[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 40 (Friday, February 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          REMEMBERING LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR ROBERT B. JORDAN III

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 28, 2020

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life and work of Robert B. ``Bob'' Jordan III, North Carolina's former 
Lieutenant Governor, a civic and business leader, and a longtime 
friend. Bob's death on February 16, 2020 has been met with an 
outpouring of fond recollections, fulsome tributes, and expressions of 
affection and respect that attest to his life of service and the impact 
it had on our state. Lisa and I want to express our sympathy to Bob's 
wife Sarah, their family, and Bob's many friends and admirers.
   A native of Mount Gilead, North Carolina, Bob attended North 
Carolina State University (NCSU), graduating with a degree in forestry, 
and was then commissioned Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served 
two years in Europe and rose to the rank of Captain. Bob then returned 
to Mount Gilead and began a long career as head of Jordan Lumber and 
Supply. He also showed a knack for politics and was asked at age 24 to 
serve on the town board. Four years later he was appointed to what is 
now called the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina 
system.
   Bob's career in state politics began with his election in 1976 to 
the N.C. Senate, where he served for eight years, representing 
Montgomery, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly and Union Counties. He 
was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1984 and almost became governor, 
running a valiant race in 1988.
  Bob had a remarkable ability to bridge divides and find common 
ground. He brokered a major agreement to increase investment in North 
Carolina's highways, and another to finance statewide school 
construction. The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center is a monument 
to his leadership, as is the N.C. Biotechnology Center, the first 
state-funded economic development organization of its kind.
   Bob Jordan provided educational leadership throughout his career, 
helping established the Basic Education Program, a comprehensive plan 
to equalize access to education, and the Teaching Fellows program, a 
highly successful scholarship program for prospective teachers. He was 
instrumental in the creation of the present UNC governance structure 
and served on the Boards of Trustees for UNC-Charlotte and NCSU as well 
as the state community college system.
   I first got to know Bob through my mentor, N.C. Senator Russell 
Walker, and was serving as state Democratic Chairman in 1984 when Bob 
was elected Lt. Governor (his election was about the only good news 
Democrats got that night). He was one of the most conscientious and 
well-motivated people I have known in politics. I agree with his friend 
and mine, Former N.C. Senator Gerry Hancock, who described Bob to a 
reporter as ``one of the most honorable, decent, hard-working people 
we've ever known.''
   We are indeed better for having known him, and our state is better 
by virtue of his steady and visionary leadership. Bob Jordan's 
contribution lives on in those whose opportunities have been broadened 
and horizons have been extended by virtue of his dedicated service.

                          ____________________