Carrie Meek: “we refer to each other as ``gentleman'' or gentlewoman,'' but, when we refered to the late Representative of the Second…”

“we refer to each other as ``gentleman'' or gentlewoman,'' but, when we refered to the late Representative of the Second District of Kentucky, we really did mean it. It has been a privilege for me to serve with the gentleman from Kentucky for a little over a year and to serve under his leadership as a member of the Committee on Appropriations. No Member of this House was more fair or courteous, or, I may say, tolerant of the foibles of a new Member. This Congress has seen the Committee on Appropriations have to make tough decisions on priorities. Some of these decisions have not always been to my liking, but I have always had the opportunity to express my views. Sometimes I have prevailed, but courtesy and fairness was always the Chairman's watchword. Who can ask for more than that. Chairman Natcher was a product of the progressive wing of the Kentucky Democratic Party with its foundations in the Wilson era and the New Deal and the Fair Deal. He was allied with the faction led by former Senator Earl Clements. He has been a hard fighter for the working men and women, and the children, of Kentucky and America. Although his compassion for the less powerful in his Commonwealth and our Nation is well known, he has not hesitated to insist that programs produce. Woe be it to an agency that he caught not delivering an efficient and effective service, and catch them he did.…”