[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14526]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF ROGER KENNEDY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I note with sorrow the passing of Roger 
Kennedy last Friday. Roger had a long and storied career that 
exemplified notions of public service. He was, indeed, a renaissance 
man.
  It's hard to think of anything that Roger had not done in his 
lifetime, with the possible exception of hold elective office. He was 
Director of the National Park Service, Director of the Smithsonian's 
National Museum of American History, vice president of finance for the 
Ford Foundation. He was special assistant to three Cabinet Secretaries, 
a lawyer, a journalist, and somehow found time to write 10 books. 
Actually, he had run unsuccessfully for Congress against fellow 
Minnesotan Gene McCarthy over 60 years ago. How might history have been 
different if he had won.
  You found out about Roger's exploits in bits and pieces. When you 
were engaged in conversation, he would reach back into the past to 
illustrate points with very tangible, concrete, easy-to-understand 
examples, often with himself having been in the middle of it.
  My legislative director, Janine Benner, and I became acquainted with 
Roger as we were dealing with policies to prevent, cope, and recover 
from natural disasters. One of Roger's books was titled ``Wildfire and 
Americans: How to Save Lives, Property, and Your Tax Dollars.'' His 
kind words mentioning us by name in the acknowledgement was a high 
point of both of our careers. He was a valued participant in sessions 
we would have before and after Hurricane Katrina. He was a keen student 
of the built environment, dealing with unintended consequences of 
policy, whether putting Los Alamos nuclear laboratory facilities in the 
middle of an area that had been repeatedly burned by wildfires or 
digging into the history of the early South, slavery and land use, the 
Jeffersonian model. He provided information and insights that were 
unique, profound, and provocative. Even after his retirement, he 
continued to be a scholar, an advocate, a friend, and a mentor--
especially a mentor.
  I have read the articles that were about Roger in The New York Times, 
The Washington Post, but none captured better than a note from our 
legislative director, Janine Benner, who wrote, ``Roger was a big 
thinker, understanding the way things in the world fit together. I 
loved just listening to him talk. It made me feel like at least there 
were a few people who understand how the world really should be. I 
always kept my notes from the conversations in hopes that they would 
make me smarter. He was devoted to public service, even in 
`retirement.' He was always thinking about ways to make the world a 
better place. While he was very focused on the past, writing books 
about history, he was a master at using that knowledge to inform 
himself and others about the future. Preventing devastating damage from 
wildfires and his exploration of the flame zone was a great example.''
  Mr. Speaker, we often talk about someone's passing as an opportunity 
to celebrate their life. It's hard to imagine a better life to be 
celebrated, more productive, with greater joy and insight, than the 
life Roger Kennedy lived.
  Today people in government seem incapable of dealing with big issues, 
matters of consequence in a thoughtful and cooperative fashion. Well, 
there's no better role model for any of us to meet the challenge in all 
our opportunities and responsibilities than Roger Kennedy. On behalf of 
our legislative director, Janine Benner, and the people in our office 
who were privileged to know and work with Roger, we extend our 
sympathies to his wife, Frances, and Roger's circle of family and 
friends. We are all going forward strengthened by Roger's friendship, 
scholarship, and example.

                          ____________________