[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 25, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H1588-H1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE MEMORY OF RICHARDSON PREYER, FORMER MEMBER OF THE HOUSE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. COBLE. This special order, Mr. Speaker, is to commemorate and
honor the memory of one of our distinguished former Members, the
Honorable Richardson Preyer.
Judge Preyer, Congressman Preyer, was my congressman for 12 years.
His family, Mr. Speaker, and this is probably known to the gentleman
from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) because he is a man of letters, and this
probably will not surprise him, his family was one of the frontiers in
the pharmaceutical industry. Vicks VapoRub, for example, was invented,
if you will, and the laboratory was actually probably make-shift,
probably a modest facility at the time, by his ancestors.
I shared this story with him one day. When I was a member of the
Coast Guard in Seattle, Washington, one of my first times out of North
Carolina as a young man, I came across a Vicks VapoRub package in a
drugstore in Seattle. I saw on that package, Mr. Speaker, Greensboro,
North Carolina. That is where it was manufactured. I felt a sense of
obvious pride, as my friend in the well is smiling approvingly.
I saw him much years afterward, and I told him that story. He too
beamed with pride because I could see in his face the pride of his
grandparents perhaps or uncles that preceded him in the development of
that drug that became, obviously, a household word.
Mr. Speaker, Richardson Preyer served as a State superior court
judge. He served as a United States district judge on the Federal
bench. He was a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary for
the office of governor. Although he did not win that nomination, he
conducted a very credible campaign.
Then in 1968, Mr. Speaker, Richardson Preyer ran what was then an
open seat. I guess it was Congressman Kornegay had retired. Richardson
Preyer and Bill Osteen, a long-time friend of mine, who is now a United
States district court judge himself in the middle district of North
Carolina, Rich and Bill, Bill Osteen, paired off in a very spirited,
well-conducted campaign. Mr. Preyer, Congressman Preyer was declared
the winner; and he went on to serve six terms in the House of
Representatives.
[[Page H1589]]
Emily and Rich, those names became synonymous with political spousal
teamwork. I mean, oftentimes where there was one, there was the other.
Or if Rich would be in one part of the district, Emily would be in the
other part, carrying the political message. They were very adept
campaigners.
In fact, it has been said once that they felt perhaps Emily was,
maybe, more comfortable on the hustings than was Rich. I do not know
that that is true, but she did have that very natural gift of
backslapping. There is nothing wrong with that, because I have been
accused of being a backslapper myself. Rich was not a backslapper, but
he nonetheless represented our district very ably.
Someone once asked me, Mr. Speaker, ``You and Rich Preyer seem to get
along very well, and your voting records are probably light years
apart.'' They probably are. I think Rich Preyer's voting record and my
voting record would be very dissimilar. But I said, ``Just because one
does not agree with another on various and sundry political issues,
that does not mean that you cannot disagree agreeably.''
Rich Preyer, I think epitomized that in his life. He was a very
agreeable person although perhaps he did not agree oftentimes with
others and with me in particular. But we never drew our sword from our
sheaths because of that.
Today, Mr. Speaker, the Federal building, the old Federal courthouse
and post office in downtown Greensboro bears the name the Preyer
Building. That building, I say to the gentleman from Raleigh, North
Carolina (Mr. Price), he will remember that that building housed
congressional offices, by gosh, probably 30 years. I think Rich's
office was there. I know Gene Johnston's was there. Robin Britt's was
there. Ours was there.
We had to leave that building some recent months ago as a matter of
constituency friendliness. Many of the people who came to call upon me
were infirm and were not able to walk the two or three blocks that was
necessary to gain admittance to the Preyer Building because there was
virtually no on-street parking. So that was a constituency-friendly
move, one that I did not want to make. That old building was home to me
and to many constituents for that matter. But we did move.
But each time I go back in there, I have fond memories of visiting
with staff personnel there. I see that sign, the Preyer Federal
Building, and it brings back good memories.
I think that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), Speaker pro
tempore, is from the valley, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He
probably did not know Mr. Preyer, but he would have liked him. He had
many friends, some of whom still serve in this very body.
But I see two of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have joined me on the
floor.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Charlotte, North Carolina
(Mr. Watt).
Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Greensboro, North Carolina (Mr. Coble), from the adjoining district for
yielding to me. Of course they say most of the districts in North
Carolina adjoin mine in one way or another, so I have got a lot of
adjoining Congress people. This is the first time I have heard the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) yield to me so much time as I
may consume so I think that is a dangerous precedent. But I will try
not to make him regret that.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield very briefly?
Mr. WATT of North Carolina. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from
North Carolina.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
Watt) do not get me in the doghouse with the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Price). Do not use too much time.
Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am going to leave plenty
of time.
I have been thinking about a way to personalize this. I never served
with Representative Rich Preyer. I met him for the first time in 1992
when I was running for Congress for the first time. Rich and his wife
Emily had heard about my candidacy. I, of course, had heard about Rich
Preyer for years and years and years; and that was the beginning of a
strong personal relationship that I started to develop with Rich Preyer
and with Emily Preyer.
{time} 1415
I was thinking on the way over here, though, when I was a little boy,
my mother used to treat us when we got sick with a big dose of castor
oil if we had a stomach virus, but if we were congested, and quite
often we were because we lived in kind of an airy house, she would
always whip out the Vicks VapoRub and rub it on our chest and heat a
heating pad and the smell of Vicks VapoRub would come up. Over time it
would release whatever congestion you had.
Now, you probably wonder, well, what in the world does that have to
do with Rich Preyer? Rich Preyer's grandfather was the person who
patented Vicks VapoRub. He turned it into quite a success story
financially for his family. So Rich was really born into a family of
privilege as a result of his parents' and foreparents' business
dealings and as a result of this innovative patent that people in my
age range probably knew as well as anything else for its medicinal
impact.
Rich never really worked in that business, but in a sense Rich took
over that releasing of congestion and took it to a broader public
plane. Because when I first heard about Rich Preyer, he was out there
on the cutting edge, paving the way, opening the way, so to speak, for
many people like myself, minorities in particular, who viewed Rich
Preyer as a real progressive, human, dignified person who was willing
to fight for principles that he believed in. In that sense, he was a
rare public official who took risk and stood up for his beliefs. He was
ahead of his time and did not sacrifice his principles for political
gain.
As a State judge in 1957, Rich Preyer upheld a ruling that enabled
five black children to attend the previously all-white Gillespie Park
School in Greensboro. This was 1957 in North Carolina. This was the
first integrated school in the City of Greensboro. It was 3 years
before the historic Greensboro sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counters
that we have heard so much about and read so much about in our history.
So Rich Preyer was ahead of his time.
In 1961, Rich Preyer received a lifetime appointment to the Federal
bench from his Harvard Law School classmate, a man of privilege again.
His classmate happened to be President John F. Kennedy. So he could
have had a lifetime appointment on the Federal bench. He was there. It
is a lifetime appointment. But 2 years later, he gave up that position
to run for governor of North Carolina. He hoped that he would follow in
the footsteps of the term-limited governor Terry Sanford, who was known
as the most progressive governor in the South.
For those Members who hear about North Carolina and wonder why it has
this kind of progressive image that is more progressive than some of
our other southern States, Governor Terry Sanford and people like Rich
Preyer were building that image. Even though this was almost 10 years
after Brown v. Board of Education, the State of North Carolina, like
all other southern States, was still basically segregated. Although
Governor Sanford had started steps toward integration efforts,
according to Preyer's former press aide, the Ku Klux Klan burned 50
crosses across the State of North Carolina in protest of Rich Preyer's
candidacy for governor of the State of North Carolina.
You talk about a man who was ahead of his time, you have not seen
anything until you met Rich Preyer. He led the Democratic primary, but
he did not get 50 percent of the vote and the law required at that time
in North Carolina that you have 50 percent plus 1 to avoid a runoff. So
he ended up in a runoff with a more conservative opponent, and the
conservative opponent won the election. A lot of people say that he won
the election because Rich Preyer refused to distance himself from the
principles that he thought were important. They called him an
integrationist and a lover of black people. Rich's response was, ``I
love all people. That is what I have been taught as part of my
religious beliefs.'' And he never made any overtures toward the
segregationists who were supporting the candidacy of his opponent. Rich
Preyer was ahead of his time.
[[Page H1590]]
Rich lost that governor's race and then ran for Congress in 1968, and
he was elected to Congress. Many considered him too liberal and out of
step with his district. He opposed the Vietnam War and was one of only
two Members of Congress from North Carolina to vote for legislation to
end the war. This was a guy ahead of his time. Rich's voting record
finally caught up with him again, because he was not going to
compromise his principles. It caught up with him in 1980, when he lost
in the Reagan landslide by about 3,500 votes. Let me tell you what a
class guy this Rich Preyer was. He saw it, the election results are
coming in, he could have picked up the phone, called his adversary, his
opponent and said, ``I concede defeat.'' Rich Preyer said, ``No, I'm
going over and I'm going to shake this man's hand.'' He went all the
way across town, into his opponent's headquarters, got heckled by his
opponent's supporters, and insisted on shaking his opponent's hand to
congratulate him.
In 1980, after he had lost that race, former Congressman Steve Neal
said of Rich Preyer, ``There is not a man or woman among us who
commands greater respect for intelligence, honesty, integrity and
courage of conviction.'' I think that is a fitting tribute to him and a
shining tribute to him.
I want to end by just expressing my condolences to the Preyer family
and thanking the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) again for coordinating this
special order. Rich Preyer and Emily Preyer were dear, dear people,
both ahead of their times in many, many ways that inured to my personal
benefit and to this country's benefit.
Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, I say in response to my friend the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) about the heckling, I have
heard about that, that night, and I have been told that that was not
done by the gentleman who defeated Rich that night. That was not done
under his guise. I think maybe some spirited people were there.
Mr. WATT of North Carolina. If the gentleman will yield for a second,
I will clarify that, because I fully agree with him. Everything I have
heard about that incident suggests that his opponent quieted his
supporters and invited Rich Preyer to the podium with him and accepted
the congratulations.
Mr. COBLE. Reclaiming my time, I do not want to defend the hecklers,
but sometimes folks become very spirited on election night. I am
confident that if there were in fact hecklers, I do not think they
meant anything personally by that.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the Fourth
District of North Carolina (Mr. Price).
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank the gentleman for yielding and
for coordinating this special order for us this afternoon.
Mr. Speaker, on April 3, North Carolina and the Nation lost one of
our most distinguished citizens and public servants, L. Richardson
Preyer. It is a privilege today to join with my colleagues in paying
tribute to his life and his work, which were memorialized at a moving
and majestic service at Greensboro's First Presbyterian Church on April
5.
Rich Preyer served in this body with great dignity and effectiveness
for six terms, from 1969 to 1980. He was a senior member of what was
then called the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, and he
chaired the Government Information and Individual Rights Subcommittee
of the Committee on Government Operations. The Almanac of American
Politics noted his reputation for ``great integrity and sound
judgment'' which led the House leadership to call upon him ``to serve
in some difficult and unpleasant assignments.'' These included the
committee investigating assassinations, where he headed the
subcommittee investigating the assassination of President Kennedy, and
the House Ethics Committee at the time of the so-called Korea-gate
scandal.
Rich Preyer was born in 1919, took his undergraduate degree at
Princeton, served as a Navy lieutenant in World War II and was awarded
the Bronze Star for action in Okinawa, and then earned his law degree
at Harvard University after the war. He became a city judge at age 34,
then a North Carolina superior court judge. In 1961 he was appointed
judge of the Federal Middle District Court of North Carolina by
President Kennedy. He resigned that lifetime appointment to undertake a
race for governor, a race that he narrowly lost but that engaged and
inspired thousands of North Carolinians, many of whom went on to
leadership positions within our State.
When the Sixth Congressional District seat came open in 1968, Rich
Preyer was such an obvious choice for that position that he was
nominated without opposition. Rich then won reelection year after year
by large margins and had an exemplary congressional career. This was
when I, having returned to North Carolina in 1973, first got to know
him. At first as an academic who studied Congress and the Commerce
Committee in particular, I admired Rich from afar. Then as I got more
involved in North Carolina politics myself, I was privileged to work
with him personally. Like many in my political generation, I admired
Rich tremendously as a man who brought conviction and courage, dignity
and style to politics, a model of what a Member of this body should be
and a model of what political leadership at its best can be.
My admiration was deepened and given another dimension when Rich lost
his 1980 race for reelection and I observed how he handled that loss. I
remember as executive director of the State Democratic Party sitting
with Rich and his dear wife Emily in a television studio in Greensboro
waiting to be interviewed on election morning. He had a premonition of
what was to come. But he was at peace with the account he had given of
himself in his congressional service and in his campaign. He weathered
defeat with equanimity and a remarkable sense of humor. And he never
wavered in his political ideals and his expansive citizenship: the
years since 1980 have been filled with numerous local and State and
national involvements to which Rich Preyer brought remarkable gifts of
vision and leadership.
{time} 1430
Rich and Emily Preyer had a wonderful family, and their children have
carried on the Preyer family tradition of high spirits, love of nature
and of athletic competition, generous friendships, and faithful
stewardship of time and talent.
We express our sympathy to sons Rich, Jr., and Britt, and daughters
Mary Norris, Jane and Emily, and their families, in the hope that the
outpouring of affection and admiration that has followed their father's
death, and their mother's death not long before, will give them
strength and comfort in this time of sorrow.
Madam Speaker, I ask that the obituary from the Raleigh News and
Observer be included in the Record at this point, as well as the
reflections offered at the April 5 memorial service by Jane Preyer,
Richardson Preyer, Jr., and Tom Lambeth, Rich Preyer's chief of staff
during his time in the House, who recently retired as director of the
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
[From the Raleigh News and Observer, April 4, 2001]
The Honorable Lunsford Richardson Preyer
Greensboro--The Honorable L. Richardson Preyer, 82, died
Tuesday at the Cone Memorial Hospital. A funeral service will
be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church.
Congressman Preyer was a native of Greensboro and attended
the public schools. He received his A.B. Degree from
Princeton University and his Law Degree from the Harvard Law
School.
At the First Presbyterian Church he was an elder, teacher/
member of the Young Men's Bible Class for over 40 years and a
Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
During World War II he was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy
served for four years as a Gunnery Officer and Executive
Officer on Destroyer duty in the Atlantic and South Pacific;
he received the Bronze Star for action in Okinawa.
Mr. Preyer was appointed as a City Judge, and North
Carolina Superior Court Judge. In 1961 he was appointed
Federal Judge of the Middle District Court by President John
F. Kennedy. In 1963 Judge Preyer resigned his Judgeship to
become a candidate for Governor of North Carolina. In 1964 he
became City Executive for Greensboro at the North Carolina
National Bank. In November 1968 he was elected to the United
States Congress, 6th District of North Carolina and served
until 1980.
The U.S. Federal Courthouse and Post Office are named in
his honor as the L. Richardson Preyer Federal Building in
Greensboro.
[[Page H1591]]
Among his many Congressional Committees he was most proud
of serving as Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics
which drew up the Congressional Code of Ethics and Chairman
of the House Committee on Assassination of President Kennedy
and Martin Luther King.
The Honorable Mr. Preyer served in many other ways and was
honored as Chairman of the Board of the North Carolina
Outward Bound School; Commissioner, Greensboro Little League
and Pony Baseball programs; Honorary Chairman of the Greater
Greensboro Open (GGCC); Inter-Club Council's Outstanding
Civic Leader of the Year Award; Greensboro Chamber's ``Uncle
Joe Cannon'' Award for outstanding leadership; Distinguished
Service Award at the University of North Carolina School of
Medicine; and recipient of the Phillip Hart Memorial Award
for Conscience by ``Washingtonian Magazine.''
At the time of his death he was Co-chairman of the Guilford
Battleground Company; member of the Board for the National
Humanities Center; Chairman of Coastal Futures Committee
(appointed by Governor James B. Hunt); Trustee: Mary Reynolds
Babcock Foundation; H. Smith Richardson Foundation; NC
Institute of Political Leadership; Woodrow Wilson Center
(Smithsonian Institute); Uplift, Inc. (past president); and
the NC Institute of Medicine.
He had served as a Trustee of the National Nature
Conservancy; Hastings Institute of Medicine; Greensboro
National Bank; Director of Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc.
and Piedmont Management, Inc. He also served on the Board of
Directors of Guildford College, Davidson College, UNC School
of Social Work; Robert Wood Johnson Fellows--UNC Medical
School; Community Self Help; The American Red Cross,
Salvation Army, NC Museum of Natural History; and UNC-G
Excellence Foundation.
He was preceded in death recently by his wife Emily Harris
Preyer and brother William Yost Preyer Jr. He is survived by
his sons and daughters-in-law, L. Richardson and Marilyn
Jacobs Preyer Jr. and Britt Armfield and Alice Dockery
Preyer; daughters and sons-in-law, Mary Norris Preyer and
Henry Patrick Oglesby, Jane Bethell Preyer, and Emily Harris
Preyer and Richard Tillman Fountain, III; brothers and
sisters-in-law, Dr. Robert Otto and Kitty Preyer, Dr. Norris
Watson and Catherine Preyer and Frederick Lynn and Margaret
Preyer; sister-in-law, Mrs. Russell H. Tucker and Mrs. Doris
Preyer; grandchildren, L. Richardson Preyer, III, Parker
Jacobs Preyer, Jane Elizabeth Preyer, Emily Preyer Oglesby,
Britt Armfield Preyer Jr., John Calder Preyer, William Harris
Preyer, Mary Norris Preyer Fountain, Richard Tillman
Fountain, IV, Janie Katherine Fountain, Preyer Harris
Fountain, and Peter Richardson Fountain.
The family will receive friends following the service in
the Church's Family Enrichment Center and request the
memorial contributions be made to one's favorite charity.
Hanes-Lineberry, N. Elm St., Funeral Home is assisting the
family.
____
Dad's Service, April 5, 2001--L. Richardson Preyer
(By Jane Preyer)
Thank you all so much for being here with us, bringing your
love and support, and helping us honor Dad's life. He was
such a good and great man. To his family, Dad was nothing
less than our hero. From the stories you've shared with us
about Dad, we know that to some of you he was a hero, too.
Many people knew him as a man of public service--his
children and grandchildren saw and knew him in that way, too,
and are very proud. But my hope today is to share a few
thoughts to celebrate Dad's life as the person that so many
people loved as a friend, a father, and a grandfather.
Dad loved music. Undoubtedly, some of his happiest times
were those hours when he stole away to the den or bedroom to
play his beloved saxophone. His mother had given the sax to
him, and he seemed truly blissful when listening or playing
along with the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
We were always amazed at the variety of music that Dad
loved--from Mozart to Bruce Springsteen to Benjamin Britten
to Charlie Parker.
He actually could not read a note of music, but he could
play anything on the saxophone. In fact, he was the first
white man that Count Basie asked to be in his band. It was
1941, and instead Dad chose to join the Navy and went to
WWII.
I will never really know the intensity of some of his
days--as a judge, congressman, all the different work he
did--but I came to understand that music was a tremendous
source of renewal for Dad. And he helped us to welcome music
into our own lives, enriching us from childhood onward.
Like music, books were a source of sustenance in Dad's life
which he instilled in all his children. Dad's style was to
read 3-4 books at a time, which I guess was a way of
satisfying his abundant, lifelong curiosity.
Dad's love of reading came in handy on more than one
occasion. When I was a young girl, we were invited on a deer
hunt in the coastal plain of NC. Hunting was the last thing
in the world I wanted to do, but I definitely wanted to go on
this adventure with Dad. Like the other hunters, the two of
us were dropped at our own spot in the woods. There, Dad
finally confided his true plan for ``our hunt''. He had
brought books and cigars in his jacket. . . . so we simply
put the gun aside, leaned up against a mighty tree to read--
and Dad told me, ``Jane, if we sit quietly enough, we may get
to see a deer'' And so we did.
How did this reserved and gentle man, who loved music and
books, who knew how to find serenity in the midst of
turmoil--how did he commit so much of his life to the very
public business of politics? How did he cope with all those
fish frys, barbecues, and all the other exhausting
practicalities of being a public figure?
I don't know the complete answer. But I do know that he was
always anchored by his core values and guided on a daily
basis by his own faith and personal conscience.
I remember in his re-election in the fall 1980, Dad was hit
by a series of negative campaign ads on TV, radio, the whole
works. All of us children and most of the campaign staff were
urging Dad to counterattack--this isn't fair, we would say.
You've got to strike back.
But he simply would not. I was mad at him. Later, I came to
understand how courageous he was . . . and that integrity is
exactly why we all believed in him.
Our family is thankful for the encouragement and support so
many of you gave to Dad. Your support made it possible for
Mom and Dad to be in politics. It made him willing to step
out there and do the right thing time after time.
And oh wow, what a wonderful sense of humor Dad had through
thick and thin! He was a great story teller. Many of you have
been treated to his favorite stories--maybe once too often!
He did have a mischievous side, too. A few years ago, the
pond on the golf course across from my parents' house was
drained and became quite a mud sink. After seeing an
unclaimed golf ball sitting about 3 feet out into the pond,
Mom could not resist venturing in to get that ``free'' ball.
GOOWOOSH. She was sucked into the mud midway up her thigh.
Completely stranded, she called out to Dad ``Rich, help
me!?'' He was laughing so hard, tears streaming down his
face, and buckled over the steering wheel of the golf cart.
Mom called out again ``Rich, come on and help me!''
I don't know--we sort of suspect that this fine gentleman
moved a bit slower than usual in making the rescue!
Dad loved the natural world of North Carolina--the piedmont
waters and forests, the mountains, the coast. Being in nature
was another way he sustained himself, and he taught us the
joy and wonder and beauty of this world and our state, that
sustains us as well.
Mom's idea of a vacation was to go to the Travel Lodge on
Elm Street in Greensboro to spend the night and swim in the
indoor pool.
Dad's idea of vacation was to be in the NC mountains or at
the coast or on a Piedmont lake--fishing, walking, noticing
everything out there--he would constantly say ``look at that
bird, look at that tree''. He never got quite the names of
the birds and trees right, but he always appreciated them!
And especially fishing. Dad taught each of us to love
fishing and to love the fish. From the earliest days, he was
a ``throw-it-back man'' . . . what we now call ``catch and
release''. He taught us to love the simplicity of a fishing
line with worms, the fun of a spinning rod throwing it way
out and reeling it in . . . and the pure thrill of casting a
fly rod and watching that fly land in close to the bank over
dark, clear water and floating there lightly.
Mind you, he was no expert fisherman, and his technique was
pretty questionable! Just ask my brothers and sisters
sometime for their imitation of Dad stumbling on slippery
rocks, getting his line hung up in trees--but still amazingly
he got that fly our there on the stream.
In the 1970s, in Congress, Dad became one of the authors of
the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act--He translated his love
of nature into creating in these pieces of legislation--and
they have transformed the way America treasures and protects
our natural resources.
I think it is only in this last year that I have begun to
more fully understand the deep, tender, steadfast, and
unbreakable bond between my Mom and Dad. They were so devoted
to each other . . . and so committed together to their shared
life of service as they felt led by God to do.
Growing up, Sunday afternoons at our house were my
favorite. Without fail, whether he'd been in DC or given
speeches that weekend in the far reaches of his district--he
would do something fun with us. Those times were filled with
sports and more sports, hikes, fishing, visits with our
grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles.
And how he delighted in being with his grandchildren! How
he enjoyed hearing about all their activities--whether it was
soccer, or violin, or tennis or lacrosse, be being in a play
or the choir. And he loved their drawings they brought him by
the dozens and which he cherished over the years.
Dad was also sustained by his friends, and he especially
loved being in Greensboro these last years, close to many of
you dear friends here today. And you have been so good to him
and us through this last year.
And so this day has come, a day that I did not ever want to
come. I feel like the world will never be the same without
Mom and Dad.
But even stronger that our grief today is our thankfulness
for Dad's life and all that we shared with him. We will go
forward beyond today's tears by of us every day of our lives.
We know very well his legacy to us:
[[Page H1592]]
His gentleness
His courage
His deep honesty and integrity
His wonderful sense of humor
His profound commitment to justice and mercy
His love and zest for life
His love of children
His determination
His true love and partnership with Mom
His steadfast kindness
And his trust in God that we can always find a new way to
serve, to learn, and to live fully.
Dad, you will always be our hero.
____
In Celebration of the Life of L. Richardson Preyer--Funeral April 5,
2001
(By L. Richardson Preyer, Jr.)
Dad would have been mighty surprised to see so many of you
here today--thinking about him and thanking him for his
inspiring life--celebrating his honest decency--his day-to-
day caring about his family and his friends and his
community. I believe Dad would have been surprised because he
just didn't think of himself as anything special. After Dad
was beaten in the Congressional election in 1980, I implored
him to write a book. Dad laughed it off and said, ``Who would
ever want to read a book by me?'' There are a few of us, Dad.
There ARE a few of us.
But--goodness gracious--Dad left us with so many speeches.
He spoke all over the state at every sort of gathering--
whether a church or synagogue, or college or high school or
elementary school--at political rallies, at non-profit
gatherings, at garden clubs, at the Kiwanis, at the Rotary--
Dad you were there. You had a message you wanted to deliver.
And Dad you did so much teaching mixed in with a good bit
of preaching on both serving God and keeping vigilant about
freedom and the old beleaguered Republic. You taught the
Young Men's Bible Class in this church for 46 years. You
taught at UNC Greensboro and Duke and at Chapel Hill . . .
which shows you were pretty darn open-minded. You even taught
an ethics course in med school to the doctor who was on call
for you the last few days of your life.
And Dad, for all your gentleness, you were such a fighter.
You fought injustice in the Pacific--on a destroyer--the only
one of seven sister ships not to be sunk at Okinawa . . . you
kept the Bronze Star medal box in your dresser drawer for the
rest of your life. I saw it there, this morning.
You fought racism as a Superior Court Judge and Federal
Judge, challenging segregation in the fifties and early
sixties. And when the people called out for you to leave the
Federal Bench and run for governor in those tumultuous times
in 1964, you left a lifetime appointment and ran.
And when you crisscrossed the state on that last day of the
campaign--the Ku Klux Klan burned fires against you in fifty
different cities and towns . . . you gave a speech that night
and said, ``We will light the fires of knowledge and not the
fires of hate.''
Dad, you went on to serve and affect so much change for the
good of your district and your state. Your integrity and
sense of justice were so admired by your Washington
colleagues that midst the Watergate happenings, you were
called ``the conscience of the House.''
And when the Warren Commission's findings on the
assassination of John F. Kennedy were thrown in doubt--you
were called upon to head up the new commission--because Dad,
they knew they could count on you to be fair. All of us here
could have always told them that.
And your findings 25 years ago that Oswald did not act
alone--were recently--after exhausting technical
examinations--upheld. Dad, you always were in all of our
hearts, the best doggone Judge around.
And you've all heard Jane's wonderful stories. There is
really no one quite like you. As a father for my entire
life--you never raised your voice in anger--ever--at your
five children--something your oldest son has not been able to
master.
An incredibly calm, patient temperament combined with a
fierce tennis competitive streak--mix in the love of fishing
in a stream, as well as playing the alto and soprano sax--add
humor and a sweet disposition--take these qualities and
surround them with compassion for your fellow beings and an
unwavering love of the law--and you have my father.
Several years ago Dad gave me the complete works of Checkov
and along with it a handwritten note at Christmas. It said,
``We are proud of you for the things you have done, but we
are most proud of your greatest achievement--your marriage to
Marilyn and your three beautiful children. For all our
ambitions and plans and strategies, the truth is, no other
single thing is more precious than family and friends and
the sense of belonging to a community.''
Thank you Dad for writing us this message.
We're all hearing you now, Dad, about that. We're all here
for you now--your family--your friends--your vast and diverse
community--we're all here because we love you and believe in
you and to thank you for showing us the goodness of being
steadfast and true on our brief journey upon God's eternal
earth.
So Dad I want to thank you for taking us all fishing on
Sunday afternoons after church. I want to thank you for
taking my fingers in your hand and putting them down on the
blue jazz keys on the alto horn. I want to thank you for
teaching us to read the great books in the evening after our
daily jobs were done. I want to thank you for showing us a
way to live with laughter on our lips--what is it you used to
say, ``Let no good deed go unpunished.''
And I want to thank you for teaching us how to strike,
throw, pass, catch, bounce, kick, and serve every manner and
size of ball, because Dad you could hit a golf ball farther
than anyone your age--period.
And thank you for watching your young grandchildren playing
in tennis tournaments for 2\1/2\ hours in 95 deg. heat--with
the ball going back and forth endlessly. Only a Saint could
stand such agony.
And thank you for holding the children on your lap in the
den while you read on--totally oblivious as our many young
ones sped all around you.
And Dad I want to thank you and Mom for being such a
fabulous team--the vitality--the joy--the adventurous attack
on life each day. How ya'll had us all on the move--and I
mean everyone--in motion--let's get going!
I really believe that with you and Mom gone--watching over
us--time has slowed down in Old General Greene's city.
And Dad your friends are going to miss you on the fairways
and tennis courts and classrooms and walkways--all around us.
And goodness knows, Dad, our family is going to miss you as
much as if a trusted nightly star had fallen from the sky.
But though we might not see you, Dad--you shall always be
with us.
Your spirit shall help guide us--to be a better human
family--through life's push and shove--learning again to use
a strong hand to lift a weak shoulder--rediscovering the
daily lessons of love. These are your strengths, Dad. These
are the strengths of family and community. These things shall
guide us and help us find a more open, goodly path.
That is what you would want, Dad. We'll all keep giving it
a try.
We promise.
____
Richardson Preyer Memorial Service--Greensboro, April 5, 2001
(Remarks by Tom Lambeth)
To share this special moment with Rich's children is not to
forget that there are all of you out there who pay tribute to
Rich by your presence and, indeed, by the example of your own
lives made richer because of friendship and love and
commitment inspired by his life. I cannot rightly claim to
speak for you; only to serve as a reminder of how far beyond
his own family he extended the simple eloquence of his
humanity.
In 1945 on the morning of the beginning of the battle for
Okinawa three destroyers stood in line to begin the pre-
landing bombardment. The torpedo officer on the third was a
young LtJG from North Carolina named Preyer. The second of
the ships ran aground and came under constant, deadly fire
from shore batteries. In a subsequent explosion and sinking
much of its crew was lost. Years later, telling of that
morning, Rich would say ``all of those young lives gone.''
Rich was not given to the dramatic so he never said that
those who survived lived for all of those who did not, but
that is the way he lived. In a public career and a private
life that defined the good man and the true patriot, he lived
for all of them and for their children and their children. He
lived for all of us and what a grand life it was, what a
splendid example it has been and will be.
We as individuals and as a society are strengthened, we are
enriched when we find those values that make us good and
great captured in the life of another. Loyalty, faith,
service, courage and honor are real to those of us here
because we saw them alive. We saw Rich Preyer.
His courage was tested by the torpedos of the North
Atlantic, the Kamikazees of the South Pacific and by the
attacks of political opponents and he did not falter. His
service as a judge at local, state and federal levels, as a
six term congressman constantly handed the toughest
assignments; his leadership in countless community efforts
and many statewide endeavors are his answer to those who
dispair of our ability to make democracy work. He loved that
work and his love for it said to all of us that public
service, that politics can be noble because the people are
worthy of the best that we have to give.
Rich was competitive and he did not always win (although he
would want us to remember that he won much more often than he
lost) but he knew that the scoreboard is only an incident in
the contest, that true victory is in the heart. In that
contest, he never lost.
Years ago I had the great satisfaction of sitting with him
when he received an honorary degree from my alma mater at
Chapel Hill. When he sat down, finally relieved of the burden
of earned degrees at Princeton and Harvard; I leaned over and
said to him ``Now you are as good as the rest of us.'' Yet, I
knew, as you do, that he was better than almost any of us. It
is a tribute to the grace which he carried his
accomplishments that realizing his excellence makes us feel
better about ourselves.
Now we gather for our moment of remembrance and of
celebration of a truly good life; but the most eloquent
tribute to Rich will be the way in which we seek to capture
for ourselves and our communities that consistency of
strength and truth and goodness that defined his life.
[[Page H1593]]
It is for those of us--all of you out there--who in some
way worked beside him over the years to say with new vigor
that simple farewell of so many remembered afternoons:
``Good night Rich. See you in the morning.''
Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, I would yield to the gentleman from the
Fourth District of North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Coble) for yielding me this time. Let me also thank the
gentleman for putting together this Special Order today.
Madam Speaker, I want to echo my colleagues who have already spoken
and also thank them for their participation in this today, because I
rise today as they do to celebrate the life and career of a very unique
and outstanding human being who was a former Member of this body and
really a great North Carolinian. L. Richardson Preyer was a very
special individual. His death has saddened all of us in this North
Carolina delegation and North Carolinians in general because we have
lost one of our great native sons.
Today, as we gather to honor his life and works, not only as a North
Carolinian but as a great American, and to celebrate what he did to
really make our world a better place, it is my honor to participate in
that.
L. Richardson Preyer was a native of North Carolina, but he really
was a citizen of the world. He always said that he was lucky to have
been born on third base. By this he meant that he had the advantages
that most people did not have. His grandfather and namesake Lunsford
Richardson invented Vick's VapoRub and Vick's Cough Drops; and as a
result, the family had immense personal resources, some would say a
fortune, that built the Richardson Merrill Chemical Corporation.
As a result of that, he had an opportunity to attend the best
schools. He attended Princeton and the law school at Harvard, as we
have already heard; but his family resources allowed him to do that.
Instead of living a life in the private sector and taking advantages of
the wealth that he could have accumulated and his family already had,
he chose instead to make his life one of public service in changing the
lot, as we have already heard from my colleague the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Watt) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
Price), for those who did not have a voice in many cases.
After his graduation from Princeton, as we have heard, he served as a
lieutenant with the United States Navy and was on a destroyer in the
Atlantic and in the South Pacific and earned a Bronze Star for his
heroism and his valor at Okinawa. One did not hear a lot from him about
that. He did not talk about it.
Rich Preyer was a great lover of the arts. He used his family
resources to help the lot of many people, and he invested in the arts
and in music, which he loved a great deal, and in his church. After
serving for several years, as has been indicated earlier, as a State
superior court judge, he was appointed by his Harvard Law School
classmate, John F. Kennedy, to a position as a U.S. judge. As all of us
know, that is a lifetime appointment; but he resigned that post in 1964
to really make a difference in what he saw was an opportunity to change
our State. He did not win that election, as we have already heard, but
to his credit he continued to take on issues that were important to the
people of North Carolina, because that is what Rich Preyer was all
about.
For those 5 years he was out of public life, he worked with what was
then North Carolina National Bank and then came back in 1968 and ran
for and won a seat in this body, representing his hometown of
Greensboro and the Sixth Congressional District. He continued to make a
difference in this body for the 12 years of his career in the United
States Congress. He served as chairman of the Select Committee on
Ethics, which drafted the Congressional Code of Ethics that those of us
who serve here today live by.
Much of this was what Rich Preyer really believed. As we have heard,
he was a member of the Select Committee in this House that investigated
President Kennedy's assassination and the Reverend Martin Luther King,
Jr., an indication of how he was respected by this body; but also it
said a lot about the integrity of an individual who really, in my
opinion, was a conscience of the United States Congress.
Although his career ended in this body in 1981, his work on behalf of
the people of North Carolina did not end. As I have indicated, he was
involved in so many things in his community that one did not see on the
surface that dealt with the arts. The thing I want to talk about for
just a moment in some detail really is what Rich did for education in
North Carolina.
During my term as superintendent of the schools for the State of
North Carolina, in 1989 I had the occasion to appoint a statewide
commission of business, civic, community, and education leaders to take
a look at North Carolina's educational system; and we appointed a
commission called Excellence in Secondary Education. We started looking
across the State. Where do we find an individual to chair a commission
headed by people who are on this commission who are leaders in industry
and in banking and in education? Obviously, as we looked across the
State, the name of L. Richardson Preyer popped up. We asked him to
chair it. Without hesitation, he committed and accepted that challenge
and spent the next year providing the kind of leadership that was
needed to pull this diverse group together, along with all the data
from across the country.
As a result of his strong and visionary leadership, that became the
blueprint that I used for the next 8 years and that many of my
colleagues are still using in North Carolina to make a difference in
education. I thank his family for allowing him to have the time to do
that.
I charged him in that time with coming back with recommendations that
would not only make our schools better but would challenge them to have
the kind of assessment that we needed to have that would help every
child reach their full potential. He was instrumental in making that
happen.
As I said, we are grateful for him today; but children who do not
know him, did not know his family, are now benefiting from his work. He
was a well-rounded individual. Not only was he a model public servant,
but he was a father who loved his family and who lived out the ideals
of the family values that we hear so many people talk about today.
He and his wife, Emily, were a team; and together they raised five
outstanding children, and they truly enjoyed their grandchildren.
I always looked forward to, at Christmastime, receiving his Christmas
card because it was not only just his and Emily's, it was the whole
family with their grandchildren. On top of that, he was an elder and a
teacher in the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro for more than 40
years. He did not talk a lot about his religion. He lived it.
Madam Speaker, L. Richardson Preyer is one of the greatest public
servants my State has ever produced, but he was great not because he
had the benefits of political connections and the wealth or because he
served for over a decade in this body. He was a remarkable human being
because he made the most of his God-given gifts, and he desired to make
a difference in the lives of every North Carolinian and the people of
this country, but especially in the lives of children.
It is important to point out that during his tenure as a State judge,
as has been pointed out today, he upheld rulings that allowed five
black children to attend an all-white school in Greensboro; thus,
integrating those schools for the first time and literally changing and
beginning to change the South and across this country. This was an act
of tremendous courage for that day and age. He was a man of unique
character and well ahead of his time in the arena of civil rights and,
it can be argued, probably cost him the governor's mansion in our
State. He was a patriot and a public servant of the highest order. He
was a friend and colleague of mine in the fight to improve education
for all children.
Many of his ideals have helped to and will help children everywhere
to grow up and realize the American dream.
Madam Speaker, the list of names of great men and women who have
served in this body is long. All of them used their lives and gifts to
serve their communities, States, and this great Nation. Today we honor
L. Richardson
[[Page H1594]]
Preyer and add his name to that long list of great Americans.
Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
Hayes) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) expressed
interest in speaking on this Special Order, but they are at committee
meetings and it appears unlikely that they will be able to come to the
floor. So, Madam Speaker, let me conclude.
Much has been said during this Special Order about Emily Preyer, but
I do not believe it was mentioned that she pre-deceased her husband by
several months.
I recall, Madam Speaker, recently, several days ago, we were at a
full House Committee on the Judiciary meeting, and I looked into the
faces of several people in the crowded room, and I detected a man who
served as a former staffer to Rich Preyer. I called him forward. He
came to the podium where I was seated in the Committee on the Judiciary
hearing room, and I said to him, Ed, Rich Preyer is not in good health.
I said, I am told that he is failing and I thought you needed to know
that, because he was very close to Mr. Preyer.
He thanked me for having shared that with him. The next day, Rich
Preyer passed away; and that told me in glaring terms, Madam Speaker,
about the uncertainty, about the indefinite phase, of life. I am
talking to Ed one day. His staffer was going to call him the next day
to talk to him and it was too late.
I would extend our condolences and good wishes to the surviving
children and their families and conclude with this comment, Madam
Speaker. Jim Slosher, one of our well-known reporters at the Breezeberg
News and Record, called me for a quote shortly after Rich Preyer's
death. I thought for a moment, and I said when you saw Rich Preyer you
instinctively uttered or concluded there stands a gentleman. He was,
indeed, a rare gentleman.
I want to thank those who took part in this Special Order today,
Madam Speaker; and I want to urge those who wanted to be here who were
otherwise detained to feel free to submit their comments in a
subsequent edition of the Record.
Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my
colleagues in honoring the memory of the late L. Richardson Preyer who
served my home state of North Carolina and our country with
distinction. Richardson Preyer has an outstanding record of public
service dating back to his time in the U.S. Navy during World War II,
for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.
Through his years as a State Superior Court Judge, a United States
District Court Judge and then as a Member of the U.S. House of
Representatives for six terms, Richardson Preyer saw his responsibility
and fulfilled his duty when called upon. Serving with a quiet demeanor
but effective in getting the job done, he commanded the respect of his
constituents and his peers in the Congress.
Richardson Preyer was always concerned about the welfare of the
people and his desire to help those who were less fortunate was well
known. It was the hallmark of his unsuccessful campaign for Governor of
North Carolina in 1964 and then of his Congressional career from 1969
to 1981.
Richardson Preyer was never too busy to give of his time and his
considerable abilities when he was needed. When Congressman Preyer
passed away recently, North Carolina lost a valiant patriot who loved
his country, and who served us well.
I am honored to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Richardson
Preyer and I extend my sympathy to the Preyer family on their loss.
____________________