[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1517-S1518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SENATOR GEORGE SMATHERS

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
life and achievements of Senator George Smathers. I delivered remarks 
at his memorial service on January 29. I ask unanimous consent to have 
printed in the Record the remarks.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       It is fitting that we gather in this community, in this 
     state, to honor George A. Smathers--an outstanding American, 
     and one of the great sons of Miami and Florida.
       Because it was here that George Smathers grew up.
       It was here that he became president of the student bodies 
     at Miami Senior High School and his beloved University of 
     Florida, where he also was captain of the basketball, track 
     and debate teams.
       It was here that he joined the Marines, faking appendicitis 
     so he could avoid a Navy desk job and see combat in World War 
     II.
       And it was here that the handsome young Miamian broke into 
     public service as an assistant prosecutor, after which he 
     kept ascending and never looked back.
       This community, this state--this is where George Smathers 
     devoted so much of his life.
       I am honored that his family asked me to pay him tribute. 
     He has two wonderful sons, John and Bruce, and is survived by 
     his devoted wife Carolyn.
       The fact of the matter is--my life has intersected with the 
     family for 45 years. Even today, my desk in the chamber of 
     the United States Senate is the one used by George Smathers.
       I first met the Smathers' family when I was a college 
     intern in the senator's office.
       But it is the friendship of one of George Smathers' sons 
     that has been especially important in my life.
       At a time in my young life when I lost both parents, Bruce 
     was more than a friend, he was a brother. Bruce is always 
     faithful, never waivers, always encourages. He is a loyal 
     friend--a Smathers' trait.
       Bruce and I even introduced each other to our wives. And 
     ``little'' Bruce is my godson.
       As a kid, I'll never forget attending the funeral of 
     President Kennedy with the senator and his sons, watching the 
     rider-less horse with the boots turned backward, following 
     the caisson down Pennsylvania Ave. and across Memorial Bridge 
     for the burial at Arlington.

[[Page S1518]]

       In the nine days since George Smathers has left us, many 
     people have paused to remember.
       The senator had become quite a successful businessman and 
     philanthropist, giving the University of Florida $20 million 
     for its libraries, and the University of Miami $10 million 
     for its Wellness Center.
       He was, in the words of his biographer, Brian Crispell, 
     ``congenial, humorous, and respected as a highly effective 
     orator and legislator.''
       He also has been described as prophetic.
       Indeed, he was so sure years ago that Miami would become a 
     major international city and gateway to the rest of the 
     hemisphere, that he insisted his sons learn to speak Spanish.
       The year was 1946 when he set his sights on Congress.
       That's when he took on a four-term incumbent U.S. 
     congressman--and, with a group of young turks in Miami he 
     beat the odds.
       That was quite a class that went to Washington with him. It 
     included the late Jacob Javits and Hale Boggs.
       The young congressman from South Florida soon became close 
     with President Truman, as the president would visit the Key 
     West White House for his retreats.
       No one will ever forget one of Smathers' earliest 
     accomplishments, which was helping to create the Everglades 
     National Park.
       While he was in the House of Representatives, he also 
     developed a passion for the politics and peoples of Latin 
     America, making some 14 trips there.
       Many years later in the Senate, his colleagues would refer 
     to him, in jest, as the Senator from Latin America.
       Everyone would laugh, and Senator Smathers would go along. 
     But he would offer a disclaimer: Sure he had a specialty in 
     foreign affairs in the Western Hemisphere, but his first duty 
     was being the senator from Florida.
       In 1948, the senator from Florida met Fidel Castro. And in 
     a private conversation, Fidel told him he was going to take 
     over Cuba. Smathers always was leery of Castro. And sure 
     enough, 11 years later, Castro overthrew Batista.
       While so many in America thought that was a good thing--
     ousting the hated dictator Batista--Smathers was one of the 
     strongest anti-Castro voices around, saying, ``Watch out for 
     this fellow. You better be careful.''
       Leading up to the elections of 1950, President Truman 
     called Smathers to the White House and asked him to run 
     against Florida's incumbent Senator Claude Pepper. Apparently 
     there had been a misunderstanding between Truman and Pepper, 
     and the president still was angry.
       Up to that point, Smathers had not seriously considered the 
     Senate.
       That 1950 campaign still is noted for remarks supposedly 
     made to play on the ignorance of certain voters.
       Years later, Smathers decided to debunk the myth by 
     offering a $10,000 personal reward to anyone who could 
     authenticate and verify his alleged comments.
       Nobody could.
       When he went to the Senate, George Smathers joined the 
     ``club.'' There were giants. Symington of Missouri, Johnson 
     of Texas, Dirksen of Illinois, Kerr of Oklahoma, Kennedy of 
     Massachusetts. And right there with them were Smathers and 
     Holland, of Florida.
       Smathers became close friends with John Kennedy, and was 
     one of the best men in the wedding party when JFK married 
     Jacqueline Bouvier.
       LBJ depended on George Smathers, too, even though they 
     differed on a number of issues.
       When there was a vacancy in the assistant majority leader, 
     Lyndon Johnson asked Smathers to fill that position.
       And then, when Johnson suffered his heart attack and was 
     out for seven months, Smathers filled in as the acting 
     majority leader.
       When LBJ resumed his duties running the Senate, he asked 
     his friend from Florida to be his permanent assistant 
     majority leader.
       Johnson, who was not accustomed to hearing the word no, had 
     to accept just that from his friend from Florida.
       In 1956, the senator was considered for vice president, for 
     the first of two times.
       During his Senate career, he chaired the Senate Democratic 
     Campaign Committee and is credited with passing legislation 
     to help small businesses, reform immigration and advance 
     tourism for Florida.
       He helped upgrade transportation, and fought for what would 
     become, under JFK, the Alliance for Progress in Latin 
     America.
       He also helped eliminate the poll tax, establish the 
     Kennedy Space Center, set up the Permanent Select Committee 
     on Aging and, of course, set aside that natural wonder, 
     Everglades National Park, the ``River of Grass'' that means 
     so much to us in Florida.
       In 1960, he was the southern chairman for Kennedy and 
     Johnson; and that same year he created a new judicial 
     district for southern Florida to handle an increasing case 
     load.
       In the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Smathers Beach in Key 
     West, named after the senator, was an antimissile battery. 
     The world now knows just how close we came to a nuclear 
     exchange in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
       Few know that George Smathers helped President Kennedy 
     write the speech that warned the Soviet Union that any attack 
     upon the United States from Cuba would be considered an 
     attack by the Soviet Union.
       After the Kennedy assassination, Smathers became a regular 
     at the Johnson White House and an adviser to LBJ. In 1968, he 
     turned down presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey's offer of 
     being his vice presidential running mate.
       The next year, he stepped out of public service and into 
     private life, ending three terms in the Senate and two terms 
     in the House.
       Among the many accolades he received, perhaps the one he 
     prized most came from Louisiana's Senator Russell Long. 
     George Smathers, in Long's words, ``was a statesman.''
       During a lifetime of public service, he also was a good 
     husband and father, a Marine, a prosecutor, congressman, 
     senator--a leader.
       In later years, George Smathers said when asked, that he'd 
     like to be remembered as a fellow ``who worked hard for the 
     people he represented and did his best for his country.''
       That he will be and much more.
       Senator Smathers, thank you on behalf of a grateful nation.

                          ____________________