[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 38 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H1776-H1778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PROVIDING FOR ACCEPTANCE OF STATUE OF GERALD R. FORD

  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 27) 
providing for the acceptance of a statue of Gerald R. Ford from the 
people of Michigan for placement in the United States Capitol.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 27

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),

     SECTION 1. ACCEPTANCE OF STATUE OF GERALD R. FORD FROM THE 
                   PEOPLE OF MICHIGAN FOR PLACEMENT IN UNITED 
                   STATES CAPITOL.

       (a) In General.--The statue of Gerald R. Ford furnished by 
     the people of Michigan for placement in the United States 
     Capitol in accordance with section 1814 of the Revised 
     Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 2131), is accepted in 
     the name of the United States, and the thanks of the Congress 
     are tendered to the people of Michigan for providing this 
     commemoration of one of Michigan's most eminent persons.
       (b) Presentation Ceremony.--The State of Michigan is 
     authorized to use the rotunda of the Capitol on May 3, 2011, 
     for a presentation ceremony for the statue accepted under 
     this section. The Architect of the Capitol and the Capitol 
     Police Board shall take such action as may be necessary with 
     respect to physical preparations and security for the 
     ceremony.
       (c) Display in Rotunda.--The Architect of the Capitol shall 
     provide for the display of the statue accepted under this 
     section in the rotunda of the Capitol, in accordance with the 
     procedures described in section 311(e) of the Legislative 
     Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 U.S.C. 2132(e)).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren) and the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Woolsey) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 
27, providing for the acceptance of a statue of Gerald R. Ford from the 
people of Michigan for placement in the United States Capitol.
  President Gerald R. Ford was a distinguished Member and minority 
leader of this Chamber, a man of the House. He was Vice President of 
the United States and our 38th President. A proud citizen of the great 
State of Michigan, President Ford served this Nation at a time of great 
national pain and turmoil. He ably served and helped us heal our 
wounds.
  This resolution allows, at the direction of the people of Michigan, 
the Rotunda to be used for a ceremony in President Ford's honor on May 
3 of this year. It also allows for the statue to be permanently 
displayed as part of the prestigious and historic national Statuary 
Hall collection.
  Mr. Speaker, this concurrent resolution, introduced by my colleague 
from Michigan (Mr. Upton) and cosponsored by the other members of the 
Michigan delegation, should garner overwhelming bipartisan support. So 
I thank Mr. Upton for introducing it, and I urge all my colleagues to 
support H. Con. Res. 27.
                                         House of Representatives,


                            Committee on House Administration,

                                   Washington, DC, March 10, 2011.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Speaker of the House, House of Representatives, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Speaker Boehner: I write to formally notify you that 
     the Committee on House Administration hereby waives further 
     committee consideration of H. Con. Res. 27, providing of the 
     acceptance of a statue of Gerald R. Ford from the people of 
     Michigan for placement in the United States Capitol, in order 
     that the resolution may proceed expeditiously to the House 
     floor for consideration.
           Sincerely,
                                                Daniel E. Lungren,
                                                         Chairman.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Gerald R. Ford, Republican of Michigan, served as a 
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973 and also 
served as House minority leader from 1965 until he was nominated by the 
President and confirmed by Congress to serve as President Richard 
Nixon's Vice President. Representative Ford was a highly respected 
Member who was well-liked by his colleagues. He was the first person 
actually selected to fill a vacancy in the Vice Presidency under 
provisions of the 25th Amendment.
  Upon President Nixon's resignation in 1974, Mr. Ford assumed the 
Presidency and served until January 20, 1977. He is the only person to 
have served as President without first having won a national election.
  Mr. Speaker, Title 2 of the United States Code allows each State to 
have no more than two statues of their choosing to represent their 
State in the national Statuary Hall collection in the U.S. Capitol. The 
Ford statue, like that of other former U.S. Presidents, will be 
displayed in the Capitol Rotunda following the presentation ceremony on 
May 3, 2011.
  H. Con. Res. 27 follows the customary practice of accepting the 
statue into the collection and setting the date for use of the Rotunda 
for the ceremony. I urge all Members to support this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege 
to yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Upton) and the original sponsor of this resolution.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I certainly rise this afternoon in support of 
this resolution which authorizes the placement of a statue of President 
Gerald R. Ford in the Capitol Rotunda, with an unveiling ceremony which 
is set for May 3.
  I'm pleased that this resolution has garnered the support of the 
entire Michigan delegation who have lent their names as original 
cosponsors. This is a testament to President Ford's high esteem among 
Michiganders and Americans of all political stripes.
  As one who has the honor and privilege of representing some of the 
very

[[Page H1777]]

same people in southwest Michigan that President Ford did during his 
tenure in the House--and I would note that Mr. Huizenga is going to 
speak after me, and he represents some of the same areas; certainly Mr. 
Amash from Michigan has some of that same district and, I believe, Mr. 
Camp as well--it gives us pleasure to witness this fitting tribute to 
Michigan's native son.
  President Ford is a Michigan original and a model for all those 
called to public service. A seemingly ordinary American who 
unexpectedly found himself in the Presidency at one of our Nation's 
most tumultuous times, President Ford led with honesty and integrity. 
By standing above the political fray, he allowed a wounded Nation to 
heal.
  And I would just note that before he lay in state in the Capitol, his 
coffin actually passed through this Chamber on the way to lie in state 
in the Rotunda, and it is fitting for Michigan to bring his statue here 
and for us to pass this resolution.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor to yield such time as he 
may consume to the dean of the Democratic Caucus, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Dingell).
  (Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. DINGELL. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from California 
for her kindness in yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be one of the sponsors of the 
legislation before us. I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 27, a 
resolution providing for the acceptance of a statue of the Honorable 
Gerald R. Ford from the people of Michigan for placement in the United 
States Capitol. It is an honor to be lead sponsor on this resolution 
with my dear friend and colleague across the aisle, Mr. Upton. It is a 
fitting tribute to the bipartisanship and the decency that Gerald Ford 
espoused as a Member of the Congress for 25 years, and then as Vice 
President and then President of the United States, that the resolution 
has the support of the entire Michigan delegation and of the people we 
in the Michigan delegation serve here in the Congress.
  The people of Michigan chose a fine President, wise legislator, and a 
decent and extraordinary man to serve as one of the two statues 
representing the people of Michigan in the United States Capitol. 
Millions of people each year will have the privilege of viewing the 
statue and be reminded of the thoughtfulness, courage, and sincerity 
with which he led the Nation during his Presidency. Indeed, much like 
today, President Ford took office at a time of divisiveness and 
uncertainty, and he helped to heal our Nation and to bring us together.

                              {time}  1720

  I was fortunate to serve with President Ford in the House of 
Representatives. And though we disagreed on many issues, I was always 
able to say that I and my colleagues here respected President Ford for 
his decency, and for his ability and desire to bring all people 
together at the table and to form consensuses across the aisle. When he 
became President, the Congress helped work with him to enact a number 
of bipartisan laws, such as the Privacy Act, the Federal Elections 
Campaign Act, the Housing and Community Development Act, which 
established the Community Development Block Grant program, and many 
others.
  President Ford and I worked particularly closely during his 
presidency on energy matters. He was an honorable man whose word was 
good, and his administration always kept in mind the best concerns and 
the best interests of the people of the United States. During that 
administration, we passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 
1975, EPCA, which established the Nation's first fuel-economy 
standards.
  At a time when our country is deeply divided, I am pleased to have 
this moment to reflect on Gerald Ford's legacy. He never abandoned his 
beliefs, and he never based his decisions on anything except the best 
interests of the Nation. He once said that ``our great Republic is a 
government of laws, not men.'' It is wise that we should remember these 
good words and pay tribute to Gerald R. Ford by accepting his statue in 
the halls of this great institution. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
voting for this resolution.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, at this time I 
yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from the State of 
Michigan (Mrs. Miller).
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of this House Resolution 
that is going to help put a statue of President Gerald R. Ford in the 
United States Capitol Rotunda.
  Mr. Speaker, before I came to the Congress, I had the great honor and 
privilege of serving as Michigan's secretary of State. And sort of an 
odd appendage of that job was serving as our State's official 
historian, so we did all the historic markers. I tried to get around 
the State of Michigan to go to some of the dedications, particularly 
the ones that I thought were so outstanding. I recall with such a great 
amount of pride having the historic marker dedicated for Gerald Ford's 
boyhood home. A couple of young people had bought the home and 
completely refurbished it to the period when Gerald Ford was there. And 
so we are standing there on the porch of his boyhood home in Grand 
Rapids, and there was a very large crowd assembled of family, friends, 
neighbors, and others that were there to see the President, who came, 
both the President and Mrs. Ford came that day.
  I had just gotten elected as the secretary of State, and here I was 
introducing him to this crowd of people there. He couldn't have been 
more humble and more enjoyable to listen to because he was talking 
about playing football out in the streets there, and how much he 
enjoyed that and the rough and tumble of playing football then. And of 
course then he went on to a couple of national championships at the 
University of Michigan. Go Blue!
  But from there, you think about where he came from and what he 
achieved in his life, and really I think the humility and the honor 
that he had that took him from playing football, from those streets to 
a couple of national championships, and then to a historic and very 
remarkable and impactful legislative career, serving here in this 
House, in this Chamber, and then on to be the Vice President of the 
United States, and then the President of the United States. It is 
really an American story. It's just an American story, a true American 
success story.
  President Ford took over the presidency at a time when our Nation was 
reeling from the nightmare of Watergate, looking for somebody to give 
us some stability, some normalcy during those terrible times when the 
honor and the dignity of the Office of the President had been so 
severely damaged. And he managed to repair America's faith, I think, in 
our leaders because he was so clearly an honest man, a true American 
patriot, an honorable man. He was the right leader at a very difficult 
time in our Nation's history. He reflected so well the humble and the 
patriotic, honest people of the great State of Michigan.

  So, Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution. I think 
this statue of President Gerald Ford joining the other statues in 
Statuary Hall is certainly a fitting and appropriate thing. It reflects 
the will of the people of Michigan and I think is an honor that is long 
overdue to President Gerald R. Ford.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes 
to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga).
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. I appreciate the chairman, the gentleman 
from California, allowing me this opportunity to speak in favor of 
House Continuing Resolution 27.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a special opportunity for me, as a freshman 
Member of this body, in many different ways. First and foremost, it's 
special to me because growing up in west Michigan, my hometown of 
Zeeland was represented by the gentleman who went from Congressman to 
Vice President to President Ford at various times. And my father, who 
was a city councilman for many, many years during that time, actually 
had an opportunity to work with him and have a bit of a relationship. 
So I grew up around the dining room table with this lore about

[[Page H1778]]

Gerald Ford and what it meant to be involved and to give back to your 
community.
  The second reason why it was very important to me was because of that 
time and that era. Being born in 1969, some of my earliest memories 
surrounded that turmoil of Vietnam and of Watergate, and of that time 
when, at the time then-Congressman Ford becoming Vice President and 
then becoming President of the United States. It very much shaped me as 
I was interested in the political process.
  The third thing that really makes this special to me was, later on, 
just prior to this, I was granted the privilege of serving my community 
in the Michigan House of Representatives, where I voted to replace 
Zachary Chandler, who had been a Governor, and the statue that 
represented him, I voted to replace that with Gerald Ford. Now this was 
absolutely nothing against Governor Chandler. He was a great man in and 
of himself at the time. He was an abolitionist, fought against slavery, 
and many other things. But we felt this was such a special opportunity 
to grant to President Ford. So it was really an honor to be able to do 
that.
  The other couple of things that make this special for me is, I had 
the opportunity to attend his funeral here at the National Cathedral. 
It was a very moving time. It was especially interesting to see people 
from both sides of the aisle talk about him with such respect and the 
way that he handled himself as such a gentleman. Even though he was 
tough, he came in and did it in a very respectful way. And I thought 
that was a true honor. I then that same day flew back to Grand Rapids 
and was able to pass in front of his casket at the Gerald R. Ford 
museum in downtown Grand Rapids, where there were literally hours and 
hours and hours of lines. I literally stood in line for over 4 hours at 
midnight as this line, through the entire night, snaked past his casket 
to pay honor and respect. Then the next day, as the burial was 
happening, crowds of tens of thousands of people literally lined the 
streets in honor of this man and Mrs. Ford as well.
  And now we arrive at this point, the true honor of being able to be 
in this body, to have been an original cosponsor of this legislation, 
to be able to be here to witness the placing of this statue here in 
this great Capitol, a place where his heart really lied, a place where 
he served as minority leader for a number of years in this very 
Chamber. And it's truly an honor to be here and to be a part of this 
historic time. We are so thankful that we can pay honor and respect to 
this wonderful man who served his country nobly.

                              {time}  1730

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, President Ford was a wonderful person, as everyone has 
said here. He was a remarkable man. And one of the most remarkable 
things about him was the humility with which he carried himself through 
his entire life.
  An All-American football player, he was criticized for being clumsy 
by the national press at times, when in fact it was because he had a 
trick knee as a result of injuries that he suffered. But he never 
complained about that.
  I'd like to just mention one little anecdote that I think brings to 
the attention of people what a genuine person he was. We all know that 
President Ford took a rather controversial, and I would say courageous, 
act in granting a pardon to President Nixon because he thought it was 
best for this country.
  Now, some time thereafter, my father actually happened to be the 
physician attending to former President Nixon when he was suffering 
from his phlebitis attack which led to a near-death occasion while he 
was at Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
  President Ford heard about that, and President Ford was en route to 
California, and he immediately summoned his aides to him on Air Force 
One and said, I want to go visit Richard Nixon. His staff replied, Mr. 
President, we would advise against it. You've already received 
political heat for pardoning Mr. Nixon. And a personal visit like this 
would draw attention to that, and we would recommend against it.
  In response, Gerald Ford said, Richard Nixon is my friend; he is in 
trouble. I want to see him.
  So his aides then said, well, Mr. President, perhaps he is not well 
enough to see you. And President Ford said to his staff, call his 
doctor, call Pat Nixon, ask whether it would be good for me to visit 
him, and I will abide by their decision.
  They called up and talked to Mrs. Nixon, who then called my dad and 
asked whether it would be a good idea. And my dad said it might be the 
best thing for his health that could happen. And when that was told to 
Gerald Ford, he said, make it happen. And he did. He came and he 
visited Richard Nixon at the hospital. After it was over, he turned to 
his aide, his Chief of Staff, Dick Cheney, and said, that's as close to 
death as I've ever seen anybody, because President Nixon was very, very 
sick at the time.
  My dad called me up after that was over and said, this was a 
wonderful visit. It will help the health of President Nixon. And then 
he said to me, this--probably politically incorrect to say today, but 
my dad said, That President Ford, he's a real man's man. What he meant 
by that was he was a genuine person who, irrespective of the political 
consequences, decided to go forward with what most people would 
consider to be a genuine act of friendship, trying to help a friend in 
need, a friend who was in difficulty and, in fact, almost on the 
doorstep of death.
  But that was Gerald Ford. He acted the way we would all hope that we 
would act, without concern for the consequences politically. Gerald 
Ford was, in fact, a man's man.
  Mr. Speaker, I would urge our colleagues to support this resolution 
so that we might have the presence of Gerald Ford's statue here in our 
Nation's Capitol so that generations from now children can come and 
visit and ask questions about who that man, President Ford, really was, 
and perhaps they will get the real picture.
  Mr. AMASH. Mr. Speaker, President Ford served the State of Michigan 
and the United States with distinction during a time of immense 
upheaval. Placing a statue of President Ford in the Capitol is a great 
tribute and is well earned.
   I admire President Ford's willingness to take principled stands for 
what he believed was right, even if those decisions were unpopular at 
the time. I am honored to represent the same district that President 
Ford served, and I will continue to strive to live up to his principled 
example.
   Thank you to the people of Michigan for providing this statue. It is 
my hope that this statue will serve as a symbol of political courage to 
future Capitol visitors.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
27.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand 
the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________