Political Quotes

“I am saddened today to announce to our colleagues the passing on May 27 of William Holmes Brown, who served as parliamentarian of the House from 1974 to 1994. He was 71 years of age. Not only did I have the pleasure of working with Bill Brown in the House, but I was also privileged to be his Congressman. He lived at Oakland Green Farm in Lincoln in Loudoun County, Virginia, property which had been in the family for more than eight generations. Bill began his service in the Parliamentarian's Office in 1958 when he was appointed Assistant Parliamentarian by Speaker Sam Rayburn. In 1974, he was named to the position of Parliamentarian by Speaker Carl Albert. He succeeded the legendary Lewis Deschler, with whom he had collaborated in volumes of 'Precedents of the House of Representatives,' referred to in the House as the Deschler-Brown Precedents. During his years in the House, he served under six Speakers. Besides Speaker Sam Rayburn and Carl Albert, he served under John McCormack, Tip O'Neill, Jim Wright, and Tom Foley. He retired from the House in 1994. During his service in the House, he worked to develop parliamentary projects in newly emerging democratic republics in Eastern Europe, participating in seminars and training programs for representatives of other national legislative bodies. After he retired as Parliamentarian in 1994, he worked for the Agency of International Development on a parliamentary development project in the Ukraine.”