[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11992-11993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          REMEMBERING KEN GRAY

  Mr. DURBIN. Today, we mourn the loss of a Southern Illinois legend, 
Congressman Ken Gray. Kenny had many roles in his lifetime. He was a 
licensed auctioneer, a pilot, and a magician. But he made his greatest 
mark serving the people of Southern Illinois in the U.S. House of 
Representatives for nearly a quarter of a century.
  Kenny was a World War II veteran who served with the Army and Air 
Force in North Africa, Italy, Southern France and Central Europe. After 
the war he operated an air service in Benton, IL.
  He was elected to Congress in 1954 at the age of 30 and went on to 
serve 10 consecutive terms. When he first went to Washington, Southern 
Illinois was an impoverished, rural area. Congressman Gray took great 
pride in the regional improvements he helped steer to

[[Page 11993]]

his region. His work made a real difference in the daily lives of 
Southern Illinoisans.
  His constituents loved him and the House entrusted him with 
increasing responsibilities. Speakers of the House Sam Rayburn and Tip 
O'Neil regularly called on him to preside over the chamber.
  You could never forget Kenny Gray. With his rainbow of sport coats 
and personal helicopter, Kenny was a legend. He even had a pink 
Cadillac. His repertoire of jokes borrowed heavily from Red Skelton and 
hometown stories from Little Egypt.
  Among his notable achievements in Congress: Ken helped write the 1956 
Federal-Aid Highway Act, which created America's interstate highway 
system. Kenny kept the pen that President Dwight D. Eisenhower used to 
sign the historic legislation.
  With president Deltye Morris, Kenny Gray helped to put Southern 
Illinois University Carbondale on the map as a leading university in 
America.
  Today the section of Interstate 57 between milepost 0, at the 
Illinois State line, to milepost 106, at the Marion/Jefferson County 
line, is known as Ken Gray Expressway in honor of his role in the 
creation of America's highway system.
  You can also see Kenny Gray's legacy in Rend Lake, which was created 
by the Army Corps of Engineers and supplies 15 million gallons of water 
per day to 300,000 people in more than 60 Southern Illinois 
communities. Rend Lake has saved more than $100 million worth of 
property downstream during flood years and it would not exist without 
Kenny Gray's leadership.
  Congressman Gray stepped away from Congress in 1974. My mentor Paul 
Simon succeeded him in Congress. When Paul ran for the Senate in 1984, 
Kenny Gray returned to Congress to serve two more terms. In 1988, Kenny 
left Congress for the last time to come home after developing a 
muscular disorder caused by a tick bite on a congressional visit to 
Brazil.
  Ken Gray passed away just days after we lost another Illinois 
political giant with whom he served in Congress, Senator Alan Dixon.
  Alan Dixon once said of Kenny Gray, ``A true political legend, Gray 
never was defeated. He just quit.''
  Congressman Gray remained a voice in the community after leaving 
Congress. We will miss that voice, but we won't forget his 
achievements.
  I want to express my condolences to Kenny's family, especially his 
wife Margaret ``Toedy'' Holley-Gray, his daughters: Diann, Becky and 
Candy, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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