[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO STATE SENATOR RALPH DILLS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 1998

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to join me in 
recognizing the retirement of the senior member of the California State 
Senate, Sen. Ralph Dills. Sen. Dills will leave office at the end of 
the year, and in August completed his last session in a career that 
began 60 years ago.
  I had the pleasure to know Sen. Dills when I worked as an intern and 
a staff person in the state Senate in the 1960s and 1970s. A colleague 
of my father, who was himself a senator then, Sen. Dills was even in 
those days an institution in Sacramento, and he certainly remains one 
today.
  We all honor his devotion to public service and to the people of the 
state of California. I would like to submit an editorial from the 
Sacramento Bee that pays tribute to this distinguished legislator and 
Californian, and I know all members of this Congress join me in 
honoring his career.

                [From the Sacramento Bee, Sept. 2, 1998]

 Ralph Dills Bows Out: Senator Was the State's Longest-serving Lawmaker

       Franklin Roosevelt was serving his second term as president 
     when Ralph Dills was first elected to the California 
     Legislature in 1938. President Clinton wasn't yet born, nor 
     were most lawmakers with whom Dills now serves.
       Dills arrived in Sacramento from Long Beach, a liberal New 
     Deal Democrat and staunch friend of labor, and he departs 60 
     years later much the same way. In 1949, he left the Assembly 
     to accept a judgeship, but 17 years later he was elected to 
     the Senate, where he has been ever since, often presiding 
     over sessions, a chore he relished.
       One of Dills' proudest achievements was authoring the law 
     that created Long Beach State University; another was the 
     1977 measure that gave collective bargaining rights to state 
     workers. In speeches lauding him last week, fellow lawmakers 
     remembered that Dills was among a small minority of 
     legislators who opposed the internment of Japanese Americans 
     during World War II.
       As a senator, Dills presided over the influential 
     Governmental Organization Committee. The panel handles 
     liquor, horse racing and gambling legislation and has 
     traditionally been a channel for large campaign contributions 
     that Dills used to help keep himself and his fellow Democrats 
     in power.
       In his later years, Dills was known less for his 
     legislative prowess than for his colorful attire, purple-
     tinted hair and saxophone playing. Reapportionment had pushed 
     his district westward, from a gritty inland neighborhood to a 
     more upscale coastal area, forcing him to acquire an 
     environmental sensitivity he'd never shown before. He was 88, 
     ailing and in a wheelchair when he cast his last votes in the 
     Legislature late Monday. However he is ultimately rated, term 
     limits ensure that Ralph Dills' durable presence in 
     Sacramento is unlikely to be repeated.

     

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