[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E209-E210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IN REMEMBRANCE OF CONGRESSMAN BOB McEWEN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ELISE M. STEFANIK

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 2015

  Ms. STEFANIK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a lawmaker 
who understood the deep values held by the great people living in the 
North County, represented them with integrity, and had the heart of a 
true public servant. Congressman Bob McEwen passed away in 1995, but it 
is appropriate to reflect back on a life of service as it has been two 
decades since his passing.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a brief profile of him written by a 
friend of mine, Cary Brick. Cary was Congressman McEwen's Chief of 
Staff and remained close to him after his retirement in 1981. Cary's 
tribute appears in the January 2015 issue of Thousand Islands Life 
Magazine.
  ``When Rep. Elise Stefanik raised her right hand in Washington this 
month, to be sworn in as the North Country's Representative in 
Washington, she garnered a lot of national media attention as the 
youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
  Exactly a half century earlier, twenty years before she was born, a 
45-year-old veteran New York State Republican legislator from 
Ogdensburg, took the same oath. One of his Congressional friends from 
the Great Lakes once referred to him as ``The St. Lawrence 
Congressman.''
  Robert Cameron McEwen, with strong family roots in New York's St. 
Lawrence County, went on to represent the Congressional district, 
bordered by the Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario on the West and Lake 
Champlain on the East, from 1965 until his retirement, in 1981.
  Living on the U.S. shore of the St. Lawrence River, he said ``almost 
near enough to see the color of the eyes of the passing captains and 
pilots,'' he was the first North Country Congressman with such a strong 
personal tie to the St. Lawrence and the Thousand Islands.
  The United States Customs House in Ogdensburg, the oldest continually 
occupied Federal building in America, bears his name as a tribute to 
his public service.
  I had the privilege of serving on his Congressional staff from 1969 
until his retirement in January of 1981--first as his Press Secretary, 
later as his Special Assistant and finally as his Executive Assistant.
  He never missed an opportunity to promote the island region. In fact, 
one of his Congressional colleagues once told me ``When I saw Bob 
McEwen I knew I was going to hear a pep talk about either the (Thousand 
Islands) or the Seaway.''
  Best Friends Forever:
  ``Bob'' McEwen's Congress was unlike today's; its members debated the 
issues of the day with gusto, but at sundown they were friends sharing 
collegiality, respect and friendship. Two immediate lighthearted 
instances come to mind.
  The first was his hosting of his fellow House member, Rep. Geraldine 
Ferraro, a downstate Democrat (who later was the Vice Presidential 
candidate on the 1984 Mondale/Ferraro ticket) through what seemed like 
ocean seas on a small Coast Guard vessel, from Wellesley Island to 
Morristown. It was a cold, Fall day. All of us onboard were green at 
the gills and holding our stomachs when we finally docked. The object 
was to demonstrate to the influential Democrat, the dangers of winter 
navigation on the river, a red-hot issue at the time. It worked: she 
joined him in opposition to the idea. On the flight back to Washington 
she said ``OK, Bob, you've made your point!''
  The two were political opposites in both party and political 
philosophy, but they were friends forever.

[[Page E210]]

  The second was his hosting of a senior Southern State Democrat, whose 
support he needed for legislation, to benefit the eventual expansion of 
Fort Drum. After the tour of the installation near Watertown, the 
influential colleague and his wife settled in for a McEwen-arranged 
weekend at a cottage in the shadow of the Thousand Islands Bridge.
  Over the course of their stay, the guests were treated to a private 
boat tour of the islands, a traditional shore dinner, a visit to Fort 
Henry at Kingston and several informal ``stop-by'' visits from local 
movers and shakers, from both political parties. If that wasn't enough, 
knowing of his interest in antique firearms, a visit to Ozzie Steele's 
gun shop in Clayton resulted in the visitor's strong interest in an 
antique handgun on display. They couldn't agree on a price, however, 
much to the dismay of Bob McEwen.
  That sale eventually took place when unbeknownst to the ``good `ol 
boy' '' from the South, Bob (quietly) paid Ozzie the difference. 
Everybody was a winner in that transaction, especially the North 
Country, when the Southerner became a strong backer of Fort Drum 
expansion.
  That weekend resulted in another ``forever'' friendship.
  A McEwen Fish Story:
  He proudly wore a belt buckle depicting a St. Lawrence Muskie.
  He caught his first Muskie on an Election Day in the 70s; he 
displayed it in his Washington office. I jokingly named it after his 
unsuccessful Congressional challenger of the day. He proudly invited 
his friends to see it and welcomed the opportunity to describe its 
fight to stay in the river. It now hangs in my home as a remembrance of 
his sense of humor and his competitive nature--two requisites for 
success in Congress.
  At a White House reception some time later, President Richard Nixon 
commented on the buckle and told stories of his own fishing trips to 
the St. Lawrence, in the months following his 1960 defeat by JFK.
  That led to six frozen McEwen Muskie steaks being shipped by air, 
from St. Lawrence County to the Congressional office, for promised 
delivery to the President.
  My delivery of the wrapped-in-dry-ice steaks to the White House, at 
the Congressman's behest, certainly caught the attention of the Secret 
Service, but that's a story for another time.
  A Working Retirement:
  Bob McEwen returned to his native North Country upon his retirement, 
in January, 1981. That retirement didn't last too long. President 
Reagan called him back to work by naming him as Chair of the U.S. 
section of the International Joint Commission, a State Department 
entity dealing with American-Canadian border issues. No stranger to 
those matters, he had been an active member of the U.S./Canada Inter-
Parliamentary Group, a low-key association of American Congressmen and 
Canadian Parliamentarians, who met regularly to discuss issues of 
mutual concern. He had also been a founder of the Great Lakes 
Conference of Congressmen, which met in the Capitol to share input on 
maritime, trade, environmental and other matters affecting the Lakes 
regions.
  Back Home:
  Bob McEwen died in 1995. In delivering his eulogy in Ogdensburg, I 
said: ``Bob knew that when the time came for his final roll call vote, 
as a veteran and member of the House of Representatives, he could be 
interred beside some of our nation's greatest heroes, statesmen (and) 
Supreme Court Justices . . . in Arlington National Cemetery. . . . He 
knew he was entitled to an interment with pomp and circumstance. But 
Bob was a man of the North Country. He wanted it simple. He wanted it 
here.''
  The ``St. Lawrence Congressman'' is buried in Ogdensburg--not too far 
from the shore of the river he called home.''
  Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me a few minutes to share the 
memory of Congressman Bob McEwen. I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________