[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S2691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORY OF JOHN F. BASS

 Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, today, I honor John Bass, a 
much loved member of the St. Louis community, who died last month at 
the age of 80. John Bass was soft-spoken and low-key but he was also a 
fighter. As a young man, he served his country in the U.S. Navy. When 
he returned from service, he found himself living in a racially 
divided, socially and economically troubled city. Determined to bring 
change to his community, John literally fought his way through a 
college education. As a champion boxer, he won a boxing scholarship to 
Lincoln University. But John's true fight for St. Louis came long after 
he hung up his gloves.
  As an educator in Beaumont High School, John was a calming presence 
in a school bitterly divided by racial tension. There, at Beaumont, and 
probably for the first time in his life, John was sent to the 
principal's office the hard way. After he began his new job as 
principal of Beaumont High, he provided the calm, wise leadership that 
was necessary to soothe wounds that years of inequality inflicted on 
our Nation's educational system.
  John was already a distinguished member of the St. Louis community 
when he rolled up his sleeves and delved into politics to bring 
positive change to the city of St. Louis by shaping its policies. He 
did not come from a family of politicians, and he did not inherit a 
political power base. He came to politics as a thoughtful, practical, 
and hard-working man who wanted to make his community a better place to 
live. With these attributes, John Bass won the trust and respect of St. 
Louis.
  John served as an alderman, State senator, and cabinet official, but 
is best known for becoming the first African American to win the office 
of comptroller in St. Louis history. When he ran for that office in 
1973, the mayor told him that the prevailing racial tensions in St. 
Louis would prevent his election. Undeterred, John ignored that 
prediction, won his seat, crashed his way into the city's most 
important financial post, and left his mark on the city of St. Louis. 
Regarded highly by his contemporaries as well as older and younger 
politicians, John helped pilot the city of St. Louis through some of 
its most turbulent years.
  With John's passing, we have lost a prolific public servant, a 
trusted friend, and a quiet but powerful leader.

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