[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E67]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE LATE CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM H. AYRES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM SAWYER

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2001

  Mr. SAWYER. Mr. Speaker, William H. Ayres represented the 14th 
Congressional District of Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives for 
20 years. Congressman Ayres, who died on December 27, defined his 
political philosophy with typical succinctness. He said, ``Most of the 
fellows today are issue-oriented. They're trying to save the world, 
while I was trying to save a paycheck.''
  A direct statement--modest, self-effacing, and misleading. Bill Ayres 
did much more than ``save paychecks.''
  Congressman Ayres was the son of a Methodist minister and a 
missionary nurse. Before serving in the Army, he worked as a salesman 
for a heating equipment company. After the Second World War, he started 
his own company selling gas furnaces. His priorities were made evident 
when he hired 15 men--all World War II veterans--to work for him.
  Bill Ayres also showed his independent streak by challenging 
restrictions on heating contractors. That crusade ended in victory in 
the Ohio Supreme Court.
  Those two characteristics--fierce independence and loyalty to 
veterans--marked his public service, especially in the House of 
Representatives. Committed to constituent service, Bill Ayres was an 
energetic and innovative campaigner, who was re-elected nine times, 
including the 1964 landslide for Lyndon Johnson.
  His daughter, Virginia, touched on those tireless efforts as she 
recalled, ``Every weekend, he was at the Polish picnic and the 
Hungarian picnic and the Kiwanis. Those are my memories of childhood.''
  After leaving the House, Bill Ayres continued his dedicated work for 
veterans, running the Jobs for Veterans program in the Department of 
Labor under President Nixon.
  Bill Ayres had as a campaign slogan, ``Ayres Cares.'' His approach to 
work, to people, and to life, proved clearly that it was no empty 
slogan, but an apt description of the man, and his model for public 
service.
  Congressman Ayres now rests in Arlington National Cemetery, among the 
men and women he supported and served. It is a fitting resting place 
for a tireless fighter for his fellow veterans, for a true public 
servant.

                          ____________________