[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9] [Senate] [Pages 12918-12919] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TRIBUTE TO CLARENCE L. MILLER Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a well-respected Kentuckian, Mr. Clarence L. Miller. Throughout his life, Mr. Miller has contributed immensely to our Commonwealth and Nation. Recently the Sentinel-News in Shelbyville, Kentucky, published a story about Mr. Miller. The story summarizes the extraordinary life he led, while paying tribute to him as a remarkable Kentuckian. Throughout his career as a public servant, Mr. Miller has worked hard to give back to the State and Nation that he loves so dearly. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Clarence L. Miller as a true patriot and Kentuckian whose legacy will forever be remembered, and I further ask unanimous consent that the full article be included in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Sentinel-News, April 30, 2008] Clarence L. Miller: Farmer, Administrator, Diplomat, Raconteur (By BG Ron Van Stockum) I called on Clarence Miller recently to add my appreciation to that of his many other friends for his generosity in donating his farm to Shelbyville. In our informal conversation it became apparent that his story needed to be recorded and reported. Accordingly, a few days later, my son Reggie invited him to Allen Dale where he taped as oral history an extended audio/ visual interview. My column today will constitute an abbreviated story of Clarence Miller's life, providing information additional to that contained in Gayle Deaton's excellent article in an issue of last year's Sentinel-News. Clarence Miller was born in Louisville in 1912. His father, Pleasant Green Miller, always called ``P. Green'' (1871- 1968), born in Estill County, was employed as a federal whisky inspector or ``whiskey gauger.'' His responsibilities, within the Department of the Treasury, included the recording of whiskey production and assuring that the distillers paid the proper federal tax on alcohol. With the onset of World War I, distillation was dramatically curtailed in order to preserve grain. His job disestablished, he took his family to Florida where he set out a citrus grove. eighteenth amendment: prohibition (1920-33) Before the production of whisky could be fully restored, National Prohibition was established by means of the Eighteenth Amendment, with Kentucky being the third state to ratify it. Ratification was certified on 29 January 1919 and on 28 October the Volstead Act was passed, defining ``intoxicating beverage'' as one containing greater than one- half of one percent alcohol. This act went into effect on 29 January 1920, along with the Eighteenth Amendment. President Hoover called Prohibition a ``noble experiment,'' but others used stronger words. Clarence described the effect of Prohibition on the distilleries as ``confiscatory.'' They held millions of gallons of whiskey in storage, but, except for a controlled trickle for ``medicinal'' purposes, were not allowed to sell it. Even moderate imbibers needed to adjust. While I do not recall alcohol being served by my parents in Seattle, Washington, I do remember my mother sending me out on the lawn to pick dandelions for wine. The process she used is unknown, but it is possible today to learn all that is necessary by ``googling'' ``dandelion wine.'' P. Green Miller and many other federal agents, were called back to the Treasury Department to enforce the new law. In view of its unpopularity, affecting so many special interests and tastes, this was a formidable task. In 1923, he became Division Chief for Enforcement of Prohibition for the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, with offices in Louisville and Memphis. Later, he spent a good deal of time on the east coast, in New York, Baltimore and Boston, trying to eliminate, or at least minimize, the illegal smuggling by high-speed cutters, called ``rum runners,'' which picked up whisky from vessels lying beyond the territorial limits. He also was involved in the attempt to break up the illegal activities of the most powerful and infamous of all bootleggers, Al Capone, who operated out of Chicago. repeal of prohibition--twenty-first amendment (1933) On 23 March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after signing into law an amendment to the Volstead Act, allowing the manufacture and sale of ``3.2 beer'' and light wines, is reported to have remarked ``Now let's all have a beer.'' The Eighteenth Amendment, itself, was repealed later with ratification of the Twenty-first amendment on 5 December 1933. P. Green Miller returned to farming. young clarence l. miller Meanwhile, on 1 January 1925, when Clarence was 12 years old, the Miller family purchased Red Orchard Farm and established residence there, although Clarence's father was still spending most of his time elsewhere discharging his enforcement responsibilities. The farm, originally 119 acres, now constitutes 130 acres. Clarence helped his mother with the farm, entering Shelbyville High School where he graduated with the class of 1932. A schoolmate of his was Ben McMakin, the subject of one of last year's columns, who died as a Marine prisoner of war in 1945. ``Ben was president of our class one year, and I the next.'' He then spent two years at University of Kentucky with the intent of [[Page 12919]] studying law, but instead returned to Shelbyville. moving up in agriculture Here, he was employed with the Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA), later called the Commodity Stabilization Service (CSS). He started literally from the ground up, measuring tobacco plantings to assure compliance with the regulations. In 1947 he married his high school sweetheart, Katherine Barrickman, always called ``Toddy.'' The daughter of a prominent Shelbyville lawyer and County Attorney, she was an accomplished competitive golfer, being local women's champion for 13 straight years. In 1953 Clarence became chairman of the state CSS and a year later went to Washington DC as national Director of the Tobacco Division of the same agency. In 1956, he became Associate Administrator of the national CSS. In 1959 and 1960, the final two years of the Eisenhower administration, he served as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, working directly under Secretary Ezra Taft Benson, Agricultural Attache in Madrid. From 1961 to 1969 he was back in Shelbyville, operating his farm and occupying a position in public relations with the Kentucky Farm Bureau. In 1970 he was appointed under the Nixon administration as Agricultural Attache in Spain, serving until 1976, initially under his good friend, Ambassador Robert C. Hill. It was during this period that several of his friends from Shelbyville were his guests at the Embassy in Madrid. I remember my fellow tennis player, the late Guy Lea, one of his guests, remarking about Clarence's hospitality when he and his wife visited Spain. world traveler Despite undergoing double artery by-pass surgery and replacement of the aortic valve in 1998, the following year he took a trip to Singapore. There are few countries he has not visited. He has traveled around the world, rounded both Africa and South America by ship, and visited Greenland and Antarctica. Nevertheless, he has never lost touch with his home town and his lifetime of public service to his community and to his country has culminated in the most altruistic act of all: the gift to his home town of Red Orchard Farm. Note: It is encouraging to report that Clarence Miller continues to be hale and hearty, strong of voice, forceful in expression and vitally concerned about public affairs. He looks back upon his long life with a feeling of accomplishment: ``It has been my good fortune to have been in the right place at the right time with the right credentials.'' ____________________