[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 50 (Tuesday, April 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM L. DICKINSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TERRY EVERETT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2008

  Mr. EVERETT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of 
former Alabama Republican Congressman Bill Dickinson who passed away 
last night at the age of 82 after an extended illness. As many of my 
colleagues will remember, Bill Dickinson represented Alabama's Second 
Congressional District for 28 years. Barbara and I send our heartfelt 
condolences to Bill's wife, Barbara, their children, Christopher, 
Michael, Tara and Bill, Jr. and the entire Dickinson family at this 
time of personal loss.
  A native of Opelika, Alabama, and a former city, county and state 
judge before coming to Congress, Bill Dickinson was a Republican in the 
Deep South when being a Republican was not popular. Bill Dickinson came 
to Washington in 1964 as part of the Goldwater sweep of the Deep South 
and gained a reputation as a formidable legislator and a strong 
conservative voice for southeast Alabama. He served during a time of 
momentous change in this House, from civil rights movements and 
political upheavals of the 1960s, through Vietnam, Watergate, and the 
Reagan Revolution.
  A Navy veteran, Bill Dickinson was a stalwart in national defense and 
was Ronald Reagan's point man on the House Armed Services Committee 
where he was ranking member for over a decade. As the committee's 
leading Republican he gave his support to President Reagan's defense 
build-up of the 1980s which made America more secure. Upon his 
retirement after 14 terms on the Hill, Congressman Dickinson listed his 
greatest accomplishments. After nearly three decades in office you can 
be sure the list is long, but here are some of the things he was 
proudest of. He saw aviation become a permanent full-fledged branch of 
the Army and Fort Rucker become the permanent home of Army Aviation. 
Furthermore, he secured Federal funding to help construct the U.S. Army 
Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker which bears his name. He was credited 
with getting Pentagon approval for the use of the Apache attack 
helicopter in the first gulf war. The Apache fired the first shot in 
the war. He oversaw the transformation of Gunter Air Force Station in 
Montgomery to an Air Force base before merging it with Maxwell to 
strengthen it. He also saw Maxwell restored to a major 3 star command 
and the establishment of the Air Force School of Law and the Senior NCO 
Academy for the entire Air Force at Maxwell-Gunter.
  Bill Dickinson also took pride in securing the initial funding for 
the ongoing Outer Loop Interstate Connector south of Montgomery linking 
I-65 to I-85. This project is still underway. With the collapse of the 
Berlin Wall, the Warsaw Pact and the entire Soviet Union, he witnessed 
the validation of the concept of ``Peace Through Strength'' for which 
he always worked. Bill Dickinson's legacy is still felt on many fronts, 
but today he is often credited with having laid the political 
foundation that kept the Second Congressional District in Republican 
hands for so long. I add my voice to those who mourn his passing and 
remember the dedication of this exemplary congressman.

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