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friends, he was very down to earth, very easy to talk with, as well as engaging to listen to.

Everett DirksEN is gone but the virtues he possessed, the human progress he helped make possible, are indelibly interwoven in the fabric of mankind.

There are many thousands of citizens of the 12th District of Illinois who would want me on this occasion also to express their feelings of loss and compassion. In behalf of Mrs. McClory and myself and the citizens of the 12th District, I extend to Senator DIRKSEN'S wife, Louella, his daughter, Joy-Mrs. Howard Bakerhis grandchildren, and all members of the family, our deepest sympathy and affection.

Mr. ERLENBORN. Mr. Speaker, Illinois has given a number of great leaders to the Nation; and one of the greatest surely is EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN. He was a great man, more importantly, a good husband, a good father and grandfather.

His death means that the Republicans in Congress have lost a leader whose unique talents make him irreplaceable. He is dead, and Illinois has lost a spokesman of surpassing eloquence. His passing will deprive our Nation of a political leader whose patriotism showed through his every act.

Quite apart from our official relationships, it was my privilege to count him as a friend. I know all the Members of the U.S. Congress join me in mourning his death. Our sense of loss is a personal one.

Mr. FINDLEY. Mr. Speaker, I share the sentiments expressed by my colleagues here today as we extend our sympathy to the widow of Senator DIRKSEN, to his daughter and his son-in-law and his grandchildren.

It would be an oversight, and a most unfortunate one, I believe, if we failed to include in the family circle Mr. and Mrs. John Gomien, the team that has loyally served the Senator here on Capitol Hill all through his years in the House and Senate, as well as his able and longtime assistant in Illinois, Harold Rainville.

The close association these people have had with Senator DIRKSEN and his wife through the years made them very much a part of the DIRKSEN family, and I am sure that my colleagues from Illinois join me in extending to them, as well as to the immediate members of the DIRKSEN family, our deepest sympathy.

As the Representative who serves a portion of the district Abraham Lincoln once served in this House, I feel most keenly the importance of the Lincoln heritage to the world, the Nation, and the State.

Senator DIRKSEN was in the great Lincoln tradition. I have had the occasion several times to introduce Senator DIRKSEN at public gatherings. At Springfield, Ill., 2 years ago, I chose to present him with the words that he was the greatest citizen Illinois has produced since Abraham Lincoln, and that still sums up my estimate of his great contribution to this Nation.

Mr. RHODES. Mr. Speaker, it is with a very heavy heart that I rise to express my own personal sense of loss at the death of a great Senator from the State of Illinois, Hon. EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN.

Senator DIRKSEN was indeed a good friend to many of us who had the pleasure of knowing him both as an individual and as a great practitioner of the art of legislation. He was truly a legislator's legislator. This was a man who had the faculty of being able to put his legislative concepts into a workable form, and to get them enacted. I think his finest legislative efforts came when he was guiding legislation through the Senate which came from his own Committee on the Judiciary. This was because Ev DIRKSEN never ceased to remember that he was a lawyer. In fact, he was one of the fine lawyers of our country, and took great pride in his acknowledged legal prowess.

Senator DIRKSEN possessed a very unique ability to communicate with his fellow man by the use of the English language. He had a fine vocabulary and a lucid style of expression which was unsurpassed by anyone of my acquaintance. I think, Mr. Speaker, it is mainly because of this particular ability that his work will be remembered. This ability enabled him to influence people and to cause legislative occurrences to take place which might not otherwise have been possible. We who are also the practitioners of the art of legislating, I think, can appreciate beyond the abilities of most people the importance of this particular talent.

The gentleman from Illinois will indeed be long remembered as a man of character, a patriot, a father, a grandfather, a friend and, above all, will be remembered as an American.

Mrs. Rhodes and I extend to Mrs. Dirksen and to her family our deepest sympathy on the passing of a very dear friend and a great citizen of the world in the 20th century.

Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, the "gallant man" is gone. The senior Senator from Illinois—the land of Lincoln-has departed this earth, but his words and deeds will live forever.

A legend in his own time, Ev DIRKSEN played many roles, and played them all with equal verve.

The champion of the marigold.
A fearless antagonist.

A master politician, who journeyed to Joplin, Mo., and delivered one of his great speeches in my first election 1960.

A lovable rascal.

A scholar of the classics.
An authority on Lincoln.

A confidant of Presidents.

And a man who had a deep and abiding love affair with his country.

The passing on of EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN will leave a void in the Congress, a lump in the throat of America, the loss of a great statesman to the world, and thanksgiving on the part of this humble physician-legislator for his quick and easy passing.

In the words of William Shakespeare, a man he loved to quote:

His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him, that nature might stand up and say to all the world, "This was a man!"

Mr. FLYNT. Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with the remarks which have been made by the gentleman from Illinois and others as we join in paying tribute to the life and memory of EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN, late a Senator from Illinois and the Republican leader of the U.S. Senate.

Today is a day of sadness in the Capitol Building and in America. In my own State of Georgia I know of no one outside our State who was more beloved by Georgians than was the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, a great deal of interest which has been manifested in the possible constitutional convention was due to the fact that if and when such a constitutional convention might be held, the Senator from Illinois might have been chosen to preside over the deliberations

of the first constitutional convention held in the United States since 1787.

EVERETT DIRKSEN walked long and tall on the stage of American public life. His contributions to his State, the Nation, and to the people whom he devoutly loved will long be remembered. Those contributions caused America to be strong and to grow from strength to greater strength. He will be missed by those of us who have been privileged to serve with him in the United States Congress. He will be missed even more by his close circle of friends and by his colleagues in the Senate of which he was indeed an outstanding and effective leader.

Mr. Speaker, our country is a better place because of the work he has performed and the contributions he has made during his 73 years as a citizen, as a legislator, as a loyal and patriotic American.

I remember when he called upon the people of this country to reassess the fact that our resources are not unlimited and that in the reassessment and reappraisal of those resources he called Americans to establish priorities on the spending and distribution of those resources. He frequently called upon Americans in all walks of life for a return to a greater understanding of and respect for law and order. I feel that EVERETT DIRKSEN practiced what he preached. He was one of the greatest orators that this country has produced and he spoke words of wisdom as well as words of eloquence. The Senate of the United States listened attentively when he spoke-and indeed, Mr. Speaker, the people of all America listened when EVERETT DIRKSEN spoke.

Mrs. Flynt and our family join me in the expression of our condolence and sympathy to Mrs. Dirksen, Senator and Mrs. Baker, his grandchildren, and other members of the family.

Mr. DERWINSKI. Mr. Speaker, as a Member from the State of Illinois I, of course, feel especially saddened by the unfortunate loss of Senator DIRKSEN. I was close to him and appreciated his friendship, as well as recognizing his tremendous leadership. We all recognized that he was without a doubt a most outstanding Member of the Senate and an effective leader of his party. Throughout his career he demonstrated the most effective type of statesmanship that any Member of Congress can give to his country.

His loss is one the State of Illinois will feel deeply, as indeed will the whole Nation, and there will be a gap that will not be filled. It

is

proper that we stress his great contributions to the country, the statesmanship that he always exhibited, the very effective leadership that he provided and the cooperation that he gave to Presidents of both political parties. He truly was a giant in the history of the U.S. Congress.

Mrs. Derwinski joins with me in extending our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Dirksen and the members of their family.

Mr. KUYKENDALL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my colleagues in expressing the sympathy of my family and myself to Mrs. Dirksen and to Senator and Mrs. Howard Baker at this time of sadness to their entire family.

Mr. Speaker, in the days and years to come, we will hear and read much about this man whose passing we mourn today-the DIRKSEN wit, the DIRKSEN voice, the DIRKSEN leadership that has meant so much to his Nation and his constituents.

So for this moment, let me talk about something else—the DIRKSEN spirit.

Years ago, when he was a Member of the House of Representatives, he met an old friend, our colleague Mendel Rivers, in front of the Capitol. Mr. Rivers noted that he looked tired and wan, and asked him if he felt well.

"No," that famous voice purred back. "I've just been to see the doctor, and they want to take my eye. They're not sure they can save the other one, and I'd be blind. And I'm so discouraged, I've let the qualification deadline slip past me back home, so I won't be back next year."

The official biography only says "retired voluntarily January 3, 1949." Then it says "nominated for United States Senate April 11, 1950, elected November 7, 1950."

Nowhere does it say, "refused to surrender his eye, 1949, refused to be finished, 1949, refused to knuckle under to adversity, 1948, 1949, 1950 and all the years before and after."

And it will not say, though it should, "helpful and understanding to his colleagues, 1932-69."

I am grateful to Chairman Rivers for the story of his discouragement in the postwar era. It helps me know him better, and feel closer to him. I admire his courage even more, just as I admire his ability, his courtesy, and his understanding.

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