[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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