[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).

     

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