[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       IN RECOGNITION OF LIFE AND SERVICE OF ABNER WOODRUFF SIBAL

  Mr. SHAYS. Madam Speaker, I rise in recognition of the life and 
service of Abner Woodruff Sibal, former U.S. Representative from the 
Fourth District of Connecticut, the district I now represent.
  Abner Sibal died this past January at age 78, leaving behind a large 
family and an honorable legacy. He would be celebrating his 79th 
birthday today. Mr. Sibal was a member of this body from 1961 to 1965 
in the 87th and 88th Congresses. While here, he served on the 
Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee and its Subcommittee on 
Transportation and Aeronautics.
  Mr. Sibal was born in Ridgewood, New York, and grew up in 
Connecticut. He graduated from Norwalk High School in 1938 and Wesleyan 
University in 1943, entered the U.S. Army after graduation from 
college, and served in both the European and Pacific theaters during 
World War II.
  When Mr. Sibal was discharged as a first lieutenant in September 
1946, he went on to St. John's Law School, where he received his law 
degree in 1949. Abner Sibal was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1949 
and the Federal bar in 1965. He led an impressive career both before 
and after his time as a public servant.
  From 1951 to 1955, he served as a prosecuting attorney in the city of 
Norwalk. Mr. Sibal served as a member of the Connecticut State senate 
from 1956 to 1960. He sat as a member of the Corporation Counsel of 
Norwalk from 1959 to 1960. He rose to the position of Republican 
minority leader for the last 2 years of his State senate tenure.
  His hard work and leadership earned him the position of chairman of 
the Connecticut Commission on Corporate Law in 1959.
  In addition, he was a delegate to each Connecticut Republican State 
Convention from 1952 through 1968 and a delegate to the Republican 
National Convention in 1964.
  After his years in Congress, Mr. Sibal practiced law in Washington 
before being appointed general counsel of the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission by Gerald Ford in 1975. In 1979, he resumed his 
private law practice, joining the firm of Farmer, Wells, McGuinn & 
Sibal.
  On a personal note, I was entering high school when Mr. Sibal became 
the Congressman of my Connecticut district. It was during this time I 
started to really become politically aware. I was learning about 
Congress and who my elected officials were.
  Abner Sibal stands out in my mind as having been a leader I 
respected, admired, and wanted to emulate. Abner Woodruff Sibal is 
remembered as an honorable man, a hard working public servant, and an 
able legislator.

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