[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 21 (Tuesday, March 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ON THE PASSING OF HELEN ANTON VALANOS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 1, 2005

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, in the constantly changing world of Capitol 
Hill, all of us who are privileged to serve here recognize that people 
come and go--Members, staff, journalists, lobbyists and others.
  And, if you work hard and have some luck, you can make your mark and 
make a difference in this great city and the life of our Nation.
  Today, we mourn the loss of a truly wonderful woman who clearly did 
just that by establishing, along with her husband, one of Washington's 
enduring institutions--the Monocle restaurant. For 25 years, Helen 
Anton Valanos and her husband, Conrad (``Connie''), operated the 
Monocle, which the Washingtonian magazine recently said ``remains a 
Hollywood East of political stars,'' and ``a sort of political refuge 
flying a white flag . . . a place where Republicans and Democrats mix 
over food and drink and the bad blood between political parties seems 
to get bottled and checked at the door.''
  Mrs. Valanos passed away on January 4th in Boca Raton, Florida, where 
she had lived since 1985. But the memories of her--like the political 
lore that has been generated at the Monocle for more than four 
decades--will always be with us.
  She was born in Anderson, Indiana, and graduated from the University 
of Miami before settling in Washington with Connie in 1950. She worked 
with her husband in their accounting firm, and then, in 1960, they 
opened the Monocle. As the Washingtonian recounted: ``The Monocle 
opened with no advertising, no sign outside and all 86 seats filled for 
lunch.'' And thus was born, in September 1960, a place to see and be 
seen.
  Today, says John Valanos, who since 1989 has run the restaurant that 
his parents started, three-quarters of his customers are ``people 
coming to the Hill to do business or to show friends or family what 
Washington is all about. They stop to see the photos on the wall, to 
experience some of the history that makes us unique. They say this is 
where JFK dined, where Mark Russell taped his CNN shows.''
  During much of that time, as The Washington Post recently noted: 
``Mrs. Valanos, a stylish presence at the restaurant for 25 years, 
would leave her bookkeeping duties upstairs, enter the restaurant and 
sweep through the room, greeting customers and making sure the regulars 
had a momentary chat with the owner.''
  The secret to the Monocle's success is not only its proximity to 
Capitol Hill, its great food and its unique ambience, but also the fact 
that Connie and Helen--and now their son John--have nurtured a 
politically nonpartisan establishment and worked to protect the privacy 
of the public figures who dined there. Personally, I remember going to 
the Monocle when I was still a Congressional aide in the 1960s, and 
still go there for dinner and political fund-raisers.
  I know that I speak for literally thousands of Members and others in 
offering my deepest condolences to Connie, John, the Valanos' other 
son, George, and the entire Valanos family for their loss.

                          ____________________