[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 148 (Friday, November 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2047]]



                 TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSMAN SONNY CALLAHAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TERRY EVERETT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. EVERETT. Mr. Speaker, after nine terms and 18 years in this 
chamber, Congressman Sonny Callahan of Alabama's First District is 
saying goodbye to this institution and will retire to life along the 
Dog River on the beautiful Alabama Gulf Coast.
  Sonny certainly deserves a chance to enjoy life with his family, but 
I don't mind telling you that I will miss him. When I came to 
Washington ten years ago, I looked to Sonny for guidance as I sought to 
run my office and seek committee assignments. I leaned on him pretty 
heavy in my early days up here and I will be forever grateful for his 
sound advice.
  Sonny's reputation of fairness to all is respected and admired on 
both sides of the aisle and his garnered him plenty of friends of all 
political stripes. A good example of this was the close friendship he 
had with the late Rep. Joe Moakley. Politically, they were a world 
apart, but you could not find two better friends and I personally 
enjoyed their company at dinner on many an evening after we concluded 
legislative business.
  For those of us in the Alabama delegation, Sonny has been an 
invaluable ally in obtaining vital federal project funding for our 
districts. His chairmanship of the House Appropriations Energy and 
Water Subcommittee has been beneficial to our state.
  I personally owe him a debt of gratitude for his help in securing 
Army Corps funds to rebuild a life-saving levee residents in the flood-
prone town Elba in my congressional district. Sonny was always there 
for us, no matter our personal politics and he never failed to put the 
needs of Alabama first.
  Sonny's impact was not only felt in Alabama, but also in the Oval 
Office, where he was continually leaned upon for support of foreign 
operations funding. As past chairman of House Appropriations Foreign 
Operations subcommittee, Sonny helped to shape America's foreign aid 
budget and to some degree our foreign policy. For that reason, it was 
not uncommon to find as many dignitaries in his office as constituents 
from Mobile.
  For many up here, such power and responsibility would go to their 
heads. But not Sonny's. He was a cardinal, but foremost he was and is a 
gentleman, a statesman, and a very good friend.
  I want to thank Sonny for his exemplary service to this House, to 
Alabama and to America. We're going to miss him.

                          ____________________