[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15564-15565]
[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 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. This is indeed a sad time, but a happy time. 
Sad, and my prayers go out to Tom, Thomas J. Manton and his family over 
his passing; but happy because his life passed our way. And so, as in 
all things, we thank God. We thank God for the life of Thomas J. 
Manton.

                              {time}  2030

  When I think of Tom and all of what he has done in his career, there 
is a commercial that ran some time ago and it said he ``did it the old-
fashioned way.'' Well, Tom became an attorney, a member of the New York 
City Police

[[Page 15565]]

Department, a member of the city council, a Member of the United States 
House of Representatives, and a county leader of Queens County the old-
fashioned way. He earned it. He truly is an inspiration for men and 
women who may have grown up on the hard side of the mountain, that if, 
in fact, you focus and you work hard, that truly you can make a 
contribution to your community and to the great society that we call 
America.
  When I think of Tom, I think of words like ``gentleman.'' I think of 
words like ``dignity,'' and I think of words like ``respect.''
  In 1984, we needed the right person at the right time to bring Queens 
County politics back, and history is something that is ongoing. And you 
never know when you are creating history or you are part of history. 
You just do what you have to do. But in 1984, Queens County politics 
was at its all-time low. So what it needed at that time, at its time of 
need, was a man of dignity, a man who earned respect, and a man who was 
honest because we did not have that reputation at that particular time. 
So Queens was lucky that there was a man that was willing to step up to 
the plate and become the county leader. And I think that is 
significant.
  And I know he was a Member of this House, and I know that he was a 
city councilman and police officer, but I want to talk about Tom, that 
for 20 years, he was Chair of the Queens County organization, and 
people know that in this day and age that it is a feat that is not 
often obtained, because what you have got to do is you have got to keep 
and bring people together. And Queens County, as you have heard 
already, is the most diverse county in all of these United States of 
America. So people scratch their heads and try to figure out how did 
Tom Manton sustain his leadership in the most diverse county in this 
Nation?
  Well, first of all, and you are going to hear me utilizing these 
words frequently, he earned the respect of people. Some people think 
county bosses and backrooms and they have got whips and all that kind 
of stuff and they try to whip you in line. Tom was always soft-spoken 
and always tried to give you, in a rational way, his viewpoint and how 
it was best for the whole to do whatever he believed. But even in that, 
he included people. He did not just say ``I am Tom Manton, and this is 
what I am doing.'' He brought people around and included them in the 
process so that when a decision was made, it was made by the entirety. 
And he had the vision to know and to understand that the county was so 
diverse that you had to make sure that everybody had a seat at the 
table.
  So, yes, he brought in the first South Asian. He brought in the first 
Latino. He helped create the first woman borough president and the 
first African American borough president in Queens County. He had the 
vision to make sure that you had sometimes somebody who might be a 
newcomer but had the ability to bring people together to make sure that 
they were part of it.
  And what I also think was unique about Tom, even when he had to say 
no to you, it was never a personal situation. And I think that you 
could look and see where many individuals whom he may not have been 
with initially or had to turn down for one position, but later down the 
road, he found a way to make sure that that relationship was reconciled 
and that person went on to do some other things. He was extremely 
loyal, which is another fantastic quality that you often do not see.
  So I conclude my statements by just saying again, as I started, I 
have to thank the Creator of all for Tom Manton, because He sent us the 
right man at the right time to do the right thing for a borough that 
was desperately in need. He sent the right man at the right time to do 
the right thing to sit here in the United States House of 
Representatives. He sent the right man at the right time to have such a 
beautiful and dignified family as the Manton family. And our hearts and 
our prayers go out to the entire Manton family.
  May his soul rest in peace.

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