[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 98 (Friday, July 11, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  TRIBUTE TO LT. GOV. HENRY E. HOWELL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. OWEN B. PICKETT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 11, 1997

  Mr. PICKETT. Mr. Speaker, he was dubbed a radical, a political 
gadfly, even a liberal Democrat, but to others who knew him, former 
Virginia Lt. Gov. Henry E. Howell, who died July 7, 1997, was a 
political visionary and a champion for justice. Even his closest 
friends would say he was a man who marched to a different drummer. He 
backed up his convictions with hard work and a pesky ability to reverse 
inequitable political policies of long standing.
  He thumbed his political nose at the established Democratic party at 
a time when it was not popular, even though it meant he would never 
achieve the political plum he so dearly coveted--the governorship of 
Virginia. Sticking to his convictions in the face of political 
adversity cost him the governorship. Henry Howell loved Virginia, its 
institutions, and its people. Many credit him with changing the face of 
the Commonwealth's politics during his six major campaigns for State 
office between 1969 and 1977. Former Gov. Colgate W. Darden, Jr. has 
been quoted as saying, ``He stirred Virginia politics only like 
dynamite could have done in a pond,'' adding, ``He gave greater impetus 
to mass voting in Virginia and stirred people more than anybody in my 
lifetime.''
  That was Henry Howell. He intended his work, not to destroy, but to 
improve the State and its government by making them accessible to all 
the people. He never allowed political differences, however, to taint 
his social or personal relationship with adversaries. His quick, warm, 
and winning smile served him both as a politician and a person.
  Henry Howell leaves his indelible and pervasive mark on the political 
history of Virginia. Those who knew and loved him best will miss his 
mischievous smile, warm counsel, commonsense perspective, and keen 
political insight.

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