[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 75 (Monday, May 19, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E764-E765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING THE HON. MICK STATON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 19, 2014

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and remember former 
Congressman Mick Staton, fellow member of the freshman class of 1980 
and a respected political, business and community leader in West 
Virginia. Mick passed away last month at the age of 74.
  Mick was born and raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia and graduated 
from Parkersburg High School in 1958. He then attended Concord College 
in Athens, West Virginia, and played on the 1962 conference 
championship football team. Mick married his wife Lynn, herself a 1960 
graduate of Parkersburg High School, and have two children and five 
grandchildren.
  Mick was Vice President for Data Processing for One Valley Bank (now 
BB&T), which was at the time, the largest bank in West Virginia, before 
first running for Congress in 1978, opposing 20-year incumbent John 
Slack (D-WV). In the race, Mick garnered 41 percent of the vote. In 
January 1980, Congressman Slack died in office and a special election 
was held. Although he did not win the special election, Mick went on to 
win the seat in the general election.
  In Congress, Staton had a reputation of service to his constituents 
in what is now the 2nd District of West Virginia. He served on the 
Small Business Committee and Interior & Insular Affairs Committee, now 
known as the Natural Resources Committee.
  After leaving Congress in 1983, Staton served as chief political 
advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was National Executive 
Director of the Chamber's political action committee. In 1992, he 
founded and served as president of Capitol Link, Inc., a government 
affairs consulting firm.
  Most recently, Mick served as County Chairman of the Berkeley County 
GOP Executive Committee, from 2007 through December 2012. In 
recognition of his lifelong service, this March the West Virginia State 
Republican Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution naming 
Mick an Emeritus Member.
  I submit the following article from West Virginia MetroNews on former 
Congressman Staton.

                   [From WV MetroNews, Apr. 20, 2014]

                  Mick Staton To Be Remembered Monday

                           (By Jeff Jenkins)

       Winchester, Va.--The life and service of former West 
     Virginia Third District Congressman Mick Staton will be 
     remembered in a memorial service set for Monday afternoon in 
     Winchester, Virginia. The 74-year-old Staton died last week.
       ``Certainly anyone who was elected 30 years ago as a 
     Republican in West Virginia showed a lot of tenacity, a lot 
     of strength and was a trailblazer for our movement and set 
     the stage for the successes we are having right now,'' West 
     Virginia Republican Party Chairman Conrad Lucas said.
       Staton, a Parkersburg native, lived in South Charleston 
     when he defeated John Hutchinson in the 1980 election for 
     what was then West Virginia's Third District seat. Hutchinson 
     had beaten Staton in a special election earlier that year to 
     fill the seat in the interim following the death of 11-term 
     congressman John Slack. Staton served just one term. He lost 
     to Democrat Bob Wise in 1982.
       ``Mick certainly set the stage for ultimate Republican 
     successes and went on always to be a dedicated member of the 
     party,'' Lucas said. ``He may have lost his congressional 
     seat but he still stayed very active in the internal aspects 
     of the party.''
       Lucas said he was pleased Staton attended a GOP meeting 
     earlier this year where he was given emeritus status.
       ``I was happy he could make the ceremony so we could honor 
     his service, his long service, and very dedicated service to 
     the Republican Party and people of West Virginia,'' he said.
       The memorial service is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. at 
     Braddock Street United Methodist Church in Winchester, 
     Virginia.

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