[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING THE LATE HONORABLE BOB BADHAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember our friend and 
former colleague Bob Badham who passed away suddenly last Friday. While 
Bob was a private man, he dedicated his life to public service. He was 
a veteran of the Korean War and served with great distinction as a 
member of the California State legislature. He represented Newport 
Beach, California here in the United States Congress from 1977 to 1989, 
and he served on the civil service board in his hometown of Newport 
Beach until his passing last Friday.
  Bob was a longtime friend and great supporter of President Reagan. 
They knew each other in Sacramento when Ronald Reagan was Governor of 
California and Bob was a member of the State assembly. Like the 
President, Bob was an optimist, a true American patriot, and a strong 
voice for freedom and democracy. As a senior member of the House Armed 
Services Committee, Bob was an advocate for America's veterans, and he 
pushed for a more muscular and modern U.S. fighting force. He supported 
the defense buildup of the 1980s because he knew our country's 
strengths could not be sustained with weak Armed Forces. He firmly 
believed that communism was no match for a strong United States 
military defending free people and our democratic system. Bob had 
vision and conviction and, Mr. Speaker, as we all know from looking at 
history, Bob Badham was right.
  His work in Congress involved serious national security and 
international policy efforts, but all of us who worked with Bob 
remember that his sense of humor and sense of self never deserted him. 
He was a gracious colleague with a strong backbone and a big heart. I 
feel honored to have worked with Bob Badham and I am grateful for his 
friendship and his stellar service to this body and to the United 
States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, the thoughts and prayers I know of all of us here in the 
Congress are with his wife Anne; his daughters Phyllis, Sharon and 
Jennifer; his sons Robert, Jr. and William; their 11 grandchildren; and 
his brother.

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