[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 STATEMENT FROM REPRESENTATIVE TOM DAVIS HONORING THE 80TH BIRTHDAY OF 
              SID YUDAIN, THE ROLL CALL NEWSPAPER FOUNDER

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                             HON. TOM DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2003

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, ``At every dramatic turning 
point of our long national nightmare known as Watergate, Roll Call was 
there. Sid Yudain reported the Watergate break-in a full three days 
before Nixon's resignation,'' quipped Washington's favorite political 
satirist, Mark Russell some twenty years ago.
  Russell's dig was aimed at the man credited with discovering him, Sid 
Yudain, founder, publisher, editor, and even occasional delivery boy of 
Capitol Hill's own newspaper, Roll Call. Now, this weekend Mark and his 
wife Ali are hosting--and perhaps roasting--Sid at a party celebrating 
his 80th birthday.
  Sid, who had spent several years in Hollywood following World War II 
where he became a columnist and raconteur for movie stars, had come to 
Washington in the early 1950s to work as press secretary for 
Congressman Al Morano of his home State of Connecticut. He soon noticed 
an ongoing void of information about what was going on around the 
Capitol Hill community. Sure, there were plenty of newspapers in town 
that wrote about Congressional legislation and political debates. But 
an incident involving two Ohio Congressmen, who were exchanging 
greetings when one expressed total surprise at learning from the other 
that a member of their State delegation had died, provided the spark 
that finally led Sid to create his own newspaper, Roll Call, in 1955.
  Interestingly, Roll Call was not to be a newspaper about Capitol 
Hill, but as its masthead boldly proclaimed, ``The newspaper of Capitol 
Hill.'' Judging by the names of those who wrote its early columns and 
stories, it lived up to its assertion, because Members of Congress and 
their staffs eagerly contributed to its pages. Vice President Richard 
Nixon insisted on writing a piece about a doorman who had passed away, 
and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson related through the pages of 
Roll Call his experiences and thanks following his recovery from a 
recent heart attack.
  For the 32 years that Sid owned Roll Call, the paper chronicled life 
on the Hill and promoted a community spirit where Members and staffers 
of all political persuasions could come together to celebrate their 
common service to the American people. Roll Call nurtured clubs and 
organizations, issued the ``Outstanding Staffer'' award each year, 
sponsored Congress' annual baseball game, and gave gifted and often 
famous writers of all backgrounds the opportunity to inform and 
entertain arguably the most influential readership on the planet.
  And, all this time Sid was having the time of his life. His Capitol 
Hill townhouse parties featuring steaming cauldrons of his homemade 
soups fed to noteworthy musical and journalistic friends were 
legendary, and his zany humor brought raucous laughter to any occasion.
  Sid sold Roll Call in 1988 to spend more time with his family, 
friends, and saxophone, and to get more use out of the stage he built 
in his back yard for his music parties, a facility dubbed by associates 
as ``Sid Trap.'' Mr. Speaker, his get-togethers fall somewhere between 
a Pavarotti concert and a Don Rickles roast.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me with Sid's wife, Lael; 
their children, Rachel (and husband, Amar Kuchinad) and Raymond; Sid's 
other family members; and his cadre of friends in wishing him a most 
happy 80th birthday. And, with all that talent he still holds in 
reserve, perhaps it's time to get started on the book he's promised to 
write.

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