[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                REMEMBERING CONGRESSMAN SIDNEY R. YATES

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                        HON. JOHN EDWARD PORTER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 6, 2000

  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember and celebrate the 
wonderful life of our colleague, Sid Yates. He served here for almost 
fifty years and left an indelible mark on this institution.
  I was privileged to serve with Sid as a part of the Illinois 
delegation for nineteen of my twenty-one years in Congress and on the 
House Appropriations Committee for eighteen. I will never know another 
public official more dedicated, astute, well-prepared and forceful in 
his work. I may often not have agreed with him, but I always respected 
him. He stood up and fought for the things he believed in. There can be 
no higher compliment paid to a member of this institution.
  As Sid got into his eighties, many Republicans from his district 
would come to me and say, ``Well, Sid Yates must be less vigorous, more 
forgetful, and less attentive to his legislative duties now.'' I would 
have to tell them that was not at all the case. Right into the final 
days of his time in Congress, Sid was still in the forefront of debates 
and issues before the Appropriations Committee. If I can be half as 
sharp as Sid Yates was on reaching the same age, I will be thankful 
indeed.
  Dave Obey has said repeatedly that in his thirty-six years in 
Congress nothing can compare to the debate between Sid Yates and Eddie 
Boland during a mark-up in the full appropriations committee regarding 
federal support for the construction of an American Super Sonic 
Transport (SST). Sid opposed this construction while Eddie was 
determined to facilitate it. They debated each other for over an hour 
and held the attention of every member of the committee. Both men were 
articulate and earnest in their positions. It was incredible to watch. 
At the end, together they received a standing ovation from the entire 
committee. This is an event that has gone down in the lore of the 
House, and it is ironic that in the year of Sid's death, the European 
version of the SST is grounded and unlikely to return to service.
  We send to Sid's wife and family our sorrow in his loss, but 
celebrate the life of an extraordinary man dedicated to his country, to 
his principles, to public service as the highest of callings and to 
this institution.

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