[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 190 (Wednesday, November 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5536-S5537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING HERBERT ``BERTIE'' BOWMAN

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, today I rise to honor and pay tribute 
to Herbert ``Bertie'' Bowman who passed away on October 25, 2023, at 
the age of 92 after a remarkable life and over six decades of service 
to the U.S. Senate.
  As has been noted by my colleague Senator Cardin, Bertie was the 
embodiment of the American Dream. Bertie began his Capitol Hill career 
by sweeping steps of the Capitol after running away from his South 
Carolina home, where his family members were sharecroppers, following a 
chance encounter with then-Senator Burnet Maybank in a Summerton, SC, 
general store. Senator Maybank invited Bertie--then only 13 years old--
to come see him in Washington sometime, and that is just what he did.
  A week later, Bertie hopped on a train bound for Union Station and 
ended up in the Senator's office. The Senator gave him his first job--
to sweep the Capitol steps for $2 a week--and from there, he went on to 
build a reputation on Capitol Hill as someone who could do it all. 
According to his memoir, Bertie's mother gave him the best career 
advice anyone could ask for. She said, ``Be patient and do what you're 
supposed to do.''
  Over his many decades in the Senate, one job led to another, and 
Bertie eventually got a clerical position with the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee in 1966. He left the Senate in 1990 to run

[[Page S5537]]

his own chauffeur service, but he returned to the Foreign Relations 
Committee a decade later as hearing coordinator--a job he held until 
his nineties.
  Through it all, Bertie exhibited the decency and courtesy that led 
him to befriend all those who knew him.
  I want to honor Bertie Bowman for his lifelong dedication and service 
to this institution and to our democracy and to thank him for setting 
the example of civility to which we all should aspire.

                          ____________________