[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 59 (Thursday, May 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            STATEMENT IN HONOR OF THE LATE ROBERT E. BURTON

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                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 3, 2001

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay my final respects to Robert E. 
Burton. Bob's family and friends will gather on Friday to remember him, 
and it is with great sadness and deep respect that I share with my 
colleagues the following words from his obituary in the San Francisco 
Chronicle:

       Robert E. Burton, a prison teacher, public servant, sailor 
     and middle brother in San Francisco's most powerful political 
     dynasty, died Sunday at California Pacific Medical Center at 
     the age of 72.
       From the time Mr. Burton entered the Navy at the close of 
     World War II, he almost never stopped working for the public. 
     He was a merchant seaman, a teacher at San Quentin prison for 
     nearly two decades and a member of various state boards and 
     commissions.
       But among the three Burton brothers who shaped California 
     politics for several decades, he was the least publicly 
     visible and the least involved in the machinery of politics.
       Mr. Burton's older brother, Phillip Burton, was a powerful 
     U.S. representative and legendary political tactician who 
     died in 1983. His younger brother--whom Mr. Burton still 
     called ``the kid'' even into his 60s--is Senate President Pro 
     Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, the state's most powerful 
     lawmaker.
       ``Everyone used to say he was the nice brother,'' Sen. 
     Burton said yesterday. ``And I think innately he was the 
     smartest of the three of us.''
       Mr. Burton was born in 1928 and lived much of his life in 
     the same Sloat Boulevard house in which he was raised. But 
     friends said his greatest memory was somewhere else: a 
     sailing trip across the Pacific in a 30-foot boat, which he 
     took with three friends after he left the Navy in 1947.
       ``He was fearless,'' Sen Burton said. ``It was a hell of an 
     adventure.''
       When he returned from Tahiti, Mr. Burton joined the 
     merchant marine as an able-bodied seaman, then got a degree 
     in history from San Francisco State College when he decided 
     to settle back in the city.
       Mr. Burton then took a job teaching in the loneliest, most 
     dangerous place in the state--the bowels of San Quentin State 
     Prison. It was there that he often divided his time between 
     African American militants and white supremacists, teaching 
     them how to read and write.
       ``He would tell people stories and start with, `When I was 
     in the joint,' like he had done 20 years of hard time,'' Sen. 
     Burton said. ``I guess at the time there weren't many jobs, 
     so he took it. He just loved it, and the cons loved him.''
       When Mr. Burton retired from the prison in 1976, members 
     from both militant groups told him there was a ``hit'' out on 
     him. But this was a good thing, he was informed: Anyone 
     threatening or harming Mr. Burton would face their wrath. He 
     was protected.
       ``He connected with the guys, and they connected with 
     him,'' said Bill O'Brien of San Francisco, a longtime friend. 
     ``It was a passion for him. He wanted them to learn; It 
     really wasn't about having a job.''
       Mr. Burton was a lifelong Democrat and founding member of 
     the San Francisco Democratic League. He was co-chairman of 
     the voter registration efforts for the California Democratic 
     Party from 1962 to 1982.
       At the time of his death, Mr. Burton was a commissioner on 
     the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and a member of the 
     City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees.
       He also had served for 15 years on the prison Industry 
     Board and on two parole boards for the state. Former Gov. 
     Jerry Brown appointed him to the adult parole board in 1976, 
     after two commissioners were removed for voting to release 
     Robert Kennedy's killer, Sirhan Sirhan.
       Friends said Mr. Burton loved the San Francisco Giants, 
     gambling and playing bridge. Ken Harrington of San Francisco, 
     a longtime friend, said he ``didn't know a single person when 
     you mentioned Bob Burton who didn't get a smile on their 
     face.''
       ``He was, at least, the most outwardly compassionate of the 
     three brothers,'' Harrington said. ``John doesn't want anyone 
     to know his soft spots, but Bob kind of wore it on his 
     sleeve.''
       Mr. Burton is survived by his brother, Sen. John Burton, 
     and a niece, San Francisco Public Defender Kimiko Burton-
     Cruz. His wife of more than four decades, Shirley Burton, 
     preceded him in death.

  Bob Burton was a man of the people. He never asked for recognition or 
reward for his work and was rarely in the public eye, but his life 
touched the lives of so many others. Bob joined his brothers Phillip 
and John in typifying the true Burton tradition of helping the 
disadvantaged. It is my honor to pay tribute to Bob and to express my 
appreciation for his life of service and for his friendship. My 
thoughts and prayers are with his brother, John, and niece, Kimi.

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