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November 6, 1975 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 35459 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS GEN. RICHARD MONTGOMERY­ Wolfe Tone, and Robert Emmet, "the darling vocacy Agency, but we have ended up EARLY AMERICAN PATRIOT SA­ of Erin." treating the consumer as a commodity. In the French and Indian war, Richard LUTED BY BRONX BICENTENNIAL Montgomery was sent with the British reg­ We look at the particulars and have lost COMMITTEE ular forces to Canada and saw action at perspective. I believe that a broad view Louisburg, Ticonderoga, and Montreal. The of the Consumer Protection Act would success of the British forces in the Seven lead us to realize that it- falls short of HON. MARIO BIAGGI Years War marked the birth of the British its promise, that it is an inadequate re­ OF NEW YORK Empire. The Imperial Era began. Sadly sponse to an understated problem, that IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES enough it sa'V{ also, as happens with empires, it is yesterday's thinking nostalgically a wearing away of the rights of citizens. applied oo a much changed world. Wednesday, November 5, 1975 In the dozen yea.rs between victory over Mr. BIAGGI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased France in 1763 and the battle of Lexington As with much that Congress has done to advise my colleagues that on Septem­ the American revolution was developed. The over the past four decades, it states a ber 29, the Bronx-Irish American Bicen­ England of the Magna Carta and the Bill of laudable purpose and founders on failure Rights seemed to have disappeared. English­ to grapple with the realities of today's tennial Committee paid tribute to men at home had little opportunity for po­ economy. It promises, but will not de­ one of the earliest Irish-American litical fulfillment. Irishmen, though tech­ liver. And that is the fundamental flaw patriots, Gen. Richard Montgomery. nically citizens of Britain, were oppressed and danger in this bill. During the ceremony a stirring speech politically and religiously, and their Ameri­ Despite the persuasive arguments of was delivered by Father John F. X. Smith can cousins unlike the rest of the family In the old country refused to tolerate this many of my friends in Congress, I can­ of St. Peter's Church. I would like to not support the bill. Yet my opposition insert his remarks inoo the CONGRES­ situation. The clarion cry of "no taxation without stems not from arguments so far raised SIONAL RECORD for the benefit of my representation" was the cry for political ma­ against the bill, but from concern that we colleagues. turity and inevitably independence. in Congress who support consumer power I wish oo salute New York City's and Edmund Burke in ringing tones railed are fooling ourselves and the American especially my home district of the against the Stamp Act. And his fellow Dub­ public, and that we must guard against Bronx's Bicentennial Committee. There liner, Richard Montgomery, in 1772 sold his this. If any issue now truly troubles this are many dedicated individuals com­ commission and left Ireland. In 1773, Mont­ Nation it is the growing feeling that large mitted to insuring that the contributions gomery bought a sixty-seven acre farm in Kingsbridge, once part of the estate of the institutions-big business, big labor, big of New Yorkers are recognized during Dutch patrons, the Bronks. He married Janet, government-manipulate and control, our 200th birthday celebration. One of daughter of Robert R. Livingston. but that things just are not working. The the most exemplary of these individuals In 1775, in full sympathy with the colonial economy does not operate as a competi­ is Councilwoman Aileen Ryan, who serves cause Montgomery was elected a member of tive free-market economy should. The as the secretary of the New York City the New York Provincial Congress. In June Government cannot deliver on its com­ Bicentennial Corporation as well as 1775, he was appointed a Continental briga­ mitments to housing, transportation, honorary chairperson of the Bronx Irish­ dier-general and received his commission jobs. American Bicentennial Committee. I personally from George Washington. Ap­ pointed second-in-command to General It is time we got serious. commend Mrs. Ryan for her work and Philip Schuyler in the expedition against The proposal for a consumer advo­ know through her efforts that the Bicen­ Canada, he took full command on Schuyler's cate is not serious. It is a symbolic re­ tennial celebration will be one which all illness and captured Montreal. Then he sponse which will distract from the more New Yorkers will remember. joined Benedict Arnold, and on December 31, serious work which lies ahead. It will be­ Father Smith's speech on General 1775, he was killed In the ill-fated American come one more reason for not confront­ Montgomery follows: assault on Quebec. Although buried in Que­ ing the major problem of a rigidly insti­ GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY bec, his body was later disinterred and trans­ ferred to a vault in St. Paul's Chapel on lower tutionalized economy in which economic (By Father John F. X. Smith, St. Peter's at Broadway. actors can insulate themselves from com­ Barclay Street, delivered on the Steps of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery petitive pressures on prices and quality. St. Paul's Chapel) died young, only 37. But he was a champion Moreover, I fear that it will do so by In the "Ballad of the White Horse,'' a of freedom. He had sought justice under the following the road of so many well-in­ classic Christian poem, Gilbert Keith Ches­ English law for his fellow Irishmen and even tentioned bureaucracies: First, there will terton exclaims: the English who had been overlooked in the be the excitement and drive of starting a ''For the great Gaels of Ireland dawn of imperial Britain. new experiment, followed by a realization are the men that God made mad, But it was In the American. mllleu tha.t freedom and toleration would be realized. that the job is bigger than anticipated For all their wars are merry It was the American who would stand as a and pressures from Mr. Nader to get on and all their songs are sad." man and proclaim his political independence with the job, then appeals for more staff And so today we have come together to In the true tradition of Runnymede. The and funds since the agency is failing honor a great Irishman, a warrior who in­ New World would be the guide to the Old. primarily because it is ooo anemic, re­ tertwined in epic proportions mirth and Politically speaking we would re-phrase sulting finally in a vast data-collecting sadness. Scripture and say, "A child shall lead them.'' machine which avidly avoids the funda­ Richard Montgomery was born In 1738 in Richard Montgomery, the Irishman and mental structural problems in our econ­ the town of Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. warrior, in his ultimate sacrifice earned the omy which are at the root of consumer He was the third son of a member of the new title--America.n hero and patriot. problems. British parliament. As a youth, he was ed­ As an Irishman he was close to patriotism ucated at Saint Andrew and in Dublin at the because he was close to the earth, and one The American consumer does have famed Trinity College. He was a contempo­ who is close to the earth ls close to heaven. problems, and our regulaoory agencies rary of the great Dubllner, Edmund Burke, have helped create them. The story of who as head of the Whig Party in Parliament how liberal reform attempts have been was so grand an advocate of the ca.use of the captured by the interests they are in­ American colonists. These two Dubllners, CONSUMER POWER: IS ADVOCACY tended oo regulate is ooo well known oo Montgomery and Burke, Irishmen to the ENOUGH? need retelling. core, both bitterly criticized English admin­ istration In Ireland. Both were Protestant, It is true that the individual con­ and their Christian spirit made them harshly HON. DON BONKER sumer, in most cases, is poorly repre­ critical of the galling discriminations exacted OF WASlilNGTON sented before regulatory bodies. Simply in the name of the crown against the Cath­ stated, he is shut out from having a olics of Ireland. While the Irish race has IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES voice before the Government agency always remained loyal to the Pope, it is Wednesday, November 5, 1975 ironic that among its foremost champions for that was set up to protect and assist him. religious freedom a.re Protestant Irishmen Mr. BONKER. Mr. Speaker, we are Congress apparently recognizes this such a.s Richard Montgomery, Edmund Burke, debating today a proposed Consumer Ad- problem and is attempting oo rectify the 35460 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS November 6, 1975 situation by giving consumers a voice in MAJORITY LEADER THOMAS P. All interviewing on the study took place in the daily regulatory activities. The ques­ O'NEILL, JR., SAYS PRESIDENT HAS the homes of a random, area-stratified prob­ tion is, will it work? MISREAD MOOD OF THE PEOPLE ab111ty sample of the adult population na­ The proposed Agency for Consumer ON NEW YORK tionwide between November 2 and 4. In order to expedite the processing of the results, a Advocacy, in my opinion, has no clearly special Harris alert system was employed defined purpose or force in behalf of con­ HON. THOMAS P. O'NEILL, JR. which made it possible, to complete this sur­ sumers. All it can do is receive, evaluate, vey in six days elapsed time.

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