[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 56 (Thursday, May 7, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S4487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO ARTHUR GIBB

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have come to the floor of the Senate many 
times to speak about my native State of Vermont and to say how very 
special it is. One of the reasons that it is so special is not only the 
people who are born there but some of the extraordinary people who come 
to Vermont and have made Vermont their home and have improved Vermont 
while there.
  One person who we revere in Vermont is Arthur Gibb. Art Gibb served 
as a leader in the State legislature, one of the strongest voices in 
the Republican Party for environmental concerns in Vermont, and he is 
well respected by Republicans and Democrats alike for all he has given 
to the State.
  Recently, Christopher Graff, chief of the Vermont Associated Press 
Bureau, wrote an article about Art Gibb as he turned 90. Mr. Graff says 
things about Art Gibb far better than I. But it is such a good profile 
of such a special Vermonter that I ask unanimous consent the article 
about my good friend, Art Gibb, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

            [From the Burlington Free Press, Apr. 12, 1998]

              Art Gibb: A Special State Leader, Law Maker

                         (By Christopher Graff)

       Take a stroll through the Statehouse and peek at the 
     portraits lining the walls. Governors, lieutenant governors, 
     military leaders.
       Among all the paintings in the Statehouse collection are 
     just three portraits of legislators.
       One is of Edna Beard of Orange, the first woman to serve in 
     the House. She was also the first to serve in the Senate.
       The second is of Reid LeFevre of Manchester, a House member 
     starting in the 1940s who was the most colorful lawmaker of 
     all times. LeFevre was chairman of the House Ways and Means 
     Committee and in his off time ran King Reid Shows, a 
     traveling carnival that he once brought to the House chamber.
       The third portrait is of Art Gibb, a legend in his own 
     time.
       Gibb's large portrait fills part of a wall off the House 
     chamber. He is shown sitting outside and most of the painting 
     is a wonderful, colorful landscape, with flowers, fields and 
     mountains.
       It is revealing that the portrait is more about Vermont's 
     beauty than about Gibb.
       The Weybridge Republican turns 90 this week, still bustling 
     with energy and a passion for keeping Vermont special.
       Gibb sits on the state Environmental Board, settling the 
     sticky questions of who gets to build what where.
       It is a fitting place for him. He fathered the pioneering 
     state law that created the Environmental Board and the 
     process of keeping development in check.
       It is a great story, one that serves as a reminder of the 
     special breed of leaders Vermont has enjoyed and the state's 
     ability to meet head-on the problems that destroy others.
       Gibb was elected to the House in 1962. He was serving on 
     the tax-writing committee of the House when a vacancy opened 
     in the chairmanship of the House Natural Resources Committee.
       Gibb asked House Speaker Richard Mallary if he could have 
     it--and Mallary agreed.
       The outdoors enthusiast was placed in a critical role at a 
     critical time.
       A few years later newly elected Gov. Deane Davis realized 
     southern Vermont was under siege from eager developers who 
     cared solely about profit.
       Davis turned to Gibb--the governor later described Gibb as 
     ``a man of great personal charm . . . (who) was well-known 
     for his judicial and fair-minded temperament''--and asked him 
     to lead a special commission to examine the problem. Out of 
     the Gibb Commission came the framework for Act 250, passed in 
     1970 and still a vital part of Vermont.
       Gibb says the issues that come to the board these days are 
     ones no one imagined when Act 250 was drawn up, like 
     snowmaking for ski areas and the siting of communications 
     towers.
       Gibb says he has seen and done a lot in his years, but of 
     one thing he has never had any doubts. Act 250 has played a 
     crucial role in saving what makes Vermont special.
       ``It leads to responsible development,'' he says. ``When 
     you think of the irresponsible development we had in 1969 . . 
     . Thank God for Act 250.''
       As Art Gibb turns 90, we thank him for Act 250 and thank 
     God for Art Gibb.

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