[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15565-15566]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TOM MANTON'S LEGACY OF INCLUSIVENESS

  Mr. SERRANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New 
York is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SERRANO. Madam Speaker, so much tonight has been said about Tom 
Manton and so much more can be said.
  What I would like to do for a couple of minutes is focus on my 
personal relationship with him and what role he played and the 
conversations we had about what he saw in the future of the county of 
Queens and the future of New York politics.
  As we know, in our American political system, different generations 
bring forth different communities wanting to share in the American 
political dream. And as we know, politics is at the very foundation of 
our full American system.
  From the day I came here in March of 1990, and I came in a special 
election, Tom Manton was one of two people that stayed very close to 
me, the other being Mr. Rangel. In fact, Mr. Rangel and Tom Manton 
teamed up a couple of years later to make sure that New York City 
received a seat on the Appropriations Committee, and it is no secret 
that Tom Manton and Charlie Rangel accomplished that for me.

[[Page 15566]]

  But as part of the conversations that we had throughout the years 
that he was here and after that, Tommy Manton always made it clear that 
he understood fully what it meant to be a New Yorker and the history of 
New York City. He would sit down and talk to me and say, You know, my 
dad used to tell me about how the Irish wanted to participate in 
politics. And he said, I know folks will tell you about the struggles 
from members of the Jewish community to participate in politics and 
members of the Italian American community to participate in politics. 
And he said, It is no different. In Queens and New York City and in 
this country, there are Asians and Hispanics, and much earlier, African 
Americans who want to participate in politics, not with a desire to 
uproot the leadership or to destroy anything but to be part of it. And 
he understood from the first day I met him, he knew the first time I 
spoke to him, that this was healthy for our party, and it was even 
healthier for our society.
  It has been said here that he gave sort of a rough impression at 
times. Very direct. Not too many words. But he was always finding a way 
of bringing about change. When you look at his history, the fact that 
he was a New York City policeman, the fact that he goes to law school, 
the fact that he runs for public office and wins, it is a career that 
tells you that there is dedication and there is concern. And I remember 
when he sat down with me one day and he said, Queens is seen by many 
folks as sort of a politically forgotten borough. We have got a lot of 
numbers, but all the action that is New York City is happening 
elsewhere. And he said, Watch Queens in the next few years as it begins 
to include people.
  And I think that is important to use the word ``include'' and 
``inclusion'' because Tommy Manton was not about meaningless tokenism. 
He was about honestly bringing people in.
  And so now because of Tommy Manton, the Asian community, the Hispanic 
community, the African American community, and a county that not long 
ago people would bet would never see that kind of inclusiveness and 
that kind of change, now you see the change and you see the inclusion 
of people where Asian Americans had been elected in Queens County 
before they were elected anywhere else. Where an African American woman 
was elected as the borough president, chief executive of the county. 
That is Tommy Manton's legacy.
  And depending on what your take on life is, and part of mine is that 
the only thing that still hurts our country is the inability for all 
folks to get along, that everything else we can deal with, all other 
issues we can deal with, but the lack of unity at times haunts us, then 
what better legacy to have been a leader who understood that people had 
to be included, and people had to be part of the process.

                              {time}  2045

  If nothing else is said about what Tom Manton accomplished, let it be 
said that he understood that everybody had to be at the table and 
everybody had to share.
  After he left here, he kept in touch with me, and after he left here 
we spoke often. But I will always remember him as a straight-shooter, a 
class act, a nice human being of few words and a coalition builder.
  Mr. Rangel and I have discussed this many times. I have only one 
prerequisite when supporting a political candidate: Are they a 
coalition builder? If they are not, including members of my own 
community, then I am not supporting them. That is what Tommy Manton 
was. That is why we will miss him, and that is why our thoughts and our 
prayers are with his family and with the whole Queens community.

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