[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1925-E1926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE PASSING OF THE HONORABLE L.H. FOUNTAIN
______
HON. HOWARD COBLE
of north carolina
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, as the dean of the North Carolina House
delegation, it is my sad duty to inform my colleagues about the death
of a previous dean of our congressional delegation, the Honorable L.H.
Fountain of Tarboro, North Carolina. L.H.--as he was known by one and
all--died on October 10, 2002, after a lengthy illness. Congressman
Fountain served the Second District and all of North Carolina with
distinction for three decades. He was a member of this body from 1953-
1983.
On behalf of the citizens of the Sixth District of North Carolina, I
extend our condolences to the entire Fountain family. To my colleagues,
I commend to you an excellent article and obituary, both of which
appeared in Edgecombe County's The Daily Southerner.
[lsqb]From the Daily Southerner, Oct. 11, 2002[rsqb]
Edgecombe Diplomat Dies at 89
(By Calvin Adkins)
Tarboro.--A stretch of highway on US 64-Bypass between
Tarboro and Rocky Mount bears the name of one of Edgecombe
County's most decorated political leaders--Congressman L.H.
Fountain.
Perhaps every yard of road on Fountain's highway could
stand for a political contribution that the retired
congressman made over three decades.
Fountain, 89, died Thursday after suffering from a
lingering illness.
``It is very unfortunate that we have lost Mr. Fountain,''
Donald Morris, Tarboro mayor, said. ``He was excellent in
responding to the needs of the people from his district. He
will surely be missed.''
During Fountain's tenure as congressman, he served on
domestic and foreign committees. Some of them included
Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations,
Presidential Advisory Committee on Federalism, International
Security and Scientific Affairs and senior member of the U.S.
House Foreign Affairs Committee. Locally, he was a member of
the Kiwanis Club, Jaycees, and the Elks Club.
Because of his outstanding leadership, a portion of US 64-
Bypass was named in his honor by the state in 2000.
``That was the last time I remember seeing him.'' said
Jenny Taylor, a Tarboro native. ``As a congressman, he was
always trying to look out for people. He was very helpful to
the people in this area when he was the congressman. We
appreciated him. I wish that we can get more people like him
in office.''
Fountain was born April 23, 1913, in Leggett. After
attending UNC-Chapel Hill, he began his working career
practicing law in Tarboro. That stint was shortlived after he
entered the U.S. Army in 1942 as a private. He served four
years and ended his term in service as a major. Fountain
later joined the Army Reserve and retired as a Lt. Colonel.
Fountain's political career dates back prior to World War
II when he served as eastern organizer of the Young
Democratic Clubs of North Carolina and reading clerk for the
North Carolina Senate.
In the early 1940s, the veteran's political popularity
began to grow in the state. He ran for and won a North
Carolina Senate seat in 1947. Fountain's political career
continued to move upward. Five years later, he was elected to
the 83rd Congress for North Carolina's Second Congressional
District.
After becoming congressman, he was appointed to serve on
several committees. One of the most notable occurred in 1967
when he was appointed by Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson as a United
States delegate to the 22nd session of the United Nations
General Assembly. Fountain served as assistant to U.S.
Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg during the Security Council
debate following the Arab-Israeli Six Day War.
Fountain's duties and commitments carried on until he
retired in 1982 after serving 30 years in Congress. For his
constituents, his legacy will live on.
``What I remember most about Congressman Fountain was he
always wore a white suit,'' said Congresswomen Eva Clayton,
``He always dressed nice. He was respectfully quite and a
great person. My regret goes out to the family.''
The family will receive friends Saturday at Carlisle
Funeral Home in Tarboro. A graveside service for the family
will be held on Sunday. A memorial service will also be held
3 p.m. Sunday at Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church in
Tarboro following the graveside service.
Memorials in memory of Fountain may be made to Howard
Memorial Presbyterian Church in Tarboro or the Institute of
Government Foundation, Inc., at UNC.
____
Tarboro.--The family of Congressman L.H. Fountain
celebrates his 89 years of life, April 23, 1913-Oct. 10,
2002. His family is most proud that his life and career were
always guided by a strong and practiced faith in God, and the
goodness and value of every human being. He expected only the
best of himself and others, while selflessly seeking the best
for those he represented. He believed that ``government is
and always should be the servant, not the master of the
people.'' His love of people guided his strong desire to help
those he served. We are grateful to the people of the Second
District who allowed him to represent them for 30 years in
the U.S. House of Representatives. It was his great joy to
serve as your Congressman.
L.H. Fountain was born April 23, 1913, in the village of
Leggett, Edgecombe County, N.C. He was the son of the late
Lawrence H. and Sallie (Barnes) Fountain. Preceded in death
in October of 2001, by his wife of 59 years, the former
Christine Dail of Mount Olive, he is survived by one
daughter, Nancy Dail Fountain Black of Raleigh.
Congressman Fountain is also survived by his son-in-law,
William M. Black Jr.; grandchildren, Christine Chandler Black
and William M. Black III, also of Raleigh; sister-in-law,
Lucille T. Fountain of Tarboro; a niece, Vernon Fountain
Smith of Raleigh; nephews, R.M. ``Reggie'' Fountain of
Washington, N.C.; T.T. ``Bubba'' Fountain of Vero Beach,
Fla.; Vinton E. Fountain and L. MacDougal Fountain of
Raleigh, and George Adrian Dail of Calypso.
Congressman Fountain was elected to the State Senate in
1947, where he served until 1952 when he was elected to the
83rd Congress as Representative from the Second Congressional
District of North Carolina. He was reelected to each Congress
through the 97th, at which time he did not seek reelection.
During his 30-year tenure in Congress, L.H. Fountain proved
to be a strong advocate and creative resource, contributing
to important commissions and committees.
Congressman Fountain was a pioneer in the field of federal-
state-local relations. The Second District Congressman was a
member of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental
Relations (ACIR) for more than 22 years, serving from the
time of its establishment under legislation he introduced in
the Congress.
The ACIR was a 26-member local-state-federal organization,
composed of the President's Cabinet, members of Congress,
governors, state legislators, county commissioners, mayors
and private citizens. Congressman Fountain was called the
``father'' of this commission, which had a major impact on
improving dealings between our nation's levels of government.
In 1981-82, Congressman Fountain was a member of the
Presidential Advisory Committee on Federalism. The committee
advised the President on ways to restore proper relationships
between federal, state and local governments.
In 1967, Congressman Fountain was appointed by President
Lyndon B. Johnson as a United States Delegate to the 22nd
Session of the United Nations General Assembly. As a
delegate, he served as assistant to U.S. Ambassador Arthur J.
Goldberg during the Security Council debate following the
June 6 Arab-Israeli Six Day War. Mr. Fountain gained an
international reputation for his role in formulating our
nation's foreign policy during service as a senior member of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental
Relations and Human Resources, he championed consumer-
oriented issues, conducting congressional investigations of
the Food and Drug Administration through the 1960s and 1970s,
forcing policy changes on birth control pills, recalls of
hazardous pesticides, removal of cyclamates from the food
supply and a ban on the use of the cancer-causing hormone,
diethylstilbestrol (DES).
Congressman Fountain also led the fight in 1977 for the
creation of the first independent, Presidentially-appointed
Inspector General (``Watchdog'') of the former Department of
Health, Education and Welfare. He advocated and secured the
establishment of Inspector Generals in key Federal
departments and agencies. As of 2000, the total number of
Inspectors General in the federal government stood at more
than 60. Because of Congressan Fountain's efforts, Inspectors
General have played and will continue to play a vital role in
saving taxpayers billions of dollars as they uncover waste,
fraud, abuse and misconduct in the federal government.
In the 97th Congress, Congressman Fountain served on two
Committees of the United States House of Representatives: the
Committee on Government Operations and the Committee of
Foreign Affairs.
On government operations, he chaired the Intergovernmental
Relations and Human Resources Subcommittee. On Foreign
Affairs, he was a member of the subcommittees on
[[Page E1926]]
International Security and Scientific Affairs, and on Europe
and the Middle East. For 14 years, Congressman Fountain was
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Near Eastern Affairs.
Educated in the public schools of Edgecombe County,
Congressman Fountain devoted his life to public service. He
attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
where he received his A.B. degree in 1934 followed by his
J.D. in 1936. In 1981, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws
(LL.D.) was conferred upon him by UNC.
He practiced law in Tarboro until March 1942, when he
entered the U.S. Army as a private in the infantry. He
quickly rose through the ranks and was released from service
as a major in the Judge Advocate General's Office on March 4,
1946. He ended his military service with the rank of Lt.
Colonel (Ret.) in the Army Reserve.
At the end of World War II, Congressman Fountain returned
to his law practice in Tarboro. Prior to the war, he had been
eastern organizer of the Young Democratic Clubs of North
Carolina, Chairman of the Second Congressional District
Executive Committee and Reading Clerk of the North Carolina
Senate from 1936-1941.
A lifelong advocate of education, Congressman Fountain was
a Charter Member of the Board of Trustees, St. Andrews
Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, N.C. and served for more
than 17 years.
Congressman Fountain received numerous awards for his
commitment to higher learning including the North Carolina
Citizens Association Distinguished Public Service award, the
UNC School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award, and the
Distinguished Service to Higher Education and Scholarly
Community Award from the Association of American University
Presses.
Mr. Fountain was committed to building a strong community.
He had recently celebrated 55 years of service as an Elder in
the Presbyterian Church, and, beginning in April 1916, he
held a perfect Sunday school attendance record for more than
80 years. From 1961-1964 and again from 1977-1980, he served
as a Trustee for the National Presbyterian Church,
Washington, D.C.
He was a member of the Executive Committee of the East
Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a member
of the local and other Bar Associations, the Elks and Kiwanis
Club. He served as Lt. Governor of the Sixth Division of the
Carolinas District of Kiwanis International. He was also a
former Jaycee and received the Distinguished Service award
(Man of the Year) of the Tarboro Jaycees in 1948.
In 1982, the North Carolina League of Municipalities passed
a resolution of deep appreciation and commendation to Mr.
Fountain for ``continued efforts to assist local governments
. . . throughout the nation.'' Shortly thereafter, the
Association of Federal Investigators honored Congressman
Fountain with an award for ``unstinting support for law
enforcement and investigation, and for his outstanding career
in public service to the American People.'' He also received
a special citation for Distinguished Congressional Service
from the National League of Cities and the Leadership and
Distinguished Service award from the Association of Federal
Investigators.
Upon his retirement in a tribute on the House floor, his
colleagues in the Congress described him as ``a steady,
thoughtful, dedicated and thorough legislator who earned and
won the respect of all who came to know him,'' ``an easy man
to be with, who was blessed with a special dose of kindness,
a courtly gentleman and a scholar, who never lost the common
touch'', ``tirelessly dedicated, refreshingly honest and
always a gentleman, known for his loyalty to principle and
his dedication to the interests of his constituents'', ``who
faithfully represented the people of North Carolina with
great effectiveness,'' ``who cared for the farmers'' not
forgetting ``our country's roots or his own.''
As he was in public, so he was at home. After his
retirement in 1982, Congressman Fountain dedicated his time
to his family. Despite declining health, he was an attentive
and loving husband, father and grandfather. He was honest, a
strong and loving leader and friend, interesting and
interested, tender and forgiving, quick to smile, full of fun
and energy, and always able to laugh at himself. An avid
sports enthusiast, he rarely missed a UNC football or
basketball game.
In 2000, the State of North Carolina honored him by naming
a portion of Highway 64 in Edgecombe County the ``Congressman
L. H. Fountain Highway''. Congressman Fountain and his family
appreciate his being remembered in such a lasting and
meaningful way.
The family will receive at Carlisle Funeral Home in Tarboro
on Oct. 12, 2002, 7-9 p.m. A graveside service for the family
will be followed by a memorial service celebrating his life
for all who would like to attend at Howard Memorial
Presbyterian Church in Tarboro at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13,
2002.
The family is deeply grateful to the staff of Mayview
Convalescent Center in Raleigh for the gift of nine quality
months, the many good and gracious caregivers in Raleigh and
Tarboro, the staff at The Albermarle in Tarboro and Hospice
of Wake County. Memorials in memory of Congressman L. H.
Fountain may be made to Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church
(303 E. St. James St., Tarboro, NC 27886) or to the Institute
of Government Foundation, Inc., at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill to honor his lifelong commitment to
public service, (c/o Ann Simpson, Campus Box 3330, Knapp
Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330).
____________________