[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DEWEY E. BARTLETT POST OFFICE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. TOM COLE

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 7, 2006

  Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Dewey 
F. Bartlett Post Office Designation Act and urge my colleagues to do 
the same.
  Mr. Speaker, Dewey Bartlett served our country in the Marine Corps 
during World War II and, when he came to Oklahoma after the war, he 
began to serve the State. He was first a member of the Oklahoma Senate, 
then Oklahoma's 19th Governor, and finally a United States Senator. It 
is no exaggeration to say that he is one of the most consequential 
public figures in Oklahoma history.
  During his term as Governor, his goal was to meet his campaign 
promises, the first of which was to strengthen the State's economy. The 
numbers during the Bartlett administration are impressive. Two years 
into his term, Oklahomans spent $148 million building new industries or 
improving existing capital. In 1969, the State had 1 million jobs for 
the first time in its history. He journeyed widely to bring outside 
businesses into the State. In 1968 alone, he traveled 100,000 miles on 
behalf of the State, some of it at his own expense.
  Bartlett's time in the Senate was equally remarkable. He wrote about 
NATO and the Soviet Union and collaborated with Senators across the 
aisle. Whether visiting chambers of commerce or the White House, 
Oklahoma's military installations or villages in Somalia, Senator 
Bartlett held the conviction that Oklahomans and Americans were special 
and could contribute something to the rest of the world.
  Mr. Speaker, Governor Dewey Bartlett was rightfully important to us 
Oklahomans, and, I believe, his example can say something important to 
the rest of the country today. Partisanship was strong during the 
Bartlett administration, not unlike partisanship that develops when the 
clash of ideas is strong. During his watch in the late 1960s, there 
were questions about State funding authority and disputes over sex 
education policy. Some of his actions to address student unrest at the 
University of Oklahoma were unpopular. And though he was the first 
Governor of Oklahoma eligible to be reelected, he lost in an election 
that was so close that the National Guard had to be deployed to protect 
ballot boxes.
  Mr. Speaker, despite the acrimony, Bartlett was optimistic. He opened 
his final State of the State Address with these words: ``Most of you 
looked for solutions to State problems through a Democratic point of 
view; I from a Republican viewpoint.'' But, he continued, ``this 
competitive difference, I believe, brought out the best in each of 
us.'' Differences of opinion, in short, were not reasons to condemn or 
deride one another. Rather, they were the building blocks upon which 
the future of the State depended.
  Granted, the party meant something to Bartlett, but the State was 
more important. Even in the end, just a few months before he died, 
Senator Bartlett retired early so that his successor, David Boren, 
could have additional seniority to benefit Oklahoma. This country, and 
this Congress, would do well to build upon Bartlett's legacy in this 
regard.
  Mr. Speaker, Dewey Bartlett believed in serving his country and his 
community, and so it is fitting that we name a post office after him in 
his hometown, Tulsa. For him, Oklahoma was a great State that could be 
even better, and his vision inspires those of us who serve Oklahoma 
today.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge other members to support this 
resolution and pass the bill under suspension.

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