[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1288-E1289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF RONALD W. LASCH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. FRED UPTON

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 14, 2022

  Mr. UPTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to note the passing of Ron 
Lasch.
  Ron was a friend and advisor to me and hundreds of other Members of 
both parties during his 42-year career as a Floor Assistant in this 
body.
  Ron came to the House as a 16 year old Page in 1958 when Joe Martin 
was the Republican Leader. He graduated from the Capitol Page School in 
1960 alongside other men with long careers in the House, such as former 
Representative Jim Kolbe, who also passed away just days ago, and the 
late Donnald K. Anderson, former Clerk of the House.
  As a Floor Assistant, Ron monitored the proceedings on the floor and 
advised Members on scheduling and procedure. He valued the rules and 
traditions of the House, and more than once, privately talked a Member 
out of heated words that, spoken in anger, would likely be ruled out of 
order.
  Ron retired in 2000, so there is a dwindling number of current 
Members who knew him, but at the time of his retirement, many of my

[[Page E1289]]

colleagues paid tribute to his judgement and dedication. His impact, 
behind the scenes, was immense. He was a mentor not only to Members, 
but to other people who staffed the floor, particularly the many Pages 
who have come and gone over the years.
  Ron was born a year after Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1942, and 
died on November 14, 2022. His classmate, Congressman Jim Kolbe, died 
days later on December 3rd. Donn Anderson died July 30, 2020. I am 
personally grateful for the service of these three men of the House.
  Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a statement from the Honorable 
Robert E. Bauman, one of Ron's colleagues on the staff here who later 
represented the First District of Maryland in the House.

                      In Memoriam--Ronald W. Lasch


  The Honorable Robert E. Bauman, First District, Maryland (1973-1981)

       Owen Lovejoy, a member of the House from Illinois (1857-
     1864), was close to President Abraham Lincoln, who called him 
     ``my most generous friend.'' On an obelisk in Princeton, 
     Illinois, in his honor are the words of Lincoln: ``Let him 
     have his marble monument along with the well assured and more 
     enduring one in the hearts of all those who love Liberty 
     unselfishly and for all.''
       Indeed, Lincoln was correct; true friendship is a matter of 
     the heart. Ron Lasch was my friend, and a respected friend to 
     many on Capitol Hill during the 37 years he served on the 
     House Republican floor staff.
       He started his 42-year House career as a Page in 1958, 
     sponsored by Representative William B. Widnall of New Jersey. 
     In 1963, he was named as telephone clerk in the House 
     Republican Cloakroom. Ron joined me there where I was also a 
     phone clerk.
       On November 22, 1963, a Friday, the House had adjourned 
     when news of President Kennedy's death in Dallas came over 
     the news tickers in the House Lobby. Ron and I were flooded 
     with anxious calls to the cloakroom.
       It is no exaggeration to say that Ron Lasch made possible 
     my elective career to the Maryland State Senate and to 
     Congress. He did so by working the cloakroom phones countless 
     late days, allowing me to go to night school and obtain 
     degrees from Georgetown University foreign service and law 
     schools.
       As manager of the Republican Cloakroom, he knew intimately 
     party positions and floor developments and became a trusted 
     source of information for Members and their staffs. He 
     mentored many Pages over the years and was a graduate of the 
     Capitol Page School in the Library of Congress.
       In 1968, after I resigned and returned to my home on the 
     Eastern Shore of Maryland, Lasch became manager of the 
     Republican Cloakroom, the official floor source of 
     information for Republican Members.
       As a private space for Member interaction, the cloakroom 
     was ideally suited for Lasch to answer questions about 
     pending legislation. He was a friend and protector of the 
     gracious lady who for decades ran the cloakroom lunch 
     counter, the late Helen Jones Winfield Sewell. When Ron 
     retired in 2000, many House Members joined in paying him 
     tributes.
       Ron was trusted because of his vast knowledge of House 
     parliamentary procedure and traditions. He understood the 
     personal side of lawmaking, forging relationships with 
     Members from both sides of the aisle. He was careful to 
     respect House Members, remembering his staff role. But while 
     he was a quiet, reserved presence, in private he had his own 
     sardonic estimate of those he served.
       Ron's role as Republican floor staffer expanded over the 
     years, culminating in his work as Floor Assistant to Speaker 
     Newt Gingrich in 1995. In my opinion, Gingrich could have 
     avoided many of his subsequent troubles had he taken Ron's 
     advice about House rules.
       My own daughter, Genie Eardley, a House Page (CPS Class of 
     1983), knew him well and called Ron ``irreplaceable.'' As 
     Lincoln suggested, Ron's monument endures in the hearts of 
     those who knew and respected ``the gentleman from New 
     Jersey.''

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