[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 12 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S589-S591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FLOYD RIDDICK
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I wish to speak briefly regarding the late
Floyd Riddick.
Floyd Riddick was for several years the Parliamentarian of the
Senate. Floyd Riddick was born in 1908 in Trotville, NC. That was the
same year in which the Model T Ford was made. The Model A Ford came
along in December of 1927, but the Model T Ford came on the market in
1908.
Floyd Riddick was from that generation of Americans committed to
duty, excellence, and hard work. His entire life reflected a love of
duty, of excellence, and of hard work. Floyd Riddick attended Duke
University. He attained his master's degree at Vanderbilt, and then he
returned to Duke University to earn his Ph.D. in political science.
While working on his doctoral dissertation, Floyd Riddick spent a year
observing the workings of the U.S. House of Representatives. And then,
in 1941, he published an expanded version of that research as
congressional procedure.
For the benefit of the viewing public, I hold in my hand a copy of
the volume about which I have just spoken. The title is ``Riddick's
Senate Procedure.'' This particular volume, which was printed by the
U.S. Government Printing Office here in Washington in 1992, including
the appendix, contains 1,564 pages. Mr. President, I have read this
book on Riddick's Procedure through and through and through a number of
times. It used to be that when I was the Democratic whip, and while I
was also Secretary of the Democratic Conference in the Senate, and
during the
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time I was majority leader, minority leader, and majority leader again,
I read this book once every year--the complete book. It is a very
valuable book. If one hopes to ever have a fairly good understanding of
the Senate rules and precedents, then he or she should read this book.
The Parliamentarians of the Senate are very familiar with it. They
resort to it many times a day, and it is a sure and dependable
guideline with respect to the rules and precedents in the Senate. Doc
Riddick--we called him ``Doc''--published a book on congressional
procedure. This book is on Senate procedure.
He then came to Washington permanently as a statistical analyst and
as an instructor of political science at American University. He was a
Ph.D. in political science. I never received my baccalaureate in
political science until I was 76 years old. That was about 6 years ago.
I received my baccalaureate in political science, but, of course, I
knew a lot about political science long before I ever received that
degree. I am a graduate of the school of hard knocks, and I learned a
long time ago the lessons that are taught by service in this body and
in the other body. This is my 48th year on Capitol Hill.
The late Richard Russell talked with me one day about the rules in
the Democratic Cloakroom, right in back of where I am now standing. He
said: Robert, you need not only to know about the rules, you need also
to understand the precedents of the Senate.
I said: Where can I learn about them?
He picked up this book, ``Riddick's Procedure,'' and he said: This is
the book where you can learn a lot about the precedents of the Senate.
Doc Riddick--as I say, because he had a Ph.D. in political science,
Doc Riddick wrote the book. From 1943 to 1946, Dr. Riddick edited the
Legislative Daily for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a post which led to
his being asked to set up a Daily Digest in the Congressional Record
which would summarize congressional events and serve as a guide to the
daily Record.
Now, Doc Riddick wasn't the first man who ever thought of that.
Julius Caesar developed what well might have been called the
legislative daily. He developed a process whereby the daily actions of
the Senate would be noted and would be distributed to the various parts
of the Roman Empire, and nailed upon walls for all to see.
That was a kind of daily legislative digest. That came along quite a
good many years before Dr. Riddick's time. But he followed in the shoes
of Julius Caesar in that regard in that he set up a Daily Digest in the
Congressional Record. It is still to be found in the back of the
Congressional Record. In the back of the Record there is a Daily
Digest, and Senators can go to the Daily Digest and very quickly be
informed about the actions of the Senate and the House the day before,
and what legislation was passed and how many rollcall votes there were.
It is a very valuable compendium of the actions of the Senate and the
House on the day previous to the day on which the Congressional Record
appears in our office.
From that position in 1951, Dr. Riddick joined the Office of
Parliamentarian as an assistant, succeeding to the position of Senate
Parliamentarian in 1964 where he served until 1974. After his
retirement, Dr. Riddick continued to serve the Senate as
Parliamentarian Emeritus and as a consultant to the Senate Committee on
Rules and Administration. Do you know what his salary was? Zero. He
didn't charge anything for his services.
That was a deeply dedicated man who enjoyed giving of his knowledge
and talents, his expertise, his experience to other Senators. I have
been a member of that committee for a long time, so I am quite familiar
with Floyd Riddick and his work on the committee.
Most Senators now serving will be most familiar with the name of
Floyd Riddick in connection with Riddick's Rules of Procedure. He also
authored a series of articles summarizing each congressional session
which appeared in the American Political Science Review and the Western
Political Quarterly, along with several other books on the
organization, history, and procedures of the Congress.
I used to conduct a seminar on the legislative process at American
University during the summers. I didn't earn much money, but the money
that I earned I put into a fund for the college education of a Chinese
orphan. I would have Dr. Riddick over to speak during those days when I
was conducting the seminar. Dr. Riddick would come over and speak to
the class. It wasn't an easy class. It was a tough one. I gave between
600 and 700 questions on the final exam, and I flunked three or four
individuals in the class who apparently thought it would be an easy
thing to skip when they wanted to. But they didn't make the grade. I
had no hesitancy in flunking them. Dr. Riddick, though, was one of
those who spoke for me from time to time.
I also had Senator Sam Ervin over to speak to my class. I had the
late Speaker, Carl Albert, over to American University from time to
time to speak in this seminar. I asked some of the officers of the
Senate to visit the class. So we offered those young people a real
treat in the legislative process.
The Random House College Dictionary gives us this definition of the
word ``integrity'': ``Adherence to moral and ethical principles;
soundness of moral character; honesty.''
That word ``integrity'' is used repeatedly in the publication
entitled ``Tributes to Dr. Floyd M. Riddick'' upon the occasion of his
retirement and designation as parliamentarian emeritus, which was
ordered by the Senate to be printed on December 19, 1974. Senator after
Senator, in speaking of the services of Floyd Riddick upon his
retirement, used that word ``integrity.''
He was a Parliamentarian who would not be swayed by anybody in the
Senate. He called the shots exactly as he saw them. He didn't lean
toward the Republicans; he didn't lean toward the Democrats. He called
the questions as he saw them, and based them on the Senate rules and
upon the precedents. When we received advice from Dr. Riddick while he
was Parliamentarian, we knew that was the way it was. We knew he wasn't
bending the rules to favor any of us or to favor either political
party.
So the word ``integrity'' was an extremely well-fitting word for
Floyd Riddick.
There are some individuals who come up from their origins with a
closeness to earth and a nearness to growing things--growing things,
the lilac bush, the rosebush, the tomato plant, the ordinary weed, a
blade of grass--these individuals have integrity. There is a sort of
elemental trueness about them which even the foibles and the follies
and the bright lights of Washington politics cannot shake from their
being.
As Popeye says, ``I am what I am and that is all I am.'' And these
people are just what they are and that is all they are. That was Dr.
Riddick. Even the foibles and follies of politics in Washington could
not shake his being.
So it is not surprising to learn that Floyd Riddick enjoyed being on
a farm. He used to give some of us here a few of his tomatoes. He grew
those large, beefsteak tomatoes, and he would bring them in from the
farm. He would give me some in the summer. And there were others who
were fortunate enough to be the recipients of Floyd Riddick's tomatoes.
And later in life, Dr. Riddick routinely escaped to his farm in
Rappahannock County, VA, as if for renewal and refreshment.
Rappahannock County, VA--my distant forbear, whose name was William
Sale, came from England in 1657 and settled on the Rappahannock River
in Virginia. He worked 7 years as an indentured servant to pay for his
trip across the Atlantic--7 years. Then he received 160 acres of land.
So it was in Rappahannock County that Dr. Riddick had a farm. He loved
that farm.
Emerson said, ``The true test of civilization is not in the census,
nor the size of cities, nor the crops. No. But the kind of man the
country turns out.''
This was the kind of man we could emulate. He was a noble soul, Floyd
Riddick. He was the kind of man we could proudly call a friend or
associate.
Emerson also said: ``It is easy in the world to live after the
world's opinion.'' That is easy. ``It is easy in solitude to live after
our own.'' That is easy. ``But the great man is he who, in the midst of
the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.''
Floyd Riddick never seemed frazzled, never seemed exasperated by the
pressure cooker atmosphere that can and does develop here on the Senate
floor.
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Even though Dr. Riddick's tenure as Senate Parliamentarian coincided
with some of the most difficult and passionate issues ever encountered
by the Senate, such as Vietnam and civil rights, he was ever the calm
professional, always willing and ready to lift a hand, always desirous
of helping especially the new Members who were sworn into this body,
always there, too, at the beck and call of the Members who had been
here a long time.
Such a common, friendly, warm, congenial, accommodating, decent
individual! Around him there seemed to be always an aura of peace and
control. He kept his mind on his responsibilities, and he never ever
forgot that, as Parliamentarian--in effect, the silent referee of
Senate debate and procedure--he had to maintain complete and total
objectivity. No partisanship--complete and total objectivity.
Senators on both sides of the aisle knew it. They knew when they went
to him, they would get the straight answer and it would not be colored
or tinctured by partisanship. Doc Riddick was in every sense of the
word a scholar. He was quiet, soft spoken, unassuming, and absolutely
rock solid. That was Floyd Riddick!
I leaned upon him heavily in my earlier years in the Senate. He was a
delight to work with, and I enjoyed his company. He was one of those
completely dedicated selfless people who labored for the good of the
institution. He loved the institution. He labored for the good of the
Senate and for the good of his country.
Robert E. Lee said that the word ``duty'' was the sublimest word in
the English language. Dr. Riddick understood what that meant, and, to
him, duty was sublime. He was above politics, as I have repeatedly
said, he was honorable, and he was entirely above reproach.
Floyd Riddick did not need praise, although he certainly deserved it.
He did not covet recognition, although the recognition of his scholarly
expertise was widespread. For him, the glory of the work, the glory of
serving the Senate, the glory of serving Senators, and through Senators
the glory of serving the American people, was enough.
We will long remember Dr. Riddick, those of us who served with him.
Whence cometh such another?
I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senator from
Virginia may proceed as in morning business for such time as I may
require.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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