[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14] [House] [Pages 18770-18773] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HONORING CONGRESSMAN JOHN SEIBERLING The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 18, 2007, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) for half the time remaining before midnight, which is approximately 43 minutes. Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the opportunity to be here. Tonight we rise to honor one of the great Members of Congress that has ever stepped foot into this Chamber, and that has ever served in the United States Congress, and that's John Seiberling. Mr. Seiberling passed away a few weeks ago. We rise today, I am joined by my colleague, and I join my colleague, Congresswoman Betty Sutton. We split the Congressman's old district in Akron and Kent, her particular district goes up to Lorraine, but Ms. Sutton has to leave us, because she is going to go into the Rules Committee room and actually put forth some comprehensive energy legislation that we just heard so much that we weren't doing, that's going to be here on floor of this week addressing all of the issues that the American people want us to address. With that, Ms. Sutton, I will yield to you. Ms. SUTTON. I thank the gentleman. I thank you for putting together this hour that we have to honor Congressman John Seiberling. I do rise with a deep sense of humility and appreciation to speak about this great man. Congressman Seiberling was an extraordinary public servant and humanitarian who gave countless years of humble service to the people of northeast Ohio and our country. His unflinching commitment to the rule of law and the pursuit of social justice have inspired so many. Through selfless service, John Seiberling and his extraordinary wife, Betty, have given those of us in the Akron community, Ohio and this Nation, far more than we can adequately pay tribute to here tonight. But for all that you have given us so generously in service, we thank you. Though I am almost certain he would argue this point, John Seiberling was a great man, and the fact that he would, with humility, object to such praise, would only prove the point. Congressman Seiberling, together with Congressman Ralph Regula, worked to create the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a gift for the ages, bettering the lives of people throughout our area, our country and our world. From near and far, people visit the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, making it among the most visited national parks in this country. Congressman Seiberling was a special soul, one who traveled a path of common good. He touched so many lives throughout this Nation and beyond, and I, like others, like Tim and others here today, were so fortunate to have him touch ours. I shall never forget the occasion that I became aware of John Seiberling. I was blessed with an opportunity to visit Washington, D.C., as a high school student. As fate would have it, on the day that I came to this, the United States House of Representatives, I sat in the gallery, and the distinguished gentleman from Ohio, Congressman John Seiberling, rose to the floor to speak to an issue of the day. Though I will always recall this amazing experience, I could not tell [[Page 18771]] you the subject matter of his remarks. It was not the subject that struck me that day, it was his passion, his unabashed resolve. It was the heart with which he spoke on behalf of those he so clearly served. After leaving Congress, Representative Seiberling returned home to Akron and continued his service to our community as a teacher and a scholar. Fate again brought me to his presence. As a law student at the University of Akron School of Law, I had the privilege to be his student. My fellow law students and I were blessed to witness his humble strength and his enduring belief in public service as a pursuit of a high calling. As he taught us about the legislative process, which was the subject of the course, we learned about the work and perseverance that went into the creation of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and also into passage of the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, which was an achievement of historic proportion. But amazing though his achievements were, Congressman Seiberling never bragged of his accomplishments. He was far too modest for such things. Instead, he focused on teaching us about how to make the legislative process work, even against long odds. For the knowledge that he shared, I will always be grateful. Though his modesty precluded him from bragging, make no mistake. The Alaska Lands Act of 1980 was historic, and as its author, Congressman Seiberling deserves our admiration and appreciation. Describing the importance of this immense contribution to the country, in 2001, when President Clinton presented Congressman Seiberling with the Presidential Citizens Medal, Clinton said, ``With that legislation, John Seiberling single-handedly saved more of our wilderness than any previous American, a legacy that will last for generations.'' Congressman Seiberling, with his vision, perseverance and courage, with his heart and mind combined, he made our community and our country and our world a better and more just place, leaving us with a legacy and inspiration that shall long endure. Thank you, Congressman Seiberling, for the life that you lived and the example you set. Betty, thank you and your family for all that you have given so generously. I thank you for the time. Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Good luck up in rules. I know we are going to do the right thing. I know Congressman Seiberling would be proud of the efforts we have been making on behalf of the environment, on behalf of alternative energy. I just had the opportunity to kind of peruse through some of my old staff, was his old staff, had an opportunity to peruse, as you were talking the Plain Dealer Magazine from 1986 when Congressman Seiberling retired, and they did a full spread. Just looking through here, I had prepared remarks, but this is a heck of a lot better than what I was going to say. As you go through, and you talk, as Congresswoman Sutton was talking about the Cuyahoga Valley and the park, which basically, for those who don't know the area, Cleveland and Akron would have just grown together, and they would have just been this huge, you know, megacity. Because of the vision of John Seiberling and Ralph Regula, who is just retiring from Congress now, there is this huge Cuyahoga Valley National Park that is one of the beautiful landscapes in Ohio, has separated Akron and Cleveland and provided this gorgeous scenic area. But that's the kind of vision that Congressman Seiberling had. I am trying to find the quote here from Mr. Regula, if I can find it, the newspaper is sticking together because it's 22 years old, but there is a great quote in here from Mr. Regula, just talking about how this is John Seiberling's legacy, is that the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. To have the vision and the foresight that Congressman John Seiberling had is something that I think all of us who serve in Congress aspire to, because it's not about dealing with, necessarily, the problems that we have today, but as we deal with those problems, figure out how we put the country in a good position 10, 15, 20 years from now. When this gentleman was talking about the Cuyahoga Valley National Park 30 years ago, almost 40 years ago, and when he was talking about preserving the wilderness and the natural landscape of our country, not just historic buildings, but historic landscape, and the natural landscape that we have in this country, he was a man ahead of his time. I also had an opportunity to look through one of his old pieces of campaign literature. As we hear the rhetoric, and I know Congressman Seiberling wouldn't in the least bit mind me incorporating some of what the Democrats are doing today into his kind of memorial here, he wouldn't mind that in the least bit, I was looking through his campaign literature. I just want to share with everyone some of the things he was saying in his election in 1970, 38 years ago, when the Vietnam War was going on, issues on the economy, I will give you an example here. On the economy, ``I oppose the economic policies of the Nixon administration. Instead of ending the war and massive military space spending, Nixon has chosen to squeeze the little guy with high prices and unemployment.'' On pollution, ``Facing the greatest environmental crisis of our history, we must move as fast as possible to end the major causes of pollution. I favor a system of fees to be charged against polluters in proportion to the amount of pollution they create.'' This is a guy who was in northeast Ohio and not too far from coal country, standing up saying this is what I believe in. This is what I believe, and this is where I think the country needs to go. {time} 2245 On cities, ``Our Nation's priorities are out of whack. The urban crisis is the result. We must cut spending for extravagant military projects and start spending more on health care, crime control, education, housing, recreation areas, public transportation, and other pressing human needs.'' He was extremely involved in the impeachment of Richard Nixon because he sat on the Judiciary Committee. He was obviously involved in interior projects and in making sure that the natural beauty of the United States was preserved. I believe that, as Ms. Sutton stated earlier, he partnered with Congressman Mo Udall and led the way to adding more than 100 million acres to our national parks--wildlife refuges, wild rivers, wilderness areas. He successfully moved to enact the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, protecting 56 million acres in Alaska's parks, wilderness areas and forests and, as I mentioned earlier, with Congressman Regula, 34,000 acres of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is now one of the Nation's most visited. This is just a great guy, I mean just a class act. His lineage comes from the Goodyear Tire Company, which his grandfather started. He just goes back from that kind of stock--Harvard, Columbia stock--that kind of ivy league stock, but he never, ever lost that common touch. We were talking about Stephanie Tubbs Jones earlier and how you can be on stages with Presidents and can be passing key pieces of legislation, but when you run into them at the grocery store, they're the same people that you always knew. John Seiberling was just like that. Mr. Speaker, we've been joined by the dean of the Ohio delegation, the gentlewoman from Toledo (Ms. Kaptur). I don't know. Did you have an opportunity to serve with Mr. Seiberling for a few years? Ms. KAPTUR. Congressman Ryan, I just want to thank you for your leadership in assembling this Special Order this evening. Every member of the delegation joins you in extending our deepest sympathy to Betty, to John's family, to all of his friends, not just in Akron but across this country. I know how proud he would be of you and of your service to have this very intelligent force here inside the Congress. I had the great joy of serving with John Seiberling. One can offer many [[Page 18772]] plaudits and memories of his great work, and I am flooded with memories as I speak this evening, but one word comes to mind. That word is ``integrity.'' John Seiberling was absolutely an honest, decent, patriotic American. I recall many of his great works. I think he had these beige Chuck-A Boots, these Chuck-A Boots. Do you remember when those were in style? He always wore them. You knew when John had the Chuck-A Boots on that he'd either been up in Alaska or that he'd just come back from trying to get the Cuyahoga National Recreation Area designated or that he'd been out west in some park or on some mountain somewhere. He always had like a tweed jacket, and he had a cut about him where you knew that he had been raised in a family of wealth. He didn't spend a lot of money on clothes, but he dressed a certain way. There was a certain cut of the man that helped to define him, and when he looked at you, he looked at you straight, and you always knew where John Seiberling stood. There was a certain way he held himself. It was as though he held up the honor of the office by the way he held his spine. I remember the day that Betty sat in the gallery when those of us who were here honored his legacy and his last day of service here in the Congress. I can't believe it was that many years ago, because he was such a force here within the Congress, itself, such a force for integrity of the institution. In fact, in my office, I have a plaque that I had made because of a plaque he had hung in his office, which said that this office belongs to the people of his congressional district in Ohio. I was so impressed that, outside my office, I had a sign made: ``This office belongs to the people of the 9th Congressional District.'' John Seiberling always held us to a higher standard. I have to tell you that I had an experience. When I was first elected, there were only two eagles left on Lake Erie, which is in the western part of Ohio, the region that I represent, and John had just started on the Cuyahoga National Recreation Area. This past year, something really wonderful happened. We've increased the number of eagles to 12 times what used to exist. We have 144 nesting pairs now, but a year and a half ago, two of those critters flew over to the Cuyahoga National Recreation Area, and they took nest, and they've now had three baby eaglets. Every time I think of that, I say, ``Thank you, John Seiberling, for what you did,'' as we give rebirth to this region of America. When he grew up, the Cuyahoga River became a national disgrace as it burned, and people still remember that image today, but John knew it had to be healed. He began doing just what Congressman Ryan and what Congresswoman Sutton have said, working here in the House and, of course, with our dear friend Congressman Ralph Regula as well, to put into place these green emeralds, these jewels of parklands that have now been placed, expanded and improved to a point where our western basin of Lake Erie can touch the eastern side of Ohio in a way that helps to raise up the symbol of this country, the bald eagle. If it would be all right with the gentleman, I have remarks I would like to place in the Record. Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Of course. Ms. KAPTUR. I don't know if it was noted that John was born in 1918, in this month of September, to Lieutenant John Frederick Seiberling and Henrietta McBrayer Buckler. Like his father, John went on to serve his country in the Armed Forces. While fighting in World War II while in the United States Army, he was awarded the Legion of Merit in the recognition of his role in planning motor transport for the D-day invasion of Normandy. When you think back to what he did as a young man and from his military service on, he never stopped fighting for his country. He was such a patriot. Congressman Ryan talked about his ivy league education and his roots, his scion from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He could have come here, and he could have represented Wall Street, but John Seiberling never did that. He represented the best interests of this country. He never tried to clean up for himself. I remember, after he retired, he sent me this beautiful, beautiful book about flowers in the Akron area and about the ecosystem of the northeastern part of Ohio. He was always teaching; he was always contributing, and he made this institution sparkle. Now, was he a telegenic figure? We seem to be in an age of television and media where everybody has got to have the right makeup and the right glasses. Are you telegenic? Are you TV ready? Are you camera ready? You know, John Seiberling didn't care about that. Sometimes his tweed suit would be a little bit rumpled. I wish for more Members with rumpled suits whose hair isn't exactly combed. John was always very neat--don't get me wrong--but he was there for the country, and he trudged it from coast to coast. I think that his service on the House Judiciary Committee, history will note, took great courage as he drafted the Articles of Impeachment brought against former President Richard Nixon. Imagine the courage and the scholarship and the acumen that that effort entailed. He was a man to be dealt with, and you knew exactly where he stood, and when he was in your corner, he never wavered. I wanted to mention his devotion to his family, to Betty. They were a team. I remember one time, Congressman Ryan, when for whatever reason I ended up in Akron, Ohio, at this big event in the city. I walked in this room, and I was meeting buckeyes whom I'd never met before. All of a sudden, there came this man down the aisle, to be seated with his wife. He had retired from Congress, and his vision wasn't that good at that point. They brought John Seiberling in, and the audience just applauded wall to wall until he took his seat with his wife's next to his. He was present for the program, and he heard every word. His mind was quick, and he absorbed everything that happened. When I went up to him afterwards, he knew exactly who I was; he knew exactly what had happened, and he was there to try to change America for the better in that particular election year. To their sons John, David and Stephen, all I will say is thank you from the Kaptur family for allowing us to know your father because, to this day, he has an influence inside this institution. I learned so much from him, and he was so kind to me as a new Member and as the first woman from my region of Ohio ever to be elected here. He welcomed me. He helped to tutor me. He made me feel very much a part of this institution from day one. I shall always be grateful to him. I never forget him. He is a standard that I hold and is someone to whom I still look up in my own work. As I look at that plaque every day, I think of him. I can't tell you how many people have commented on it, and I always say, ``That's from Congressman Seiberling.'' His life still resonates here and across our country. We loved him, too. Now, he wasn't exactly a lovable figure in a way. There was a certain circumstance about him. I suppose, because of his lawyerly training, you sort of felt like you were meeting a judge in a way and that he was judging every person and every event at which he was present, but there was also a great strength, and you wanted to know him better. You wanted him to teach you. You wanted to learn from him. The country is better served by individuals like him. I doubt that John took millions of dollars away from here in any way, personally or politically. He wasn't that kind of guy. He served our country. Oh, we would be so much better if we could have more John Seiberlings in this institution. So I say to Congressman Ryan thank you so much. You know in whose footsteps you walk. Congresswoman Sutton knows in whose footsteps she walks. I just feel very fortunate to have been able to serve here long enough to have known John Seiberling. His perseverance, I think, has inspired us all. I would say to the gentleman I have other remarks to make, but I'm sure that you have other material there that you would like to place in the [[Page 18773]] Record. I just know John is watching over us and is wanting us to do better, to do better for the Republic because he did better for the Republic, and we hope to make him proud. Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I appreciate the gentlelady's coming. We thank you for your personal recollections. Those of us who came a few years after had to hear the stories, but you were here for a lot of that and for a lot of those fights. You know, even until the last few weeks of his life, until the last few months of his life, at any time I talked to him, he wanted to talk about what was going on in the country. He wanted to talk about what the President was doing and how he was doing it wrong. He wanted to talk about alternative energy. I mean, as you said, his mind was always working on how we can fix the country, on how the country can do better and on how we can move in a new direction. I want to share an article. Tom Diemer from the Plain Dealer wrote this article and did a great job, which he always does, about Mr. Seiberling's reflecting on his accomplishments with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He is quoting Mr. Regula as saying: `` `Without John Seiberling, there would never, never have been a Cuyahoga Valley National Park.' The Canton area lawmaker and an original cosponsor of the parks bill said, `Not a chance. This is going to be a lasting monument to John Seiberling.' '' Against strong odds and Gerald Ford in '74 to try to get this greenbelt together, Mr. Seiberling said, ``That is one I am most satisfied with. Saving the beautiful valley was a real joy. I get letters every week from people who say, `I just drove through the Cuyahoga Valley, and I'm just so grateful to you for taking action to preserve this beautiful area, and it means a lot to me and my children.' '' {time} 2300 ``When I get letters like that,'' Mr. Seiberling went on to say, ``it brings tears to my eyes because I realize that those people have the same feelings that I do.'' And that was him right there. I mean, that's him in a nutshell, that he understood what the people wanted, and he knew that he was down here to execute those values and those ideas, and he did it. And just a wonderful guy. So I would also like to extend my condolences to Betty and the three sons and the big family on behalf of me and all the constituents from the 17th district, how great it is when we walk around and talk to Mark Udall and he talks about his dad's relationship with Mr. Seiberling and all the battles that they had. In closing here, I would like to just share and ask, Mr. Speaker, that this article be submitted for the Record. And I'll make a copy. And this is John Seiberling's political philosophy and legislative philosophy summed up in this article by Mr. Diemer. ``What we are trying to do is maintain a livable world.'' Think how appropriate this is for today. ``What we are trying to do is maintain a livable world free of nuclear disaster, a world that we have not polluted to the point where we can't breathe, and where we preserve some natural beauty so that we can have the solace and the experiences of being out in God's world. I feel basically it is all part of the same effort to preserve part of our heritage for our children.'' Peace, a clean environment, pristine national parks and wildlife areas, and how urban sprawl has eaten a lot of it up in our time. And I think for those of us who fill his shoes here, it's now our obligation to go in and talk about urban redevelopment, to talk about preserving these natural spaces. But more importantly, as the debate on energy has heated up over the past few weeks and few months, for us to present a comprehensive energy policy here, and to fund the investments in alternative energy. He would be all over this. He would be at the cutting edge of biodiesel and solar and wind, and I think in some ways we're honoring his legacy as we move into the alternative energy areas. And just think what he would be thinking today, as Merrill Lynch is getting bought out, Lehman Brothers is going bankrupt. When you think of all the problems in the housing market, because the government failed to regulate the markets properly, he would be at the forefront of every single one of these fights. So you and I and Betty and those of us who need to honor him by coming down here and making sure that this standard that he set for us gets met every day here. Ms. KAPTUR. You know what is really interesting Congressman Ryan, is that coming from the background that he did, he could have been an unceasing voice for business as usual. But John took that background and he grew from it and he became something beyond his own heritage in a way, and he wanted to make America a better place. Having seen some of what happened in industry run amuck, he believed in industry, but he knew it could be done in a better way and he set a different path for America. And his family has every right to feel blessed and gratified, as we do, for having known him. And Ohioans and every American really has a right to consider themselves very, very fortunate for having had a man like John Seiberling in our lives, if only for a time. And I know that his family will miss him deeply. We certainly have missed him from the day that he left here, and we hope that the strength that he gave to all of us and to his family in life will comfort them now. And we know that John Seiberling made his mark, and we feel very fortunate to have counted him among our most beloved colleagues. Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And in closing, I would just like to say, from one of his old, a couple of his older pieces of campaign literature, he had the tag line, ``The Guts To Do What's Right.'' And that was John Seiberling. ____________________