[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 1, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         A TRIBUTE TO SID YATES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 1, 2000

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, Sid Yates was an exemplary 
democrat. I have never met anyone who did a better job of helping the 
citizens of this country govern ourselves. Sid Yates belied the view 
that passion about issues and civility towards people were somehow 
inconsistent. He cared deeply about a broad range of issues, and knew a 
good deal about all of them because he was a man of deep learning and 
high intelligence. But he never let either his knowledge or his 
commitment interfere with the respect he showed to others, and his 
interaction with his Congressional colleagues was, as I have said, a 
model of how government should be carried out in a democracy.
  Others will be describing his extraordinarily effective advocacy of 
the arts, an advocacy that meant so much because it came from someone 
who was himself deeply appreciative of the value of culture to the 
quality of human life. We knew him as well as a dedicated defender of 
our common natural heritage, embodied in our parks, and of his fierce 
defense of civil liberties and racial fairness. I want to talk here 
about one particularly important aspect of his work that did not get a 
great deal of publicity, because he did not want it to, but which was 
of great significance in this nation.
  For all of the years that I served in Congress until he retired. Sid 
Yates was the senior Jewish Member of the House in point of service--as 
well as in other ways of an intangable sort. He presided regularly over 
an informal Caucus of Jewish Members on issues that were of particular 
importance and often of great sensitivity. During the period that Sid 
performed this role, there were efforts in our society to drive wedges 
between Jewish and African American Members of the House, as people 
sought to drive those wedges between our two communities elsewhere. 
Many of us on both sides worked hard to prevent this from happening, 
and no one was more important in our success in this regard than Sid 
Yates. Sometimes the important accomplishments of a person are the 
things that he or she kept from happening, as much as the things he or 
she caused to happen. In Sid Yates' case, among the towering monuments 
that this great man left us is his leadership role in frustrating the 
efforts of those who would have set Jewish and African American Members 
of Congress quarreling over the fate of negotiations in the Middle 
East, over the foreign aid bill, over affirmative action and other 
important issues. I am very proud that throughout my service we have 
remained largely united in defense of important steps towards justice 
in our nation and in the world, and Sid Yates' important role in this 
should be acknowledged.
  Mr. Speaker there are people whom one admires, but whom one does not 
necessarily want as a seatmate on a long plane ride. Sid Yates was a 
wonderful man who did great things for society, and was a delight to be 
with, listen to and learn from. We miss him greatly.

                          ____________________