[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 163 (Saturday, December 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2564-E2565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING GOVERNOR CARROLL CAMPBELL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 16, 2005

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, all South Carolinians have 
mourned the loss of former Governor Carroll Campbell. As a longtime 
friend, I especially appreciate his service.
  I met Carroll Campbell when we were both elected delegates at the 
State Republican Convention in 1972 for the National Convention in 
Miami Beach. We were delegates when I hired fellow delegate Lee Atwater 
of Newberry College to organize college campuses to work with Carroll 
in the Upstate to elect President Richard Nixon.
  In 1975, as Executive Assistant to Governor Jim Edwards, South 
Carolina's first Republican Governor, I worked closely with Carroll and 
accountant Wagdy Demian to reform the irregulataries at the Department 
of Social Services. Our meetings were in hallways due to concern of 
monitoring in offices and Mr. Demian courageously provided 
whistleblower information despite an attempt on his life.
  In 1985, I was the first State Senator to endorse his candidacy for 
Governor and I worked independently with State Senators Ryan Shealy and 
Warren Giese to recruit Congressman Tommy Hartnett for Lieutenant 
Governor and developed the Dream Team of two candidates with the 
highest integrity and ability.
  In 1986, the gubernatorial campaign was a historic breakthrough which 
fostered a Republican majority in the State. Working with Bob 
McAllister and Warren Tomkins, I researched, developed, and publicized 
with State Senators David Thomas and Bill Branton, the sweetheart 
leases of Democrat officials with state agencies at ``The Good Old Boys 
Tower.'' After the election, Governor Campbell re-negotiated the 
leases, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
  In 1990, I was grateful to work with the Campbell staff and irate 
Democrats uncovering purchasing irregularities at the State Department 
of Education, explaining the need to elect a new State Superintendent. 
Working with Representative David Wright, we were slammed as ``Hatchet 
and Tomahawk'' by Democrats, but the efforts prevailed to elect Barbara 
Nielsen as the State's first Republican Superintendent, who served with 
great distinction.
  During the two terms of the Campbell Administration, I was honored to 
serve as floor leader for his initiatives in the State Senate. The 
highlight was to address the power failure of state government with 
restructuring. Working with Chamber leader Paula Harper Bethea, 
Democrat Lt. Governor Nick Theodore, Senator David Thomas and Senator 
Greg Ryberg, we were successful. Due to the House leadership of Rep. 
David Wilkins, we were able to pass a bill despite determined 
opposition who were opposed to the reforms and devoted to tarnishing 
the Campbell legacy of success.
  The following obituary is a full tribute to Governor Campbell. This 
tribute ran in the The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, 
on December 9, 2005.

                         Carroll Campbell, Jr.

       Carroll Ashmore Campbell, Jr., beloved husband, father, 
     grandfather and former two-term South Carolina governor who 
     led the economic and political transformation of his home 
     state, died of cardiac arrest Wednesday at a Lexington health 
     care facility after a five year struggle with Alzheimer's 
     disease. He was 65.
       Born July 24, 1940 in Greenville to Carroll Sr. and Anne 
     Williams Campbell, he was a lifelong learner himself, 
     educated in Greenville's public schools and graduated from 
     the McCallie School in Tennessee. As a teenager,

[[Page E2565]]

     he paid his own way to attend college part-time at the 
     University of South Carolina-Spartanburg. He continued his 
     education while in Congress, taking classes in the evening 
     and earning a master's degree in political science and the 
     award for outstanding scholarship at the graduate level from 
     the School of Government and Public Administration at 
     American University. One professor told friends in later 
     years that Campbell was the only public official who had 
     taken the class without having staff members do the 
     classwork. He also held ten honorary doctorate degrees and 
     received numerous business and public service awards.
       Despite accomplishing reforms on behalf of millions of 
     fellow South Carolinians, Carroll Campbell took his greatest 
     pride in the achievements and love of a few. His family--a 
     wife of 46 years, two sons and their wives and four 
     grandchildren--were his strength and comfort. Iris and 
     Carroll Campbell married in 1959 and soon became known in 
     Greenville for their delight in the company of friends and 
     their shagging to the beach music Carroll had learned and 
     loved as a young lifeguard during high school summers in 
     Myrtle Beach.
       At 19, while working in the real estate business, he 
     cofounded a successful chain of parking facilities. In 1967, 
     he was co-founder of a business that developed a chain of 13 
     Burger King restaurants. He later became an active breeder of 
     Arabian horses, owning and operating a farm near Fountain Inn 
     in the Seventies. Later, along with his sons and others, he 
     owned a chain of 19 Wendy's restaurants throughout South 
     Carolina.
       He was first elected to public office in 1970 as a member 
     of the South Carolina State House of Representatives. Mr. 
     Campbell served there until 1974. Running in a 1976 special 
     election, he won a seat representing Greenville in the state 
     Senate.
       In 1978, Carroll Campbell was elected to the United States 
     Congress from South Carolina's fourth congressional district, 
     the first Republican since reconstruction to hold that seat. 
     He served in Congress until 1986.
       Campbell was elected as governor of South Carolina in 1986 
     and re-elected in 1990. Job creation, strong economic growth, 
     education reform and fiscal conservatism were the hallmarks 
     of his administration.
       In 1995, Mr. Campbell became President and CEO of the 
     American Council of Life Insurers, the trade arm of the life 
     insurance industry. He retired from that position in January 
     2002. He served on the board of directors for BMW 
     International, Fluor Corporation, AVX Corporation, Norfolk 
     Southern Corporation, Wackenhut Corporation, TRAC Racing and 
     the Boy Scouts of America.
       In an October 2001 letter to the people of South Carolina, 
     Mr. Campbell announced his diagnosis and plans to fight the 
     disease. He was an active supporter of the Alzheimer's 
     Association in South Carolina, raising funds for the 
     association and for the care facility that bears his name and 
     where he spent his final days.
       Surviving are his wife Iris, his son Carroll III and wife 
     Elizabeth; son Mike and his wife Ruffin, and four 
     grandchildren, Blakeney Herlong Campbell, Carroll Barrett 
     Campbell, Michael Rhodes Campbell and Marie Riley Campbell, 
     all of Columbia. He is also survived by Anne Mangum, Mary 
     Carpenter, Elizabeth Tatum, and Caroline Campbell.
       Instead of flowers, the Campbell family asks that donations 
     be made to the South Carolina Alzheimer's Association, 
     Attention: Carroll Campbell Respite Program, PO Box 7044, 
     Columbia, SC 29202. The Respite Program helps family members 
     relieve the stress they may experience while providing care 
     for a loved one with Alzheimer's.
       The governor's body will lie in state on the second floor 
     of the State House between the House and Senate chambers from 
     9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Friday, December 9. The viewing is open 
     to the public. Members of the S.C. Army and Air National 
     Guard will serve as honor guards during this time.
       The funeral will be held Saturday, December 10, at 10:30 
     a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia. The body 
     will be taken by caisson. The funeral will be open to the 
     public, though seating will be very limited.
       After the Columbia funeral, the body will be taken to All 
     Saints Episcopal Church at Pawley's Island for a brief 
     service inside the church at 4 p.m., followed by burial in 
     the church cemetery. This service, too, will be open to the 
     public, though seating will be very limited.
       Pallbearers will be officers representing SLED, the 
     Department of Natural Resources and the S.C. Highway Patrol. 
     Members of his former security detail will be honorary 
     pallbearers.
       Dunbar Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
       Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.

                          ____________________