Mrs. Landrum joins me in extending our sympathy to Mrs. Rivers and their three children.

Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, it is with a deep sense of grief that I join my colleagues in mourning the passing of a giant among us. The late gentleman from the First Congressional District of South Carolina represented the people of his district for more than 30 years in the House of Representatives.

MENDEL RIVERS was widely known as "the serviceman's best friend" and the "serviceman's Congressman" because of his kindnesses and consideration for our men in uniform.

His appraisal of the world situation closely paralleled my own. He knew that the best road to peace is a strong defense. For many years he criticized those who would make "cost effectiveness" the sole criterion for our military expenditures. Recent reports would indicate that he was much closer in his analysis than were his adversaries.

Mr. Speaker, the distinguished chairman of the House Armed Services Committee will be missed by us all, and to Mrs. Rivers, his children, and all of those who knew him, I extend my heartfelt sympathy.

Mr. BROYHILL of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, patriotism and Americanism may, among some elements of our population, be words of waning importance. However, when applied to our late colleague whose death has saddened us all, they glow with the full and enduring character, since he lived them in their fullest meaning throughout his life.

We can thank him, my friends, for his singleness of purpose and determination that time and again saved this Nation from dismantling its defenses.

We can thank him for his understanding, his grasp of our military needs, and for his unstinting service-service that wore out a strong heart and eventually took him from us.

He was a man of his times. He was an American to the fullest sense of the word, for his people and his country. He was a patriot-a patriot whose depth of character and loyalty paralleled the lives of those men who first dreamed and then made America work from the beginning.

He was my friend and I shall miss him. He we needed him. He goes from among us with peace he so well earned while among us.

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Mr. MORTON. Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives and the Nation have suffered a great loss in the passing of the Honorable L. MENDEL RIVERS. As a great American he loved his country and demonstrated his loyalty throughout his life.

As chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, he stood firmly for the rights of every man who served in the military. He held an unyielding position in his belief in the defense of this Nation. He was a courageous and dynamic leader whose voice will be missed in the Congress of the United States.

Mr. WHALEN. Mr. Speaker, I was deeply shocked to learn of the death of Congressman L. MENDEL RIVERS, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

As a member of the committee, I came to know Chairman RIVERS well. Although he and I frequently disagreed it was always on a philosophical, not on a personal basis. In fact, he took pains at times to provide those of us who differed with him with additional opportunities to be heard.

MENDEL RIVERS was a dedicated public servant. Many of the improvements in the military services that have come about in the last several years are directly attributable to his leadership. He was a stanch patriot whose intense love of country was the driving force in meeting his responsibilities as a Member of Congress. There is no accolade that he would have preferred more than that of patriot. I have no doubt that he always will be remembered in this vein.

My wife and I extend to the Rivers family our deepest sympathy over their great loss. May God comfort them in their grief.

Mr. CORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I wish to associate myself with my colleagues in this eulogy to MENDEL RIVERS and to express my deep sorrow at his death.

The 30 years that MENDEL RIVERS spent in Congress were dedicated to his belief that America's freedom was solidly tied to its military might, and he never swerved from his commitment to this belief. He knew criticism and opposition, but he remained firm in his conviction that America must above all else remain militarily strong. His efforts to benefit the enlisted soldier were undeniable. Their gratitude, which many of them publicly avowed, must have been a great source of satisfaction to him.

As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Mendel Rivers had assumed a high place in the House hierarchy, and in this post

he served his country with the same sense of devotion with which he served the people of his own State and of his congressional district.

Chairman RIVERS was a familiar figure in the Halls of Congress. Probably one of the busiest Members, he always took time to stopin the corridors—in the dining room-on the floor-to chat for a few moments. A friendly and cheerful man, with a fine sense of humor, and with a particular life-style of his own that openly reflected his boundless patriotism to his country, his death is a loss to us all. Mrs. Corman and I extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Rivers and the family.

Mr. MILLER of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, this past Monday, our country lost a great patriot and we in Congress a great friend.

L. MENDEL RIVERS was the personification of the high ideals for which this body stands. A stalwart supporter of our country's security, his farsighted and untiring efforts in behalf of our Nation's defenses knew no bounds.

As a chairman he conducted the affairs of the Armed Services Committee in a most efficient and responsible manner. Always on the alert, his constant attention to the strategic needs of our defensive systems is a contribution for which he will long be remembered.

It is with deep sorrow that I join my colleagues today in paying tribute to this great American. I extend my heartfelt sympathy to his family and his many friends.

Mr. DERWINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in expressing sorrow at the loss of our colleague Representative L. MENDEL RIVERS. He could truly be described as one of the key Members of the House; as a Member who very effectively fulfilled the role of leadership which he had attained.

He was dedicated to the strength of this Nation, to its national security and defense preparedness. He properly respected the role of the military in defending the freedoms which we too often take for granted. He also properly respected the role of our military in defense of the free world. He recognized the continued danger to the United States and its allies, of the ever-continuing Communist aggression.

MENDEL RIVERS was also dedicated to the House of Representatives, to its Members and the constituents that they represented. He

was a patriot in the finest sense of the word, and also a keen student of government and a master tactician in the legislative branch.

We will certainly miss him in his role of chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. We will also miss him as a respected colleague and a warm, and always friendly associate. He served his country with rare devotion, and this service will long be remembered by those of us who were privileged to serve with him.

Mrs. Derwinski joins me in extending sympathy to his family. Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, the country has lost a great patriot and an outstanding statesman and I have lost a friend. My personal grief and sorrow at the death of MENDEL RIVERS is great but it is overwhelmed at the sense of loss that I feel for our Nation. Those of us who knew him on a personal basis, especially the members of the congressional prayer breakfast group, will mourn his death and pray for renewed strength to continue in his absence.

Mr. PHILBIN. Mr. Speaker, MENDEL RIVERS was a religious, God-fearing man. He was devoted to his church and a believer in the American principle of free religion, which has played a major part in the development of this Nation.

He was a man of deep, spiritual faith and when I traveled with him on various occasions, I noted that on Sundays, he always attended church without fail, even in instances when he might have to go far out of his way to do so.

He was also broad and tolerant in his views toward all religions, and I have known him to attend religious ceremonies in churches other than his own.

He had respect for other beliefs, and the religious views of other people and devoutly believed in the Lord.

At times he was maligned and many lies were circulated about him that were without foundation. In public life, he was often the victim of gross misrepresentations, but it never shook his faith in the public calling, and it never caused him to lose his faith in the people whom he loved with all his heart. He was a great and good man.

Mr. COLLINS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day for Congress as we all join together to pay our respects to MENDEL Rivers. For 15 terms he has served his country with distinction and honor as a Representative from South Carolina.

As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he carried forward progressively a balanced defense program for America. His

committee was recognized for the efficient way it evaluated and expedited all of its business.

But I will always remember MENDEL best as the friendly southern gentleman that he was. Two weeks ago I was sitting in the gallery with some folks from home. MENDEL walked across the floor and they all immediately wanted to know who he was. When I said RIVERS, they all knew him by reputation. They knew of all his active commitments. The impressive thing to them was that he looked like the man they visualized him to be.

MENDEL RIVERS looked like a southern colonel. He had a strong carriage. His white solid hair gave him depth. His glasses reflected his intellectual capacity. His friendly smiling face with his twinkling eyes was his great strength. You could see in MENDEL a warm man who loved his friends and respected his adversaries.

MENDEL RIVERS was a great man. He was a wonderful friend and a great national leader. To his family, I extend my heartfelt sympathy. Your loss is shared by the South and the entire Nation.

Mr. MATSUNAGA. Mr. Speaker, it is with deep personal sorrow that I join my colleagues in this tribute to the late L. MENDEL RIVERS.

To have had MENDEL RIVERS as a personal friend was a gainful experience for me, indeed. Although I disagreed with him on many of his statements and positions, I am convinced that he was a deeply sincere man with an unshakable dedication to serve the people of South Carolina and this Nation in his own way, to the best of his ability. A loyal patriot, devoted to the preservation of America's greatness, he believed that without military superiority, real greatness could not be achieved in the light of competing ideologies. History may someday construe his position as one which helped to preserve what we Americans hold so dear-a free and independent nation among free peoples everywhere. Only time will tell.

During his rise from a boyhood spent in relative poverty to a position of power in Congress, MENDEL RIVERS showed himself to be a man of considerable personal integrity and courage who was always true to himself. There was truly only one of his kind and we shall sorely miss his strong leadership.

To Mrs. Rivers and her family, I extend deepest sympathy and