[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15563-15564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO LATE CONGRESSMAN THOMAS J. MANTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I mourn the 
passing of our distinguished former colleague, the Honorable Thomas J. 
Manton. Tom was a great public servant, a great New Yorker, and a great 
American. Indeed, Tom Manton was the personification of the American 
Dream.
  The son of immigrants from the Irish countryside, Tom Manton was born 
and raised a New Yorker. His father was a plasterer, and Tom loved to 
tell the story of how proud his father was of his election to Congress; 
and how when he came to celebrate that election, they were in the 
Longworth Building, and his father told him that he had helped build 
that building in which Tom served.
  After serving with honor and distinction in the United States Marine 
Corps, Tom put himself through college and law school while serving 
proudly in the New York City Police Department. He was recognized by 
his community in western Queens for his outstanding leadership 
abilities when his neighbors chose him to represent them on the New 
York City Council from 1970 to 1984.
  I was proud to call myself a colleague and friend of Tom Manton. We 
served together on the New York City Council, and I served with him on 
the Housing Committee, which he chaired. I will never forget one day he 
came in late to a meeting. He was never late. But that night he had 
stayed up all night counting votes that sent him to Congress.
  It was in that legislative body that I learned to appreciate his 
quiet, firm, steady powers of persuasion and conciliation, the true 
hallmarks of leadership in a democratic society. I was privileged as 
well to call Tom Manton a colleague in the halls of the United States 
Congress. No Member of this House was ever more dedicated to serving 
the needs of his constituents.
  Tom played a crucial role in helping forge the peace that prevails in 
Ireland today through his patient and persistent efforts to bring peace 
to that once troubled land. He served as co-chair of the bipartisan 
Irish Caucus, on which I served. And he was selected to be the Grand 
Marshal of the New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade. He was very 
proud of that and kept in his office a big picture of that event.

[[Page 15564]]

  But he also embraced Tip O'Neill's maxim that all politics is local, 
and he lived it, to the everlasting gratitude of the people that he 
represented in Queens and the Bronx. When the Long Island Railroad 
threatened to build a waste transfer station in western Queens, Tom led 
the successful fight to block it. When police officers suffered 
permanent job-related injuries, Tom made sure that they and their 
families received fitting lifetime compensation.
  But perhaps Tom Manton's most enduring legacy may be forging the most 
united and effective political party organization in any county in New 
York City. He accomplished this remarkable achievement in what is 
probably the most ethnically diverse county in the Nation, and he did 
it with his singular and extraordinary powers of leadership. He was 
able to convene diverse groups and views and unite them behind common 
goals and purposes.
  He showed an unparalleled ability to identify and encourage new 
leadership and talent from the emerging communities of our City and to 
develop and nurture future public servants who were worthy of the 
responsibilities with which they were entrusted. That is truly Tom 
Manton's greatest legacy, a history of leadership through inclusion, 
guided by the principles of tolerance and equality.
  When I first came to Congress, Tom took me under his wing. He was an 
important mentor to me, an important friend, and my heart goes out to 
his wife, Diane, his children and his grandchildren. You are in our 
hearts and in our prayers. Tom will be deeply missed.

                          ____________________