[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 73 (Monday, May 5, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY, JR., TO 
                INTELLECTUAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 5, 2008

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, last month the Senate of Alabama including 
Alabama Senators Pittman, French, Griffith, Brooks, Marsh, Glover, 
Butler, Waggoner, Bedford, Mitchem, Barron, Bishop, Lindsey, Benefield, 
McClain, Preuitt, Orr, and Mitchell, passed a resolution recognizing 
the contributions of William F. Buckley, Jr., to intellectual and 
philosophical discourse.
  Today, I rise to ask that this resolution be entered into the 
Congressional Record in its entirety:

       Whereas, the death of William F. Buckley, Jr., on February 
     27, 2008, brings to a close a public career of enormous 
     productivity and significance in the United States and around 
     the world; and
       Whereas, educated by private tutors in Connecticut, in 
     European Catholic schools, and at Yale University, he was an 
     intellectual giant with an intimidating vocabulary, finely 
     tuned debating skills, and a fearless pen; he was at the 
     forefront of the coalescence of a conservative movement in 
     the 1960s, introducing a rhetoric still relevant today; and
       Whereas, Mr. Buckley founded a magazine, the National 
     Review; wrote some 55 books, both fiction and nonfiction; 
     authored editorials published around the country and abroad; 
     entered into debate on the public stage; and hosted Firing 
     Line, a long-running television interview and debate program; 
     and
       Whereas, as chief spokesman for a conservative philosophy 
     which found favor with such political figures as presidential 
     candidate, Barry Goldwater and then-California Governor, 
     Ronald Reagan, Mr. Buckley road the wave of public support to 
     prominence at home and around the globe, luring converts in 
     his wake; and
       Whereas, described by his son, the novelist Christopher 
     Buckley, as not leaving any stone unturned, Mr. Buckley also 
     directed his attention to religion where he applied his 
     conservative mind-set to the tents of Anglican and Roman 
     Catholicism, writing expositions in defense of a 
     traditionalistic theology; and
       Whereas, rarely does an individual of the modern era 
     succeed in being heralded as a philosopher of immense 
     influence in his lifetime; Mr. Buckley's prolific work will 
     continue to bear scrutiny as western thought evolves; now 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the Legislature of Alabama, that 
     we recognize and applaud the contributions of William F. 
     Buckley, Jr. to the intellectual and philosophical discourse 
     of the twentieth century, and we offer this resolution in 
     tribute to an accomplished and distinguished American.

                          ____________________