[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DEATH OF FLOYD M. RIDDICK, PARLIAMENTARIAN EMERITUS

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 245, which was 
submitted earlier by Senators Lott, Daschle, and others.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 245) relative to the death of Floyd 
     M. Riddick, Parliamentarian Emeritus of the United States 
     Senate.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we just received word that Floyd M. 
Riddick, the Parliamentarian Emeritus of the Senate, passed away 
yesterday. As many of our colleagues may recall, Floyd M. Riddick was 
the Senate Parliamentarian from 1964 to 1974.
  He was a parliamentarian of extraordinary depth and value. In 1954, 
under the supervision of then-Parliamentarian Charles L. Watkins, he 
began working on the first edition of ``Senate Procedure.'' The Senate 
procedure book that came as a result of his work now bears his name.
  I think that says everything about the impact and the remarkable 
contribution Floyd Riddick has made to the Senate, to the way we 
continue to legislate, and certainly to the contribution he made in his 
time in public life.
  Floyd Riddick received a Ph.D. from Duke University in 1941. His 
dissertation was on congressional procedure, and he began work for the 
Senate in 1947, being the very first to publish a Daily Digest, which 
we all use every day from the back of the Congressional Record.
  Doc Riddick, as he was often referred to, was born in Trotville, NC, 
on July 13, 1908. As Senator Byrd has noted in his foreword to the 
current edition of ``Senate Procedure,'' he was truly a unique scholar.
  His contributions to the Senate will be utilized, as they have been 
utilized and valued, by future generations of Senators and staff who 
have not yet even been born.
  Floyd Riddick made his mark on the Senate, on Congress, and on 
history for the publication of ``Riddick's Senate Procedure.''
  I know I speak for all of my colleagues and all of our staff in 
expressing heartfelt condolences to his wife Margo, to his friends, and 
his family.
  Mr. HATCH. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 245) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 245

       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick served the Senate with honor and 
     distinction as its second Parliamentarian from 1965 to 1975;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick created the Daily Digest of the 
     Congressional Record and was its first editor from 1947 to 
     1951;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick was Assistant Senate 
     Parliamentarian from 1951 to 1964;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick complied thousands of Senate 
     precedents into the official volume whose current edition 
     bears his name;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick served the Senate for more than 40 
     years;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick upon his retirement as Senate 
     Parliamentarian served as a consultant to the Senate 
     Committee on Rules and Administration;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick performed his Senate duties in an 
     impartial and professional manner;
       Whereas Floyd M. Riddick was honored by the Senate with the 
     title Parliamentarian Emeritus; Now therefore be it
       Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow 
     and deep regret the announcement of the death of the 
     Honorable Floyd M. Riddick, Parliamentarian Emeritus of the 
     United States Senate.
       Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate communicate 
     these resolutions to the House of Representatives and 
     transmit an enrolled copy thereof to the family of the 
     deceased.

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