[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 22 (Tuesday, March 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H663-H664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AUTHORIZING PRINTING AS HOUSE DOCUMENT OF COLLECTION OF MEMORIAL 
           TRIBUTES MADE IN HONOR OF THE LATE GERALD SOLOMON

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 338) authorizing the printing as a 
House document of a collection of memorial tributes made in honor of 
the late Gerald Solomon.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 338

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),

     SECTION 1. AUTHORIZING PRINTING OF COLLECTION OF STATEMENTS 
                   IN TRIBUTE TO GERALD SOLOMON.

       A collection of statements made in tribute to the late 
     Gerald Solomon, together with

[[Page H664]]

     related materials, shall be printed as a House document under 
     the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing, with 
     illustrations and suitable binding.

     SEC. 2. NUMBER OF COPIES.

       The number of copies of the document printed under section 
     1 shall be the lesser of--
       (1) 114 casebound copies, of which 50 copies shall be 
     provided to the family of the late Gerald Solomon, 1 copy 
     shall be provided to each Senator from the State of New York, 
     and 2 copies shall be provided to each Member of the House of 
     Representatives from the State of New York; or
       (2) such number of casebound copies as does not exceed a 
     total production and printing cost of $25,525, with 
     distribution to be allocated in the same proportion as 
     described in paragraph (1).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Linder) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder).
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Jerry Solomon was my friend. He was my leader when I 
came here. He was the ranking Republican on the Committee on Rules. He 
was a tough partisan, but he was fair.
  Jerry served 20 years in this body before retiring and then dying 
shortly thereafter. He was born in 1930 in Florida and grew up in the 
northern regions of upstate New York. He attended St. Lawrence 
University and was a Marine through and through. He spent 8\1/2\ years 
in active and reserve duty, and was one of the proud recipients of the 
Iron Mike Award given by Marines to Marines.
  He was married to Freda, a high school sweetheart and a sweetheart on 
her own. They have five children and six grandchildren. They had a 
marvelous relationship, where Jerry got all the credit and Freda did 
much of the work, much like, I am afraid to say, in my family. She was 
a marvelous partner for him and the two of them had a great 
relationship for many years.
  In 1995, Jerry became the chairman of the Committee on Rules, and I 
was given the opportunity to serve with him on the Committee on Rules. 
He was a strong leader for our cause and a fair one. He was tough and 
fair, and you cannot say much more about a politician than that. You 
appreciate their toughness, but you expect their fairness.
  He was outspoken on veterans issues. I recall one day him saying that 
he was the ranking member, and if he had stayed back on the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs, he would have been its chairman. And one day he 
said he would rather, frankly, serve as the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs Chair than the Committee on Rules Chair. He thought so much of 
our veterans, and he fought for them unstintingly through a 20-year 
career in this body.
  His proudest moment was in 1988 when President Reagan signed into law 
``Solomon's Bill'' to elevate the Veterans Administration to a full 
cabinet level Department. This work won him wide praise from veterans 
groups over the years.
  Jerry was laid to rest with military honors this past year in 
Saratoga National Cemetery. He was the driving force behind the 
creation of that cemetery and helped secure the money to buy the land 
for the cemetery. In 1998, the gentleman from New York (Mr. McNulty) 
introduced a bill to name the Saratoga National Cemetery in honor of 
Gerald Solomon. The bill had 88 cosponsors. However, some of the 
bureaucrats in the Department of Veterans Affairs were concerned 
because nothing like that had ever been done. After finding out, Jerry 
asked his colleague from New York to withdraw the bill because he did 
not want any controversy associated with the cemetery.
  On December 4, 2001, this House passed a measure that did, in fact, 
name the national cemetery in Saratoga as the Gerald B.H. Solomon 
National Cemetery. It was signed into law on January 24, 2002.
  Those of us who watched him in his work as the chairman of the 
Committee on Rules recall him standing right at that microphone, with 
his big expanded file that said Solomon on the front, which held his 
whole world worth of information and detail on all the issues that he 
fought for and cared for through all the years. He was the Chair of the 
National Defense Task Force, he was a congressional adviser to the 
United Nations Session on Disarmament, he was a representative to the 
North Atlantic Assembly, Chair of the Political Foreign Affairs 
Committee, Chair of the House NATO Observer Group and the U.S. Task 
Force on POWs and MIAs.
  During the 1980s, Jerry was one of 13 House Members who served on 
President Reagan's group of congressional advisers and four generals 
for foreign policy, national defense, and budgetary initiatives. I was 
privileged to introduce him at a breakfast one day, and those who knew 
him would appreciate when I said, ``This man has devoted his life to 
insurance agents, milk producers, and Ronald Reagan, and not 
necessarily in that order.''
  He was a firm and staunch fighter for what he believed in. He could 
always be counted on. He was a great American, an important and 
dedicated member of this body, and I urge the passage of this 
resolution on his behalf.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I rise in support of the concurrent resolution.
  I was pleased to serve with Jerry Solomon during 18 years of my 
service here in the House that we overlapped. He was a passionate 
advocate of the positions he held. He was a Marine, in the best 
tradition of the United States Marines, of which he was a member until 
the day he died. He was a fighter for the issues that he believed in, 
but he was also a friend.
  He had a good word for almost all on this floor and even in passion 
and anger he could turn to you with a smile and with a wink and say, we 
differed on this issue but we serve the American public, and we shall 
do so together.
  It was enjoyable to serve with Jerry Solomon. It was appropriate that 
the bill, of which the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) spoke, was 
passed, because Jerry was such a fighter, not only for that facility 
but for veterans generally. And he was a strong supporter of Ronald 
Reagan, whom we just set aside a time to honor.
  So I am pleased to rise on behalf of this measure and urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I 
urge my colleagues to support House Concurrent Resolution 338, this 
resolution on behalf of the printing of the remarks in honor of Jerry 
Solomon.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 338.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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