Kaptur Mourns Colleague's Passing

KAPTUR MOURNS COLLEAGUE'S PASSING

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would very much like to thank the dean of the Republican delegation from Ohio, Congressman Ralph Regula, a dear friend, for helping to organize this very special moment tonight in honor of our friend and colleague from Ohio, Representative Paul Gillmor , who last evening succumbed to a call that will greet us all. We never know the time nor the hour.

I understand that Paul flew back to Washington yesterday with several of his colleagues. And sometimes we wonder why things happen the way they do, but he was able to speak with several of them upon his return to Washington after having spent most of August with his family in Ohio. That itself is a gift.

It is with shock and sadness that we on this side of the aisle extend heartfelt sympathy to the Gillmor family. To his wife, Karen, I can't tell you how many White House Christmas parties I recall sharing with her, our travels to Mexico long before the passage of NAFTA as we evaluated the situation on the ground. Those are memories that I will hold forever.

To the five Gillmor children, Paul was a very, very dedicated father. I recall one time I was going into Channel 11, our CBS affiliate, I'll probably get in trouble for saying this, the other affiliates won't be mentioned, even though it didn't happen in their stations, and Paul had one of his sons with him that day, and he was so polite. And we were talking about where he was going to school. Paul tried to be with his family, especially with his younger children, as much as he could.

He suffered great tragedy in his own life, serving in Vietnam as a Captain in the Air Force in that very troubled conflict. I'm sure that he carried memories and wounds from that. And then having lost his first wife in a tragic automobile accident, having to survive that and continue to serve.

He dedicated his life to public service. Many people I don't think realize what a wealthy man he was. He didn't have to be here in the Congress. He could have checked out long ago. But in the tradition of service that his family represented and very deep, deep roots in Buckeye land in Ohio, he served his country not just in the Air Force, but in the Ohio Senate where he was the majority leader, and finally, the people of the Fifth Congressional District in this House since 1989, a decade and a half.

There are many pieces of legislation for which he exhibited leadership. One of those dealt with brownfields, a problem well known in a State like Ohio, and trying to move legislation in order to convert those over for reuse. As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Subcommittee Chair during a portion of his career, he made a real national contribution there.

Together, we worked on saving the 180th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Army Air National Guard in our districts. When gerrymandering occurred a few years ago and the districts were redrawn, literally, he ended up with one half of the airport and I ended up with the other half. And I thought, oh, this is interesting. So we were very successful in our efforts there. And without question, that particular unit, which will be returning to Ohio this week, is returning to a facility that he helped to save. One of my memories is that before their departure about four months ago, Paul and I were there together wishing every single one of the members of that unit Godspeed and a quick return to our country.

There were many times that we spent together in our region of the State. Just last week, Paul and I appeared in Findlay, Ohio as a result of the tragic 1,000-year flooding that occurred up in our area. Congressman Jim Jordan was there as well from Urbana, Ohio. And then Paul and I met with Secretary Chertoff. We were planning meetings here upon our return here this week. And we talked about the need for FEMA to be more responsive to the needs of this region. And we then took an Apache helicopter with General Wayt from the Ohio National Guard and we flew over to Bucyrus, just the two of us together in that helicopter. And we were pointing out different reservoirs and different dams and different things that had to be done in order to prevent this type of tragedy again. And we met with the mayor of Bucyrus and with the county commissioners there and the emergency management officials. We had quite a visit. And then Paul and I got back on the Apache helicopter and we flew back to Findlay, Ohio where his sister was waiting for him at the airport. And they were on to the next stop. I think he was headed over to Ottawa, Ohio in his district, which had also been very, very badly flooded.

I see Congressman Jordan over there. I never knew that when we were in Findlay, Ohio together, we kind of grabbed hands and tried to deal with the flooding in your district as well, that that would be the last time that we would do that together.

So we had many memories that we share of Paul's service. And I offer the consolation and the condolences of the people from the Ninth Congressional District, which literally wraps its arms around the northern part of Paul's district, to his family, to his friends, to his colleagues, and to say we are there in dutiful service to do what is necessary to transition in these very difficult days and months ahead.

I want to say personally to Karen, his wife, that I value our friendship. And many of us who have reached the age we are know what a loss this is, and we are praying for you, we are praying for your children, we are praying for your family.

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