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Yet, he contributed more than color. He stood in the breach at critical moments in our history and gave both his vote and his mellifluous voice to those causes which periodically emerge on the tides of political, economic, and social changes. He was a conservative who thought it no crime to see the virtue of some flexibility when it would promote solutions to the needs of the Nation. Thus it was that the monumental civil rights legislation was enacted in this decade with his support, and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was ratified.

For more than a third of a century, EVERETT DIRKSEN participated in making some of the most momentous decisions of our times as first a Congressman and then as a Senator. We will proudly remember him as a distinguished son of Illinois, but the entire Nation will mourn his loss. He was a man of immense political stature because of his truly extraordinary gifts. He was also an orator who could and did delight thousands. It was once said of him that he was one of very few men who actually made votes when he spoke on important issues.

He was a warm and humorous man who enjoyed a rapport with virtually everyone whom he met. He was a political tactician of consummate skill. Yet above all, he was an American patriot in the deepest and most reverential sense who could and did subordinate partisanship to what he considered the overriding national interest.

We are all of us diminished by the loss of a great American. My wife and I wish to join millions in extending our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Dirksen and their daughter, Joy.

Mr. PRICE of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I first met EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN on the first day that he came to Washington to take his oath of office as a Member of this House. I was beginning my service as a secretary to a Member. He was starting his distinguished career as a legislator.

Through all the years following, I enjoyed a close, personal friendship with him.

It has been said that he was a great man, and he truly was. He brought honor to the State he represented and he brought honor to all of us who had the pleasure of serving with him in the Congress of the United States.

I knew him well. When I became a Member in 1945 I had the opportunity morning after morning to have breakfast with him in the House restaurant. I knew his philosophy of government. We had disagreements in the political field, but never on the basic philosophy that he held.

He was, first of all, an American. He was a great servant to the people he represented in the House and in the Senate of the United States. Truly Illinois has lost a great citizen, but so has the United States of America lost a great citizen and a great statesman.

My wife, Garry, joins me in extending our deepest sympathy to his wife Louella. We enjoyed a fine friendship with the Senator. The full Illinois Democratic delegation in the House joins me in expressing sympathy to Mrs. Dirksen and her family.

Mrs. REID of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in the death of EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN, all Americans-indeed, freedom-loving people everywhere-have lost a warm and wonderful friend. In life, as he remains in death, he had become a legend in his own time-truly a giant in our history. No chronicle of the 20th century can ever be complete without its chapter on the life and deeds of EVERETT M. DIRKSEN, who rose from a modest background in the land of Lincoln to become one of the most brilliant legislators and legislative leaders the Nation has ever known. Certainly in this he has no peer.

But for those of us who had the rare privilege of working with him closely in the Illinois congressional delegation, of visiting in his home, of knowing his charming and devoted wife, Louella, we will remember what no history book can ever capture. Historians will write about the role he perhaps liked best and in which he was greatest that of statesman and patriot. They will recall for coming generations the impact of this colorful and courageous American on the social and political life of our Republic and the world, and here his contributions are immeasurable.

We who knew him so well will remember all of this, too, and we will be eternally grateful that he walked among us at this critical time in our history. But we will also remember that wonderfully curious and warmly human intellect—his infectious zest for living. He loved to sing and I remember many happy hours gathered around the piano with him and his family and close friends singing the old

songs he loved best. We will remember him both as an articulate and homespun philosopher of the American scene and his ability to bring humor and compassion to even the most trying affairs of state. We will remember as well the skill and deep understanding with which he was able on many dramatic occasions to bring harmony and unity to a divided party.

Yes, EVERETT DIRKSEN was unique in our time in many ways. An avid student of the world's finest literature and its history, he loved to share his inspirations with his fellow men, whether they be reflections on the world's great events or tender thoughts on Christmas. His voice was known everywhere, and few men in public life have been more loved or more admired. He stood tall in the Senate because he lived what this country stands for. He understood our heritage, and he had confidence in our future. People listened because they respected his ideals.

Senator DIRKSEN's seat in the Senate must necessarily be filled, but no one will ever be able to replace EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN in the hearts of his colleagues or his countrymen.

At this time, let me extend my heartfelt sympathy to his beloved wife Louella, his daughter Joy, and his son-in-law Senator Howard Baker and his grandchildren who adored him and whom he adored. They have lost a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather.

The Nation has lost a brilliant leader and great patriot, and I have lost a dear friend.

Mr. PUCINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I am sure all of my colleagues in the Illinois delegation on this side of the aisle would join me in stating that the loss of EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN is irreplaceable to the people of Illinois, to the people of America, and, yes, to the people of the world.

His vast experience in both the House and in the Senate had given him tremendous ability to develop, design, and construct compromises on important issues.

Jack Kennedy could not have achieved many of his programs without the help of EVERETT DIRKSEN, and Lyndon Johnson could not have achieved many of his successes without EVERETT DIRKSEN.

On the many major issues passed on by the Congress of the United States, EVERETT DIRKSEN's brand is indelibly imprinted.

He did not hesitate to change his mind when he believed it would serve the best interest of the Nation.

He changed his mind on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

He changed his mind on the Consular Treaty.

And he changed his mind on the 1968 Civil Rights Act. Without his help this act could not have been passed.

When a friend asked EVERETT, "Why did you change your mind on the civil rights act-something you felt so strongly against at one time?" EVERETT DIRKSEN said:

We are living in a world of changing times. New circumstances require new thinking. I believe that the time has come when we ought to have this legislation.

EV DIRKSEN disagreed often, but he symbolized the highest tradition of this Congress by never being disagreeable. In debate he was a strong foe, but, above all, he was always a gentleman.

His homespun philosophy is a hallmark of Americana.

He was a fierce patriot. He used to tell a wonderful story that I think could be a lesson to all of us, particularly at this time when we are paying tribute to his memory and honoring him today.

One day EVERETT DIRKSEN prepared a speech on "The Frog and Patriotism." A friend said "EVERETT, how can you be talking about the frog and patriotism? What do the two have in common?” In typical Dirksenonian homespun philosophy, the Senator drew a parallel. He said:

My friends, the very sensitive nervous system of the frog will permit that frog, when thrown into a kettle of boiling water, to hop right out. But that same frog, if he is put into a kettle of cold water, and then the heat is turned up, will stay there, and when the water comes to a boil, he will be destroyed, because he does not realize the water is reaching the boiling point. That is the way it is with Americanism and with patriotism. We see our patriotism and our rights as Americans slowly being eroded here and there, and as individual circumstances that does not mean too much, until one day it will be too late, and, like the frog, we will not be able to jump out of the boiling water, and we will lose our freedom.

He had an uncanny ability to put ideas into a new sense of meaning and persuasiveness.

All of us are experiencing a great loss. Senator DIRKSEN was a great leader, he was a great patriot, and he was a great American.

Mrs. Pucinski joins me in extending our condolences to his widow and his family. We shall all miss him deeply.

Mr. McCLORY. Mr. Speaker, in the passing of EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN, the Nation has lost a great leader, the U.S. Congress has surrendered its most honored lawmaker, and Illinois has given up her most famous citizen since Abraham Lincoln.

The privilege of an intimate relationship with Senator DIRKSEN and his family is an experience which I treasure almost reverently. To have known and worked with this great man on a first name basis is to have felt the warm breath and blood of history in the making. For Senator DIRKSEN was a maker of history whose deeds and acts and words will live as long as history is recorded.

Indeed, the historymaking of EVERETT DIRKSEN is recorded in sound, on film, and on longplaying records that preserve the sonorous and penetrating tones of his mighty voice. Those recordings are among the most eloquent expressions of faith and love for our Nation and our posterity which it seems possible to produce. Their meaning and importance to this and future generations of Americans cannot be overestimated.

Today as we reflect on the life and deeds of the great Senate minority leader, I am inclined to recall most vividly the hundreds of occasions when EVERETT DIRKSEN and I were together. These involved many and varied circumstances, in Illinois and Washington and elsewhere. I recall his visit to our home in Lake Bluff, as well as the occasions when he and his wife, Louella, were in our home in Washington. Most recently, I recall the afternoon at the Dirksen farm in Virginia where the marvels of nature dominated the conservation and he expressed a love for the simple and beautiful products of the soil as well as the birds and other wildlife which inhibited the farm.

Words were Senator DIRKSEN's stock in trade. He selected words more carefully and uttered them more eloquently than any other man of our time. But words are utterly inadequate to express the deep and tender feelings of those who mourn his passing.

In addition to honoring his memory, it is entirely fitting that we should extol his humanity as well. Perhaps this word "humanity" characterizes best the rare qualities which EVERETT DIRKSEN possessed. He had respect and deep concern for every human being of every race, color, religion and position in life. To his family and

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