[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16740]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 16740]]

COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF THE HONORABLE FLOYD SPENCE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
                               1928-2001

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VAN HILLEARY

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 10, 2001

  Mr. HILLEARY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life 
and public service of a great advocate for our nation's defense, a true 
gentleman in the finest Southern tradition, and my good friend, Floyd 
Spence.
  For those of us who knew him only later in life, it may come as a 
surprise that this gentle soul spent his early life as a terror on the 
gridiron at Lexington High School and the University of South Carolina. 
It's less of a surprise that he had a distinguished 36-year career in 
the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserve, because his knowledge of our nation's 
military was rivaled only by his deep affection for it.
  Mr. Spence was a leader with the courage of his convictions. He 
became a Republican in 1962, when Republicans in the South were still a 
rare commodity. That party switch cost him his seat in the South 
Carolina House of Representatives, but the people of South Carolina 
came to respect his courage and shortly thereafter sent him to Congress 
in 1970. By the time I first came to Capitol Hill in 1994, Southern 
Republicans had become relatively commonplace. That happened because 
people like Floyd Spence followed their conscience and accepted the 
consequences willingly.
  When I met Floyd, he was then the newly installed Chairman of what 
was then called the House National Security Committee. He handled his 
considerable responsibility with grace and dignity, displaying fairness 
to all members, regardless of party, and showing considerable patience 
with us freshmen who showed up full of enthusiasm but short on 
experience.
  Chairman Spence knew that freedom isn't free and deeply believed that 
lasting peace could best be achieved through unquestioned strength. He 
pushed for better funding for training, modernization, readiness and 
qualify of life initiatives. His leadership was instrumental in finally 
stemming the tide of declining defense budgets and placing our military 
on the road to recovery. The soldier enjoying his new pay raise, the 
military families moving into improved post housing, the pilot stepping 
into a much-needed new fighter jet--each of these people, and many 
others, can thank Floyd Spence for fighting for them. We would be well-
advised to continue along the path to recovery that this remarkable man 
worked so hard to put us on.
  An old historian once noted that, ``Great men are not often good 
men.'' Well, Floyd Spence was certainly both. Those of us who have had 
the great opportunity to know him are far better for the privilege.

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