[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 79 (Monday, May 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1035-E1036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING STATE DELEGATE VINCENT F. CALLAHAN, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 14, 2007

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring the attention of the 
House to the retirement of State Senator Vincent F. Callahan, Jr., who 
has represented Virginia's 34th District in the Virginia General 
Assembly for nearly 4 decades. I want to take this opportunity to 
salute Vince for his dedication to a lifetime of public service 
representing those in the McLean area of Fairfax County.
  A native of Washington, D.C., and McLean resident since 1960, Vince 
holds a B.S. degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign 
Service and by profession is an editor, publisher, and author. He 
served as a Marine in the Korean War from 1950-52 and later as a 
reserve officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.
  Elected to the House of Delegates in 1967, Vince is the longest 
serving Republican in the Virginia General Assembly and dean of the 
Northern Virginia Delegation. As chairman of the House Appropriations 
Committee, Vince can point to a long list of legislative achievements 
in service to the Commonwealth of Virginia. He will be sorely missed. 
In honor of his work for higher education, Vince was awarded an 
Honorary Degree in the Humane Letters from the Northern Virginia 
Community College and the Lord Botetourt Award from the College of 
William and Mary. I have inserted for The Record a recent Sun Gazette 
article which details his unparalleled career.
  Perhaps more important than the well deserved awards and recognitions 
Vince has accrued over the years is the way he conducts himself. He is 
a man of his convictions, and of the highest moral character, a true 
Virginia gentleman, family man, and loyal friend. Vince and his wife 
Yvonne have eight children and 19 grandchildren between them and I 
suspect that Vince is looking forward to spending more time with family 
as he retires. I ask that my colleagues in the House rise today and 
join with me in recognizing the outstanding public service career of 
Vincent F. Callahan, Jr.

         After 40 Years in Public Life, Del. Callahan To Retire

                          (By Brian Trompeter)

       Forty years is enough: Del. Vincent Callahan (R-34th), a 
     McLean resident who is the second-longest serving member of 
     the Virginia House of Delegates, announced March 5 that he 
     would not seek reelection in November.
       ``You get to a certain stage in life where you've done what 
     you want to do,'' he said. ``It gets old after a while.'' 
     Callahan, 75, entered politics early in life. After being 
     defeated in a 1965 bid for lieutenant governor, he first was 
     elected to the House of Delegates in 1967. He was one of only 
     14 Republicans in that body then, versus 86 Democrats. Unlike 
     today, when legislators have offices and a professional staff 
     to help them, delegates then operated out of hotel rooms or 
     their desks in the House of Delegates during General Assembly 
     sessions, he said. Callahan credited former House of 
     Delegates Speaker John Warren Cooke (D-Mathews) for teaching 
     him proper legislative decorum. ``He was born in 1915 and his 
     father was an officer in the Confederate Army'' who was in 
     his 70s when Cooke was born, Callahan said. ``You talk about 
     somebody from the old school. He was the epitome of a 
     Virginia gentleman.''
       Republicans achieved parity in the House of Delegates in 
     1998 and Callahan was named co-chair of the powerful House 
     Appropriations Committee. When Republicans became the 
     majority in 2000, he became the committee's sole chairman. 
     Callahan, who lost a bid for Congress in 1976, has seen 
     Virginia's biennial budget grow from $3 billion when he first 
     joined the General Assembly to $75 billion today. Gov. Kaine 
     called Callahan on Monday to congratulate him on the latest 
     budget, which passed unanimously.
       Callahan said his key accomplishments in office include 
     strongly supporting George Mason University, Northern 
     Virginia Community College and other higher-education 
     institutions; securing $500 million to help clean up the 
     Chesapeake Bay; and bolstering mental-health services around 
     the state. He's also ``tilted at a few windmills,'' 
     championing a higher minimum wage and a ban on smoking in 
     public places. These bills have been defeated so far but 
     likely will pass in the near future, he predicted. Virginia 
     has tremendous colleges, enjoys a AAA bond rating and 
     consistently is ranked one of the best-managed states in the 
     nation, he said.

[[Page E1036]]

       Only Del. Lacey Putney (I-Bedford), who has served since 
     1962, has spent longer than Callahan in the House of 
     Delegates. Callahan's tenure has not always been smooth. 
     Legislators have had to go into special sessions several 
     times in recent years because of budget disagreements. And in 
     1998, he apologized after making remarks that some female 
     legislators found offensive. ``They jumped on me and I 
     haven't done it since,'' he said. ``It wasn't meant to be 
     demeaning to women.''
       Democrats already were actively targeting Callahan's seat, 
     with candidates Margi Vanderhye and Rip Sullivan contending 
     for the nomination in the June primary. Callahan has about 
     $85,000 in unspent campaign moneys and will use them to pay 
     office expenses for the remainder of his term. Leftover funds 
     will be given to other political campaigns or donated to 
     charity, he said. The 34th District always has been a swing 
     district and has been represented for many years by a 
     Democratic state senator, Callahan said. The district's 
     voters sided with U.S. Senate candidate James Webb (D) during 
     his victorious campaign in November 2006, but also re-elected 
     longtime U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th), he said. A Republican 
     candidate seeking the district's seat must take a moderate 
     approach on issues, Callahan said.
       ``Moderation is the essence of conservatism,'' he said. ``I 
     think there's two sides to every issue. You don't do 
     immigrant or gay bashing to get headlines. You have to look 
     at the whole picture.'' Callahan will spend the rest of his 
     term overseeing 400th-anniversary celebrations of the 
     Jamestown Colony's founding. He will be among dignitaries who 
     will greet Queen Elizabeth II on May 3 when she visits 
     Richmond and addresses a joint General Assembly session.
       Callahan was born in Washington, D.C., and served in the 
     U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He also served in 
     the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve from 1959 to 1963, retiring as a 
     lieutenant. Callahan has been a staple of Veterans Day 
     celebrations at McLean High School, where he traditionally 
     recites from memory John McCrae's World War I poem, ``In 
     Flanders Fields.''
       Fairfax County Supervisor Joan DuBois (R-Dranesville) 
     credited Callahan with championing Wolf Trap National Park 
     for the Performing Arts, trails in Great Falls, sound 
     barriers along Interstate 495 in McLean and the status of 
     Georgetown Pike as a Scenic Byway. ``He was a gentleman of 
     the `old school' who knew that partisanship had no place in 
     efforts to improve his community,'' DuBois said in a 
     statement released Monday. ``He will be greatly missed by 
     many of us who knew him as a go-to leader in the General 
     Assembly for longer than I have lived in Northern Virginia.''
       Vienna Town Council member Michael Polychrones said 
     Callahan's departure will mark the end of an era in state 
     politics and a loss for Northern Virginia. ``It will be a big 
     blow to the area,'' Polychrones said. ``Vince has definitely 
     done a yeoman's job over the years.''

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