[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6196-6201]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  HONORING THE MEMORY OF RICHARDSON PREYER, FORMER MEMBER OF THE HOUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. COBLE. This special order, Mr. Speaker, is to commemorate and 
honor the memory of one of our distinguished former Members, the 
Honorable Richardson Preyer.
  Judge Preyer, Congressman Preyer, was my congressman for 12 years. 
His family, Mr. Speaker, and this is probably known to the gentleman 
from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) because he is a man of letters, and this 
probably will not surprise him, his family was one of the frontiers in 
the pharmaceutical industry. Vicks VapoRub, for example, was invented, 
if you will, and the laboratory was actually probably make-shift, 
probably a modest facility at the time, by his ancestors.
  I shared this story with him one day. When I was a member of the 
Coast Guard in Seattle, Washington, one of my first times out of North 
Carolina as a young man, I came across a Vicks VapoRub package in a 
drugstore in Seattle. I saw on that package, Mr. Speaker, Greensboro, 
North Carolina. That is where it was manufactured. I felt a sense of 
obvious pride, as my friend in the well is smiling approvingly.
  I saw him much years afterward, and I told him that story. He too 
beamed with pride because I could see in his face the pride of his 
grandparents perhaps or uncles that preceded him in the development of 
that drug that became, obviously, a household word.
  Mr. Speaker, Richardson Preyer served as a State superior court 
judge. He served as a United States district judge on the Federal 
bench. He was a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary for 
the office of governor. Although he did not win that nomination, he 
conducted a very credible campaign.
  Then in 1968, Mr. Speaker, Richardson Preyer ran what was then an 
open seat. I guess it was Congressman Kornegay had retired. Richardson 
Preyer and Bill Osteen, a long-time friend of mine, who is now a United 
States district court judge himself in the middle district of North 
Carolina, Rich and Bill, Bill Osteen, paired off in a very spirited, 
well-conducted campaign. Mr. Preyer, Congressman Preyer was declared 
the winner; and he went on to serve six terms in the House of 
Representatives.
  Emily and Rich, those names became synonymous with political spousal 
teamwork. I mean, oftentimes where there was one, there was the other. 
Or if Rich would be in one part of the district, Emily would be in the 
other part, carrying the political message. They were very adept 
campaigners.
  In fact, it has been said once that they felt perhaps Emily was, 
maybe, more comfortable on the hustings than was Rich. I do not know 
that that is true, but she did have that very natural gift of 
backslapping. There is nothing wrong with that, because I have been 
accused of being a backslapper myself. Rich was not a backslapper, but 
he nonetheless represented our district very ably.
  Someone once asked me, Mr. Speaker, ``You and Rich Preyer seem to get 
along very well, and your voting records are probably light years 
apart.'' They probably are. I think Rich Preyer's voting record and my 
voting record would be very dissimilar. But I said, ``Just because one 
does not agree with another on various and sundry political issues, 
that does not mean that you cannot disagree agreeably.''
  Rich Preyer, I think epitomized that in his life. He was a very 
agreeable person although perhaps he did not agree oftentimes with 
others and with me in particular. But we never drew our sword from our 
sheaths because of that.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, the Federal building, the old Federal courthouse 
and post office in downtown Greensboro bears the name the Preyer 
Building. That building, I say to the gentleman from Raleigh, North 
Carolina (Mr. Price), he will remember that that building housed 
congressional offices, by gosh, probably 30 years. I think Rich's 
office was there. I know Gene Johnston's was there. Robin Britt's was 
there. Ours was there.
  We had to leave that building some recent months ago as a matter of 
constituency friendliness. Many of the people who came to call upon me 
were infirm and were not able to walk the two or three blocks that was 
necessary to gain admittance to the Preyer Building because there was 
virtually no on-street parking. So that was a constituency-friendly 
move, one that I did not want to make. That old building was home to me 
and to many constituents for that matter. But we did move.
  But each time I go back in there, I have fond memories of visiting 
with staff personnel there. I see that sign, the Preyer Federal 
Building, and it brings back good memories.
  I think that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), Speaker pro 
tempore, is from the valley, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He 
probably did not know Mr. Preyer, but he would have liked him. He had 
many friends, some of whom still serve in this very body.
  But I see two of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have joined me on the 
floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Charlotte, North Carolina 
(Mr. Watt).
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Greensboro, North Carolina (Mr. Coble), from the adjoining district for 
yielding to me. Of course they say most of the districts in North 
Carolina adjoin mine in one way or another, so I have got a lot of 
adjoining Congress people. This is the first time I have heard the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) yield to me so much time as I 
may consume so I think that is a dangerous precedent. But I will try 
not to make him regret that.
  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield very briefly?
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from 
North Carolina.
  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Watt) do not get me in the doghouse with the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Price). Do not use too much time.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am going to leave plenty 
of time.
  I have been thinking about a way to personalize this. I never served 
with Representative Rich Preyer. I met him for the first time in 1992 
when I was running for Congress for the first time. Rich and his wife 
Emily had heard about my candidacy. I, of course, had heard about Rich 
Preyer for years and years and years; and that was the beginning of a 
strong personal relationship that I started to develop with Rich Preyer 
and with Emily Preyer.

                              {time}  1415

  I was thinking on the way over here, though, when I was a little boy, 
my mother used to treat us when we got sick with a big dose of castor 
oil if we had a stomach virus, but if we were congested, and quite 
often we were because we lived in kind of an airy house, she would 
always whip out the Vicks VapoRub and rub it on our chest and heat a 
heating pad and the smell of Vicks VapoRub would come up. Over time it 
would release whatever congestion you had.
  Now, you probably wonder, well, what in the world does that have to 
do with Rich Preyer? Rich Preyer's grandfather was the person who 
patented Vicks VapoRub. He turned it into quite a success story 
financially for his family. So Rich was really born into a family of 
privilege as a result of his parents' and foreparents' business 
dealings and as a result of this innovative patent that people in my 
age range probably knew as well as anything else for its medicinal 
impact.
  Rich never really worked in that business, but in a sense Rich took 
over that releasing of congestion and took it to a broader public 
plane. Because when I first heard about Rich Preyer, he was out there 
on the cutting edge, paving the way, opening the way, so to

[[Page 6197]]

speak, for many people like myself, minorities in particular, who 
viewed Rich Preyer as a real progressive, human, dignified person who 
was willing to fight for principles that he believed in. In that sense, 
he was a rare public official who took risk and stood up for his 
beliefs. He was ahead of his time and did not sacrifice his principles 
for political gain.
  As a State judge in 1957, Rich Preyer upheld a ruling that enabled 
five black children to attend the previously all-white Gillespie Park 
School in Greensboro. This was 1957 in North Carolina. This was the 
first integrated school in the City of Greensboro. It was 3 years 
before the historic Greensboro sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counters 
that we have heard so much about and read so much about in our history. 
So Rich Preyer was ahead of his time.
  In 1961, Rich Preyer received a lifetime appointment to the Federal 
bench from his Harvard Law School classmate, a man of privilege again. 
His classmate happened to be President John F. Kennedy. So he could 
have had a lifetime appointment on the Federal bench. He was there. It 
is a lifetime appointment. But 2 years later, he gave up that position 
to run for governor of North Carolina. He hoped that he would follow in 
the footsteps of the term-limited governor Terry Sanford, who was known 
as the most progressive governor in the South.
  For those Members who hear about North Carolina and wonder why it has 
this kind of progressive image that is more progressive than some of 
our other southern States, Governor Terry Sanford and people like Rich 
Preyer were building that image. Even though this was almost 10 years 
after Brown v. Board of Education, the State of North Carolina, like 
all other southern States, was still basically segregated. Although 
Governor Sanford had started steps toward integration efforts, 
according to Preyer's former press aide, the Ku Klux Klan burned 50 
crosses across the State of North Carolina in protest of Rich Preyer's 
candidacy for governor of the State of North Carolina.
  You talk about a man who was ahead of his time, you have not seen 
anything until you met Rich Preyer. He led the Democratic primary, but 
he did not get 50 percent of the vote and the law required at that time 
in North Carolina that you have 50 percent plus 1 to avoid a runoff. So 
he ended up in a runoff with a more conservative opponent, and the 
conservative opponent won the election. A lot of people say that he won 
the election because Rich Preyer refused to distance himself from the 
principles that he thought were important. They called him an 
integrationist and a lover of black people. Rich's response was, ``I 
love all people. That is what I have been taught as part of my 
religious beliefs.'' And he never made any overtures toward the 
segregationists who were supporting the candidacy of his opponent. Rich 
Preyer was ahead of his time.
  Rich lost that governor's race and then ran for Congress in 1968, and 
he was elected to Congress. Many considered him too liberal and out of 
step with his district. He opposed the Vietnam War and was one of only 
two Members of Congress from North Carolina to vote for legislation to 
end the war. This was a guy ahead of his time. Rich's voting record 
finally caught up with him again, because he was not going to 
compromise his principles. It caught up with him in 1980, when he lost 
in the Reagan landslide by about 3,500 votes. Let me tell you what a 
class guy this Rich Preyer was. He saw it, the election results are 
coming in, he could have picked up the phone, called his adversary, his 
opponent and said, ``I concede defeat.'' Rich Preyer said, ``No, I'm 
going over and I'm going to shake this man's hand.'' He went all the 
way across town, into his opponent's headquarters, got heckled by his 
opponent's supporters, and insisted on shaking his opponent's hand to 
congratulate him.
  In 1980, after he had lost that race, former Congressman Steve Neal 
said of Rich Preyer, ``There is not a man or woman among us who 
commands greater respect for intelligence, honesty, integrity and 
courage of conviction.'' I think that is a fitting tribute to him and a 
shining tribute to him.
  I want to end by just expressing my condolences to the Preyer family 
and thanking the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) again for coordinating this 
special order. Rich Preyer and Emily Preyer were dear, dear people, 
both ahead of their times in many, many ways that inured to my personal 
benefit and to this country's benefit.
  Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, I say in response to my friend the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) about the heckling, I have 
heard about that, that night, and I have been told that that was not 
done by the gentleman who defeated Rich that night. That was not done 
under his guise. I think maybe some spirited people were there.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. If the gentleman will yield for a second, 
I will clarify that, because I fully agree with him. Everything I have 
heard about that incident suggests that his opponent quieted his 
supporters and invited Rich Preyer to the podium with him and accepted 
the congratulations.
  Mr. COBLE. Reclaiming my time, I do not want to defend the hecklers, 
but sometimes folks become very spirited on election night. I am 
confident that if there were in fact hecklers, I do not think they 
meant anything personally by that.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the Fourth 
District of North Carolina (Mr. Price).
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank the gentleman for yielding and 
for coordinating this special order for us this afternoon.
  Mr. Speaker, on April 3, North Carolina and the Nation lost one of 
our most distinguished citizens and public servants, L. Richardson 
Preyer. It is a privilege today to join with my colleagues in paying 
tribute to his life and his work, which were memorialized at a moving 
and majestic service at Greensboro's First Presbyterian Church on April 
5.
  Rich Preyer served in this body with great dignity and effectiveness 
for six terms, from 1969 to 1980. He was a senior member of what was 
then called the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, and he 
chaired the Government Information and Individual Rights Subcommittee 
of the Committee on Government Operations. The Almanac of American 
Politics noted his reputation for ``great integrity and sound 
judgment'' which led the House leadership to call upon him ``to serve 
in some difficult and unpleasant assignments.'' These included the 
committee investigating assassinations, where he headed the 
subcommittee investigating the assassination of President Kennedy, and 
the House Ethics Committee at the time of the so-called Korea-gate 
scandal.
  Rich Preyer was born in 1919, took his undergraduate degree at 
Princeton, served as a Navy lieutenant in World War II and was awarded 
the Bronze Star for action in Okinawa, and then earned his law degree 
at Harvard University after the war. He became a city judge at age 34, 
then a North Carolina superior court judge. In 1961 he was appointed 
judge of the Federal Middle District Court of North Carolina by 
President Kennedy. He resigned that lifetime appointment to undertake a 
race for governor, a race that he narrowly lost but that engaged and 
inspired thousands of North Carolinians, many of whom went on to 
leadership positions within our State.
  When the Sixth Congressional District seat came open in 1968, Rich 
Preyer was such an obvious choice for that position that he was 
nominated without opposition. Rich then won reelection year after year 
by large margins and had an exemplary congressional career. This was 
when I, having returned to North Carolina in 1973, first got to know 
him. At first as an academic who studied Congress and the Commerce 
Committee in particular, I admired Rich from afar. Then as I got more 
involved in North Carolina politics myself, I was privileged to work 
with him personally. Like many in my political generation, I admired 
Rich tremendously as a man who brought conviction and courage, dignity 
and

[[Page 6198]]

style to politics, a model of what a Member of this body should be and 
a model of what political leadership at its best can be.
  My admiration was deepened and given another dimension when Rich lost 
his 1980 race for reelection and I observed how he handled that loss. I 
remember as executive director of the State Democratic Party sitting 
with Rich and his dear wife Emily in a television studio in Greensboro 
waiting to be interviewed on election morning. He had a premonition of 
what was to come. But he was at peace with the account he had given of 
himself in his congressional service and in his campaign. He weathered 
defeat with equanimity and a remarkable sense of humor. And he never 
wavered in his political ideals and his expansive citizenship: the 
years since 1980 have been filled with numerous local and State and 
national involvements to which Rich Preyer brought remarkable gifts of 
vision and leadership.

                              {time}  1430

  Rich and Emily Preyer had a wonderful family, and their children have 
carried on the Preyer family tradition of high spirits, love of nature 
and of athletic competition, generous friendships, and faithful 
stewardship of time and talent.
  We express our sympathy to sons Rich, Jr., and Britt, and daughters 
Mary Norris, Jane and Emily, and their families, in the hope that the 
outpouring of affection and admiration that has followed their father's 
death, and their mother's death not long before, will give them 
strength and comfort in this time of sorrow.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that the obituary from the Raleigh News and 
Observer be included in the Record at this point, as well as the 
reflections offered at the April 5 memorial service by Jane Preyer, 
Richardson Preyer, Jr., and Tom Lambeth, Rich Preyer's chief of staff 
during his time in the House, who recently retired as director of the 
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

          [From the Raleigh News and Observer, April 4, 2001]

                The Honorable Lunsford Richardson Preyer

       Greensboro--The Honorable L. Richardson Preyer, 82, died 
     Tuesday at the Cone Memorial Hospital. A funeral service will 
     be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church.
       Congressman Preyer was a native of Greensboro and attended 
     the public schools. He received his A.B. Degree from 
     Princeton University and his Law Degree from the Harvard Law 
     School.
       At the First Presbyterian Church he was an elder, teacher/
     member of the Young Men's Bible Class for over 40 years and a 
     Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
       During World War II he was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy 
     served for four years as a Gunnery Officer and Executive 
     Officer on Destroyer duty in the Atlantic and South Pacific; 
     he received the Bronze Star for action in Okinawa.
       Mr. Preyer was appointed as a City Judge, and North 
     Carolina Superior Court Judge. In 1961 he was appointed 
     Federal Judge of the Middle District Court by President John 
     F. Kennedy. In 1963 Judge Preyer resigned his Judgeship to 
     become a candidate for Governor of North Carolina. In 1964 he 
     became City Executive for Greensboro at the North Carolina 
     National Bank. In November 1968 he was elected to the United 
     States Congress, 6th District of North Carolina and served 
     until 1980.
       The U.S. Federal Courthouse and Post Office are named in 
     his honor as the L. Richardson Preyer Federal Building in 
     Greensboro.
       Among his many Congressional Committees he was most proud 
     of serving as Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics 
     which drew up the Congressional Code of Ethics and Chairman 
     of the House Committee on Assassination of President Kennedy 
     and Martin Luther King.
       The Honorable Mr. Preyer served in many other ways and was 
     honored as Chairman of the Board of the North Carolina 
     Outward Bound School; Commissioner, Greensboro Little League 
     and Pony Baseball programs; Honorary Chairman of the Greater 
     Greensboro Open (GGCC); Inter-Club Council's Outstanding 
     Civic Leader of the Year Award; Greensboro Chamber's ``Uncle 
     Joe Cannon'' Award for outstanding leadership; Distinguished 
     Service Award at the University of North Carolina School of 
     Medicine; and recipient of the Phillip Hart Memorial Award 
     for Conscience by ``Washingtonian Magazine.''
       At the time of his death he was Co-chairman of the Guilford 
     Battleground Company; member of the Board for the National 
     Humanities Center; Chairman of Coastal Futures Committee 
     (appointed by Governor James B. Hunt); Trustee: Mary Reynolds 
     Babcock Foundation; H. Smith Richardson Foundation; NC 
     Institute of Political Leadership; Woodrow Wilson Center 
     (Smithsonian Institute); Uplift, Inc. (past president); and 
     the NC Institute of Medicine.
       He had served as a Trustee of the National Nature 
     Conservancy; Hastings Institute of Medicine; Greensboro 
     National Bank; Director of Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc. 
     and Piedmont Management, Inc. He also served on the Board of 
     Directors of Guildford College, Davidson College, UNC School 
     of Social Work; Robert Wood Johnson Fellows--UNC Medical 
     School; Community Self Help; The American Red Cross, 
     Salvation Army, NC Museum of Natural History; and UNC-G 
     Excellence Foundation.
       He was preceded in death recently by his wife Emily Harris 
     Preyer and brother William Yost Preyer Jr. He is survived by 
     his sons and daughters-in-law, L. Richardson and Marilyn 
     Jacobs Preyer Jr. and Britt Armfield and Alice Dockery 
     Preyer; daughters and sons-in-law, Mary Norris Preyer and 
     Henry Patrick Oglesby, Jane Bethell Preyer, and Emily Harris 
     Preyer and Richard Tillman Fountain, III; brothers and 
     sisters-in-law, Dr. Robert Otto and Kitty Preyer, Dr. Norris 
     Watson and Catherine Preyer and Frederick Lynn and Margaret 
     Preyer; sister-in-law, Mrs. Russell H. Tucker and Mrs. Doris 
     Preyer; grandchildren, L. Richardson Preyer, III, Parker 
     Jacobs Preyer, Jane Elizabeth Preyer, Emily Preyer Oglesby, 
     Britt Armfield Preyer Jr., John Calder Preyer, William Harris 
     Preyer, Mary Norris Preyer Fountain, Richard Tillman 
     Fountain, IV, Janie Katherine Fountain, Preyer Harris 
     Fountain, and Peter Richardson Fountain.
       The family will receive friends following the service in 
     the Church's Family Enrichment Center and request the 
     memorial contributions be made to one's favorite charity.
       Hanes-Lineberry, N. Elm St., Funeral Home is assisting the 
     family.
                                  ____


           Dad's Service, April 5, 2001--L. Richardson Preyer

                            (By Jane Preyer)

       Thank you all so much for being here with us, bringing your 
     love and support, and helping us honor Dad's life. He was 
     such a good and great man. To his family, Dad was nothing 
     less than our hero. From the stories you've shared with us 
     about Dad, we know that to some of you he was a hero, too.
       Many people knew him as a man of public service--his 
     children and grandchildren saw and knew him in that way, too, 
     and are very proud. But my hope today is to share a few 
     thoughts to celebrate Dad's life as the person that so many 
     people loved as a friend, a father, and a grandfather.
       Dad loved music. Undoubtedly, some of his happiest times 
     were those hours when he stole away to the den or bedroom to 
     play his beloved saxophone. His mother had given the sax to 
     him, and he seemed truly blissful when listening or playing 
     along with the likes of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
       We were always amazed at the variety of music that Dad 
     loved--from Mozart to Bruce Springsteen to Benjamin Britten 
     to Charlie Parker.
       He actually could not read a note of music, but he could 
     play anything on the saxophone. In fact, he was the first 
     white man that Count Basie asked to be in his band. It was 
     1941, and instead Dad chose to join the Navy and went to 
     WWII.
       I will never really know the intensity of some of his 
     days--as a judge, congressman, all the different work he 
     did--but I came to understand that music was a tremendous 
     source of renewal for Dad. And he helped us to welcome music 
     into our own lives, enriching us from childhood onward.
       Like music, books were a source of sustenance in Dad's life 
     which he instilled in all his children. Dad's style was to 
     read 3-4 books at a time, which I guess was a way of 
     satisfying his abundant, lifelong curiosity.
       Dad's love of reading came in handy on more than one 
     occasion. When I was a young girl, we were invited on a deer 
     hunt in the coastal plain of NC. Hunting was the last thing 
     in the world I wanted to do, but I definitely wanted to go on 
     this adventure with Dad. Like the other hunters, the two of 
     us were dropped at our own spot in the woods. There, Dad 
     finally confided his true plan for ``our hunt''. He had 
     brought books and cigars in his jacket. . . . so we simply 
     put the gun aside, leaned up against a mighty tree to read--
     and Dad told me, ``Jane, if we sit quietly enough, we may get 
     to see a deer'' And so we did.
       How did this reserved and gentle man, who loved music and 
     books, who knew how to find serenity in the midst of 
     turmoil--how did he commit so much of his life to the very 
     public business of politics? How did he cope with all those 
     fish frys, barbecues, and all the other exhausting 
     practicalities of being a public figure?
       I don't know the complete answer. But I do know that he was 
     always anchored by his core values and guided on a daily 
     basis by his own faith and personal conscience.
       I remember in his re-election in the fall 1980, Dad was hit 
     by a series of negative campaign ads on TV, radio, the whole 
     works. All of us children and most of the campaign staff were 
     urging Dad to counterattack--this isn't fair, we would say. 
     You've got to strike back.

[[Page 6199]]

       But he simply would not. I was mad at him. Later, I came to 
     understand how courageous he was . . . and that integrity is 
     exactly why we all believed in him.
       Our family is thankful for the encouragement and support so 
     many of you gave to Dad. Your support made it possible for 
     Mom and Dad to be in politics. It made him willing to step 
     out there and do the right thing time after time.
       And oh wow, what a wonderful sense of humor Dad had through 
     thick and thin! He was a great story teller. Many of you have 
     been treated to his favorite stories--maybe once too often!
       He did have a mischievous side, too. A few years ago, the 
     pond on the golf course across from my parents' house was 
     drained and became quite a mud sink. After seeing an 
     unclaimed golf ball sitting about 3 feet out into the pond, 
     Mom could not resist venturing in to get that ``free'' ball.
       GOOWOOSH. She was sucked into the mud midway up her thigh. 
     Completely stranded, she called out to Dad ``Rich, help 
     me!?'' He was laughing so hard, tears streaming down his 
     face, and buckled over the steering wheel of the golf cart. 
     Mom called out again ``Rich, come on and help me!''
       I don't know--we sort of suspect that this fine gentleman 
     moved a bit slower than usual in making the rescue!
       Dad loved the natural world of North Carolina--the piedmont 
     waters and forests, the mountains, the coast. Being in nature 
     was another way he sustained himself, and he taught us the 
     joy and wonder and beauty of this world and our state, that 
     sustains us as well.
       Mom's idea of a vacation was to go to the Travel Lodge on 
     Elm Street in Greensboro to spend the night and swim in the 
     indoor pool.
       Dad's idea of vacation was to be in the NC mountains or at 
     the coast or on a Piedmont lake--fishing, walking, noticing 
     everything out there--he would constantly say ``look at that 
     bird, look at that tree''. He never got quite the names of 
     the birds and trees right, but he always appreciated them!
       And especially fishing. Dad taught each of us to love 
     fishing and to love the fish. From the earliest days, he was 
     a ``throw-it-back man'' . . . what we now call ``catch and 
     release''. He taught us to love the simplicity of a fishing 
     line with worms, the fun of a spinning rod throwing it way 
     out and reeling it in . . . and the pure thrill of casting a 
     fly rod and watching that fly land in close to the bank over 
     dark, clear water and floating there lightly.
       Mind you, he was no expert fisherman, and his technique was 
     pretty questionable! Just ask my brothers and sisters 
     sometime for their imitation of Dad stumbling on slippery 
     rocks, getting his line hung up in trees--but still amazingly 
     he got that fly our there on the stream.
       In the 1970s, in Congress, Dad became one of the authors of 
     the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act--He translated his love 
     of nature into creating in these pieces of legislation--and 
     they have transformed the way America treasures and protects 
     our natural resources.
       I think it is only in this last year that I have begun to 
     more fully understand the deep, tender, steadfast, and 
     unbreakable bond between my Mom and Dad. They were so devoted 
     to each other . . . and so committed together to their shared 
     life of service as they felt led by God to do.
       Growing up, Sunday afternoons at our house were my 
     favorite. Without fail, whether he'd been in DC or given 
     speeches that weekend in the far reaches of his district--he 
     would do something fun with us. Those times were filled with 
     sports and more sports, hikes, fishing, visits with our 
     grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles.
       And how he delighted in being with his grandchildren! How 
     he enjoyed hearing about all their activities--whether it was 
     soccer, or violin, or tennis or lacrosse, be being in a play 
     or the choir. And he loved their drawings they brought him by 
     the dozens and which he cherished over the years.
       Dad was also sustained by his friends, and he especially 
     loved being in Greensboro these last years, close to many of 
     you dear friends here today. And you have been so good to him 
     and us through this last year.
       And so this day has come, a day that I did not ever want to 
     come. I feel like the world will never be the same without 
     Mom and Dad.
       But even stronger that our grief today is our thankfulness 
     for Dad's life and all that we shared with him. We will go 
     forward beyond today's tears by of us every day of our lives.
       We know very well his legacy to us:
     His gentleness
     His courage
     His deep honesty and integrity
     His wonderful sense of humor
     His profound commitment to justice and mercy
     His love and zest for life
     His love of children
     His determination
     His true love and partnership with Mom
     His steadfast kindness
     And his trust in God that we can always find a new way to 
         serve, to learn, and to live fully.
       Dad, you will always be our hero.
                                  ____


 In Celebration of the Life of L. Richardson Preyer--Funeral April 5, 
                                  2001

                     (By L. Richardson Preyer, Jr.)

       Dad would have been mighty surprised to see so many of you 
     here today--thinking about him and thanking him for his 
     inspiring life--celebrating his honest decency--his day-to-
     day caring about his family and his friends and his 
     community. I believe Dad would have been surprised because he 
     just didn't think of himself as anything special. After Dad 
     was beaten in the Congressional election in 1980, I implored 
     him to write a book. Dad laughed it off and said, ``Who would 
     ever want to read a book by me?'' There are a few of us, Dad. 
     There ARE a few of us.
       But--goodness gracious--Dad left us with so many speeches. 
     He spoke all over the state at every sort of gathering--
     whether a church or synagogue, or college or high school or 
     elementary school--at political rallies, at non-profit 
     gatherings, at garden clubs, at the Kiwanis, at the Rotary--
     Dad you were there. You had a message you wanted to deliver.
       And Dad, you did so much teaching mixed in with a good bit 
     of preaching on both serving God and keeping vigilant about 
     freedom and the old beleaguered Republic. You taught the 
     Young Men's Bible Class in this church for 46 years. You 
     taught at UNC Greensboro and Duke and at Chapel Hill . . . 
     which shows you were pretty darn open-minded. You even taught 
     an ethics course in med school to the doctor who was on call 
     for you the last few days of your life.
       And Dad, for all your gentleness, you were such a fighter. 
     You fought injustice in the Pacific--on a destroyer--the only 
     one of seven sister ships not to be sunk at Okinawa . . . you 
     kept the Bronze Star medal box in your dresser drawer for the 
     rest of your life. I saw it there, this morning.
       You fought racism as a Superior Court Judge and Federal 
     Judge, challenging segregation in the fifties and early 
     sixties. And when the people called out for you to leave the 
     Federal Bench and run for governor in those tumultuous times 
     in 1964, you left a lifetime appointment and ran.
       And when you crisscrossed the state on that last day of the 
     campaign--the Ku Klux Klan burned fires against you in fifty 
     different cities and towns . . . you gave a speech that night 
     and said, ``We will light the fires of knowledge and not the 
     fires of hate.''
       Dad, you went on to serve and affect so much change for the 
     good of your district and your state. Your integrity and 
     sense of justice were so admired by your Washington 
     colleagues that midst the Watergate happenings, you were 
     called ``the conscience of the House.''
       And when the Warren Commission's findings on the 
     assassination of John F. Kennedy were thrown in doubt--you 
     were called upon to head up the new commission--because Dad, 
     they knew they could count on you to be fair. All of us here 
     could have always told them that.
       And your findings 25 years ago that Oswald did not act 
     alone--were recently--after exhausting technical 
     examinations--upheld. Dad, you always were in all of our 
     hearts, the best doggone Judge around.
       And you've all heard Jane's wonderful stories. There is 
     really no one quite like you. As a father for my entire 
     life--you never raised your voice in anger--ever--at your 
     five children--something your oldest son has not been able to 
     master.
       An incredibly calm, patient temperament combined with a 
     fierce tennis competitive streak--mix in the love of fishing 
     in a stream, as well as playing the alto and soprano sax--add 
     humor and a sweet disposition--take these qualities and 
     surround them with compassion for your fellow beings and an 
     unwavering love of the law--and you have my father.
       Several years ago Dad gave me the complete works of Checkov 
     and along with it a handwritten note at Christmas. It said, 
     ``We are proud of you for the things you have done, but we 
     are most proud of your greatest achievement--your marriage to 
     Marilyn and your three beautiful children. For all our 
     ambitions and plans and strategies, the truth is, no other 
     single thing is more precious than family and friends and the 
     sense of belonging to a community.''
       Thank you, Dad, for writing us this message.
       We're all hearing you now, Dad, about that. We're all here 
     for you now--your family--your friends--your vast and diverse 
     community--we're all here because we love you and believe in 
     you and to thank you for showing us the goodness of being 
     steadfast and true on our brief journey upon God's eternal 
     earth.
       So Dad I want to thank you for taking us all fishing on 
     Sunday afternoons after church. I want to thank you for 
     taking my fingers in your hand and putting them down on the 
     blue jazz keys on the alto horn. I want to thank you for 
     teaching us to read the great books in the evening after our 
     daily jobs were done. I want to thank you for showing us a 
     way to live with laughter on our lips--what is it you used to 
     say, ``Let no good deed go unpunished.''
       And I want to thank you for teaching us how to strike, 
     throw, pass, catch, bounce,

[[Page 6200]]

     kick, and serve every manner and size of ball, because Dad 
     you could hit a golf ball farther than anyone your age--
     period.
       And thank you for watching your young grandchildren playing 
     in tennis tournaments for 2\1/2\ hours in 95 deg. heat--with 
     the ball going back and forth endlessly. Only a Saint could 
     stand such agony.
       And thank you for holding the children on your lap in the 
     den while you read on--totally oblivious as our many young 
     ones sped all around you.
       And Dad I want to thank you and Mom for being such a 
     fabulous team--the vitality--the joy--the adventurous attack 
     on life each day. How ya'll had us all on the move--and I 
     mean everyone--in motion--let's get going!
       I really believe that with you and Mom gone--watching over 
     us--time has slowed down in Old General Greene's city.
       And Dad your friends are going to miss you on the fairways 
     and tennis courts and classrooms and walkways--all around us. 
     And goodness knows, Dad, our family is going to miss you as 
     much as if a trusted nightly star had fallen from the sky.
       But though we might not see you, Dad--you shall always be 
     with us.
       Your spirit shall help guide us--to be a better human 
     family--through life's push and shove--learning again to use 
     a strong hand to lift a weak shoulder--rediscovering the 
     daily lessons of love. These are your strengths, Dad. These 
     are the strengths of family and community. These things shall 
     guide us and help us find a more open, goodly path.
       That is what you would want, Dad. We'll all keep giving it 
     a try.
       We promise.
                                  ____


     Richardson Preyer Memorial Service--Greensboro, April 5, 2001

                        (Remarks by Tom Lambeth)

       To share this special moment with Rich's children is not to 
     forget that there are all of you out there who pay tribute to 
     Rich by your presence and, indeed, by the example of your own 
     lives made richer because of friendship and love and 
     commitment inspired by his life. I cannot rightly claim to 
     speak for you; only to serve as a reminder of how far beyond 
     his own family he extended the simple eloquence of his 
     humanity.
       In 1945 on the morning of the beginning of the battle for 
     Okinawa three destroyers stood in line to begin the pre-
     landing bombardment. The torpedo officer on the third was a 
     young LtJG from North Carolina named Preyer. The second of 
     the ships ran aground and came under constant, deadly fire 
     from shore batteries. In a subsequent explosion and sinking 
     much of its crew was lost. Years later, telling of that 
     morning, Rich would say ``all of those young lives gone.''
       Rich was not given to the dramatic so he never said that 
     those who survived lived for all of those who did not, but 
     that is the way he lived. In a public career and a private 
     life that defined the good man and the true patriot, he lived 
     for all of them and for their children and their children. He 
     lived for all of us and what a grand life it was, what a 
     splendid example it has been and will be.
       We as individuals and as a society are strengthened, we are 
     enriched when we find those values that make us good and 
     great captured in the life of another. Loyalty, faith, 
     service, courage and honor are real to those of us here 
     because we saw them alive. We saw Rich Preyer.
       His courage was tested by the torpedos of the North 
     Atlantic, the Kamikazees of the South Pacific and by the 
     attacks of political opponents and he did not falter. His 
     service as a judge at local, state and federal levels, as a 
     six term congressman constantly handed the toughest 
     assignments; his leadership in countless community efforts 
     and many statewide endeavors are his answer to those who 
     dispair of our ability to make democracy work. He loved that 
     work and his love for it said to all of us that public 
     service, that politics can be noble because the people are 
     worthy of the best that we have to give.
       Rich was competitive and he did not always win (although he 
     would want us to remember that he won much more often than he 
     lost) but he knew that the scoreboard is only an incident in 
     the contest, that true victory is in the heart. In that 
     contest, he never lost.
       Years ago I had the great satisfaction of sitting with him 
     when he received an honorary degree from my alma mater at 
     Chapel Hill. When he sat down, finally relieved of the burden 
     of earned degrees at Princeton and Harvard; I leaned over and 
     said to him ``Now you are as good as the rest of us.'' Yet, I 
     knew, as you do, that he was better than almost any of us. It 
     is a tribute to the grace which he carried his 
     accomplishments that realizing his excellence makes us feel 
     better about ourselves.
       Now we gather for our moment of remembrance and of 
     celebration of a truly good life; but the most eloquent 
     tribute to Rich will be the way in which we seek to capture 
     for ourselves and our communities that consistency of 
     strength and truth and goodness that defined his life.
       It is for those of us--all of you out there--who in some 
     way worked beside him over the years to say with new vigor 
     that simple farewell of so many remembered afternoons:
       ``Good night Rich. See you in the morning.''

  Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, I would yield to the gentleman from the 
Fourth District of North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Coble) for yielding me this time. Let me also thank the 
gentleman for putting together this Special Order today.
  Madam Speaker, I want to echo my colleagues who have already spoken 
and also thank them for their participation in this today, because I 
rise today as they do to celebrate the life and career of a very unique 
and outstanding human being who was a former Member of this body and 
really a great North Carolinian. L. Richardson Preyer was a very 
special individual. His death has saddened all of us in this North 
Carolina delegation and North Carolinians in general because we have 
lost one of our great native sons.
  Today, as we gather to honor his life and works, not only as a North 
Carolinian but as a great American, and to celebrate what he did to 
really make our world a better place, it is my honor to participate in 
that.
  L. Richardson Preyer was a native of North Carolina, but he really 
was a citizen of the world. He always said that he was lucky to have 
been born on third base. By this he meant that he had the advantages 
that most people did not have. His grandfather and namesake Lunsford 
Richardson invented Vick's VapoRub and Vick's Cough Drops; and as a 
result, the family had immense personal resources, some would say a 
fortune, that built the Richardson Merrill Chemical Corporation.
  As a result of that, he had an opportunity to attend the best 
schools. He attended Princeton and the law school at Harvard, as we 
have already heard; but his family resources allowed him to do that. 
Instead of living a life in the private sector and taking advantages of 
the wealth that he could have accumulated and his family already had, 
he chose instead to make his life one of public service in changing the 
lot, as we have already heard from my colleague the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Watt) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Price), for those who did not have a voice in many cases.
  After his graduation from Princeton, as we have heard, he served as a 
lieutenant with the United States Navy and was on a destroyer in the 
Atlantic and in the South Pacific and earned a Bronze Star for his 
heroism and his valor at Okinawa. One did not hear a lot from him about 
that. He did not talk about it.
  Rich Preyer was a great lover of the arts. He used his family 
resources to help the lot of many people, and he invested in the arts 
and in music, which he loved a great deal, and in his church. After 
serving for several years, as has been indicated earlier, as a State 
superior court judge, he was appointed by his Harvard Law School 
classmate, John F. Kennedy, to a position as a U.S. judge. As all of us 
know, that is a lifetime appointment; but he resigned that post in 1964 
to really make a difference in what he saw was an opportunity to change 
our State. He did not win that election, as we have already heard, but 
to his credit he continued to take on issues that were important to the 
people of North Carolina, because that is what Rich Preyer was all 
about.
  For those 5 years he was out of public life, he worked with what was 
then North Carolina National Bank and then came back in 1968 and ran 
for and won a seat in this body, representing his hometown of 
Greensboro and the Sixth Congressional District. He continued to make a 
difference in this body for the 12 years of his career in the United 
States Congress. He served as chairman of the Select Committee on 
Ethics, which drafted the Congressional Code of Ethics that those of us 
who serve here today live by.
  Much of this was what Rich Preyer really believed. As we have heard, 
he was a member of the Select Committee in this House that investigated 
President Kennedy's assassination and the

[[Page 6201]]

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an indication of how he was respected 
by this body; but also it said a lot about the integrity of an 
individual who really, in my opinion, was a conscience of the United 
States Congress.
  Although his career ended in this body in 1981, his work on behalf of 
the people of North Carolina did not end. As I have indicated, he was 
involved in so many things in his community that one did not see on the 
surface that dealt with the arts. The thing I want to talk about for 
just a moment in some detail really is what Rich did for education in 
North Carolina.
  During my term as superintendent of the schools for the State of 
North Carolina, in 1989 I had the occasion to appoint a statewide 
commission of business, civic, community, and education leaders to take 
a look at North Carolina's educational system; and we appointed a 
commission called Excellence in Secondary Education. We started looking 
across the State. Where do we find an individual to chair a commission 
headed by people who are on this commission who are leaders in industry 
and in banking and in education? Obviously, as we looked across the 
State, the name of L. Richardson Preyer popped up. We asked him to 
chair it. Without hesitation, he committed and accepted that challenge 
and spent the next year providing the kind of leadership that was 
needed to pull this diverse group together, along with all the data 
from across the country.
  As a result of his strong and visionary leadership, that became the 
blueprint that I used for the next 8 years and that many of my 
colleagues are still using in North Carolina to make a difference in 
education. I thank his family for allowing him to have the time to do 
that.
  I charged him in that time with coming back with recommendations that 
would not only make our schools better but would challenge them to have 
the kind of assessment that we needed to have that would help every 
child reach their full potential. He was instrumental in making that 
happen.
  As I said, we are grateful for him today; but children who do not 
know him, did not know his family, are now benefiting from his work. He 
was a well-rounded individual. Not only was he a model public servant, 
but he was a father who loved his family and who lived out the ideals 
of the family values that we hear so many people talk about today.
  He and his wife, Emily, were a team; and together they raised five 
outstanding children, and they truly enjoyed their grandchildren.
  I always looked forward to, at Christmastime, receiving his Christmas 
card because it was not only just his and Emily's, it was the whole 
family with their grandchildren. On top of that, he was an elder and a 
teacher in the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro for more than 40 
years. He did not talk a lot about his religion. He lived it.
  Madam Speaker, L. Richardson Preyer is one of the greatest public 
servants my State has ever produced, but he was great not because he 
had the benefits of political connections and the wealth or because he 
served for over a decade in this body. He was a remarkable human being 
because he made the most of his God-given gifts, and he desired to make 
a difference in the lives of every North Carolinian and the people of 
this country, but especially in the lives of children.
  It is important to point out that during his tenure as a State judge, 
as has been pointed out today, he upheld rulings that allowed five 
black children to attend an all-white school in Greensboro; thus, 
integrating those schools for the first time and literally changing and 
beginning to change the South and across this country. This was an act 
of tremendous courage for that day and age. He was a man of unique 
character and well ahead of his time in the arena of civil rights and, 
it can be argued, probably cost him the governor's mansion in our 
State. He was a patriot and a public servant of the highest order. He 
was a friend and colleague of mine in the fight to improve education 
for all children.
  Many of his ideals have helped to and will help children everywhere 
to grow up and realize the American dream.
  Madam Speaker, the list of names of great men and women who have 
served in this body is long. All of them used their lives and gifts to 
serve their communities, States, and this great Nation. Today we honor 
L. Richardson Preyer and add his name to that long list of great 
Americans.
  Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Hayes) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) expressed 
interest in speaking on this Special Order, but they are at committee 
meetings and it appears unlikely that they will be able to come to the 
floor. So, Madam Speaker, let me conclude.
  Much has been said during this Special Order about Emily Preyer, but 
I do not believe it was mentioned that she pre-deceased her husband by 
several months.
  I recall, Madam Speaker, recently, several days ago, we were at a 
full House Committee on the Judiciary meeting, and I looked into the 
faces of several people in the crowded room, and I detected a man who 
served as a former staffer to Rich Preyer. I called him forward. He 
came to the podium where I was seated in the Committee on the Judiciary 
hearing room, and I said to him, Ed, Rich Preyer is not in good health. 
I said, I am told that he is failing and I thought you needed to know 
that, because he was very close to Mr. Preyer.
  He thanked me for having shared that with him. The next day, Rich 
Preyer passed away; and that told me in glaring terms, Madam Speaker, 
about the uncertainty, about the indefinite phase, of life. I am 
talking to Ed one day. His staffer was going to call him the next day 
to talk to him and it was too late.
  I would extend our condolences and good wishes to the surviving 
children and their families and conclude with this comment, Madam 
Speaker. Jim Slosher, one of our well-known reporters at the Breezeberg 
News and Record, called me for a quote shortly after Rich Preyer's 
death. I thought for a moment, and I said when you saw Rich Preyer you 
instinctively uttered or concluded there stands a gentleman. He was, 
indeed, a rare gentleman.
  I want to thank those who took part in this Special Order today, 
Madam Speaker; and I want to urge those who wanted to be here who were 
otherwise detained to feel free to submit their comments in a 
subsequent edition of the Record.
  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my 
colleagues in honoring the memory of the late L. Richardson Preyer who 
served my home state of North Carolina and our country with 
distinction. Richardson Preyer has an outstanding record of public 
service dating back to his time in the U.S. Navy during World War II, 
for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.
  Through his years as a State Superior Court Judge, a United States 
District Court Judge and then as a Member of the U.S. House of 
Representatives for six terms, Richardson Preyer saw his responsibility 
and fulfilled his duty when called upon. Serving with a quiet demeanor 
but effective in getting the job done, he commanded the respect of his 
constituents and his peers in the Congress.
  Richardson Preyer was always concerned about the welfare of the 
people and his desire to help those who were less fortunate was well 
known. It was the hallmark of his unsuccessful campaign for Governor of 
North Carolina in 1964 and then of his Congressional career from 1969 
to 1981.
  Richardson Preyer was never too busy to give of his time and his 
considerable abilities when he was needed. When Congressman Preyer 
passed away recently, North Carolina lost a valiant patriot who loved 
his country, and who served us well.
  I am honored to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Richardson 
Preyer and I extend my sympathy to the Preyer family on their loss.

                          ____________________