague, Charlie Hayes, has passed on.
  Mr. Speaker, as I sit back and I reflect for a moment on what Charlie 
is doing now in the assembly of God, in the heaven, I too know that he 
is looking here among us, and he is seeing and observing some of the 
things that are occurring here. I know that he is particularly saddened 
by that. I can just vividly imagine hearing his voice from the heaven 
calling down upon this body, addressing us all and saying, ``Friends, 
colleagues, regular order.''

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