[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 102 (Thursday, June 19, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5820-S5821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO CLARENCE L. MILLER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a well-respected 
Kentuckian, Mr. Clarence L. Miller. Throughout his life, Mr. Miller has 
contributed immensely to our Commonwealth and Nation.
  Recently the Sentinel-News in Shelbyville, Kentucky, published a 
story about Mr. Miller. The story summarizes the extraordinary life he 
led, while paying tribute to him as a remarkable Kentuckian. Throughout 
his career as a public servant, Mr. Miller has worked hard to give back 
to the State and Nation that he loves so dearly.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Clarence L. Miller as a 
true patriot and Kentuckian whose legacy will forever be remembered, 
and I further ask unanimous consent that the full article be included 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Sentinel-News, April 30, 2008]

     Clarence L. Miller: Farmer, Administrator, Diplomat, Raconteur

                        (By BG Ron Van Stockum)

       I called on Clarence Miller recently to add my appreciation 
     to that of his many other friends for his generosity in 
     donating his farm to Shelbyville. In our informal 
     conversation it became apparent that his story needed to be 
     recorded and reported.
       Accordingly, a few days later, my son Reggie invited him to 
     Allen Dale where he taped as oral history an extended audio/
     visual interview. My column today will constitute an 
     abbreviated story of Clarence Miller's life, providing 
     information additional to that contained in Gayle Deaton's 
     excellent article in an issue of last year's Sentinel-News.
       Clarence Miller was born in Louisville in 1912. His father, 
     Pleasant Green Miller, always called ``P. Green'' (1871-
     1968), born in Estill County, was employed as a federal 
     whisky inspector or ``whiskey gauger.'' His responsibilities, 
     within the Department of the Treasury, included the recording 
     of whiskey production and assuring that the distillers paid 
     the proper federal tax on alcohol. With the onset of World 
     War I, distillation was dramatically curtailed in order to 
     preserve grain. His job disestablished, he took his family to 
     Florida where he set out a citrus grove.


              eighteenth amendment: prohibition (1920-33)

       Before the production of whisky could be fully restored, 
     National Prohibition was established by means of the 
     Eighteenth Amendment, with Kentucky being the third state to 
     ratify it. Ratification was certified on 29 January 1919 and 
     on 28 October the Volstead Act was passed, defining 
     ``intoxicating

[[Page S5821]]

     beverage'' as one containing greater than one-half of one 
     percent alcohol. This act went into effect on 29 January 
     1920, along with the Eighteenth Amendment. President Hoover 
     called Prohibition a ``noble experiment,'' but others used 
     stronger words. Clarence described the effect of Prohibition 
     on the distilleries as ``confiscatory.'' They held millions 
     of gallons of whiskey in storage, but, except for a 
     controlled trickle for ``medicinal'' purposes, were not 
     allowed to sell it.
       Even moderate imbibers needed to adjust. While I do not 
     recall alcohol being served by my parents in Seattle, 
     Washington, I do remember my mother sending me out on the 
     lawn to pick dandelions for wine. The process she used is 
     unknown, but it is possible today to learn all that is 
     necessary by ``googling'' ``dandelion wine.''
       P. Green Miller and many other federal agents, were called 
     back to the Treasury Department to enforce the new law. In 
     view of its unpopularity, affecting so many special interests 
     and tastes, this was a formidable task. In 1923, he became 
     Division Chief for Enforcement of Prohibition for the states 
     of Kentucky and Tennessee, with offices in Louisville and 
     Memphis. Later, he spent a good deal of time on the east 
     coast, in New York, Baltimore and Boston, trying to 
     eliminate, or at least minimize, the illegal smuggling by 
     high-speed cutters, called ``rum runners,'' which picked up 
     whisky from vessels lying beyond the territorial limits. He 
     also was involved in the attempt to break up the illegal 
     activities of the most powerful and infamous of all 
     bootleggers, Al Capone, who operated out of Chicago.


          repeal of prohibition--twenty-first amendment (1933)

       On 23 March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after 
     signing into law an amendment to the Volstead Act, allowing 
     the manufacture and sale of ``3.2 beer'' and light wines, is 
     reported to have remarked ``Now let's all have a beer.'' The 
     Eighteenth Amendment, itself, was repealed later with 
     ratification of the Twenty-first amendment on 5 December 
     1933. P. Green Miller returned to farming.


                        young clarence l. miller

       Meanwhile, on 1 January 1925, when Clarence was 12 years 
     old, the Miller family purchased Red Orchard Farm and 
     established residence there, although Clarence's father was 
     still spending most of his time elsewhere discharging his 
     enforcement responsibilities. The farm, originally 119 acres, 
     now constitutes 130 acres. Clarence helped his mother with 
     the farm, entering Shelbyville High School where he graduated 
     with the class of 1932. A schoolmate of his was Ben McMakin, 
     the subject of one of last year's columns, who died as a 
     Marine prisoner of war in 1945. ``Ben was president of our 
     class one year, and I the next.'' He then spent two years at 
     University of Kentucky with the intent of studying law, but 
     instead returned to Shelbyville.


                        moving up in agriculture

       Here, he was employed with the Agriculture Adjustment 
     Administration (AAA), later called the Commodity 
     Stabilization Service (CSS). He started literally from the 
     ground up, measuring tobacco plantings to assure compliance 
     with the regulations. In 1947 he married his high school 
     sweetheart, Katherine Barrickman, always called ``Toddy.'' 
     The daughter of a prominent Shelbyville lawyer and County 
     Attorney, she was an accomplished competitive golfer, being 
     local women's champion for 13 straight years. In 1953 
     Clarence became chairman of the state CSS and a year later 
     went to Washington DC as national Director of the Tobacco 
     Division of the same agency. In 1956, he became Associate 
     Administrator of the national CSS. In 1959 and 1960, the 
     final two years of the Eisenhower administration, he served 
     as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and 
     Foreign Agriculture, working directly under Secretary Ezra 
     Taft Benson, Agricultural Attache in Madrid.
       From 1961 to 1969 he was back in Shelbyville, operating his 
     farm and occupying a position in public relations with the 
     Kentucky Farm Bureau. In 1970 he was appointed under the 
     Nixon administration as Agricultural Attache in Spain, 
     serving until 1976, initially under his good friend, 
     Ambassador Robert C. Hill. It was during this period that 
     several of his friends from Shelbyville were his guests at 
     the Embassy in Madrid. I remember my fellow tennis player, 
     the late Guy Lea, one of his guests, remarking about 
     Clarence's hospitality when he and his wife visited Spain.


                             world traveler

       Despite undergoing double artery by-pass surgery and 
     replacement of the aortic valve in 1998, the following year 
     he took a trip to Singapore. There are few countries he has 
     not visited. He has traveled around the world, rounded both 
     Africa and South America by ship, and visited Greenland and 
     Antarctica. Nevertheless, he has never lost touch with his 
     home town and his lifetime of public service to his community 
     and to his country has culminated in the most altruistic act 
     of all: the gift to his home town of Red Orchard Farm.
       Note: It is encouraging to report that Clarence Miller 
     continues to be hale and hearty, strong of voice, forceful in 
     expression and vitally concerned about public affairs. He 
     looks back upon his long life with a feeling of 
     accomplishment: ``It has been my good fortune to have been in 
     the right place at the right time with the right 
     credentials.''

                          ____________________