[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10141-S10143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RETIREMENT OF ARTHUR MALAN ``TINKER'' ST. CLAIR

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, my State of West Virginia has provided to 
our Nation numerous individuals who have dedicated their lives to 
public service. Some have appeared, for a time, in the national 
spotlight. Others have labored quietly behind the scenes. One such 
individual, who has for more than 50 years contributed to the 
betterment of his community, his State, and his country, sits among us 
today in this

[[Page S10142]]

Senate Chamber. Arthur Malan St. Clair, the senior Doorkeeper of the 
Senate, caught me by surprise recently when he handed me a letter 
informing me of his decision to retire from his post after serving this 
body since 1979. Arthur St. Clair, better known to us Senators as 
``Tinker,'' has served the Senate with distinction for 21 years.

  But that is just a small part of his remarkable story. Now, 
speculation as to the age of another person is always something to be 
approached with some temerity, and not often approached, as a matter of 
fact. But there has been speculation as to Tinker's age. It has been a 
hot topic of debate among some Senators and Senator's staffs for a 
number of years. I understand, however, that Tinker is finally willing 
to let that particular cat out of the bag.
  So, for the benefit of the curious, I shall start at the beginning: 
Tinker St. Clair was born in Pageton, McDowell County, West Virginia, 
in 1916. As his colleagues on the doors may be quickly calculating, 
that will make Tinker 85 years come next January.
  Tinker was the son of a coal miner, small businessman, and local 
school board member. He was reared in what he is often heard to call 
the ``free State of McDowell.''
  It is a county located in southern West Virginia right on the 
borderline there. It used to have a population of about right at 
100,000 people. Today it has probably 30,000. It was a great coal 
mining county. When the mines took on mechanization and huge mining 
machines took the place of men, the population dropped. Many of the 
mines are worked out and are no longer mining coal. So it has become a 
county that, unfortunately, has many unemployed people who still live 
there.
  That county is represented by Nick Joe Rahall, who claims to be my 
Congressman because my voting residence is still at Sophia, WV, which 
is located in the congressional district represented by Nick Rahall. 
Nick Rahall has a lot of friends in those counties, and they are very 
proud of him as their representative. Nick and I often talk about 
Tinker St. Clair.
  Tinker is from that great free state of McDowell. Back in those days, 
when McDowell County had almost 100,000 people, West Virginia had 
97,600 farms and had 90,000 horses. The State of West Virginia had 
90,000 horses and 6,000 mules. That was back in the days when Tinker 
was younger, I was younger, and McDowell County was more highly 
populated. Many of those 6,000 mules were used in the mines to pull the 
cars of coal.
  I was trying to remember how much money was required to build that 
first capitol in West Virginia--not the first capitol; the first 
capitol burned down, but the capitol that replaced the capitol that 
burned down had gold leaf put upon it. That capitol was completed in 
February 1932. I will tell you what that capitol cost in 1932. Pay 
close attention: $9,491,180.03. That was the total cost of that 
capitol. Any person traveling in West Virginia must stop and see that 
beautiful capitol. It would cost many times that much to build it 
today. It was completed in the heart of the Great Depression: 
$9,491,180.03. That was a real bargain.
  Well, McDowell County is in the heart of a region that is rich in 
coal and, more importantly, rich in the old values. It was in that 
environment that Tinker grew up. That was the environment in which he 
was raised. That was the environment in which he was instilled with 
patriotism and loyalty, honesty and determination and drive, and a 
strong sense of community.
  Tinker graduated in 1937. That was the year in which I married. That 
was the year in which Erma and I married. I paid a hard-shell preacher 
$10 to marry her and me. We have been married ever since, 63 years ago. 
Nineteen hundred and thirty-seven was the year Tinker graduated from 
Gary High School where he played football and baseball.
  Upon graduation, Tinker worked as a schoolbus driver and later worked 
as a driver for the Consolidated Bus Lines. He came to own a taxi 
business that operated in the towns of Welch, Oceana, and Pineville. 
For anyone unfamiliar with those communities, I should note that 
driving a bus or a taxi along those particular local roads, around the 
winding hills and in the gulches and the valleys and the hollows, 
requires a real talent, courage, and certainly a strong stomach.
  It was at about that time in his life--in fact, on May 25, 1940--that 
Tinker married Elnora J. Hall and they later became the proud parents 
of two daughters, Patty and Linda.

  As we have all observed in the Senate, and as I have known for many 
years, Tinker is always cheerful--always cheerful. He always has a nice 
smile on his face. He is always a very personable individual. He is 
just down to Earth, a plain, honest, hard-working, fine Christian 
gentleman.
  He is a ``people person.'' We hear a lot of talk these days about 
``people persons.'' Well, he is a ``people person.'' His entrance into 
the realm of politics and public service, therefore, was just plain 
natural. Beginning in 1948, Tinker's career included service as a 
deputy sheriff. When Tinker came to get you, you better go--you better 
go. He had that big .45 slung on his hip and he was an excellent 
marksman. You just better go; better get ready. That fellow, the 
smiles, was the real Matt Dillon of McDowell County--Matt Dillon. And 
he was a court bailiff, criminal investigator for the prosecuting 
attorney, and justice of the peace.
  In 1968, Tinker was elected county clerk, and he has held all the 
offices at the county level. That is where government starts, you know, 
at the county level. And he was overwhelmingly reelected in 1974, with 
89 percent of the vote; 89 percent of the votes in a county that never, 
ever heard of a political machine.
  Well, I better take that back, the part about a political machine; If 
there ever was a political machine, that was it, in McDowell County.
  Well, anyhow, Tinker didn't need any machine. He had the votes--89 
percent of the vote while running on the slogan, ``The man to give the 
office back to the people.'' How about that for a slogan? If I had my 
political career to start over again, that is the slogan I would use, 
``The man to give the office back to the people.''
  It was in 1979, after serving 4 years of a 6-year term as county 
clerk, I received a telephone call. I will never forget that call. It 
came from Tinker. Over the phone, Tinker related to me a conversation 
that he had just had with Elnora. Elnora, as I recall it, had told 
Tinker that she was coming to Washington to visit their daughters and 
their grandchildren.
  ``Fine,'' said Tinker. ``When will you be coming back?''
  ``I'm not,'' was the answer. ``I'm not.'' She went on to say, ``I 
miss the girls and the grandchildren and I'm going to Washington to 
stay.''
  Well, Tinker and I both knew that she meant business. And so I said 
to Tinker, ``Well, you just come on up to Washington with Elnora, and 
we'll find work in my office somewhere for you.''
  That conversation took place during the first week of July, 1979. And 
on July 9, 1979, the Senate employed Tinker St. Clair as the newest 
member of our Senate family, and he has been a member of the Senate 
family ever since.
  During his career, Tinker has played an important role in escorting 
leaders of this Nation throughout southern West Virginia. Nobody can 
escort one through southern West Virginia quite like Tinker. He walked 
with President Truman through the coal fields. He stood with candidate 
John F. Kennedy and campaigned with him in the hills and the hollows of 
West Virginia. And one time back home, he greeted a helicopter that was 
landing and he welcomed its passenger, Lyndon Baines Johnson. He was 
with another Kennedy--Bobby Kennedy--in 1968.

  He traveled with another West Virginian, many times, day and night: 
Robert C. Byrd. He traveled with Jay Rockefeller. And Jay can tell of 
trips to Welch where he was greeted by the dapper and dedicated Tinker. 
And the late Senator Jennings Randolph often found at Elnora's supper 
table some fine pastries and goodies. And so was Nick Rahall there, 
from time to time, in Tinker's house.
  Many a campaign strategy was cooked up at Elnora's supper table. 
Tinker and Elnora, in fact, serve as proof that anyone with the 
determination and the desire to make a difference in this Nation can 
play a valuable role in the political arena.
  It was on April 24, 1996, that Tinker lost his beloved Elnora. I was 
concerned for my friend. The sudden loss of his dear wife had to have 
been quite

[[Page S10143]]

a blow. Yet Tinker handled that difficult personal tragedy with 
tremendous inner strength that is so indicative of people who have come 
up the hard way in West Virginia's coal mining communities.
  So now it has come to pass, Mr. President, that Tinker St. Clair will 
be retiring, and I am glad for him that he will be able to spend more 
time with his daughters, Patty and Linda; and with his grandchildren, 
Kimberly and Eddie and Mack; and with his two great-grandsons, Nicholas 
and Jack.
  But I must admit, it does sadden me to think of our daily labors in 
this Chamber without Tinker; He has given so much. We will all miss 
Tinker's ready smile, his warm handshake, his full head of white hair, 
and his warm and reassuring presence in the Senate Chamber.
  He won't be leaving for a while yet, but the day will come when 
Tinker will walk out of the door for his last time. So I say goodbye to 
my fellow West Virginian, and my dear friend, with these words of 
verse:

                           Word to the Living

     It isn't enough that we say in our hearts
     That we like a man for his ways;
     And it isn't enough that we fill our minds
     With psalms of silent praise;
     Nor is it enough that we honor a man
     As our confidence upward mounts;
     It's going right up to the man himself
     And telling him so that counts.
     Then when a man does a deed that you really admire,
     Don't leave a kind word unsaid,
     For fear to do so might make him vain
     Or cause him to lose his head;
     But reach out your hand and tell him, ``Well done'',
     And see how his gratitude swells;
     It isn't the flowers we strew on the grave,
     It's the word to the living that tells.

  I will say this to Tinker. I hope to serve 6 years more after this 
year in this Senate, but the sight of him back there on that bench will 
never fade from my view. I will always see him there. I will always see 
him returning my gaze and always with a smile. We will never, never 
forget him because he is the true symbol of service. And as the old 
saying goes: Service with a smile. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished Senator from Minnesota is 
recognized.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I consider myself very lucky to be on 
the floor right now. I thank Senator Byrd for his words. I cannot even 
come close to matching what my colleague from West Virginia said. I 
have not known Tinker a whole lifetime, but I will say this: What I 
know about Tinker today and every day, I say to Senator Byrd, is that 
he is the kind of person who, when we debate, when we come out on the 
floor to speak, and sometimes we do not necessarily get the votes we 
want--that happens sometimes; with me, more than sometimes--Tinker is 
the person who is always there to give encouragement, always there to 
say: You keep speaking out for what you believe; you keep at it; 
everything will be all right.
  I appreciate Tinker's wisdom. I appreciate his help. I appreciate his 
commitment to service. I appreciate his commitment to West Virginia. 
Most important of all, I appreciate his patriotism, because to me he is 
a true patriot. A patriot is someone who takes a part of their life and 
gives it to their country, and he has done that. So I am honored to be 
on the floor at this time.

                          ____________________