OUR POLITICAL TRADITION
(House of Representatives - February 08, 2001)

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   The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. SCHROCK). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. KIRK) is recognized for 60 minutes.

   Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, our only manual of House Rules, Jefferson's Manual, traces its heritage back to the mother of parliaments at the Palace of Westminster in London. Our manual still refers to the upper and lower Chambers of this House as the Commons and the Lords. The tradition of our rules is part of my own tradition here as a new Member of Congress.

   Early in the 1980s, I served for a member of the House of Commons under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. And in Parliament, great weight is put on a member's maiden speech. That speech reflects on a new member and what they stand for. And as I enter service for the people of Northern Illinois, I ask myself, what would my maiden speech in this House concern.

   I chose to focus on our own political tradition with a special emphasis on the men and women who represented us in this House in the past. A look at their accomplishments and service mirrors who we are and the gifts we provide to the Nation.

   On review, and helped by the patient research of Patrick Magnuson of my staff, I found that our community has a 180-year tradition of sending leaders to this Congress who were very independent and ahead of their times. Ours is a rich tradition that I can only hope to reflect well upon in the coming years. Our tradition traces its roots to 1818 when a new State of Illinois stood on the frontier of a growing Nation. My predecessors were committed to the people of Illinois and to especially the good of this Union. At the same time, they understood the important role of the United States in the world as a beacon of freedom; and while they fought for civil rights here at home, they also fought for human rights abroad and condemned those who would spread intolerance and hate wherever it occurred.

   Within its current boundaries, our congressional district encompasses a diverse community. Including northern Cook and eastern Lake Counties, it stretches from Wilmette north along Lake Michigan's shore to the Wisconsin border. To tour our district is to see firsthand both the promise of the American dream and those who have not yet realized it.

   We are home to the best educated ZIP code in the Nation, and yet we are also home to some of the most economically challenged schools in Illinois. We have pristine wetlands and forests, as well as the worst PCB contamination in the Great Lakes, and more than 1,000 tons of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel is stored 120 yards from Lake Michigan. We are also home to the only training center for new recruits in the United States Navy.

   But we are mainly communities of commuters where each day 20 percent of my constituents commute to Chicago, clawing their way each morning into the city and repeating the process each evening.

   In serving the people of the 10th district, I follow a long list of role models who represented us in Washington. Understanding that I have some very large shoes to fill, I begin my service with a look back at those Members who preceded me.

   Our first representative, John McLean, was one of the State's pioneer political leaders. He took his seat in the old House Chamber on December 3, 1818 serving just 1 year. He was later elected to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Senator Ninian Edwards in 1824 and served through March of the following year. While our pathfinder's service was very brief in both Chambers of this Congress, he was honored by the State, which named McLean County after him. It was about this time that the first European family settled on the North Shore in what is now known as Evanston, residing in a place that was described as ``a rude habitation of posts, poles and blankets.'' More notable, though, was the construction of the first permanent structure on the North Shore, a roadside grocery serving cold beer and liquor to travelers. This grocery was described as ``the headquarters of counterfeiters, fugitives from justice and generally speaking a vile resort.'' Ironically, 100 years later Evanston would become the international headquarters of the Women's Christian Temperance Union; and it is from these Spartan but colorful beginnings that we trace our suburban history.

   Representative McLean was succeeded in office by Daniel P. Cook, who in 1824 faced a political situation all too familiar today. He was given the unenviable task of casting the sole vote for the State of Illinois for President after no candidate garnered sufficient electoral votes. He cast his vote for the eventual winner, President John Quincy Adams; and Cook County bears his name and is one of the most populous counties in the Nation.

   Congressman Cook was followed in office by a series of leaders who included war heroes; Jacksonians; Whigs; Democrats; Republicans; several Civil War veterans; a German immigrant; and, in Representative John T. Stuart, a law partner of President Lincoln.

   Numerous shifts in population brought many changes in the boundary lines of today's 10th Congressional District and redistricting has changed the landscape of the 10th no fewer than nine times in the past 180 years. We face another change soon as Illinois prepares to lose a congressional seat before the next election.

   By 1902, Lake and northern Cook Counties were part of the 10th district, and the first outlines of the current district were formed as a new phenomenon in American living emerged, the suburbs.

   In 1913, the election of a Progressive candidate, Charles M. Thompson, was indicative of the new independent voting spirit of the 10th district and our willingness to elect whoever will best represent our interests, regardless of incumbency or party affiliation.

   Independent, thoughtful leadership are common themes among the men and women who represented our 10th district. Names like John Stuart, James Woodworth, Isaac Arnold, Charles Farwell, Lorenzo Brentano, George Foss and Abner Mikva. Representatives like George Adams, a Civil War veteran who fought in the First Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Artillery, and Robert McClory, who served for nearly 20 years and was a House manager for the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972.

   But there are five men and women who represented the 10th district that stand out among this impressive crowd and deserve star treatment. These five heroes fought against slavery, advocated equal pay for women and civil rights initiatives, the rule of law and served a number of Presidents as they battled for human rights abuses abroad while funding biomedical research here at home. These five exemplify a high standard of leadership demanded by our constituents and expected by our nation.

   Elected in the 33rd Congress as a Whig, Representative Elihu B. Washburne served his final seven terms as a Republican. During his tenure in Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Commerce and, in the 40th Congress, as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. In 1862, President Lincoln personally lobbied to have him elected Speaker, ultimately falling short.

   Representative Washburne's independence is legendary. He was a strong opponent of slavery and became known

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as one of the leaders of the Radical Republicans along with Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner. This group was outspoken in its opposition to slavery and went well beyond calling for simple abolition.

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   They called for complete equality under law for freed slaves. The Radical Republicans were critical of the Reconstruction policies of both President Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson. Representative Washburne argued that southern plantations should be subdivided and redistributed among former slaves, and when President Johnson attempted to veto the extension of the Freeman's Bureau, the Civil Rights Act and the Reconstruction Act, Representative Washburne and his colleagues took action and were successful in their effort to pass the Reconstruction Act.

   The Radical Republicans and Washburne became leaders in the impeachment of President Johnson, and when his close friend, General Ulysses S. Grant, became President, Representative Washburne was appointed as our country's Secretary of State. He resigned just 11 days later, ending what remains the shortest term of any U.S. Secretary of State.

   Congressman Washburne left that high office because the President offered him the opportunity to assume the leadership of the American Diplomatic Mission in Paris. Congressman Washburne served as our ambassador to France through the Franco-Prussian War, and there he demonstrated true independence and initiative. Ambassador Washburne offered refuge to diplomats from various German states and other foreigners who were abandoned by their respective diplomatic missions.

   In grave danger on the street, those diplomats found safety under the American flag with Ambassador Washburne, and when the German Army surrounded Paris in late 1870, Washburne remained at his post and was the only foreign diplomat still resident in Paris during the days of the Commune. Those were tough times for besieged Parisians who were reduced to eating rats.

   Washburne honored our Revolutionary War debt to France by continuing his humanitarian service. His international service and commitment to humanitarian relief presaged our own time when America has become the foundation of freedom in the international system and humanitarian relief missions around the world. Congressman Washburne remained in Paris until 1877, when he then returned to Chicago.

   Sixty years later, we come to the opening of the career of another star in our story. Congressman Ralph Church won election to the Congress in the 74th, 75th and 76th Congresses, and again in the 78th Congress, through his death in the 80th Congress. Many people living in our community today still remember Congressman Ralph Church and his wife Marguerite.

   The second star in our story is a representative far ahead of her time, Representative Church's widow, Marguerite Church. Mrs. Church succeeded her late husband in the Congress, and during her first term, Illinois redistricted its congressional seats for the first time since 1901. It placed northern Cook and Lake Counties in the 13th District.

   Mrs. Church brought a common sense approach to Federal spending. She spoke against what she called extravagant and reckless spending, earning her respect from both her colleagues and constituents. Her seat on the Committee on Government Operations gave her an ideal platform to urge restraint in spending, and her assignment to the Committee on Foreign Affairs allowed her to encourage the growth of democracy across the globe.

   Many of Mrs. Church's policy proposals were ahead of their time. Earlier in her career, she advocated equal pay for women, and civil rights initiatives. The progress of the early 1960s finds its roots 10 years earlier in the service of Marguerite Stitt Church. She was the only female member of the Illinois Delegation and her voting record is impeccable; answering more than 11,000 roll calls during her tenure in the House, missing only 4.

   In 1959, as a ranking member of the Foreign Economic Policy Subcommittee, she traveled more than 40,000 miles and visited 17 different countries. In 1960, at the invitation of President Eisenhower, she participated in the White House Conference on Children and Youth, and in 1961 served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nation's 15th Assembly.

   While participating, she jumped far ahead of her time, especially in her outspoken criticism of South Africa and their policy of apartheid. Mrs. Church then retired after 1962.

   The 88th Congress saw the beginning of another legendary career, one that is just now moving into its brightest days. Donald Rumsfeld was elected representative of the 13th District, having previously served on the staff of Congressman David Dennison and Robert Griffin. While in the House, Rumsfeld sat on the Committees on Science and Astronautics and Government Operations. This was during the heyday of President Kennedy's space program, including Lake Forest's own Jim Lovell, who went on to command Apollo XIII.

   Rumsfeld also had a seat on the Joint Economic Committee in both the 90th and 91st Congresses. His campaigns were indicative of what politics used to be and what they were to become. He accepted only small donations and limited expenditures of his campaign, while relying on an army of volunteers to canvass neighborhoods and perform day-to-day tasks, which are the lifeblood of a congressional campaign.

   In 1969, he resigned his seat to accept President Nixon's appointment to head the Office of Economic Opportunity. Not knowing a lot about the office's mission at the time, he turned to his chief of staff, Bruce Ladd, who had an intern friend of his who had written a college paper on the Office of Economic Opportunity. That intern came in to brief Congressman Rumsfeld on the new opportunities that were there and walked out with a job. That intern's name was RICHARD CHENEY.

   In 1971, President Nixon appointed Rumsfeld as Director of the Cost of Living Council, a position he held until 1973 when he became U.S. ambassador to NATO for 2 years. When President Ford took office in 1974, he re-called Rumsfeld to Washington to coordinate a four-man transition team. His performance earned him an appointment as White House Chief of Staff, although he personally did not like the title and preferred to be called staff coordinator, and he brought Secretary Cheney with him.

   In 1975, Rumsfeld was appointed Secretary of Defense, a position he held through the end of the Ford administration in 1977. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom that same year; and during the Reagan administration, Rumsfeld's expertise led him to accept membership on the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and a role as an adviser on government and national security affairs in 1983 and 1984. He was named Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East in 1984.

   Rumsfeld's experience in the private sector as CEO of GD Searle & Company and as senior advisor to William Blair & Company complemented his impressive government service and will help to make him an exceptional Secretary of Defense for the current administration. I am proud to call Secretary Rumsfeld a friend.

   Building on the records of Washburne, Church and Rumsfeld, among others, we touch on other stars in our story.

   Congressman McClory represented Lake County and really serves as a symbol of independence in service to the Nation. Congressman McClory, conservative, loyal Republican, a staunch defender of President Nixon until the evidence became too strong. It was Congressman McClory's votes for two impeachment articles that set the standard for political independence and judgment and the rule of law in this House.

   For us, we come now to the final predecessor of mine in this seat, Congressman John Edward Porter, who won a special election in 1980 to follow Abner Mikva. I will touch on Congressman Mikva's service, that it was brilliant in its way and set another standard for independence, both in this Chamber and on the Federal bench.

   Following him, Congressman Porter gained a seat on the Committee on Appropriations in 1980, where he served until his retirement in the last Congress.

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   Following a trip to the Soviet Union in 1983, Congressman Porter founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. He witnessed numerous human rights abuses while in the Soviet Union and decided to enlist the support of his colleagues to bring pressure to bear on nations and groups that mistreat the innocent or prisoners of conscience.

   In his role as cochairman of the Human Rights Caucus, he helped free refuseniks, fought for the rights of Northern Korean refugees and religious freedom in China, spoke out against the use of child soldiers in Africa and condemned the brutal regime of Sani Abacha in Nigeria.

   The Congressional Human Rights Caucus was the first U.S. Government entity to host the Dalai Lama in Washington, and Congressman Porter sponsored legislation authorizing the creation of Radio Free Asia and then secured appropriations to fund this groundbreaking program, helping move the agenda of freedom in China.

   Mr. Porter's record of accomplishments in foreign policies is impressive, but his record of constituent service is unmatched. He led efforts to improve safety at Waukegan Regional Airport by updating the radar at the control tower. He brought back the Coast Guard Rescue Unit to the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, the same rescue unit that saved my life after a boating accident when I was a teenager.

   He worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control flooding along the north branch of the Chicago River, and his commitment to the environment also led him to be a strong supporter of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. He orchestrated the effort to designate 290 acres of land at Fort Sheridan as open space and was one of only six House Members named taxpayer super hero by the Grace Commission's Citizens Against Government Waste in 1992.

   He was named to the Concord Coalition's honor roll in 1997 and 1998 for his commitment to eliminating deficits and balancing the budget. John Porter was always willing to take chances when he truly believed in an issue, and 15 years ago, long before it was safe to do so, he proposed dramatic reform to the 3rd rail of American politics, Social Security.

   His proposal, in fact, can be considered revolutionary because it was one of the first and is remarkably similar to that of the plan announced by President George W. Bush during his campaign.

   What Congressman Porter may be most remembered for was his improvement for health care for all Americans. In his role as chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education of the Committee on Appropriations, Congressman Porter launched the effort to double funding for the National Institutes of Health within 5 years. This additional funding has already helped researchers develop new and better treatments for illnesses ranging from AIDS to cancer, diabetes and flu.

   His commitment to improving biomedical research is an investment in the future and will undoubtedly result in better medical care for all people, Americans and nonAmericans alike.

   John Porter served us all in the highest tradition of public service and commitment to the greater good. Having served as his administrative assistant, I could not have had a better role model from whom to learn about public service. I have some very large shoes to fill and can only hope to represent and serve my constituents as well as he did.

   This record clearly demonstrates Northeastern Illinois' character: Strongly independent and ahead of our time. Ideas like emancipation, equal pay for women and an end to apartheid were all part of our representatives' leadership in decades ahead of the body politic of the time. Our opinions do not necessarily adhere to strict party lines, and therefore anyone who represents our area must demonstrate independence and break from the party on occasion to cast a vote with the people. My predecessors did this, and while I am a firm believer in my party's vision, it is a tradition of independence that I will follow.

   Elihu Washburne, Marguerite Stitt Church, Don Rumsfeld, Robert McClory, John Porter, they are not household names, but their service shaped the history of our Nation because of their commitment for what was right and a decision to take action to protect those who were most in need. It is an example of what I must live up to and take heart as I embark on the greatest honor of my life, representing the people of the 10th district.

   Drawing on this tradition, I will focus my service on constituent service modeled after Mrs. Church, on national defense modeled after Don Rumsfeld, and America's role in the world modeled after Elihu Washburne, and finally on the foundation of biomedical research founded on John Porter's tradition.

   As we enter the 21st century, we face key challenges, challenges of solving the increasing gridlock in our communities; challenges on the environmental front of cleaning up nuclear waste and PCBs; challenges of maintaining the tradition of 10th district education excellence; challenges like keeping the U.S. health care system on the cutting edge so that each American lives a full and healthy life, and providing tax fairness for married people and ending the death tax and stopping government waste.

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   Y tengo algo para un communidad nuevo en nuestra pueblo. A la communidad Hispanica yo digo ``bienvenido'' y vamos a trabajar juntos para escuelas mejores y una sistema de salud para todos.

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   And I have something for a new community in our town. To the Hispanic community, I say ``welcome'' and we will work together for better schools and a health system for all.

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   It is in this spirit, built on the foundations of service to others by my predecessors, that I begin my work.

   I thank the people of the 10th district of Illinois for the opportunity to serve them as I enter service here in this House in a new century.