[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 107 (Friday, June 29, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING FORMER CONGRESSMAN GUY ADRIAN VANDER JAGT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PETER HOEKSTRA

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2007

  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor former Congressman 
Guy Adrian Vander Jagt, who passed on June 22 at 75 years old.
   Although I prevailed in a contested primary election with 
Congressman Vander Jagt in 1992, I hold him in the highest regard for 
his gifted oratorical skills and his ability to advance the cause of 
the Republican Party.
  Congressman Vander Jagt was born in Cadillac on Aug. 26, 1931 to 
Dutch immigrant Harry Vander Jagt, a livestock dealer and rancher, and 
his wife Marie.
  He began preaching at Tustin Presbyterian Church while still a 
student at Cadillac High School.
  By the time he graduated from our mutual alma mater, Hope College in 
Holland, Michigan, in 1953, he had won the National Oratorical 
Championship, was undefeated in four years of unscripted speaking 
competitions at the state and national level and won the Michigan 
Debate Championships a record three years in a row.
  Congressman Vander Jagt's first job after graduating from Hope was as 
news director and anchor for WWTV in Cadillac. In 1958 he left for 
Washington, D.C. to accept a position as a public relations assistant 
to Michigan Congressman Robert McIntosh and commenced the study of law 
at Georgetown University Law School.
  He left Washington shortly thereafter to study law full time at 
another mutual alma mater of ours, the University of Michigan, where he 
received his juris doctorate degree in 1960.
  After passing the Michigan bar, he entered private practice in Grand 
Rapids, and in 1964 married Carol Dorn. That same year he began his 
career in public service by winning election to the Michigan Senate.
  In 1966 he went on to win a special election to the U.S. House of 
Representatives. He worked hard to win the confidence of his 
Congressional colleagues. In 1974, they reposed such confidence in him 
that he was elected to lead the National Republican Congressional 
Committee, working throughout the United States to elect Republican 
candidates to Congress.
  He would tirelessly lead the NRCC, becoming the longest-serving 
national political party committee chairman in American history.
  In what was surely one of the greatest moments in his career, in 1980 
he was chosen personally by Governor Ronald Reagan to deliver the 
keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Detroit. 
Reagan would later write: ``My desire was simple. I wanted the best--
Guy Vander Jagt.'' He was even considered a potential candidate for 
vice president at the time.
  Congressman Vander Jagt would serve 27 years in the House, and when 
he retired in 1993, he returned to private law practice and became a 
premier attorney with his firm.
  Madam Speaker, the thoughts and prayers of my wife, Diane, and I are 
with the friends and family of Congressman Vander Jagt at this 
difficult time.
  I respectfully request that my remarks be accepted into the Record.

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