[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2135-S2138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING CONGRESSMAN WENDELL WYATT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I wish to mark a sad occasion: the recent 
death of one of Oregon's most respected Members of Congress, Wendell 
Wyatt, who represented the First District of Oregon from 1965 to 1975. 
He died peacefully on January 28th at the age of 91 in Portland, OR.

[[Page S2136]]

  With good humor and little interest in partisanship, Wendell Wyatt's 
congressional career began with his service on the House Interior 
Committee. He is best known, however, for his work on the House 
Interior Appropriations Subcommittee where his working relationship 
with its chair, distinguished Washingtonian Julia Butler Hansen, was a 
model of effective teamwork across party lines and--in this case--
across the Columbia River that separated their congressional districts.
  The same was true of his relationship with Democratic Congresswoman 
Edith Green, who represented Oregon's Third Congressional District, 
which includes most of Portland and is the district I was privileged to 
represent in the House before coming to the Senate. In fact, my 
Portland office is housed in the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal 
Building. Congressman Wyatt and Congresswoman Green--known simply in 
Oregon as Edith and Wendell--worked tirelessly together on many 
worthwhile civic projects that improved their city and their adjoining 
congressional districts. Their good work helped lay the foundation for 
the Portland we are proud of today.
  Wendell Wyatt was an advocate for the Federal workforce in Oregon, 
Government workers he regarded as good civil servants dedicated to 
serving the public interest. He also loved the individual service 
element of his work in Congress. Today, most offices call this 
``casework,'' but to Wendell Wyatt it gave him the chance to help an 
individual constituent with his or her problem when the Federal 
Government was unresponsive or trying to put a square peg in a round 
hole. He never disrespected any Government official who was 
implementing something that had an adverse impact on one of his 
constituents, but he pressed the case strongly and effectively.
  As a young Member of the House, I remember other House members and 
longtime staffers talking about Wendell with great affection and 
admiration, someone who worked hard, got results, and always with good 
humor and without partisanship.
  His colleagues during that era in Congress included Gerald Ford, 
Melvin Laird, George H.W. Bush, and other like-minded House Republican 
moderates. Like them, he epitomized the saying that ``You could 
disagree without being disagreeable.'' In Oregon, he was part of a 
generation of elected officials whose goals were service, not 
partisanship, including Mark Hatfield and Tom McCall.
  When he retired from Congress in 1974, Wendell Wyatt returned to 
Oregon to become a partner in what is now the State's second largest 
law firm, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, where he is remembered as someone 
who rolled up his sleeves to help his clients, to close the deal, and 
to help add economic activity that created jobs for Oregonians.
  The commitment to public service runs strong in Wendell Wyatt's 
family. His son, Bill, was a member of the Oregon Legislature as a 
young man, later the chief of staff to an Oregon Governor, and is now 
the very effective executive director of the Port of Portland. Bill 
Wyatt is a longtime friend of mine and of others in the economic and 
political leadership of our State, and we all know that the Wyatt 
bloodline for service to our State has passed from father to son.
  I join his family, colleagues in his law firm, and his many good 
friends in mourning his death. I join the good citizens of the First 
Congressional District of Oregon, who salute his effective voice for 
them in Congress. And I stand with so many people throughout Oregon 
whose lives are better because of Wendell Wyatt's commitment to service 
in Congress.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at the conclusion of my 
remarks a few articles about Congressman Wyatt be printed in the 
Record. First, is the announcement of his death that appeared in the 
Portland City Club Bulletin, followed by the notice of Wyatt's death 
that appeared in the Oregonian newspaper and the warm editorial about 
Wendell. I ask that there next be printed the article in his hometown 
newspaper, the Daily Astorian, in which local residents reflect on his 
service to their community. The final document that I request be 
printed in the Record is the editorial in the Daily Astorian paying 
tribute to the dignity with which Wendell Wyatt served his district, 
our State and the Congress.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         [From the Portland City Club Bulletin, Feb. 13, 2009]

                  City Club Remembers Wendell J. Wyatt

       Former City Club member Wendell J. Wyatt passed away on 
     Wednesday, January 28 at the age of 91. Wyatt graduated from 
     the University of Oregon School of Law. He served as an FBI 
     agent and a Marine Corps pilot before being elected to 
     Congress where he served a distinguished, decade-long career. 
     After retiring from office, Wyatt became a partner in the law 
     firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.
       Wyatt was a Club member for almost twenty years. He made 
     notable speaking appearances at City Club with the late 
     Congresswoman Edith Green, and the Federal Building on Third 
     Street is dedicated jointly in their names. Wyatt's law firm 
     is a City Club sponsor and his family members continue to 
     play a significant role in the Club.
       Wyatt's contributions to the community will be celebrated 
     at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, 2008 in St. Anne's Chapel at 
     Marylhurst University.
                                  ____


                  [From the Oregonian, Jan. 29, 2009]

                Ex-congressman Wendell Wyatt Dies at 91

                            (By Joan Harvey)

       Wendell Wyatt, who represented Oregon's 1st Congressional 
     District for 10 years, died Wednesday in his Portland home. 
     He was 91.
       Wyatt was a popular and respected Republican lawmaker who 
     was known as an adroit deal-maker.
       As a member of the House Committee on the Interior and 
     later the powerful House Appropriations Committee, he 
     finessed through Congress bills that permanently affected 
     Oregon, including bills that established the Tualatin 
     Reclamation Project (Scoggins Dam) in Washington County, the 
     Columbia River 40-foot shipping channel from Astoria to 
     Portland, and Lincoln City's Cascade Head Scenic Area, as 
     well as a bill authorizing the $4 million purchase of 
     ranchlands along the Snake River for public recreation.
       He stayed active in Republican politics after retiring from 
     Congress. He became a partner in the law firm of Schwabe 
     Williamson & Wyatt, and was a commissioner for the Port of 
     Portland and a lobbyist. He became inactive as an attorney in 
     2001 but continued consulting for the firm.
       In 1975, he pleaded guilty to a technical violation of 
     federal campaign laws, admitting that as chairman of the 
     Oregon Committee to Re-Elect the President, he failed to 
     report a donation to President Richard Nixon's campaign. The 
     Oregonian defended him in an editorial:
       ``He has had a long and honorable career both in private 
     and public life, including 10 years in Congress; and he has 
     gained the reputation of being not only an exceptionally 
     effective public servant, but one who is scrupulously honest 
     in all of his dealings. He has had both the respect and warm 
     friendship of colleagues in both parties. No one who knows 
     him well believes he intentionally violated the law.''
       Wyatt was born June 15, 1917, in Eugene and moved to 
     Portland as a teenager. He was editor of the Jefferson High 
     School newspaper and went to the University of Oregon. He 
     dropped out and joined The Oregonian as a copy aide. After a 
     year, he applied to the University of Oregon Law School and 
     was admitted without an undergraduate degree.
       Wayne Morse was one of his professors, and Wyatt often 
     recalled four-hour evening sessions led by the man who would 
     become the legendary ``Tiger of the Senate.'' Later, the two 
     became political adversaries.
       After obtaining his law degree, he was an FBI agent and 
     then served as a Marine Corps pilot in the Pacific during 
     World War II.
       He moved to Astoria after the war and joined the law firm 
     of Albin Norblad, a former Oregon governor and father of U.S. 
     Rep. Walter Norblad; after Walter Norblad died in 1964, Wyatt 
     was elected to fill his vacancy. He was re-elected four 
     times, retiring in 1975, the same year colleague and friend 
     Edith Green, a Democratic congresswoman for 20 years, stepped 
     down. The federal building in downtown Portland is named for 
     Green and Wyatt.
       Wyatt married Anne Elizabeth Buchanan in the mid-1940s; 
     they divorced. He married Faye Hill in 1962. She predeceased 
     him. He is survived by daughters, Ann Wyatt and Jane Wyatt; 
     stepdaughter, Sandi Kinsley; son, Wendell ``Bill'' Jr., 
     executive director of the Port of Portland; stepson, Larry D. 
     Hill; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
       A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, 
     2009, in St. Anne's Chapel at Marylhurst University. The 
     family suggests remembrances to the Clatsop County Historical 
     Society. Arrangements are by Finley's Sunset Hills Mortuary.
                                  ____


             Wendell Wyatt: Success Through Personal Values

                   (By The Oregonian Editorial Board)

       Back when Rep. Wendell Wyatt, R-Ore., was in Congress, from 
     1965 to 1975, you didn't hear the word bipartisan much, 
     because at many levels of American politics, it was a way of 
     life, thus taken for granted.
       Wyatt died this week at age 91 after a life in politics, 
     law and community leadership. He should be remembered as 
     someone who

[[Page S2137]]

     put the problems of his individual constituents at the 
     forefront of his service in the U.S. House of 
     Representatives.
       His congressional office was geared toward listening to 
     constituent problems, then bending every effort to solve 
     them--whether the issue was of great national or regional 
     import or simply a mishandled Social Security benefit. Wyatt 
     himself often got personally engaged in the most challenging 
     and vexing details of constituent service.
       It would not have been useful for Wyatt or his constituents 
     for him to adopt a highly partisan stance when he was in 
     Congress.
       He was elected to the House in the small GOP freshman class 
     of 1964, the year that Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson 
     laid a historic electoral whipping on Sen. Barry Goldwater, 
     R-Ariz., the great hope of the right wing of the Republican 
     party.
       It was clear that Wyatt was never going to be part of the 
     majority, and he never was. Thus he had to develop the skills 
     necessary to adequately represent all of the people of 
     Oregon's 1st Congressional District.
       ``This was more effective than sitting in the back benches 
     and throwing spitballs all day long,'' said his son Bill 
     Wyatt. Instead, the elder Wyatt developed good working 
     relationships with powerful Democrats such as Wayne Aspinall, 
     D-Colo., chairman of the House Interior Committee and Tom 
     Foley, who also entered Congress in 1964 and, much later, 
     became Speaker of the House for a short time.
       As a congressman, Wyatt was pro-choice, pro-gun-control and 
     the driving force behind efforts to bring commerce to Oregon 
     via the Columbia River. His social views would not sit well 
     in the modern Republican Party, at least the official part of 
     it. They didn't sit that well with the party's establishment 
     back then either, but it still was possible to disagree and 
     be independent-minded and still remain in good standing 
     within the party. Today? It's not as clear. But Wyatt's views 
     then are positions that many Republicans hold privately--or 
     even not-so-privately--today, even if the right's hold on 
     party leadership is much stronger.
       For Wyatt, though, service was a far bigger motivator than 
     political ideology. In his last campaign, Wyatt even went 
     retail with his orientation toward constituents. His campaign 
     slogan was: ``Wendell Wyatt, your door-to-door Congressman.''
       His son Bill, of course, has been prominent in Oregon 
     political and economic circles for years, serving as chief of 
     staff for Gov. John Kitzhaber and now as executive director 
     of the Port of Portland. Bill Wyatt also tried elective 
     politics early in his career, as a Democratic candidate for 
     the Oregon Legislature. Worried about whether he would 
     somehow step on his father's political toes, the younger 
     Wyatt brought the matter up. ``He told me, `What makes you 
     happy makes me happy. You don't have to protect me from what 
     you think is the right thing to do.','' Bill Wyatt said. ``He 
     was able to separate what was most important to him and keep 
     it there.''
       That was the key to what made Wendell Wyatt successful in 
     life--public and private.
                                  ____


                [From the Daily Astorian, Feb. 9, 2009]

       North Coast Mourns Former Oregon Congressman Wendell Wyatt

                           (By Patrick Webb)

       Former Astoria Congressman Wendell Wyatt died Wednesday. He 
     was 91.
       Wyatt, a Republican, served the 1st Congressional District 
     from 1964 until retiring in 1975.
       Tributes to him focused on his honesty and his ability to 
     get the job done.
       Denny Thompson of Astoria, who served as honorary Finnish 
     Consul for 35 years, worked closely with Wyatt and praised 
     his ability to reach across the aisle.
       ``My union friends were all Democrats, but they were 
     working for Wendell Wyatt. They all respected him and he 
     respected everyone in return,'' said Thompson, whose wife, 
     Frankye, was Wyatt's campaign chairwoman for Clatsop County.
       ``He did everything the proper way--he was completely 
     honest, and he did as much for Clatsop County as anyone.''
       Wyatt was a well-respected Republican leader who worked 
     especially effectively with Democrat Congresswoman Edith 
     Green. The federal building in Portland was later named for 
     them.
       Born in Eugene in 1917, Wyatt moved with his family to 
     Portland. He graduated from Jefferson High School, where he 
     had been editor of the high school newspaper, in 1935. He 
     worked briefly as a copy aide for The Oregonian newspaper, 
     earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 
     1941 then worked briefly as an FBI agent.
       When World War II broke out in the Pacific, he enlisted in 
     the U.S. Marine Air Corps and served as a pilot from 1942 
     until 1946.
       Afterward, he moved to Astoria and worked for the law firm 
     of Albin Norblad, the former Oregon governor and father of 
     U.S. Rep. Walter Norblad.
       Tom Brownhill, of Eugene, was district attorney in Clatsop 
     County from 1952 to 1960 and regularly faced Wyatt in the 
     courtroom. ``I had a lot of cases against him,'' said 
     Brownhill, whose daughter Paula, continues the family's legal 
     tradition as a circuit court judge. ``As a lawyer, when he 
     got into a case, he was all-in.''
       Wyatt hired longtime legal secretary Doris Hughes from 
     another firm in the 1950s--by offering her a raise from $160 
     to $200 a month. Hughes remembered Wyatt today as a 
     ``wonderful person.''
       ``He gave the best dictation of anyone I know,'' she 
     recalled. ``He was so smooth. The words just flowed out.''
       Wyatt was chairman of the Oregon State Republican Central 
     Committee from 1955 until 1957. During that time, George C. 
     Fulton, of Astoria, another contemporary, worked closely with 
     him while serving as Clatsop County GOP chairman.
       Fulton, also an attorney, described Wyatt as a hard worker. 
     ``He was a good lawyer. He worked hard and he played hard.''
       When Walter Norblad died in 1965, Wyatt was elected to his 
     congressional seat and served five terms, retiring in 1974.
       Ted Bugas, a Bumblebee Seafood executive and supporter of 
     Salmon For All, knew Wyatt because both had worked for the 
     FBI and their Astoria offices were in the Post Office and 
     across the street.
       He recalled one incident as if yesterday.
       ``One morning we woke up and thought `There's someone in 
     the house! The wife and I were still in bed. In came 
     Wendell--into our room--and said, `I might go to Congress. 
     What do you think of that?' ''
       Bugas worked with Wyatt on fisheries issues, often 
     traveling to Washington, D.C., often for lobbying efforts. 
     His daughter, Christine, served as an intern in Wyatt's 
     Congressional office.
       ``He was a great personality,'' said Bugas, who splits his 
     time in retirement between Astoria and California. ``He was 
     very pleasant.''
       He worked on bills that established the Tualatin 
     Reclamation Project in Washington County and the 40-foot 
     shipping channel in the Columbia River from Astoria to 
     Portland.
       He was also credited with bills that created Lincoln City's 
     Cascade Head Scenic Area, as well as a bill authorizing the 
     $4 million purchase of ranchlands along the Snake River for 
     public recreation.
       U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said, ``Wendell Wyatt truly made his 
     mark on Oregon. Everyone who has appreciated Cascade Head 
     owes Congressman Wyatt a debt of gratitude for establishing 
     this scenic area and those who visit public lands along the 
     Snake River can thank Wendell Wyatt for opening the region to 
     recreation.''
       The Daily Astorian Publisher Steve Forrester covered 
     Wyatt's political activities in 1974 while substituting for 
     Washington columnist A. Robert Smith.
       ``Wyatt said to me that he earned `the equivalent of a 
     master's degree' every time he took on a new issue. He was 
     the kind of Republican we no longer see--a solid, pragmatic 
     middle-of-the-road guy,'' Forrester said.
       ``He was close to President Richard Nixon, and he was 
     unfortunately tarred with that brush when he admitted to his 
     involvement with Nixon's fund-raising--an embarrassing moment 
     in an otherwise unblemished political career.''
       In 1975, Wyatt admitted a technical violation of campaign 
     laws for failing to report an Oregon GOP donation to Nixon.
       He stayed active in Republican politics after retiring from 
     Congress and became a partner in the law firm of Schwabe 
     Williamson and Wyatt until his retirement.
       He became inactive as an attorney in 2001, but continued 
     consulting for the firm. He also served as a commissioner for 
     the Port of Portland and a lobbyist.
       Wyatt was married twice. He divorced his first wife, Anne 
     Elizabeth Buchanan. He married Faye Hill in 1962. She died 
     last year. He had two daughters, Ann and Jane, and a son, 
     Wendell ``Bill'' Wyatt Jr., who is executive director of the 
     Port of Portland and a former chief of staff for Gov. John 
     Kitzhaber, plus step son and stepdaughter, four grandchildren 
     and one great grandchild.
       A memorial service will be held 1 p.m. Feb. 21 at St. 
     Anne's Chapel at Marylhurst University near Lake Oswego. 
     Contributions may go to the Clatsop County Historical 
     Society.
                                  ____


                [From the Daily Astorian, Feb. 2, 2009]

                   Wendell Wyatt Served With Dignity

       Wendell Wyatt, who died last week, was one of those old-
     school, gentlemanly fellows who served his country and his 
     community without the need for a brass band playing in the 
     background.
       A Republican, he served the 1st Congressional District, 
     which includes Astoria and the North Coast, from 1965 until 
     retiring in 1975.
       An Oregonian through and through, he moved to Astoria to 
     practice law after serving as a U.S. Marine Air Corps pilot 
     in World War II. His buddies around the courthouse smile when 
     they remember he practiced law with what they describe as 
     ``considerable tenacity.''
       When Congressman Walter Norblad died in office, Wyatt took 
     over.
       In the decade that followed, he served with dignity and 
     pragmatism. Often politicians wax eloquent about bipartisan 
     efforts but don't really mean it. Wyatt talked the talk, and 
     walked the walk, working especially closely with Democrat 
     Congresswoman Edith Green, to get the job done.
       On fisheries issues, he worked to ensure the interests of 
     the Columbia River came first.
       Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley summed it up best: ``Wendell 
     Wyatt truly made his mark on Oregon.''

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