3266 Hon. Tim Walberg Hon. Gene Green
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3266 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 158, Pt. 3 March 8, 2012 administration than the previous Bush admin- President Lyndon B. Johnson while he was in Mr. McPherson wrote numerous articles on istration. the White House and previously on his Senate foreign and domestic policies for The New The study found that news sources—such staff. Mr. McPherson passed away on Feb- York Times, The Washington Post and other as ABC, CBS, and NBC—only covered the ris- ruary 15th and The New York Times printed publications. ing prices 21 times during the Obama admin- his obituary, written by Robert D. McFadden. His memoir, ‘‘A Political Education’’ istration compared to 97 times under the Bush In honor of Mr. McPherson, I would like to (1972), was well received and has become a administration. submit the text into the CONGRESSIONAL perennial favorite of students of Washing- ton’s crafty, duplicitous political merry-go- The quantity of coverage was not the only RECORD: round and of Johnson’s years in the Senate difference. The tone of the coverage was dif- Harry C. McPherson, Jr., an influential and the White House. ferent as well. Under the Bush administration, White House counsel and speechwriter for gas prices were ‘‘skyrocketing’’ as people’s President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to Reviewing it for The Times, Anatole ‘‘wallets were running on empty.’’ Now, ‘‘gas 1969 and the author of a classic insider’s Broyard called it ‘‘a lesson not only for Harry McPherson, but also for most of us,’’ prices creep up.’’ memoir on Washington-style politics, died on Thursday in Bethesda, MD. He was 82. adding: ‘‘To put it bluntly, few Americans The national media owe it to Americans to His death was from complications of can- have a realistic idea of how our government provide the facts and let the people make their cer, his wife, Mary Patricia McPherson, said. works. We have instead a series of naive as- own decisions. Democracy is threatened when A liberal from Texas who read literature and sumptions. If the message of this book were the national media report in a biased manner. history for pleasure, Mr. McPherson went to common knowledge, much of the sound and f Washington in 1956 ‘‘to do good,’’ by his own fury that currently caricatures our politics account, a naive, idealistic young lawyer and our national image could be averted.’’ ‘‘SHARE YOUR BREAKFAST’’ who, like many Americans, thought political Harry Cummings McPherson Jr. was born integrity meant making decisions based on CAMPAIGN on Aug. 22, 1929, in Tyler, Tex., the son of sound principles and standing up for your Harry and Nan Hight McPherson. He at- convictions. tended Southern Methodist University and HON. TIM WALBERG Then he went to work for Lyndon Johnson. OF MICHIGAN Thirteen years later—after a realpolitik graduated from the University of the South in 1949. He intended to be a writer and poet IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES education as Johnson’s aide in the Senate, as a Pentagon and State Department official and enrolled in a graduate program in lit- Thursday, March 8, 2012 and as a presidential confidant and erature at Columbia in 1949. But when the Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, what did you wordsmith—he looked back on the battles Korean War broke out in 1950, he enlisted in for civil rights, the crises of American cities the Air Force and served as an intelligence have for breakfast today? officer in Germany, assessing Soviet troop We all know that a great breakfast can lead and the corrosive war in Vietnam with a keener appreciation for the arts of horse- deployments. to a great day. trading and compromise, and for Johnson’s His first marriage, to Clayton Read in 1952, That’s why it is so important that our chil- Machiavellian ways of getting things done. ended in divorce. He married Mary Patricia dren receive a healthy, nutritious breakfast to Mr. McPherson helped draft bills that be- DeGroot in 1981. Besides his wife, he is sur- prepare them for a productive school day. came the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Later, vived by two children from his first mar- It is hard to believe that today, one in five with Joseph A. Califano, the president’s spe- riage, Coco and Peter, and a son from his children live in a home where food is not al- cial assistant for domestic affairs, he helped second marriage, Samuel. shape Johnson’s Great Society programs, the ways available and don’t have access to this He earned a law degree in 1956 at the Uni- important meal. most sweeping social legislation since the Roosevelt era, including antipoverty and versity of Texas. At the urging of a cousin This week is National Breakfast Week—a equal opportunity laws covering employ- who worked for Johnson, who was then a time for Americans to join together to give ment and housing, Medicare, Head Start and senator, Mr. McPherson went to Washington more children the opportunity to start their day scores of other innovations. and was hired by the Democratic Policy with the nourishment they need to reach their For years, he supported the military poli- Committee, which fashioned the legislative potential. cies in Vietnam, but by 1968, Mr. McPherson agenda for Senate Democrats. Johnson, the To celebrate National Breakfast Week, I am had come to believe that the war was majority leader, was its chairman. Over the unwinnable. And as antiwar demonstrations next seven years, Mr. McPherson rose to gen- participating in the ‘‘Share Your Breakfast’’ eral counsel of the committee, serving under campaign—an initiative by Kellogg’s and Ac- swept the country, he and Defense Secretary Clark M. Clifford helped persuade the presi- Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana after tion for Healthy Kids to help ensure more chil- dent to scale back the bombing of North Johnson became vice president in 1961. dren have access to breakfast. Vietnam. He was appointed deputy under secretary The ‘‘Share Your Breakfast’’ campaign It was Mr. McPherson who drafted John- of the Army for international affairs in 1963 seeks to provide one million breakfasts to kids son’s landmark address to the nation that and assistant secretary of state for edu- by increasing participation in school breakfast spring, announcing the cutbacks of United cational and cultural affairs in 1964. Nearly programs across the country. States bombing, although the stunning con- two years after the assassination of Presi- Now in its second year, the program has as- clusion of that speech—disclosing the presi- dent John F. Kennedy, Mr. McPherson joined sisted nearly 100 schools in 26 states—includ- dent’s decision not to seek re-election that President Johnson’s White House staff in fall—was drafted by another Johnson aide, ing 7 in my congressional district—and is set- 1965, and over the next four years, he became Horace Busby. one of Johnson’s most trusted advisers. ting its sights much higher for the future. After leaving the White House in early I salute the ‘‘Share Your Breakfast’’ cam- 1969, Mr. McPherson became a partner in In 1966 he helped organize a White House paign as one of the many initiatives now un- Verner, Liipfert & Bernhard, a prominent conference on civil rights, a gathering that derway to address the issue of childhood hun- Washington law firm and one of the capital’s included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Thurgood Marshall, who was then the so- ger in America. most successful at lobbying. His clients in- licitor general but would become America’s Through the power of breakfast, we can cluded businesses, foreign governments and nonprofit organizations. first black Supreme Court justice a year make a difference in the lives of children in Among other cases, Mr. McPherson helped later; and representatives of almost every need. to negotiate the 1998 master settlement in major civil rights group in the country. f which major tobacco companies and 46 states Mr. McPherson also became Johnson’s agreed on advertising limitations, partial chief speechwriter, shaping all of the presi- HARRY C. MCPHERSON JR. immunity from lawsuits and payments of dent’s major addresses from 1966 to 1969. hundreds of billions of dollars to the states HON. GENE GREEN to cover the costs of treating smoking-re- In 2008, he was honored with a lifetime lated illnesses. achievement award by American Lawyer OF TEXAS Mr. McPherson also served on presidential magazine. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES commissions, including the 1979 panel named It is with great respect, I honor Harry C. Thursday, March 8, 2012 by Jimmy Carter to investigate the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsyl- McPherson, Jr. for his service to the country Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, vania, and another named by Bill Clinton to under President Lyndon B. Johnson and his I rise today to honor Harry C. McPherson, Jr., recommend the closing of military installa- many wonderful accomplishments upon his a fellow Texan. For many years, he worked for tions to streamline the Defense Department. death. VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:22 Mar 24, 2017 Jkt 019102 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 0689 Sfmt 9920 E:\BR12\E08MR2.000 E08MR2 rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with BOUND RECORD March 8, 2012 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 158, Pt. 3 3267 RECOGNIZING THE ACHIEVEMENTS Rollcall #106: Yes—Connolly of Virginia hero. Army Sergeant Joshua Born, of OF THE FORT WALTON BEACH, Amendment No. 9 Niceville, Florida, was killed on February 23, FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL CHEER- f 2012 in the Khogyani District in Nangarhar LEADERS Province, Afghanistan, where he and other ABILENE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL members of the 549th Military Police Com- HON.