Patsy T. Mink: “I rise tonight to remember a former colleague, the late Congressman James Howard, Democrat who served his State of New…”

“I rise tonight to remember a former colleague, the late Congressman James Howard, Democrat who served his State of New Jersey, and his Third District from 1965 until he died on March 25, 1988 at the age of 60 years. Congressman Howard was first elected to the U.S. House in the fall of 1964 and took office in January of 1965. Until his election this district had been basically Republican. I was elected that same year. We had an entering class of nearly 100 members. It was a historic Congress. Lyndon Baines Johnson was President. We enacted the first federal aid to education bill. We embarked on a War against Poverty. We made dramatic changes in the immigration laws. We provided help for young people going to college. We enacted Medicare. The list of achievements is long and impressive. It included things like Head Start, legal aid, aid to the elderly, new programs in housing and many others. Jimmy Howard as he was affectionately known as a stalwart leader in all these enactments. He stood for his people in the Third District. He was dedicated and creative. He was loyal and hardworking. I considered him to be one of my best friends. We formed caucuses to create greater opportunities for freshman to have a say in policy. We worked hard to reform the House Rules to make it more open and democratic. He stood tall for civil rights, for women's rights and for human rights. Jimmy Howard was a school teacher before he was elected to Congress.”