[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 13 (Friday, January 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E83]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSMAN EDWARD J. DERWINSKI

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                            HON. JIM JORDAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 27, 2012

  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to recognize the 
accomplishments of former Congressman Edward J. Derwinski, who passed 
away on Sunday, January 15, 2012, after a long and distinguished career 
of service to our country.
  Ed Derwinski led a fascinating and extraordinary life. An Army 
veteran, he served in the Pacific during World War II and the postwar 
occupation. He returned home following his Army service to earn a 
degree at Loyola University in 1951. After a single term in the 
Illinois House of Representatives, he was elected to Congress, where he 
represented Illinois's Fourth District for 24 years.
  The congressman's fearlessness was a hallmark of his career, as was 
most clearly evident in his policy toward the USSR. He was of Polish 
descent and sympathized strongly with Poland's plight under Soviet 
rule. To this end, President Reagan appointed him to the State 
Department, ultimately tapping him as Under Secretary for Security 
Assistance in 1987. The capstone of his long career of public service 
was his appointment as the first Cabinet-level Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs.
  As Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, I am proud to note 
that Ed Derwinski was one of our founding members. Heritage Foundation 
President Ed Feulner has written that Congressman Derwinski was ``the 
only senior member who was willing to have the group meet in his office 
in those early days,'' as other members ``did not want to be viewed as 
party mavericks by the Republican leadership in the House.'' I am 
grateful for the solid foundation he and his colleagues built nearly 
four decades ago.
  Mr. Speaker, Ed Derwinski is now fittingly buried in Arlington 
National Cemetery. On behalf of the Republican Study Committee, I offer 
his family my condolences as we all continue to celebrate the life of 
such a tireless defender of freedom both at home and abroad.

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