[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 100 (Thursday, June 13, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E625-E626]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH ON HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. J. FRENCH HILL

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 11, 2024

  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize multiple testaments 
to the character of President George H.W. Bush on what would have been 
his 100th birthday.
  Texas A&M Today's article entitled, ``Remembering the Character of 
George H.W. Bush'' induces remarks from the 41st President's former 
Chief of Staff, Jean Becket, and the author of his biography, Jon 
Meacham. The article said:

       ``Anniversaries are about more than just the person being 
     commemorated--they tell us about how we see ourselves at that 
     moment, Pulitzer-Prize winning author and presidential 
     historian Jon Meacham said Wednesday on what would have been 
     President George H.W. Bush's 100th birthday.
       ``Speaking to a crowd gathered at the Annenberg 
     Presidential Conference Center on the Texas A&M University 
     campus, Meacham said there's not been a single moment in 
     American history when the country has been more in need of 
     what the 41st president represented than now. During Bush's 
     remarks in 1990 commemorating the centennial of President 
     Dwight D. Eisenhower, he quoted a motto etched onto a plaque 
     that sat on Eisenhower's desk. `Gently in manner, strong in 
     deed.'
       `` `It's hard to imagine a better description of Bush,' 
     Meacham said.
       ``Meacham spoke alongside Jean Becker, Bush's chief of 
     staff for nearly 25 years, as part of a three-day centennial 
     celebration hosted by the George & Barbara Bush Foundation. 
     In addition to sharing some of their favorite memories about 
     the president, the importance of character and the qualities 
     that defined Bush were the focus of much of their discussion.
       ``Bush, known for his humility, likely `would not approve' 
     of the amount of attention being paid to him this week, 
     Becker said. The former president's reluctance toward 
     discussing himself and his legacy was exemplified by an 
     anecdote Becker shared about a visit Bush made to his 
     presidential library and museum in College Station before it 
     opened in 1997.
       ``Bush was invited to walk through the library one last 
     time to point out any changes he wanted made before the 
     opening `In the car on the drive back to Houston, he turned 
     to me and said, `Jean, I have a big problem with the museum,' 
     she said. And he said, `Jean, it's too much about me.'
       ``Meacham said Bush had a similar reaction after he read 
     the former president a draft of his eulogy.
       `` `The eyes were very attentive. He was listening to every 
     possible bit, let's be clear,' Meacham said I got to the end, 
     and he said, `That's great--awful lot about me.' ''
       ``Meacham, who wrote the 2015 biography ``Destiny and 
     Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush,'' 
     eulogized Bush at his funeral following his death in November 
     2018.
       ``Meacham said Bush's humility wasn't an affectation. But 
     he also acknowledged the complications of a man who wanted to 
     serve in a subtle and decent way, but `also wanted to bend 
     the arc of history in the direction he thought it should go.'
       `` `If we overly canonize him, he loses the capacity to 
     teach,'' Meacham said, adding that it's important to 
     acknowledge that Bush was fallible.
       `` `Bush represented a man who was driven by ambition, but 
     who ultimately put service above self,' Meacham said. He also 
     warned against `overly romanticizing a past in a way that 
     prevents us from rising to the occasion.' When putting 
     together his new book, `The Call To Serve,' Meacham said he 
     was thinking about what Bush's legacy means at this time.
       `` `The easy answer is the climate,' he said `Here's this 
     decent, gentlemanly figure who represented a long-ago order. 
     All true. But it was 20 minutes ago--it's not impossible to 
     recover if we summon the same reserves of character. Because 
     character, as the Greeks taught us, is destiny.'
       ``Becker, who is also promoting a new book, `Character 
     Matters,' said she's often pessimistically asked, `Where's 
     the next George Bush?' This outlook is a mistake, she said.
       `` `The people who think there are no more George Bushes, 
     yeah, there are,' Becker said `You just have to vote for 
     them. You all control this. Quit voting for people who don't 
     have character. . . . The people are out here, and they're 
     willing to serve. We just have to follow his example of `do 
     what's right for the country.' Not what's right for you, not 
     what's right for the party, but what's right for the 
     country.'
       ``Becker and Meacham's panel was attended by hundreds of 
     members of the public, as well as members of the Bush family 
     and alumni of his administration. Becker said the former 
     president would have loved that the centennial celebration 
     served as a reunion.
       `` `He loved all these people. The party part of it he 
     would love, and seeing everybody, but he definitely would 
     complain to me and Jon, `Quit talking about me, talk about 
     other people,' Becker said.
       ``While Becker said Bush hated discussing `the L word'--his 
     legacy--the Bush School of Government and Public Service at 
     Texas A&M `is his legacy, and it was really important to 
     him.'
       `` `He would be so proud of the Bush School graduates, 
     because they're doing exactly what he wanted them to do,' she 
     said `They're everywhere--the State Department, particularly, 
     the CIA, city managers. They're doing everything, and he 
     would be very proud.'

[[Page E626]]

       ``When it came time to choose a location for his 
     presidential library after Bush left the White House, there 
     was interest from several schools, including the University 
     of Houston and his alma mater, Yale University, Becker said. 
     But even though Bush did not attend Texas A&M, the university 
     ``had his heart,'' she said.
       ``He loved service. That was his life motto, and he fell in 
     love with A&M the first time he came and gave a speech 
     here,'' Becker said. `It was sort of a slam dunk that it 
     would be here, and he loved it up here.''
       ``The ``41@100'' celebrations continue Thursday with the 
     grand opening of the Marine One/4141 Locomotive Pavilion. The 
     new 29,000-square-foot building at the George H.W. Bush 
     Presidential Library & Museum features the retired Marine One 
     helicopter used frequently by Bush during his time in office, 
     as well as the Union Pacific 4141 locomotive that led Bush's 
     funeral train from Houston to his final resting place on the 
     library grounds. The building will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.''

  The Today Show's article entitled, ``Jenna Bush Hager shares letter 
to her late `Gampy' George H.W. Bush on his 100th birthday'' shared 
remarks that the former President's granddaughter had to say about her 
grandfather. The article said:

       `` `He was gentle,'' Jenna said. ``He led with kindness. He 
     wanted to be the type of leader that listened.'
       ``Jenna Bush Hager is remembering her late grandfather, the 
     United States' 41st president, George H.W. Bush, on what 
     would have been his 100th birthday.
       ``On June 12, Jenna paid tribute to her late `Gampy' by 
     reading to viewers a letter she wrote to him about his impact 
     on her life.
       Dear Gampy,
       We miss you. We miss your letters and emails. We miss 
     racing through the waves of the Atlantic on your boat fishing 
     . . . laughing and debating around the dinner table.
       We miss your rules: Don't be afraid to shed a tear when 
     your heart is broken or because a friend is hurting. Nobody 
     likes an overbearing big shot. As you succeed, be kind to 
     people. Thank those who help you along the way.
       We miss your quiet compassion, like when you shaved your 
     head for the son of your secret service agent who had 
     leukemia.
       We miss your belief that our country is greater when we 
     work together, and your lifelong dedication to our country as 
     one of the youngest navy pilots in World War II.
       On this day, many of your grandkids--inspired by you--will 
     jump out of a plane. Your milestone birthday tradition that 
     you so proudly did in honor of the nation's military.
       Gampy, you have been gone for eight years, but we feel you 
     still as we look into the sky and see a thousand points of 
     light . . . in simple acts of love . . . in the smiles of 
     your great grandchildren.
       ``Jenna's tribute had TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb in tears.
       `` `The life lessons he taught that you summed up in that 
     short piece were incredible,' Hoda said `And what struck me 
     so, was the kindness. It's like, we're better when we're 
     kinder.'
       `` `He was gentle,' Jenna said `He led with kindness. He 
     wanted to be the type of leader that listened.'
       ``George H.W. Bush passed away at the age of 94 in 2018, 
     less than 8 months after the death of his wife of 73 years, 
     Barbara Bush.
       ``Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara, were both greatly 
     influenced by their Gampy. Barbara chose to marry right after 
     getting engaged to Craig Coyne in 2018, so that her ailing 
     grandfather could attend.
       ``George H.W. Bush, like Jenna, loved putting his feelings 
     down on paper.
       `` `He wrote us the most beautiful letters when he was in 
     his 70s, 80s, about being together, about how all he wanted 
     was us to come home and that that was what brought him the 
     most joy, was to be surrounded by his grandkids and his 
     family,' Jenna shared on TODAY on June 5.
       George H.W. Bush and Barbara shared six children: Former 
     President George W. Bush, 77, Jeb Bush, 71, Neil Bush, 69, 
     Marvin Bush, 67, Dorothy Bush Koch, 64, and Pauline `Robin' 
     Bush, who died at the age of 3 from leukemia.''

  The Wall Street Journal's article entitled ``The George Bush 
Century'' by James A. Baker III, the former President's Secretary of 
State, said:
       ``At a time of political dysfunction, the 100th anniversary 
     of President George H.W. Bush's birth provides an opportunity 
     to examine his leadership traits, which could help America 
     regain its national footing. Those qualities--which made him 
     the best one-term president in U.S. history and one of the 
     best ever--include these:
       ``Selflessness. Born into a family with a tradition of 
     public service, Bush put his nation above himself. He did so 
     as the 20-year-old son of an influential East Coast banker 
     who risked his life as a Navy pilot and was shot down over 
     the Pacific during World War II. As president he was 
     domestically rebuked for refusing to thump his chest after 
     the Berlin Wall fell. He reasoned that triumphalism might 
     hinder tense relations with the faltering but still dangerous 
     Soviet Union.
       ``Trustworthiness. What started as a wary relationship with 
     Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last leader, developed 
     into a strong, personal bond that Gorbachev credited with 
     improving relations between the countries. The two worked 
     together to reunite Germany, eject Iraq's troops from Kuwait 
     and negotiate two nuclear arms-reduction treaties.
       ``Pragmatism. Bush recognized that savvy responses were 
     often more effective than bold ones. Conservative in nature, 
     he preferred stability and calm. His decision against 
     marching to Baghdad in 1991 was driven by a pragmatic 
     assessment of potential risks of occupation. The decision, 
     much criticized at the time, proved wise.
       ``Respect for experience. Bush often advised aspiring young 
     politicians to avoid being like a Dalmatian in a fire house, 
     running every time the bell rings. Instead, he told them to 
     get a job, start a family and do other things that would 
     allow them to build a full life. By the time he became 
     president, Bush had worked in the Texas oil patch, raised 
     five children to adulthood, and served as a congressman, 
     ambassador to the United Nations, top diplomat in China, 
     director of the Central Intelligence Agency and vice 
     president. No one knew the world as thoroughly and clearly.
       ``Leadership by example. Always a workhorse rather than a 
     show horse, Bush let his actions speak for him. The ``kinder, 
     gentler nation'' he envisioned wasn't merely a political 
     bromide. He and Barbara Bush dedicated personal time to 
     support and promote education and service-oriented programs. 
     The Bushes didn't show class. They were class.
       ``Bipartisanship. He didn't mind butting heads with 
     Democrats, or with fellow Republicans for that matter. But he 
     refused to demonize opponents, and he always looked across 
     the aisle for bipartisan solutions, such as the Clean Air Act 
     and Americans with Disabilities Act.
       ``The political climate was far more temperate when Bush 
     was in the White House than it is today. Debates could be 
     rancorous, but they reached nothing like today's feverish and 
     destructive pitch. As I watch the calamity that American 
     politics has become, I yearn for the brand of wise, 
     courageous and humble leadership that George H.W. Bush 
     embodied. His virtues remind us of what we have lost--and can 
     regain if we follow his example.''
       Joe Strauss, former Speaker of the Texas House, had this to 
     say about the former President in the San Antonio Express-
     News article ``Celebrating President George H.W. Bush, who 
     governed with principle.''
       ``This week marks what would have been the 100th birthday 
     of President George H.W. Bush. It is a time to celebrate a 
     man who distinguished himself by what he accomplished and how 
     he led.
       ``Bush's presidency from 1989 to 1993 was highly 
     consequential: The United States won the Cold War, helped 
     broker the peaceful reunification of Germany and liberated 
     Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Bush signed the landmark American 
     with Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act. Strength and 
     diplomacy abroad, combined with kindness and compassion at 
     home, defined his time in the White House'' . . .
       ``Sununu writes, ``President Bush's decades of integrity 
     and credibility allowed him to move these powerful leaders in 
     unison toward a common goal. They trusted his tactics and 
     strategy, and most importantly they trusted that he would 
     ensure that they shared the credit for the success of this 
     world-changing effort'' . . .
       ``Bush, however, did not waver. He said of one critic, `He 
     couldn't have been uglier and meaner. But that Just made me 
     more determined to do what was right.'
       ``As president, he agreed to a deficit-reduction deal with 
     congressional Democrats that reduced spending while also 
     making modest increases in tax rates. Because he had famously 
     promised not to raise taxes, Bush knew this decision could 
     cost him reelection, and in large part, it did. But the deal 
     also reversed growing deficits and paved the way for a 
     balanced federal budget in the years after he left office.
       ``Throughout his life, Bush demonstrated the moral fiber 
     that we should expect, if not demand, from great leaders. 
     Even many Americans who disagreed with his policies 
     understood that he put his service to others above any 
     personal gain or glorification--a style that is growing less 
     and less familiar in an age when we seem to measure elected 
     officials by their visibility in the media rather than their 
     effectiveness in office.''

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