[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 107 (Friday, September 10, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1588-E1589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF DR. HUGH LANGDON ELSBREE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ROBERT W. NEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2004

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Hugh Langdon 
Elsbree, who died on August 30, 2004. Dr. Elsbree served as the 
Director of the Legislative Reference Service (LRS), now the 
Congressional Research Service, from 1958 to 1966. He was a noted 
political scientist, academician, and dedicated public servant who led 
the Legislative Reference Service (LRS) in providing research to the 
Congress.
  Dr. Elsbree joined LRS as a research counsel in 1945 and became a 
Senior Specialist in

[[Page E1589]]

American Government and Public Administration in 1946. From 1954-55 he 
served temporarily as the Deputy Director of the Commission on Inter-
Governmental Relations and then served as LRS's Deputy Director from 
October 1955 until March 1957 when he left LRS to become chairman of 
the Political Science Department at Wayne State University. He returned 
to LRS in September 1958 as the Director and served in that capacity 
until his retirement in 1966.
  Dr. Elsbree received A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard 
University in 1925, 1927, and 1930, respectively. In 1927-28 he was a 
Sheldon Traveling Fellow in Paris and Geneva, then began his teaching 
career at Harvard as an instructor in government from 1928-1933. He 
then served as assistant professor (1933-37) and professor (1937-43) of 
political science and as chairman of the Department of Political 
Science (1937-41) at Dartmouth College. For a brief period in 1934 he 
worked as a research specialist for the Federal Power Commission. In 
1943 he joined the Office of Price Administration as principal business 
economist then the Bureau of the Budget (1945) as administrative 
analyst. For several years, Elsbree served as the book review editor 
and member of the editorial board of the American Political Science 
Review and from 1952-56 as its managing editor.
  Upon his retirement, L. Quincy Mumford, Librarian of Congress, 
presented Dr. Elsbree with a Distinguished Service Award. In the 
accompanying letter, Mumford noted ``. . . your ability to discover, 
attract, and develop talent, your personal integrity, your standards of 
excellence, your sound judgment, your profound understanding of the 
requirements of the Congress, your skill in public administration, and 
your fine qualities as a human being have not only maintained an 
admirable esprit de corps but have enabled the Legislative Reference 
Service to fulfill its highest duty--to be responsive to the needs of 
the Congress.''
  Dr. Elsbree's leadership of the Legislative Reference Service 
contributed significantly to Congress' action in 1970 to expand the 
scope of the Legislative Reference Service and create the Congressional 
Research Service. His intimate knowledge of political science provided 
insight into how Congress' research needs were changing and how the 
Service could adjust to meet those needs.
  To his son, Hugh L. Elsbree, Jr. and his family, friends, and former 
colleagues, I extend our deepest sympathies.

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