[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 111 (Thursday, July 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9124-S9126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING LADY BIRD JOHNSON

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise to celebrate the life of Lady 
Bird Johnson. She was one of the most beloved First Ladies in our 
Nation's history.
  Lady Bird Johnson represented the best of Texas and the best of 
America. Since the days that I attended the University of Texas with 
her daughter Lynda, I have known and admired Lady Bird Johnson. I knew 
her as a woman of dignity, kindness, and graciousness.
  Through the years, I have also come to know Luci, one of the most 
thoughtful people I have ever met. And, of course, most of us in the 
Senate know Lynda and her husband Chuck Robb, a former Senator from 
Virginia.
  Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson was a Texas original. She was born in 
Karnack, TX, on December 22, 1912. During her infancy, a nursemaid 
commented, ``She's as pretty as a ladybird,'' and that nickname 
virtually replaced her given name of Claudia Alta for the rest of her 
life.
  Lady Bird graduated from Marshall High School in Marshall, TX, 
studied journalism and art at St. Mary's Episcopal School for Girls, 
and graduated from the University of Texas.
  In 1934, she married Lyndon Baines Johnson, another young, smalltown 
Texan, who would go on to serve our State in the U.S. House and Senate 
and then our country as Vice President and later as President of the 
United States.
  In her role as First Lady, Lady Bird shared her love of the outdoors 
with the American people, becoming the strongest advocate for improving 
our public spaces. She was instrumental in promoting the Highway 
Beautification Act, which enhanced the Nation's highway system by 
limiting billboards and planting roadside areas. I will never pass 
wildflowers on a median of a highway without thinking of her. She was 
also a champion of the Head Start Program.
  Even after her husband left office in 1969, she remained active in 
public life and especially in Texas. She served on the University of 
Texas board of regents. On December 22, 1982--her 70th birthday--she 
and Helen Hayes founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a 
nonprofit organization devoted to preserving and reintroducing native 
plants in planned landscapes at the University of Texas. In 1998, that 
center was officially renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
  As the U.S. Senator from Lady Bird's home State, I have consistently 
worked to strengthen and promote her outstanding legacy. Over the 
years, I have worked to preserve the LBJ office

[[Page S9125]]

in the Jake Pickle Building in Austin and to add the Lady Bird Johnson 
Plaza to the LBJ Library.
  In the fall of 2006, Lady Bird joined me at a groundbreaking ceremony 
for the new plaza. She was radiant that day. The renovation is still in 
progress and has now been scheduled to finish by August of 2008--just 
in time for what would have been Lyndon's 100th birthday. The plaza 
will be graced by wildflowers which will serve as a tribute to Lady 
Bird's love of nature. Each wildflower will represent the lifework of a 
beautiful woman who will always have a special place in the hearts of 
the people who knew her.
  I am proud, as a Texan, that this Texas lady represented the best of 
our Nation. My thoughts and prayers are with Lady Bird's family--
especially her daughters Lynda and Luci. We all mourn her passing, but 
we should also celebrate this remarkable woman's life.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Lady 
Bird Johnson, one of our Nation's most beloved former First Ladies.
  Lady Bird Johnson was a conservationist, an enthusiastic political 
wife, a shrewd businesswoman, and the loving grandmother of a close-
knit family.
  But she will be best remembered for her efforts to make America a 
more beautiful country.
  Lady Bird Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor to her parents near 
Karnack, TX, in 1912. Legend has it that she received the quaint 
nickname when a nursemaid exclaimed that the young Claudia was ``as 
purty as a lady bird.''
  At a very early age, she expressed an interest in the environment, 
and in particular, wildflowers--which would become a lifelong passion.
  A graduate of the University of Texas, Lady Bird received a bachelor 
of arts in history and a bachelor of journalism in 1934.
  It was in Austin where she met her future husband, Lyndon Baines 
Johnson. The connection between the two was electric--after a whirlwind 
romance and courtship, the two were married in November 1934.
  Lady Bird was a loyal and tireless supporter during her husband's 
political career--usually behind the scenes--from Congressman to 
Senator, from Senate majority leader to Vice President, and finally, on 
that fateful day in 1963, as the 36th President of the United States.
  And it is her accomplishments as First Lady that distinguished Lady 
Bird as visionary.
  Lady Bird brought a dash of Texas hospitality and genteel charm to 
the White House during those first dark days of the Johnson 
administration, as the Nation struggled to recover from the tragedy of 
the Kennedy assassination.
  A life-long lover of the environment, Lady Bird Johnson is best known 
for the Beautification Act of 1965, which is widely credited as the 
Lady Bird Act. The legislation encouraged efforts to make the Nation's 
Interstate System more scenic and limited billboards that could be 
posted along roadways.
  So as millions of American families go on summer vacations, they can 
thank Lady Bird Johnson for the beautiful wildflowers that bloom along 
the highways.
  It was the first of a major legislative effort undertaken by a First 
Lady--and helped to transform the very nature of the Office of the 
First Lady.
  Lady Bird began her beautification efforts with the ``First Lady's 
Committee for a More Beautiful Capital'' in 1965.
  Although it is largely known that the First Lady worked to have 
flower beds and dogwood trees planted throughout the Capitol, Lady Bird 
also worked to address more urban societal concerns here in the 
District of Columbia, such as crime, public transportation, mental 
health and recreation.
  And to Lady Bird, beautification meant much more--it embodied a deep 
commitment to the conservation of this country's natural resources.
  In her own words, it meant: ``clean water, clean air, clean 
roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old 
landmarks, as well as great parks and wilderness areas.''
  As First Lady, she was often considered a ``shadow Secretary of the 
Interior.''
  When the White House Conference on Natural Beauty was convened in May 
1966, Lady Bird kicked off the conference proceedings by asking this 
important question:

       Can a great democratic society generate the drive to plan, 
     and having planned, execute projects of great natural beauty?

  And thanks in part to her efforts, the Johnson administration helped 
to oversee some 150 legislative accomplishments for the environment, 
including: The Clean Air Act; The Wilderness Act of 1964; The Land and 
Water Conservation Fund; The Wild and Scenic Rivers Program; and 
numerous additions to the National Park system.
  Lady Bird Johnson helped to ensure protection of some of America's 
finest natural treasures, including the Grand Canyon, the Hudson River 
Valley, and perhaps closest to my heart, the majestic California 
redwoods.
  Lady Bird Johnson was also closely involved in President Johnson's 
civil rights efforts and his ``Great Society'' campaign, particularly 
on the Head Start program.
  She helped to ensure that low-income youngsters are given the 
opportunities they need to compete fairly and equally when they enter 
elementary school.
  So she truly left her stamp as a First Lady.
  After leaving the White House in 1969, Lady Bird turned her attention 
once again to wildflowers. She was instrumental in launching the 
National Wildflower Research Center in 1982, which was later renamed in 
her honor.
  The center has been central to helping preserve many species of 
wildflowers and plants, which are increasingly sensitive to the 
challenges of climate change. In fact, today, some 30 percent of the 
world's wildflowers and other native flora are endangered.
  Lady Bird Johnson was one of America's finest citizens. And she was 
recognized as such. In 1977, the former First Lady was presented with 
America's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom, by President 
Gerald Ford. And in 1988, she received the Congressional Gold Medal 
from President Ronald Reagan.
  As Laurance Rockefeller aptly stated when Lady Bird was awarded the 
Conservation Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1977:

       She's a role model for leadership responsibility for women. 
     That's a big part of her legacy, above and beyond the 
     environment.

  Lady Bird Johnson will be very much missed. And I offer my personal 
and deepest sympathies to her family.
  Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, today I join people from throughout America 
in paying tribute to former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, who passed 
away yesterday at the age of 94.
  Lady Bird Johnson served as America's First Lady during one of the 
most tumultuous periods in our Nation's history. During the 1960s, this 
Nation suffered through the assassinations of our most promising 
leaders.
  We were also bitterly divided by the war in Vietnam. With respect to 
Vietnam, the Johnson family was personally affected by the war. Many of 
us recall the White House wedding of Chuck and Lynda Bird Robb in 1967, 
and how Chuck Robb later distinguished himself as a Marine Corps 
officer in Vietnam.
  And many of our cities literally burned as America struggled to end 
segregation and to usher in a new era of civil rights. On this last 
issue, in particular, President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson deserve 
historical credit for their leadership and political courage.
  It was against this backdrop of political and civil unrest that 
America was especially blessed by the grace, humility and quiet 
determination of Lady Bird Johnson.
  Mrs. Johnson reminded all of us that America is at her best when we 
are civil to each other and when we treat our adversaries with 
tolerance and respect.
  Of course, her legacy extends far beyond her grace, charm and 
steadfast loyalty to President Johnson. To a greater extent perhaps 
than any other living American, Lady Bird Johnson was the mother of the 
modern environmental movement.
  With her tireless efforts to beautify the countryside, promote 
conservation and combat roadside litter, Lady Bird Johnson demonstrated 
the power that each of us has to protect the environment and make our 
communities more attractive. Again, we need to embrace her legacy 
today.

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  In my home State of Virginia, we have always felt a special 
connection to Lady Bird Johnson. She was the mother of Lynda Bird Robb, 
who was the Commonwealth's First Lady from 1982 to 1986, and the 
mother-in-law of Chuck Robb who was Governor at that time and later a 
distinguished Member of this body.
  During her frequent trips to our State, Virginians always embraced 
Lady Bird Johnson for her warmth, grace, and strength of character. 
These were the same values for which all Americans held her in such 
high esteem.
  I want to extend to her family and many friends my deepest 
sympathies, as well as my appreciation for her extraordinary life. 
America is a much better Nation because of the life and service of Lady 
Bird Johnson.

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