[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3422-3423]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN TILLIE FOWLER

  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, I rise today with a very heavy heart. And I 
know the devastation and deep sadness I feel are shared by many in the 
Capitol, in Washington, and throughout America. For with the passing of 
former Congresswoman Tillie Fowler, America has lost one of her most 
accomplished and dedicated public servants, and I have lost one of my 
most precious friends.
  Tillie's remarkable record of public service is well known to many of 
my colleagues. It began over three decades ago, when she worked as a 
legislative staff member here on Capitol Hill. Her talents soon 
attracted the attention of Virginia Knauer, Special Assistant to the 
President for Consumer Affairs. It was there that Tillie and I worked 
side by side and bonded as lifelong friends.
  Following her marriage, she and her beloved husband, Buck, moved to 
Florida, where they would raise two wonderful daughters--Tillie Anne, 
and my goddaughter, Elizabeth. Tillie also devoted her talents and her 
enormous energy to her community as a volunteer serving in numerous 
leadership positions. She was President of the Jacksonville City 
Council--the first woman ever to hold that position, and the first 
Republican to preside over the council in more than a century. This, 
despite the fact that the Council consisted of 16 Democrats and only 3 
Republicans. Clearly, Tillie's intelligence, integrity, and leadership 
skills were respected across party lines.
  In 1992, Tillie ran for the United States House of Representatives. 
Her popularity was so great that the incumbent Congressman decided to 
retire rather than run against her.
  As those who served with her know, Tillie quickly earned a reputation 
as one of the hardest working and most effective Members of Congress. 
She was recognized as one of the 1 most thoughtful and visionary 
members of the House Armed Services Committee, and the 8 years she 
spent in the halls of the Capitol were full of accomplishments.
  She became the highest ranking woman on either side of Capitol Hill, 
when her colleagues selected her as Vice Chair of the Republican 
Conference.
  Term-limiting herself, she retired from Congress, but not from public 
service. Time and again she was called on by our Nation's leaders to 
serve in important and sensitive assignments. Defense Secretary 
Rumsfeld named her Chair--the first female Chair--of the Defense Policy 
Board Advisory Committee, and he appointed her to lead the seven member 
panel created by Congress to review misconduct allegations at the Air 
Force Academy. He turned to her again for a blue-ribbon panel to 
provide independent professional advice on Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
  Tillie Fowler was a role model of what a servant of the public should 
be. And she was the finest friend that one could have. Loyal and 
caring, she was like a sister to me--always there, always reaching out, 
always searching for ways in which she could help.
  Poet Robert Frost wrote: ``As dawn goes down to day; Nothing gold can 
stay.'' Tillie was pure gold. She will live forever in my heart.
  Bob and I send our strongest support, our love, our prayers to 
Tillie's family.
  Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague from 
North Carolina to speak about our great loss, the loss of a great 
friend, the passing of Congresswoman Tillie Fowler of Jacksonville. 
Tillie was taken from us suddenly yesterday, passing from this Earth to 
a better life, and we are sad and shocked by this terrific loss that 
the State and the Nation has suffered.
  In every way, Tillie was a great lady. She had such a unique 
combination of strengths that she has been referred to as a ``steel 
magnolia.'' She was ever gracious and kind and a gentle soul, but at 
the same time she was firm in her convictions. Even though Tillie had 
left the House of Representatives, people in the highest levels of 
Government, as pointed out by my colleague from North Carolina, 
continually sought her advice and counsel.
  Most recently she had served on the Defense Policy Board Advisory 
Committee, which provides counsel to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld on 
policy and strategy.
  I relied often on her sound judgment and advice. Most recently we 
were talking about the Mayport Naval Base in Florida and the USS 
Kennedy, and what the Florida delegation should do in order to ensure 
the long-term viability of Mayport. She was an instrumental adviser to 
Governor Jeb Bush on the BRAC and BRAC process.
  Tillie was a great friend and personal counselor to me. It was only 
about this time a year ago that she and I were standing near the St. 
John's River in Jacksonville and she announced her support for my 
candidacy for the Senate. I am so grateful for her support, and so 
proud to have had the faith of Tillie Fowler in my candidacy. Her 
wisdom will be missed, but her legacy is firmly in place.
  Tillie Fowler began her life as a public servant shortly after 
earning her law degree from Emory University. She came to Washington to 
work for 3 years as a legislative assistant to Representative Robert 
Stephens of Georgia, and shortly thereafter she went to work at the 
Nixon White House in the Office of Consumer Affairs.
  At the White House, Tillie made one of her dearest lifelong friends, 
our colleague Senator Elizabeth Dole. Tillie and her husband Buck even 
named one

[[Page 3423]]

of their daughters Elizabeth in honor of that wonderful friendship. 
Tillie looked to Elizabeth Dole as a role model for working women, as 
someone who could be strong without being hard edged, and she followed 
that example of success. I extend to my colleague my deepest 
condolences on the loss of your good and dear friend.
  After her tenure at the White House, she and Buck moved back to 
Jacksonville, FL, where they settled down to raise a family. She became 
active in a number of community organizations including the American 
Red Cross and the Jacksonville Junior League. She eventually ran for 
the city council in the 1980s, and served for 7 years, the last year as 
council president. She was the first female, and the first Republican, 
to serve as the president of the Jacksonville city council.
  In 1992 Tillie Fowler became Congresswoman Tillie Fowler and quickly 
rose to be one of the top ranking women in the House of 
Representatives. She became vice chairwoman of the House Republican 
Conference and, for 6 years, chief deputy whip. Congresswoman Fowler 
served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on 
Transportation as well. Both committees allowed her to become a 
successful advocate for the city of Jacksonville and for the State of 
Florida. But I think Tillie will always be remembered for her great 
grasp of defense policy, her impassioned advocacy on behalf of the U.S. 
military.
  In the year 2000, Congresswoman Fowler voluntarily stepped down to 
honor a pledge she had made to self-limit and return to private life. 
Without a doubt, the most important legacy left behind by our friend 
Tillie Fowler is her family--her husband Buck, and their two daughters 
Elizabeth and Tillie.
  Our hearts are with you. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you 
during this difficult time.
  We will miss her greatly and may God bless her.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I am saddened by the passing of Tillie 
Fowler. My wife and I had the privilege of traveling with her overseas, 
and I found her to be a wonderful person. Tillie Fowler had a sparkle 
in her eye, and she had a warm way about her. We enjoyed her company. I 
think everybody who dealt with her respected Tillie Fowler's 
intelligence, her compassion, and her serious interest in making good 
policy for the country. I respected her contribution to her State and 
to our country. My wife and I commented many times after that trip what 
a delightful time we had with Tillie Fowler. We express our condolences 
to the family as well.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I join my colleague from North Carolina in 
expressing my condolences to the family, and express how much I 
respected Tillie Fowler.
  I had an opportunity to say hello to her a little over a week ago. 
She was so happy and vibrant. Her sudden passing was very much a shock 
to me. It reminds all of us just how fragile life can be.
  I had an opportunity to get to know Tillie Fowler when I served in 
the U.S. House of Representatives with her. She was a wonderful person 
and highly respected in the House of Representatives. I do not recall 
one person in the whole body, whether they opposed or supported her, 
who had cross words to say to Tillie Fowler. She was always well 
prepared, always courteous, and always somebody you admired when you 
served with her and got to know her.
  I worked closely with her on a number of defense issues because that 
was her life's love. I had a chance to get to know her more closely 
when we had an issue in Colorado with the Air Force Academy. As you may 
recall, when we set up a commission, which she chaired, it was called 
the Fowler Commission.
  I reflect on the type of respect she garnered from everybody who was 
around her. When we put her on that commission, we knew she would do a 
good job. We named the commission after her because of the respect we 
had for her. It was a difficult task. She did it with honor. She was 
very hard working and pursued it vigorously. She did a great job.
  I join my colleagues in expressing my condolences to the family, and 
express how much we all loved her. We will miss her. May God bless.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I know I will be joined by the 
Presiding Officer in the shock and sadness that exists because of the 
loss of Tillie Fowler.
  Tillie was a friend of mine long before I ever got involved in 
politics. I have lived in Georgia for 37 years. You can't live in 
Georgia without knowing the Kidd family. Tillie grew up in 
Milledgeville, GA. Her dad, Culver Kidd, was a longtime State senator, 
known as ``the silver fox.'' He was quite a gentlemen and quite a 
legend in his own time in Georgia politics.
  Tillie was a great mentor to me during my 8 years in the House, as I 
know she was to the Presiding Officer. As I told her husband Buck last 
night, I fought many battles with her. Of all the people I was 
associated with in the House and in this body, there was nobody I would 
rather have had in that foxhole with me when I was fighting a battle 
than Tillie Fowler. She was a great lady who exemplified everything 
that is good about the Congress, and she will be dearly missed.
  I yield the floor.

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