[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 131 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S11370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     TRIBUTE TO WENDELL L. JOHNSON

 Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, today I commend an outstanding 
Virginian, Mr. Wendell L. Johnson, whose work has adorned the walls of 
many members of the House of Representatives. The ``Member of 
Congress'' seal designed by Mr. Johnson has been used numerous times by 
our federal legislators over the years, and he deserves the 
acknowledgment of this chamber for his service to the United States.
  As a young man of 18 years, Mr. Johnson enlisted in the Army to help 
his country during World War II. Rising to the rank of Sergeant, he 
earned a Good Conduct Medal before being honorably discharged in 
December 1945. Continuing a career of public service, Mr. Johnson 
joined the staff of United States Representative Alvin E. O'Konski of 
Wisconsin. While assisting the congressman in preparation for a 
televised speech in 1958, Mr. Johnson astutely realized that the 
viewing audience, who soon would be tuning in with this new medium, 
might not be able to identify Representative O'Konski at first sight. 
Understanding correctly the value of the congressman's image on 
television, Mr. Johnson hurried to the hardware store for the tools and 
supplies necessary to create a logo dignified enough to appear with a 
member of the United States Congress. By the time that the good people 
of Wisconsin had turned on their RCAs and Zeniths, Representative 
O'Konski spoke proudly from behind a podium bearing Johnson's 
exceptional ``Member of Congress'' seal.
  While not the official seal of either the House of Representatives or 
the Senate, Mr. Johnson's noble design represented the first insignia 
and plaque used for an individual member of the United States Congress. 
In the decade following its first use, his handiwork became very 
popular among Representative O'Konski's colleagues in the House. Mr. 
Johnson was thrilled to see orders for his product from the House 
Stationery Clerk, and he made a hobby of providing plaques to a host of 
members, including Harold Ostertag, Louis Wyman, Bill Brock, Dan 
Rostenkowski, and Donald Rumsfeld.
  Mr. Johnson's artistry expertly reflects the dignity and honor of the 
legislative branch. Featuring a proud eagle under a field of fourteen 
stars, the circular plaque bears the words ``Member of Congress'' above 
the name of our nation. A banner of ``E Pluribus Unum'' is clutched in 
the beak of the eagle, which holds in its talons a branch of olives and 
three arrows. Mr. Johnson's design has earned the esteem of many, as it 
has appeared on Congressional stationery, the official oil portrait of 
two committee chairmen, and even a number of gravestones.
  I thank you for the opportunity today to give Mr. Wendell L. Johnson 
the recognition that he so rightly deserves for his service to 
Congress.

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