[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 151 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO THE HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 1, 2001

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, October 26th, my good 
friend Jerry Solomon passed away after suffering congestive heart 
failure. What a great loss for this institution and for the 
constituents he once served.
  Jerry was a Member of this Chamber for 10 terms serving from 1979-
1999. Ask anyone who served with him, and they will remember him as an 
outspoken and tenacious advocate for his views and constituents.
  I knew Jerry well and he was second to none in this Chamber. In 
losing Jerry, we lost a tremendous patriot and committed public 
servant. He was often referred to by his fellow colleagues as ``the Pit 
Bull of the House.''
  And, although he enjoyed his work in Washington and in the 
International arena, he always said his greatest enjoyment came from 
successfully helping people back home in his district cope with 
problems they had with the Federal bureaucracy.
  He was very proud of the often repeated comments on the streets back 
in his district that ``you may not always agree with Jerry Solomon, but 
you sure as hell know where he stands on the issues.'' His commuting 
back home every weekend catapulted him to re-election usually by 
overwhelming 3-1 margins during his ten terms in Congress.
  Jerry Solomon also devoted more than fifty years of his life in 
active involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, having been a Cub 
Scout, Boy Scout, scoutmaster, and serving as an advisor to numerous 
scout councils.
  In support of the scouting movement he also founded the Gerald B.H. 
Solomon Freedom Foundation as a not-for-profit charitable organization 
whose goals are to preserve and promote freedom and democracy and to 
specifically provide college scholarships to high school students who 
attain Boy and Girl Scout's highest awards. He was recently honored by 
Twin Rivers Council Boy Scouts of America where he received the James 
E. West ``Good Scout Award'' for almost six decades of service to 
scouting.
  During his Congressional career, which spanned 20 years serving in 
the House of Representatives, Jerry devoted most of his time to the 
issues of veterans, senior citizens, foreign policy, national defense, 
the war on drugs, and the budget.
  During the 1980's, Jerry was one of thirteen House members that 
served on President Ronald Reagan's group of congressional advisors and 
floor generals for foreign policy, national defense and budgetary 
initiatives.
  As a veteran member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, a Committee on 
which I also served, and as chairman of the National Defense Task 
Force, Jerry Solomon was instrumental in helping to develop President 
Reagan's ``Peace Through Strength'' policies that helped bring down the 
Soviet Union.
  During President Reagan's tenure, he appointed Jerry Solomon to serve 
in dual capacities as Ambassador Delegate to the United Nations and 
Congressional Advisor to the U.N. Session on Disarmament.
  Starting in 1980, Jerry served for 18 years as the Republican 
representative to the North Atlantic Assembly, the political arm of 
NATO. He also served as chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives 
NATO Observer Group, responsible for promoting the enlargement of NATO.
  After the break-up of the Soviet Union, Jerry co-chaired the Task 
Force on Developing Parliamentary Institutions where he helped 
establish libraries and computer communications systems for twenty-one 
former communist countries like Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, 
and the Baltics.
  Jerry Solomon recently parlayed his vast knowledge and years of 
experience into a book, ``NATO in the Twenty-First Century.''
  During his entire Congressional career, Congressman Solomon, Jerry to 
all his friends and colleagues, was recognized as one of the most 
fiscally conservative members of Congress, fighting deficit spending, 
long before it became fashionable, forcing his own balanced budget onto 
the floor of the House of Representatives. He also authored a book on 
how and why a balanced budget is needed.
  In his capacity as Chairman of the Rules Committee, he revamped the 
rules under which the House operates, abolishing proxy voting, opening 
all meetings to the media and the public, making Congress subject to 
the same laws that the American people live under and he reduced the 
size and power of Congress by eliminating many Committees and 
Subcommittees resulting in one-third fewer Congressional employees.
  As a young man Jerry enlisted in the Marines where he served for 8\1/
2\ years on active and reserve duty. As a Congressman, his fondness and 
respect for the Marines never waned. As the Ranking Republican on the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, he was recognized by the veteran's 
community as one of their strongest advocates.
  He authored the bill that created the cabinet level Department of 
Veterans' Affairs and co-authored the establishment of the new 
peacetime G.I. Bill.
  Two awards presented to him that he cherished most were being 
selected by the United States Marine Corps and Marine Corps League to 
receive the coveted ``Iron Mike Award'' previously given to a select 
few like John Wayne, Bob Hope, Howard K. Smith, and several former 
commandants of the Corps.
  The other recognition being the Distinguished Citizen Award presented 
to him by the National Congressional Medal of Honor Society for his 
legislative successes on behalf of the United States military and 
veterans issues.
  Who do you call when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws 
prohibiting the burning of the flag was unconstitutional? Jerry 
Solomon, the ``Pit Bull of the House'' was given the assignment to pass 
a constitutional amendment prohibiting desecration of the flag. The 
Solomon Amendment passed overwhelmingly in the House but failed by one 
vote in the Senate.
  It is with great sadness that I bid my good friend, Jerry Solomon, 
farewell. May he always be remembered for the good father and husband 
that he was, and his relentless efforts to promote pride, patriotism 
and volunteerism. He proudly and unabashedly showcased his love for his 
family and his country every day of his life.

                          ____________________