[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2888-2889]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  A TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSMAN STEVE HORN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Dreier) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, the week before last, just before we 
adjourned, we got the sad news of the passing of our good friend and 
former colleague Congressman Steve Horn.
  Steve Horn was without a doubt one of the most intelligent and 
accomplished Members to ever serve in this body, and at the same time, 
Mr. Speaker, he was one of the kindest and most decent Members. He got 
his bachelor's degree from Stanford University, his master's from 
Harvard, and went back and got his Ph.D. at Stanford University. He 
served in strategic intelligence in the early 1950s in the U.S. Army 
Reserve, and then he got involved in public service in a big way. He 
served in the Eisenhower administration, and he went on to become 
legislative assistant to California Senator Tom Kuchel.
  From that point forward, he dedicated himself to public service, and 
he expanded that greatly. He got into education, and for nearly two 
decades, from 1970 to 1988, he served as president of the California 
State University at Long Beach. During that period of time, he was 
named one of the 100 most effective college presidents in the country.
  Mr. Speaker, then he joined us here as a Member of Congress, serving 
for five terms. He was an individual who spent a great deal of time and 
effort focusing on issues. In fact, one of the great stories about 
Steve Horn I heard from his former staff member, who I'm happy to say 
when he left came to work for me, Alisa Do, who was his legislative 
assistant, now my legislative director--she told me of how they would 
often be looking for Congressman Horn. There were votes taking place 
here in the House, and he was over in the Library of Congress, didn't 
have a pager with him--we didn't have BlackBerrys at the time. And yet 
he was over there in the library studying, trying to get more and more 
information and develop his knowledge.
  He also was someone who never hesitated to go against the grain. He 
served

[[Page 2889]]

on the Government Operations Committee--government reform was a 
priority for him--and Transportation. He represented the Long Beach 
area, and he understood that 40 percent of the goods going to and from 
the consumers and workers of the United States go through the ports of 
Long Beach and Los Angeles, and he was always dedicated to ensuring 
that that was a very high priority. And he had this great focus on 
reforming and improving the operations of the Federal Government.
  Mr. Speaker, he was an institutionalist. He loved this body, 
understanding that the deliberative nature of service here and of our 
work is very important and can't be forgotten.
  Steve leaves his wonderful wife, Nini--they were married for 57 
years--two children, and one grandchild. And I've got to say that I 
miss his advice, counsel, friendship, and camaraderie.
  I would now like to, in the spirit of bipartisanship, yield to my 
friend from Manhattan (Mrs. Maloney), who served with him on the 
Government Reform Committee.
  Mrs. MALONEY. I thank the gentleman.
  I rise in tribute to Representative Steve Horn. He was a thoughtful, 
dedicated, honorable man who built his record on bipartisan cooperation 
and commitment to good government.
  He was a legislator's legislator. He was deeply committed to doing 
the right thing, writing the right bill, getting it passed. And he was 
also a very good friend of mine. He came with his wife and visited me 
in my home in New York. I went to visit him in his district, the 
district that he loved and was totally dedicated to.
  During his 10 years of service here in the House of Representatives 
we worked together on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He 
chaired the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and 
Technology for 6 years, and I was the ranking member with him. So not 
only was he dedicated to running government better, saving taxpayers 
money, but he also legislated and passed many important bills.
  He helped me pass a bill that I authored, the Nazi War Crimes 
Disclosure Act, which we worked on together for roughly 7 years--it 
took us that long to pass it. A book has been written about that 
process and the bill, and what it has done to help in problem-solving 
now as we confront delicate issues going forward.

                              {time}  1030

  The first hearing on the Debbie Smith bill, which has been called the 
most important anti-rape bill in the history of our country, was in his 
committee where Debbie Smith testified about her rape, the fact that no 
one was reacting to it. And this whole effort, including that hearing 
that he chaired, was made into a movie called ``A Life Interrupted'' 
and how DNA has been used to put rapists behind bars.
  He was a dedicated, wonderful person. He also chaired the Arts Caucus 
and worked hard for its funding.
  In a time when we talk about bipartisanship, Steve Horn was the real 
deal: a bipartisan problem-solver. He wanted to get the problems 
solved. He wanted to help this country, help his community. He was 
devoted to his wife and two children and grandchild. He was just a 
great guy.
  Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for her very thoughtful contribution.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that our thoughts and prayers are 
with Nini and their wonderful family.

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