[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2371-H2372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ANNOUNCEMENT OF RETIREMENT OF HON. GERALD B. SOLOMON, CHAIRMAN OF 
                           COMMITTEE ON RULES

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join with my colleagues, and I 
know that my friend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the 
chairman of the Committee on International Relations, will want to be 
recognized, to say how saddened and surprised we all were, but we 
certainly respect the decision that was made by the distinguished 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon), chairman of the Committee on 
Rules, yesterday that, after 20 years of service as a Member of the 
United States Congress, and after a career in public life that expands 
31 years, he has chosen to retire at the end of this term.
  He, of course, has many more vigorous and active months left as 
chairman of the Committee on Rules. But I would like to say that, as we 
think about his stellar service in this institution, it has been a 
great honor for me to be part of a very important team.
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon) has been on the front line 
of so many battles here in the Congress. He has been very active. He 
was, as was pointed out in the New York Times today, clearly the most 
influence member of the New York delegation serving in the Congress, 
and he was a member of Ronald Reagan's core group of individuals who 
provided him with a great deal of advice and assistance throughout 
President Reagan's campaigns and during the time that the President 
served.
  So I am one who will say that I clearly am going to miss my 
colleague. He clearly always makes his presence known when he is here 
in the House of Representatives, because he carried that great binder 
that had his name inscribed on it. So we will be seeing that again 
before we hope the 105th Congress adjourns sine die the first of 
October. But I can tell my colleagues, when the 106th Congress 
convenes, we clearly miss that. He has been a great leader who has 
stood by principle very, very passionately and diligently.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), 
distinguished Chairman of the Committee on International Relations.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
thank him for bringing this issue to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, as senior Republican in the New York State congressional 
delegation, I want to express my shock and my sadness to the surprising 
announcement that our dear colleague the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Solomon), a senior member of our New York delegation, has now chosen to 
leave this body at the end of this congressional session.
  I came to know and admire my colleague soon after he came to the 
Congress in 1978. His experiences as a United States marine, and he 
reminded us of that service continually, as a town supervisor, as a 
county legislator, as a member of the New York State Assembly, as well 
as his experience in the insurance business and real estate business 
brought to this Chamber the unique combination of experience of balance 
and of common sense.
  I especially appreciate the gentleman from New York championing the 
cause of our POWs and MIAs in Southeast

[[Page H2372]]

Asia. He earned a reputation for his leadership on that issue and many 
important issues, and I know my colleagues join with me in expressing 
our appreciation for the judicious manner in which he has chaired the 
House Committee on Rules for the past 3 years. He has always been the 
epitome of fairness and expertise.
  Congress' loss is a gain for Freda and their five children. We wish 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon) and his family good health, 
happiness, and success in years ahead.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his contribution.
  I would like to say that I, too, enjoyed working with the gentleman 
from New York on that very important issue of POWs and MIAs, and I had 
the privilege of traveling with the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Gilman) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon) to Southeast Asia 
as we continue to remain committed to bringing about a full resolution 
and accounting of all those still classified as missing in action.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), 
my very dear friend and fellow Californian.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend from 
California for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to add my words of best wishes and sorrow at our 
colleague's decision to leave. The gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Solomon) has been one of the most energetic, committed, serious, decent 
Members of this body. I have had the privilege and pleasure of working 
with him on a wide range of issues, but two of those stand out in my 
memory. One, of course, was his determination to get to the bottom of 
the POW-MIA issue. And the second one, a generic issue, was his 
passionate commitment to human rights.
  As the Democratic chairman of the Human Rights caucus, I never had a 
more dependable and reliable ally on any human rights issue than the 
gentleman from the State of New York. He passionately felt the plight 
and pain of people persecuted or discriminated against anywhere on the 
face of this planet, and his strong voice for human rights will be 
sorely missed.
  I also want to join the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and my 
friend the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) in expressing our 
best wishes to his very fine wife, who was a full partner and companion 
in all of his endeavors, and to all of his fine children. And I am sure 
on our side all of us deeply regret his departure.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his contribution.
  I would simply close this 1-minute, Mr. Speaker, by saying that I, 
too, extend best wishes to Freda and to all the members of the Solomon 
family. I had the opportunity to travel with the Solomons right into 
the district of my colleague, to Lake Placid, New York. I still am 
carrying the burden of that on my wrist, because he insured that I 
would go straight forward down the bobsled run, and I am still trying 
to recover from that. It took a while for me to have the guts to do it, 
but with my colleague pushing me on, I had no choice whatsoever but to 
go straight ahead in pursuing that.
  I would say in closing, Mr. Speaker, that we will continue to hear 
from the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon). In the next week or so, 
I will be privileged to distribute to all of our colleagues a book on 
NATO expansion that he has just authored for the Center for Strategic 
and International Studies.
  So the gentleman from New York is here. He is going to remain very 
active in this institution for the next several months, but we know 
that he will be retiring as the 106th Congress approaches. And I know 
everyone in this institution joins me in extending very best wishes and 
godspeed to our colleague and his family.

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