[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25738]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING CONGRESSMAN AMO HOUGHTON

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend two colleagues 
who will not be here when the next congressional session begins--
Congressman Amo Houghton and Congressman Jack Quinn. It has been a true 
honor to work with them. They will be greatly missed.
  While we did not share the same political party, that fact never 
prevented us from working together to improve Upstate New York. These 
two men had very different backgrounds: Jack Quinn was a union 
steelworker and teacher before entering politics; Amo Houghton was head 
of Corning Glass Works. Yet, they are good friends who have represented 
the working families in their districts well and with grace.
  In 2002, when a State redistricting plan proposed to match these two 
men against each other, I think their statements at the time reflect 
their character and friendship:
  ``In my heart, I don't want to knock out Jack Quinn,'' Houghton said. 
``He's an extraordinary guy.''
  ``I hope it is not against my good friend, Amo Houghton,'' Quinn 
said. ``If it is, I'll just invite him to dinner, maybe take our wives, 
and talk about what is best for the people of western New York.''
  Through their committee posts, both moderate Members fought for the 
interests of New York State.
  As the former chairman of a Fortune 500 company, Amo Houghton 
understood how the Federal Government could play a role in sustaining 
and creating local businesses. As a senior member on the House Ways and 
Means Committee, Representative Houghton partnered with me to help 
create and maintain the wool duty relief program, which is credited 
with stemming the loss of manufacturing jobs in the suit industry. Duty 
relief on imported wool suiting fabrics has proven critical to the 
survival of Hickey-Freeman, a high-end suit manufacturer that has long 
operated in Rochester.
  I was privileged to work closely with Representative Quinn after the 
redistricting process in 2002 when we came to share the city of 
Buffalo. Jack went out of his way to introduce me to the area and its 
people. He is truly the ``Big Man from Buffalo.'' As one example of his 
effort to improve the local economy, we cohosted a widely attended 
forum with local manufacturers to discuss what action the Federal 
Government must take to ensure that western New York and the rest of 
the United States will remain competitive in the manufacturing sector.
  I will miss the partnership I enjoyed with both men, and their 
decency and respect for this institution. I have heard it said that 
legislation is the art of compromise, and both of these men understood 
that principle. We need more people with the ability to reach across 
the aisle.
  I know that this is not the last we will hear from either of them. 
Both of them still have much to contribute to public discourse and 
Upstate New York.
  I wish both of them the best of luck and continued success in their 
future endeavors.

                          ____________________