[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16488-16489]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          MOMENT OF SILENCE IN MEMORY OF THE LATE ROBIN BEARD

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to make the body aware of the 
loss of our colleague and friend, Robin Beard, former Congressman from 
the old Sixth District, who passed away last Saturday. His district 
basically overlapped with the current Seventh District of Tennessee. He 
served in this body from 1973 until 1983.
  Robin Beard really had a storied and amazing life in which he 
dedicated himself to public service, and he did love it.
  He received a B.A. in history from Vanderbilt in 1962. He was a 
veteran, serving 4 years in the Marine Corps, where he was a Marine 
Corps officer in charge of the Gemini IV offshore recovery mission, and 
attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.
  While in Congress, he served on the Armed Services Committee. He was 
a strong supporter of and friend to Fort Campbell, which was located in 
both his district and mine.
  He was appointed by the House Speaker as a congressional advisor to 
the Strategic Arms Negotiations in Geneva and the U.N. General Assembly 
Special Session on Disarmament.
  He also served as an assistant Republican whip, was cochairman of the 
Republican Research Committee on Defense, and an executive committee 
member of the Republican Study Committee.
  His expertise extended to domestic issues, and he served as an 
executive committee member of the Congressional Task Force on Economic 
Policy.
  After leaving Congress, he continued to serve the public, twice named 
as NATO Deputy Secretary General.
  He is being laid to rest today in the Protestant French Huguenot 
Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
  He is survived by his wife, Cathy, two children and five 
grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner).
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank Mrs. Blackburn for 
bringing this to our attention.
  Robin Beard was a friend of all of ours from Tennessee, and many of 
you, both professionally and personally. I

[[Page 16489]]

actually got to know him when he served two stints as Assistant 
Secretary General in NATO parliamentary, or the NATO organization in 
Brussels.
  He had a keen sense of humor, and he was a man who enjoyed the 
collegiality of the House. He was a House man, and he served his 
country well, both in uniform and out, when he was with NATO.
  And so I join on behalf of all of our Members from Tennessee and, 
really, all of the House and Mrs. Blackburn in this tribute to our 
fallen colleague, Mr. Beard.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the body join our 
Tennessee delegation in a moment of silence in remembrance of our 
former colleague, Robin Beard.

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