[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S8483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          VERNAL G. RIFFE, JR.

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise to note the passing, today, of an 
Ohio legend. Early this morning, an Ohio legend died. Here is how Lee 
Leonard, the dean of the Ohio statehouse press corps, began his report 
in this morning's Columbus dispatch:

       Vernal G. Riffe, Jr., who rose from a Scioto County 
     insurance salesman to become one of the most powerful figures 
     in Ohio's political history, died today at 1:30 a.m. He was 
     72.''

  Vern Riffe served a record-breaking 20 years as Speaker of the Ohio 
House of Representatives, from 1975 to 1995. From the first day that he 
was elected Speaker, he was ``The Speaker'' and will always be, Mr. 
President, ``The Speaker.'' He came to the Ohio House in 1959, spent 16 
years learning the skills that would make him the most effective as 
well as the longest-serving speaker of the Ohio House of 
Representatives.
  He studied the approaches of legislative veterans. He learned a lot. 
He learned that, in a legislative body, you get a lot further by 
helping your colleagues move their own legislation forward than you do 
by grandstanding. As a result, Vern Riffe quickly became the person 
both Republican and Democratic Governors turned to to make things 
happen. Vern Riffe was a pragmatic, results-oriented Speaker. He was a 
partisan, but his greatest victories came from his willingness to work 
with Republican Ohio Governors to get things done for the people of 
Ohio.
  When Vern Riffe retired from the Speakership, he said this:

       If I was 20 years younger, I might be in the mood for 
     forming my own party, called the Moderate Democrats or the 
     Middle of the Road Democrats.

  That was Vern Riffe.
  These are the lessons of Vern Riffe: Hard work, learn the details, 
build consensus, and put the interests of Ohio ahead of the interests 
of your political party.
  Vern Riffe grew up in politics. his family was highly political, and 
from an early age he loved the nuts and bolts of making government 
work. He used to say, ``I love being Speaker.''
  Political scientist Samuel C. Patterson of the Ohio State University 
summed up Riffe's style:.

       Riffe loved working with his members, doing favors for 
     them, helping them get reelected, and assisting them in 
     fulfilling their own ambitions and their own objectives as 
     legislators. As a political leader, he was supportive, and 
     his success depended on his reliability and trust. Riffe's 
     friendliness and his southern Ohio, small town, 'down home' 
     demeanor, endeared him to his supporters and disarmed most of 
     his opponents. He was not stridently partisan, a quality 
     underscored by the fact that the two prominent Republicans, 
     former long-time Governor James A. Rhodes and former house 
     Republican leader Corwin Nixon, are among his closest 
     personal friends.

  That is the Vern Riffe that I remember. He used to spend time at the 
Galleria across the street from the Statehouse, meeting with members of 
the house and senate in a very informal way, reaching agreement on 
literally countless issues. When he retired from the house a couple of 
years ago, this is what one State representative said:

       Vern Riffe is the Woody Hayes of Ohio politics. Without his 
     strong leadership, not just the Ohio House, but all of State 
     government will be fundamentally different.

  I think that is right. Vern Riffe was a legend, a man who cared about 
using the power he had to help the people of Ohio.
  In conclusion, Vern Riffe never lost sight of the values he learned 
from his closest political adviser, and, as he told me, his closest 
friend. That was his dad, Vernal G. Riffe, Sr., who was a former 
railroader who served as mayor of the town of New Boston. Vern Riffe's 
dad used to tell him: ``Son, if you're going to be a leader, you've got 
to lead.'' Mr. President, Vern Riffe always led.
  Another Ohio legend, John Mahaney, president of the Ohio Council of 
Retail Merchants, put it best. He said about Vern Riffe: ``It's like 
you get in the Hall of Fame by batting .300, 15 out of 20 years. It's 
longevity and consistency. And (Vern Riffe) passes both tests.''
  Mr. President, we will miss him a great deal. In March of this year, 
he and his wife Thelma began their 50th year of marriage. On behalf of 
the people of Ohio, I express my condolences to Thelma and to their 
children--Cathy Skiver, Verna Kay Riffe, Mary Beth Hewitt, and Vernal 
G. Riffe III, and to their seven grandchildren.
  Mr. President, he was a good man.
  I yield the floor and thank my colleagues.

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