entire period of his service in this great House which comprised many years.

It goes without saying, Mr. Speaker, that the record he made here is so memorable and outstanding in its import and impact upon the national safety and interest that it will long remain as an inspiration to all who follow him in the Armed Services Committee and in this House.

His sincerity of purpose, the spirit of dedication, the high motivation he reflected, to keep our country safe and secure against its enemies, foreign and domestic-these indeed will be high goals for anyone to follow, let alone to reach, because MENDEL RIVERS has left a legacy here to the Members of the House and to our committee that will always remain in this body, and will constitute an imperishable memory as well as an example for many generations of Americans, who will be, not only impressed, but also greatly inspired, by the splendid outstanding services and contributions our dear friend, MENDEL RIVERS, made to our country and to its safety, its security and its well-being.

To touch another point which Chairman RIVERS always stressed in his brilliant service, he was greatly concerned about the wellbeing, health care, and welfare of the officers, men and women who serve in the armed services, and he gave a great deal of his time, effort, and attention unselfishly to make sure they had better compensation, conditions of work, so far as possible under the circumstances under which they serve, as well as entitlements and rights to generous health, hospital, and medical care, which were the best that could be provided by this Congress in the light of their specialized service.

The members of the armed services generally recognize the great, unpayable debt to this great leader, just as this Nation and this Congress does, for his tremendous, truly invaluable contributions to our country in building up military power and strength we need in this country in these dangerous times, to preserve and protect our free institutions against every threat and jeopardy, and to keep our country the great shrine of freedom, liberty, and justice it has always been, and that it must continue to be, in order to grow in strength, in greatness, and in the luster, freedom, and ways of peace because there can be no peace in this country, in this world without the powerful intent and resolution on the part of free men, here in

this Nation and elsewhere, to defend their blessed heritage in every way that may be necessary.

It is difficult indeed for me at this time when my heart is so filled with deep sorrow and grief at the passing of my dearly beloved friend, comrade, and leader, to utter the words that I would like most of all to utter at this time regarding the enduring value of the great contributions of our beloved friend MENDEL RIVERS for many years of his busy life.

I extend to his sorely bereaved, loving, and devoted wife Margaret and wonderful family my prayers and deepest sympathy and my expressions of profound sorrow and to join with them in mourning their illustrious husband and father.

May the good Lord bring the dear ones he loved, and loved him, the strength and courage to bear their irreparable loss with true spiritual resignation and bless them with His Spirit of reconcilia

tion and peace.

The Nation has lost a great patriot, his district a great public servant, and the House a great leader. May our dear friend MENDEL find eternal rest and peace in his heavenly home.

Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the distinguished dean of the South Carolina delegation taking this time-and certainly appreciate his yielding to me—so that I may speak as one of the members of the Committee on Armed Services about our late departed colleague, L. MENDEL RIVERS.

Not too long ago, a young constituent of mine, stationed at the Patuxent Naval Station, stopped by the office to visit with his Congressman.

While he waited in the reception room prior to our meeting, he chatted with a member of my staff. An unforgettable part of the conversation went something like this: "Congressman Hall is a member of the Committee on Armed Services, isn't he?" asked the young

man.

My staff member replied in the affirmative.

"MENDEL RIVERS is the chairman of that committee, isn't he?” said the young sailor.

"He is," replied the staff member.

"You know," said the young seaman, "if he was to ever run for President, I know a heck of a lot of servicemen who would vote for him."

That young man probably spoke more truth than fiction, for one of the outstanding attributes of L. MENDEL RIVERS, was his deep concern for the men in uniform. Their well-being was first and foremost in his mind.

He wanted them to be well paid and constantly sought to increase their remuneration. He insisted on comparability with commercial enterprise.

He wanted them to have the best of health care and gave his personal approval to my proposal, now law, for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of Defense of Health Affairs.

He wanted them to have the finest equipment possible and became an aggressive proponent for improved weaponry, and the necessary research and development funds to keep it the finest.

He loved his Nation dearly and feared for her well-being; thus he became an eloquent spokesman for a strong defensive posture so as to keep us always prepared for whatever challenge needed to be met. Truly he, more than self, his country loved.

L. MENDEL RIVERS was many things to many people. To me he was more than a colleague in the Congress. We developed a camaraderie that existed outside the confines of the committee room, and had more the connotation of brothers than of friends. Perhaps this relationship plus me being a physician gave me a little better insight into the man, than the many who have written reams about him yet have never been successful in penetrating the surface to find the real character deep inside.

I was with MENDEL for a considerable time the weekend before and for a few cloistered moments on the floor of the House prior to his entering the hospital. I knew what was at stake, as did he. I took comfort in the fact that he faced his most serious challenge as he had all the others. "Head on." He felt his responsibility to the Nation and thought the odds made the gamble a must. He had all the qualities of properly defined leadership.

To some, it may come as a surprise that L. MENDEL RIVERS was a deeply religious man and spoke often of the God who made us all. One could always find him at the House prayer breakfast each Thursday morning.

He was a proud man. Proud of his country, his State, his home, and of the accomplishments of the committee he chaired.

He was a controversial man, and knew it, yet he was always willing to "let the chips fall where they may."

H

He was a good Congressman, and represented his constituents as well as any man in the House of Representatives.

He was a prideful and devoted family man with joy in his lady and their children.

It will be a long time before such a man as he will again walk in the Chambers of the House. Maybe never.

It is tribute enough to say that L. MENDEL RIVERS will be missed, however, there is little doubt that his presence will be felt for many years to come.

In the final analysis, the real and lasting eulogies to Congressman RIVERS will not be written in words, but in deeds. In the ships of the fleet, the planes of the Air Force, and the men of the U.S. armed services who have always been the recipients of his untiring efforts.

Bettie and I join all in heartfelt sympathy, prayers, and love to Margaret and the family.

Mr. HÉBERT. Mr. Speaker, I find myself in a very delicate position today.

The Nation has lost a great American and I have lost a great friend.

As my colleague from New Orleans indicated, MENDEL came here 30 years ago with us and Bob Sikes, and we stood in this House and took the oath of office. The ranks have been thinned since then, and today, as we read the roster of the House, we find only nine names on that roster of 435 who were on the list at the time we took the oath. Nine remain.

So many things have been said of MENDEL RIVERS, so many things have been said that would have been better not to have been said. But in the saying of those things that should not have been said we must realize that they were said without knowledge, in ignorance, and unknowing.

Mr. Speaker, I had the great privilege of knowing MENDEL RIVERS. There was a mutual affection between us which I think has been shared by very, very few people. I shared a trust of confidence in him that was continually reflected in the assignments he gave me to carry out on the Committee on Armed Services.

From the day he became the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee there was scarcely a single matter of high priority,

of national import, or importance that he did not assign me to chair a special committee and report back to him.

Mr. Speaker, I walked in the shadow of his confidence and never betrayed it. I cherished it. If I could only impart to the Members of this body the man that I knew, I would be so happy.

Before he came to Congress, MENDEL lived in New Orleans for 2 years. That was 2 years before I came here. The development of that friendship is one which so few of us have an opportunity to experience. His abilities, his humor, his fairness in debate all were so composite in him that it made him a most outstanding and unusual man. I think this was reflected in the relationship which existed between MENDEL RIVERS and the great Speaker of the House of Representatives, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McCormack). MENDEL was attracted to and loved by our beloved Speaker. Of course, as all of us know, MENDEL's philosophy and my philosophy were pretty much the same. They were kin to each other. His greatest thoughts were pretty much his own philosophy in that he termed himself a "McCormackcrat." He claimed there was a new party in the House and that was the "McCormackcrat Party" of which he was a member. I tried to join, but MENDEL told me it was impossible to do so. He would deliberately tell everyone about his close association with the Speaker of the House.

Mr. Speaker, MENDEL and I learned about the handling of legislation at the feet of the great Carl Vinson. He often referred to our attending the "Vinson College," from which college no one ever graduated. In Mr. Vinson's own words, MENDEL and I were "Peck's bad boys," because in our mutual like for each other and sometimes the likeness of our dispositions and expressions he used this reference. But we loved him, and I know he loved us. He trained us in the art of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, we hear the hollow phrases that he gave his life to his country, that he was a dedicated man, that he believed in this and that he believed in that. Far too seldom do we get down to specifics. In this particular case of MENDEL RIVERS we are fortunate to be able to come down to specifics. As Dr. Hall has stated, he was one of the few men who knew MENDEL's condition. He never complained. Three weeks ago plus 1 day he stood in the well of this House and held the same mike that I now hold and fought for a resolution in which he believed with the fierce advocacy that he believed in the things he thought were right.