[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 130 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1818-E1819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ON THE DEATH OF MURIEL HUMPHREY BROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 25, 1998

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay my respects to an 
extraordinary leader in Democratic politics in Minnesota and 
nationwide, Muriel Humphrey Brown. Brown, the widow of Vice-President, 
U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey II,

[[Page E1819]]

died September 20, 1998 at the age of 86 in Minneapolis surrounded by 
her family. Brown was born Muriel Fay Buck on February 20 1912, in 
Huron, South Dakota.
  Muriel Humphrey Brown was a wonderful Democratic activist and 
supporter of her husband throughout his illustrious career of public 
service in the U.S. Senate, as Vice President and two-time presidential 
contender. She and Hubert were always a great team and following her 
husband's death from cancer in 1978, Brown was appointed to her late 
husband's Senate seat. She became the State of Minnesota's first female 
U.S. Senator. In fact, she was the only woman serving in the U.S. 
Senate at that time and she was only the 12th woman in history to serve 
in the U.S. Senate overall. In her husband's tradition, she employed 
her position to advance labor issues, women's rights and social 
programs. As a freshmen member of the U.S. House of Representatives at 
the time, it was an honor to work with a person of her integrity, 
status and commitment to Democratic ideals--the ideals of our nation, 
state and political party, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, organized 
and built by Hubert Humphrey.
  Earlier last week, Brown had the proud honor of standing by her son, 
Hubert Humphrey III, as he won the Democratic gubernatorial primary for 
the State of Minnesota. In remarks to the press, Brown beamed after her 
son's victory. ``Hubert would have been proud.'' This moment seemed to 
be both a passing of the torch to the next generation and a prophetic 
capsule ending to a life well spent.
  On behalf of my fellow Minnesotans, I would like to extend my 
sympathies to the family. She will be missed, but not forgotten. Muriel 
Humphrey Brown is survived by her husband, Max Brown; her daughter, 
Nancy Solomonson; and three sons, Skip, Bob and Douglas; and numerous 
grandchildren, most of whom are playing a role in public life and 
social causes in Minnesota.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the following Editorial from the St. 
Paul Pioneer Press on Muriel Humphrey Brown's life to included in the 
Record.

           [From the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Sept. 22, 1998]

    Muriel Humphrey Brown--A Caring Mother, Loyal Political Partner

       In her last public appearance Muriel Buck Humphrey Brown 
     was brief and upbeat at the celebration of son Skip's 
     gubernatorial nomination. She has joined the politicians so 
     many times at the podium that Minnesotans were ready for her 
     rich voice before she ever uttered a sound. It didn't matter 
     that on Tuesday night, her speech was frail and soft. The 
     sentiment was strong and the memories of her warmth and wit 
     over a remarkable half-century carried on the family 
     tradition.
       Brown died Sunday in Minneapolis at 86. She and the era of 
     optimism and accomplishment in public life she helped her 
     first husband shape will be missed.
       There will be no more of her affirming words, no more of 
     the shy woman who left Huron, S.D., to marry Hubert H. 
     Humphrey II, raise a family amidst a political circus, serve 
     as the only Minnesota woman ever in the U.S. Senate, stick 
     with family in good times and bad, and then find in marriage 
     to Max Brown a private life at last.
       It isn't accurate to recall her as a central policy-maker, 
     a politician in her own right. She was a woman of her times, 
     the partner, the guardian of family balance, the woman who 
     moved from shy to family balance, the woman who moved from 
     shy to warm and engaging in support of husband Hubert's 
     goals. Muriel Humphrey, at Gov. Rudy Perpich's request, even 
     finished out that public career and partnership by completing 
     her late husband's term as U.S. senator from Minnesota.
       For most of the world, the lasting imagine of Muriel 
     Humphrey is wrapped in a proper Minnesota coat against the 
     frigid day of Huhert Humphrey's funeral in January 1978, 
     holding the flag from his coffin. Home folks, however, also 
     remember Muriel Humphrey on the campaign trail for the 
     Wisconsin primary when hardly a spouse would venture out on 
     her own to support a husband-candidate for president. We 
     remember that she entered her beautiful needlepoiint in the 
     State Fair under an assumed name so it could be judged 
     squarely on merit. We recall work for mentally retarded 
     citizens, including her own granddaughter. We remember 
     support for her daughter at a tough time, that her four 
     children are Midwestern solid despite childhoods surrounded 
     by power and giants of history.
       Muriel Humphrey Brown did her part and then some when the 
     strong, passionate liberalism of the prairies rose from the 
     Depression to start a quest for justice. She leaves us all 
     with the vision of principled, disciplined public life and 
     memories for the voice that sang harmony for the politics of 
     the possible.

     

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