[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 149 (Thursday, November 10, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING GORDON AND ANITA MURCHIE FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WINE 
                                INDUSTRY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 10, 2005

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me today to pay 
tribute to two very good friends and fellow Californians, Gordon and 
Anita Murchie. On the 14th of August, 1955, in the midst of family and 
friends, Gordon and Anita were married in the Presbyterian Church in 
Santa Barbara. Both had attended college at University of California at 
Santa Barbara. As a lifelong ambition, Gordon wanted to join the U.S. 
Diplomatic Service; thus, when a recruiter from the US. Information 
Agency arrived on the University of Southern California's campus where 
Gordon was attending graduate school, Gordon was one of the first to be 
interviewed. Following a quick trip to Washington, D.C. to take the 
language and written exam for USIA, he subsequently was offered a 
Foreign Service appointment.
  The Murchies moved to Washington, D.C., in early 1958 as new members 
of that year's junior Foreign Service family. Before year's end, Gordon 
and Anita began their long string of Foreign Service postings, first in 
the Philippines, then Indonesia, and on to Thailand, where they spent 
the next 9 years equally divided between Udorn, in the northeast of the 
country, and Bangkok, the capital city.
  Having learned the Thai language up-country, they both have served as 
interpreters, Gordon for President Johnson and Vice President Humphrey, 
and Anita for Lady Bird Johnson, Mrs. Joan Kennedy, Mrs. Stan Getz, and 
other American political and cultural representatives visiting 
Thailand. For his service to Thailand, he was awarded the Royal Order 
of the White Elephant medal by the King.
  Returning to the U.S. in late 1969, Gordon attended, on government 
assignment, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts 
where he earned a Master's Degree in International Law and Public 
Diplomacy. Returning to Washington, D.C., the Murchies, now with two 
young children, resided in the Alexandria area of northern Virginia and 
Anita was completing her Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology.

  With things heating up in Central America, the Murchies were 
reassigned to the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, for the next 4 
years. Again, working as a team, they immersed themselves in the Costa 
Rican community and the political, economic and cultural issues of the 
region. While there, Anita authored the only book to comprehensively 
research and relate the story of the Anglo-American contributions to 
Costa Rica from the period of Independence, 1824, to the end of that 
century, entitled Imported Spices. Gordon served as the Public Affairs 
Attache at the Embassy. Gordon's last overseas assignment was as an 
advisor to the U.S. military in northern Iraq to establish a safe zone 
for the Kurds in 1991.
  Having received two Superior Service Medals during his 35 years of 
government service, Gordon retired in 1993. Upon retirement, Gordon and 
Anita were asked to take on the management of the Virginia-based 
organization as President and Executive Secretary, which they have 
continued to administer to the present day. In recognition of their 
contributions to the growth of the Virginia wine industry, Gordon was 
presented the first Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Gordon is 
also credited with promoting a renewed public interest in the evolution 
of viticulture and enology in America, from 1607 Jamestown to the 
present day. For the past 9 years, he has served as the wine consultant 
to George Washington's Mount Vernon, which conducts annual wine and 
history events.
  The Murchies remain active participants in the support of the growth 
and development of the U.S. wine industry, as a whole, with particular 
attention to the rapid growth of the wine industry in the Commonwealth 
of Virginia. As a team, the Murchies are well known in the American 
wine industry, on Capitol Hill, and in a number of foreign communities 
abroad. As Gordon says of their partnership through life, he would 
never have been able to realize his career dreams if it had not been 
for the above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty support of Anita.
  As Co-Chairman of the Congressional Wine Caucus, I wish to commend 
and recognize the contributions of the Murchies for their lifelong work 
in promoting the American way of life and the democratic principles of 
our Nation. I wish them continued health and happiness and success in 
their endeavors as American ambassadors in an increasingly challenging 
world.

                          ____________________