[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 136 (Thursday, October 26, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H11358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE BOB WEYGAND ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, tonight I would like to talk just a few 
minutes about Bob Weygand, a good friend of mine here in the House and 
a great Representative for the Second District of Rhode Island. I know 
that many of my colleagues share my sadness that he will be leaving the 
House of Representatives. As my colleagues know, he is running for the 
United States Senate.
  The gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Weygand) is no stranger to 
public service. He began his public service in 1978 when he became a 
member of the East Providence Planning Board and became its chairman in 
1979. In 1984 he was elected to the Rhode Island House of 
Representatives, representing at that time District 84. He was also 
named the Legislator of the Year in 1988. Bob stayed in the General 
Assembly until 1993, serving on a number of committees, including the 
House Corporations Committee on which he was the chairman.
  It was during his time as a State representative that Bob helped to 
write Rhode Island's land use laws which have been recognized 
nationally as state of the art with respect to land planning and the 
most progressive and forward thinking types of laws in this country.
  Bob was elected lieutenant governor of Rhode Island in 1992 and he 
was the chairman of the Long Term Coordination Council and he authored 
legislation to protect the elderly and to improve access for long-term 
health care.
  The gentleman from Rhode Island was elected to the U.S. House, to 
this House, in 1996. He came in on January 7, 1997, the same day that I 
came to this House Chamber. We soon became good friends. As a Member of 
the Congress, Bob was chosen as our freshman president his first year 
here. The gentleman from Rhode Island serves on the House Committee on 
the Budget and the Committee on Banking and Financial Services.
  He is a landscape architect by trade. That is why he has worked so 
hard as one of the cochairman of the Livable Communities Caucus that we 
have here in the House. He has brought to Congress a new way to look at 
our communities and our physical environment, and I have had the 
opportunity to work with him over and over again in the caucus where we 
look at the land use planning of many of our cities.
  Those who know Bob well know he is a man of honesty and integrity, 
and I am proud to call him my friend.

                              {time}  2230

  These qualities are probably best exemplified in his role in 
uncovering an extensive corruption operation in the city of Pawtucket 
in 1991. You see Bob was a landscape architect, and he had won a 
contract for that city to redo a general open space, a park, if you 
will, and one of the things that happened is when he went in to see the 
mayor to work on this project, the mayor had a little scheme of how he 
might divide up the funds.
  Now, most of us having won a project like that might turn away and 
say to the mayor, thank you very much, I do not really need this after 
all, let me just forget I have ever met you, but not Bob. Bob actually 
picked up the phone that night and called the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation.
  Bob subsequently worked with them in conducting an elaborate 
undercover operation. Mr. Speaker, he wore a wire for many months 
putting his family, his wife, Fran, and their three children at great 
danger, but he felt it was important that he get the information. And 
because of what he did, putting away corrupt public officials in Rhode 
Island, Bob won the FBI's Award for Exceptional Public Service, the 
first time that that was awarded to a private citizen. It is a 
prestigious honor. He also was recognized with the Rhode Island 
Distinguished Service Star.
  I know that as he leaves the House to pursue the opportunity to 
represent all Rhode Islanders, that his friends and colleagues thank 
him for the work that he has done here and wish him well in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, Rhode Island will be very, very happy to have a great 
Senator when they elect Bob Weygand on November 7.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to 
the career of one of Rhode Island's dedicated public officials, 
Representative Bob Weygand. Bob is being honored tonight with this 
special order as he gets ready to leave the House of Representatives 
after two terms of public service.
  Bob is a life-time Rhode Island resident and proud graduate of the 
University of Rhode Island. Since his appointment to the East 
Providence Planning Board in 1978 he has served R.I. in varying 
capacities, including as a member of the Rhode Island House of 
Representatives and as R.I.'s Lieutenant Governor.
  Bob's career accomplishments include the areas of small business, and 
senior citizens, in particular. He proudly served our State as a 
presidential delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business 
and at the White House Conference on Aging. He has served the people of 
the Second District of Rhode Island well over the past four years. Bob 
currently sits on the Banking and Financial Services Committee and the 
Budget Committee. He has fought in the Congress for proposals to bring 
down the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. He has sponsored a 
bill to protect our Nation's seniors from criminal scams. Bob has also 
been a staunch advocate for FDA regulation of tobacco products and for 
programs to prevent children from smoking.
  Again, it is my pleasure to pay tribute to Congressman Weygand this 
evening. I wish Bob, his wife Fran and their three children the very 
best in the future.

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