[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 2, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN MEMORY OF ANTHONY J. CELEBREZZE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 2, 1999

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a 
great servant of the people of Ohio, Judge Anthony J. Celebrezze. 
Celebrezze served Ohioans for over five decades. His recent death at 
the age of 88, is a sorrowful event for myself and many in my state.
  Born in Anzi, Italy, Celebrezze emigrated to Cleveland at the age of 
two. He was one of 13 children. Like so many immigrants, Anthony 
Celebrezze grew up with modest means, but what he lacked in advantages 
he more than made up for in effort and ability. He worked his way 
through college at John Carroll University and through law school at 
Ohio Northern.
  In 1950, Anthony was elected to the Ohio Senate. Three years later he 
was elected mayor of Cleveland. He was the first foreign born mayor of 
Cleveland. For an unprecedented five terms Anthony Celebrezze 
tirelessly served the people in this position. His leadership of the 
city brought Cleveland national recognition and respect. In 1962, he 
was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the Secretary of the U.S. 
Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Anthony Celebrezze worked 
to build Congressional support for Medicare and the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, two legislative achievements that reflect the principles of 
compassion and decency.
  In 1965, he was appointed by President Johnson to a federal 
judgeship. Six years later the Federal Building in Cleveland was 
renamed the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building. He was in the 
public eye for five decades, serving Ohio and the nation with honor and 
dignity. President Johnson said of Celebrezze that ``with tolerance and 
energy with single minded purpose, he presided over the greatest thrust 
for the future of American education and health that his nation has 
ever known.''
  Judge Celebrezze was my role model, a man whose love of family and 
his community was never ending. I will never forget his warm smile, his 
friendly greetings, and his sense of decency, honesty and fairness. I 
am proud to have known him, and I think of him often. I, like many 
other Ohioans, will miss him terribly.
  I ask you to join me in honoring the memory of this great man, 
Anthony J. Celebrezze. He will be greatly missed.

                          ____________________