[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 18 (Monday, March 2, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H683-H684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS F. RILEY

  (Mr. COX of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, today, one of our Nation's great 
leaders, one of our California leaders will be laid to rest at 
Arlington National Cemetery. He is a dedicated public servant and a 
gentleman.

[[Page H684]]

  Brigadier General Thomas F. Riley passed away in Orange County on 
February 19, 1998. He was known to millions of us affectionately as 
just the General. Tom Riley embodied every virtue that we seek in our 
public service.
  He was born just 2 days after the 4th of July in 1912 in 
Harrisonburg, Virginia. He received his training as an engineer at 
Virginia Military Institute. And he went on to serve his country for 
just one year short of 30 years in the United States Marine Corps.
  He worked for another decade in the aerospace industry. Before 1974, 
President Reagan appointed him to fill out the remaining term of 
supervisor on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. He served for 30 
years, nearly 30 years on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, where 
he was its chairman. In those years when he was not its chairman, he 
was always its most important person. He was reelected five times, 
always by large margins, to preside over what he always called the 
fabulous 5th District.
  General Riley served his community in many ways, not the least of 
which was his service to his church. He was a Catholic, and he was a 
member of the Knights of Malta and the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of 
Jerusalem.
  He was always eager to assist. One of his favorite charities was the 
Sisters of the Sacred Heart. General Riley helped establish a fashion 
show known as the Gentleman's Haberdashery, an event that has become a 
beloved tradition in Orange County.
  He was never alone in his efforts. His community was always anxious 
to serve him and to help him in his service. But most of all at his 
side for so long, for over 50 years, nearly 60 years, was his wife Emma 
Jane, who is with us today. She stood with him shoulder to shoulder in 
all of the hard work, and all the victories, and all the triumphs that 
he has achieved during a long life.
  I know that I speak for all of us in Orange County when I say that 
our hearts and prayers are with you and your family in this time of 
your grief. But we must remember that, just as General Riley was not 
alone in this life, neither will he be in the next.
  When he is laid to rest later today in Arlington National Cemetery, 
he will join the company of other American heroes whose watchwords were 
always duty, honor, and country. General Tom Riley was one of our 
heroes in California, and we will never forget him.

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