John Mica: “I join my colleagues in paying tribute to my good friend and fellow Member of Congress, C.W. Bill Young. More than four…”

“I join my colleagues in paying tribute to my good friend and fellow Member of Congress, C.W. Bill Young. More than four decades ago, I first met Bill when I served as a campaign aide to the late Congressman Bill Cramer. Bill Young was a Florida State Senator at the time who was seeking the St. Petersburg, West Florida Coast Congressional seat being vacated by my boss who was running in 1970 for the U.S. Senate. Bill Young had already served as a Congressional aide to Bill Cramer and then was elected as Florida's first Republican State Senator since the Civil War. Bill Cramer when elected was the first GOP U.S. House Member since that era. As fate would unfold, Bill Cramer lost and Bill Young took his seat in Congress. I had aligned myself with Florida's West Coast GOP political operatives called the ICY Machine. Those were initials for Jack Insco, a top Cramer aide and political strategist, Bill Cramer and Bill Young, a Florida political powerhouse at that time. While my boss lost his election, I gained great experience and wonderful friends. Among them, Bill Young, rising GOP star, and his two young aides, George Cretekos and Doug Gregory. Both George and Doug served with Bill Young for over three decades, during which I was privileged to count all among my friends and political allies. As an aide to U.S. Senator Paula Hawkins from 1980 to 1985, I had the honor of working with two GOP leaders who worked tirelessly for Florida and our Nation.…”