We talked about that once, about the squeezing of so much of America into the cold and colossal urban centers, and this man who had traveled the world said of Pekin: "It is a pretty good place to be from, and to go back to."

He was buried in the flat prairie out east of town, in a new cemetery which runs alongside Milo Miller's dairy farm. The Vice President of the United States led the mourners. But Editor McNaughton and Logan Unland, the insurance man, and "Peach" Preston, the former postmaster-all old friends— were there too as EVERETT DIRKSEN went back to that "pretty good place," for the last time.

ADDRESS BY HON. MARTIN B. McKNEALLY

OF NEW YORK

Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday morning, September 10, in the rotunda of the Capitol, I was privileged to participate in a special and impressive memorial service for the late Senator EVERETT M. DIRKSEN. The participants were distinguished representatives of approximately 17 veterans organizations who had gathered to pay their last tribute to this great American who had been a loyal and faithful friend of veterans and their dependents.

I suppose Senator DIRKSEN belonged to several of these great organizations, but I am proud to record that he was a distinguished member and past district commander of the American Legion.

I should like to commend to my colleagues the eulogy which was delivered on that occasion by another distinguished Legionnaire, and past national commander, the Honorable Donald E. Johnson, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs:

REMARKS BY THE HONORABLE DONALD E. JOHNSON, ADMINISTRATOR OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, AT COMBINED VETERANS ORGANIZATION MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR SENATOR EVERETT M. DIRKSEN

EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN will be remembered gratefully and always by America's veterans as a patriot who greatly loved our country . . . and as a man who lived the creed bequeathed him and all of us by another great citizen of his beloved Illinois . . . Abraham Lincoln . . . "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.”

As a combat, overseas veteran of World War I, he knew personally the holocaust and the cost of war. His concern for veterans, his compassion for

the disabled and the widowed and the orphaned was expressed most eloquently not alone in the remembered oratory of this gifted speaker, but also in the rewarding benefits which he helped to write into law.

A quarter of a century ago . . . 11 years after he first entered the House of Representatives . . . he helped enact the G.I. Bill . . . one of the most enlightened laws ever passed by any government in history.

But his accomplishments on behalf of our nation's veterans, their dependents and survivors were not limited to this program. Far from it. His greatest service to veterans was in the leadership which he gave to the Senate as it considered the many veteran benefit programs to come before it during the more than five terms in which he served as Minority Leader of the Senate.

Beyond this, of course, was his dedicated, able service on the Senate Finance Committee, which monitors legislation benefitting the millions of veterans, widows and children receiving Veterans Administration compensation and pension and G.I. Insurance assistance.

The veterans organizations to which he proudly belonged know well how much this great American contributed to their growth and progress since World War I. The others, whose meetings and conventions he often addressed, will remember the inspiration and renewed strength he brought to them.

With grieving hearts, America's veterans say farewell to a loved and admired comrade.

We are sure he would understand that the only lasting and worthwhile tribute we can pay him is to carry on his great work and to share his true compassion for those who have borne the battle and for their widows and their orphans.

Mr. Speaker, there will never be another like him. There have been great leaders before, astute politicians, men of flamboyant style, patriots of the highest order. But it is difficult to imagine that this Nation will be graced again with a man whose character and rhetorical skill even closely resemble that of the late Senator EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN.

It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of the distinguished Senate minority leader. A man whose advice was sought

by four Presidents of the United States, Senator DIRKSEN served his State and Nation with full devotion. His ability and his humanity, his wisdom and his patriotism, were well known and universally respected.

I know the members of his party will miss his leadership as will we, of the opposite party, miss his unique style of debate and urbane opposition. To those who disagreed with his views, Senator DIRKSEN was a feared adversary, who yet remained a friend. An astute legislative leader devoted to his party's programs, he had the capacity to put aside partisan considerations when required by the needs of the Nation. He earned the affection of much of the American public. We shall miss his wisdom and ability as well as his oratorical skill and his penetrating wit. EVERETT DIRKSEN was a legend in his own time, and he will long be remembered as a truly great American.

ADDRESS BY HON. FRED SCHWENGEL

OF IOWA

Mr. Speaker, we all mourn the loss of our distinguished minority leader in the Senate. Many tributes have been paid to the Senator, but an editorial appearing in the September 9 issue of the Davenport Times-Democrat does an excellent job of summarizing these tributes, as follows:

EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN

Across the United States, Sen. EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN is being mourned as an outstanding legislator and political leader. It generally is reserved for the people of Illinois-and some of Iowa-to know that he served the state and the nation in a great Illinois tradition.

He shares particulation distinction with:

James Hamilton Lewis, a Chicago Democrat, who served with President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1919 as conscientiously as he did with President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1931 to 1939; Scott W. Lucas, also a Democrat, from Havana, 1939–1951, a Senate leader of the Roosevelt and Harry S Truman years;

And C. Wayland Brooks, Chicago Republican, of a comparable vintage, 1940-1949.

Like Senator DIRKSEN, they were members of a race of orators. They were not just small town or big city politicians. They were dramatic in their pro

jection of the legislative process. When they spoke the Senate-and others— listened.

Of far greater consequence in Senator DIRKSEN's performance, he had a highly developed sense of political accommodation. While it irked some Republicans, the DIRKSEN technique gave the party a strong role as the loyal opposition. It won respect and applause not only for him but for the GOP.

He was not only a party leader, but a patriotic American, who saw that his high office was fulfilled responsibly. As has been set forth in news accounts of his passing from the national scene, his influence and accomplishments helped translate purposes and ideals into sound, significant and far-reaching legislation.

Some of his colleagues put it well. Said Sen. Mike Mansfield, majority leader of the Senate: "He was an old pro. His word was good. Everything was on the table." Observed Sen. Jack Miller of Iowa: "There has never been a minority leader his equal, and few majority leaders . . . could match his effectiveness."

In his consummate political skill and in the flaunting of a colorful personality, he captured the attention and interest-even affection-of people who never had met or even seem him personally.

The DIRKSEN success is the more impressive in the fact that he had such a humble beginning as the son of German immigrants with a background of the picturesque Frisian Islands off the coasts of Germany and the Netherlands. His father having died when he was five, he learned early how to work; his application to unpromising jobs continued through college as he worked his way.

This is the stuff of which American legends are composed and Everett MCKINLEY DIRKSEN lived up to the tradition.

As has been set forth by hundreds of writers and commentators, his sonorouse voice is stilled. Only the echoes of his grandiloquent delivery linger and fade. His influence will live, though, to the nation's benefit and Illinois pride.

ADDRESS BY HON. G. WILLIAM WHITEHURST

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, today I introduced a resolution requesting the House to call upon the Postmaster General to issue a commemorative stamp to be sold on January 4, 1970, on the occasion of the 74th birthday of the late Senator EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN. Senator DIRKSEN was no ordinary man. He cut a swath across public life that left its mark upon six administrations. To several of the Presidents, he was an indispensable ally, and he won the deep affection not only

of his congressional colleagues, but of the American people. Senator DIRKSEN Communicated a love of his country and devotion to service that has been matched by few men. On the occasion of his death, he was honored as only three other Senators have been honored by lying in state in the Capitol rotunda. It seems to me that issuing a stamp will enable us to accord him the kind of posthumous recognition which we reserve for those special Americans who have so unselfishly served the Republic.

ADDRESS BY HON. JOEL T. BROYHILL

OF VIRGINIA

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, September 10, 1969, Donald E. Johnson, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, along with representatives of 17 veterans organizations, eulogized the late Senator EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN at the rotunda of the Capitol.

Mr. Johnson's heartfelt remarks—spoken in behalf of all of the Nation's 27 million veterans-were as follows:

EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN will be remembered gratefully and always by America's veterans as a patriot who greatly loved our country, and as a man who lived the creed bequeathed him and all of us by another great citizen of his beloved Illinois-Abraham Lincoln-"to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan."

As a combat, overseas veteran of World War I, he knew personally the holocaust and the cost of war. His concern for veterans, his compassion for the disabled, and the widowed, and the orphaned was expressed most eloquently—not alone in the remembered oratory of this gifted speaker, but also in the rewarding benefits which he helped to write into law.

A quarter of a century ago-11 years after he first entered the House of Representatives he helped enact the GI bill-one of the most enlightened laws ever passed by any government in history.

But his accomplishments on behalf of our Nation's veterans, their dependents, and survivors were not limited to this program. Far from it, his greatest service to veterans was in the leadership which he gave to the Senate as it considered the many veteran benefit programs to come before it during the more than five terms in which he served as minority leader of the Senate.

Beyond this, of course, was his dedicated, able service on the Senate Finance Committee, which monitors legislation benefiting the millions of veterans,