[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E65-E66]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MOURNING THE PASSING OF PRESIDENT GERALD RUDOLPH FORD

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DAVID L. HOBSON

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 9, 2007

  Mr. HOBSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
honoring the legacy of former President Gerald R. Ford.
  Although I never served with President Ford personally, I admire him 
for his record as a leader in the House of Representatives, and later 
for accepting one of the greatest challenges an individual can assume--
the Presidency of the United States of America.
  In the past couple of weeks, we have heard many historians talk about 
President Ford's legacy of healing our nation in the aftermath of the 
Watergate scandal. At the time, he was sharply criticized for his 
decision to pardon President Richard Nixon, but now he has been lauded 
for moving this country forward. I think they are right. I admire him 
for the courage he had in making what was arguably one of the most 
difficult decisions a sitting president has ever made.
  As a Midwesterner myself, I would like to think that it was some of 
the values and experiences that President Ford had while growing up in 
Michigan that helped shape him into the courageous and good-natured 
leader that he later became.
  While President Ford played football for what we Ohio State 
University fans refer to as ``the team up north,'' he demonstrated his 
good-natured personality the day that he gave the university's 1974-
commencement address. It was just a few weeks after he became president 
and legendary football coach Woody Hayes was still at OSU. According to 
a recent story in The Columbus Dispatch, he said: ``We just had our 
picture taken together and when that picture appears in today's 
Dispatch, I'm pretty sure what the caption will say,'' Ford said. 
``Woody Hayes and friend.''
  President Ford loved our country, and he served it with integrity, 
which helped restore the public's confidence in the presidency.

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  I proudly join my colleagues in honoring him with this resolution, 
and expressing our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Betty Ford and her family.

                          ____________________