210 Hon. Dennis J. Kucinich Hon. Joe Barton

210 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 157, Pt. 1 January 6, 2011 Tommy was not only dedicated to his com- a selflessly devoted public servant who always of the Six Flags parks, it still operates at its munity, but also to his family, and enjoyed put the people ahead of personal gain or am- original location in Arlington. spending time with his wife Beverly, his son bition. But Vandergriff didn’t stop there. A devoted Clark and daughter-in-law Melinda, and his Arlington history is generally divided into two baseball fan, he was determined to bring pro- grandchildren Jimmy, Collin and Madison. epochs: BV and AV, Before Vandergriff and fessional baseball to north Texas. The effort While Kentucky may never again see one of After Vandergriff. He first sought and won took years and saw hopes dashed time and its finest sons, the evidence of his legacy will elective office in 1951 when he became the again before he finally convinced owner Bob be visible in the countless lives that he ‘‘boy mayor’’ of Arlington at the age of 25. At Short to move his Washington Senators to Ar- touched. the time Arlington was a small town on the lington in 1972. The effort did not endear him I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring railroad midway between Dallas and Fort to the people of the nation’s capital. On one Tommy Sampson for his many great contribu- Worth. Vandergriff saw the town’s potential of his many visits to meet with Short, he was tions to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He and set out to make it a center of prosperity unceremoniously kicked out of a taxicab when will forever be appreciated and remembered in its own right while fostering a new spirit of he made the mistake of telling the cabbie why by a grateful community. cooperation within the north Texas region. Ar- he was in town. The Washington Senators be- f lington, now the 49th largest city in the U.S. came the Texas Rangers Ball Club, and Tom with 370,000 people, would never be the Vandergriff became the team’s biggest fan IN HONOR OF DR. OGAN GUREL same, and neither would north Texas. Indeed, and supporter. When his beloved Rangers it was Vandergriff who coined the phrase, won their first American League Pennant by HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH ‘‘Metroplex,’’ which is still the term usually ap- beating the New York Yankees in Arlington OF OHIO plied to describe the Dallas-Fort Worth area. last October, Vandergriff was there in the ball- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES His first major achievement was convincing park he helped build to cheer them on. General Motors executives to locate their new Today, Arlington is host to more than seven Thursday, January 6, 2011 automobile assembly plant in Arlington. His million visitors each year and is the second Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in family owned a Chevrolet dealership in town, most popular tourist destination in the state, honor of Dr. Ogan Gurel, M.D., for the Walk which gave him access to General Motors bringing millions of dollars in revenue to the for Healthcare, in which he walked from Chi- Corp. Upon hearing that GM planned to build city annually. The city’s entertainment district cago, Illinois to Washington, D.C., in June and a plant in north Texas, he sold Arlington as a boasts Six Flags theme park, the Texas Rang- July of 2009. superior location by telling GM, as he would ers Ballpark, a new Dallas Cowboys football Dr. Gurel received his M.D. from Columbia later tell the story, that if they put the plant in stadium, the National Bowling Congress and University, where he started his career in Dallas, it would make Fort Worth angry; if they Museum, Hurricane Harbor water park, and health care. He has held a variety of jobs in put it in Fort Worth, it would make Dallas clusters of shops and restaurants that make the industry, including positions in medical re- angry. He ended his pitch by convincing them Arlington the City of Wow for millions of Tex- search, media, and consulting. During his 700- that if they put it in Arlington, everybody would ans. mile, month-long journey, he spoke with ordi- be happy. The plant produced its first auto- In his 26 years as mayor, two years as a nary people, many of whom were uninsured mobile in 1954 and today is the only GM plant member of Congress, and 16 years as County and struggling to pay for their health care, in the U.S. that makes full-size SUVs. Judge of Tarrant County, Vandergriff cham- about what they thought of health care reform. The GM plant began a building boom in Ar- pioned two more causes relentlessly: regional He collected their stories and took their pic- lington that has lasted more than 55 years. communication and cooperation and helping tures. Knowing a small town on well water could not the University of Texas at Arlington become a Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me sustain rapid growth nor accommodate the major institution of higher learning. Believing in honoring Dr. Ogan Gurel for the dedication needs of industry, Vandergriff convinced the that everyone in north Texas would succeed if and persistence he demonstrated in his Walk voters of Arlington to pass an initiative to build they worked together for the good of the re- for Healthcare. Regardless of party or position a large reservoir to meet the town’s future gion, Vandergriff spent decades finessing, ca- on health care policy, Dr. Gurel’s trek of over needs. The effort proved to be as controver- joling, and winning over the leaders of other 700 miles in one month is admirable, and the sial as it was monumental for a small town, cities in the region. He led the effort to estab- lives of the people he met along the way will but the initiative passed, and Lake Arlington lish and became the president of the north be remembered forever through his monu- was built. The project was ridiculed by many Central Texas Council of Governments which mental effort. in Arlington and dismissed by others in the re- today is the Metropolitan Planning Organiza- f gion as ‘‘Vandergriff’s Folly,’’ but the folly be- tion for all of north Texas. He was a strong came ‘‘the miracle lake’’ upon its completion. advocate for regionalism well into his eighties, REMEMBERING TOM Large equipment was being removed from the and the economic might of the region is a tes- VANDERGRIFF site in 1957 when one of the worst and long- tament to that effort. est droughts in Texas history broke, and it Vandergriff’s efforts on behalf of his home- HON. JOE BARTON began to rain. The lake, which experts be- town university are equally impressive. When OF TEXAS lieved would take years to fill, was full in 18 he became mayor, Arlington College was a IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES days. The lake ensured the explosive growth tiny two-year institution affiliated with Texas that came in the decades of the ’60s, ’70s, A&M that was formerly a military school and Thursday, January 6, 2011 and ’80s that made Arlington, Texas one of then an agricultural college. Vandergriff knew Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I, the fastest growing cities in America. it could be more, and if Arlington were to suc- along with Representatives BURGESS, As a college student at the University of ceed as a city, so must its college. He led the GRANGER and MARCHANT, wish to inform the Southern California, Vandergriff was very fa- effort to make the college a four-year univer- House that on December 30, 2010, the great miliar with Anaheim and by the late 1950s was sity. Working with then-governor John State of Texas lost a lion. Tom Vandergriff, aware of the tremendous economic impact Connally, he succeeded when the college be- former mayor of Arlington, Texas, former tourism had on the city after the opening of came a full university within the University of County Judge of Tarrant County, and former Disneyland theme park in 1955. He knew, be- Texas system in 1964. Today, the University Member of the United States Congress, left cause of Arlington’s central location, that the of Texas at Arlington is the largest UT campus this life at the age of 84. All of us in north same benefits could accrue to his city with a outside of Austin and the fastest growing uni- Texas will mark time from the moment we product of similar appeal. It came as no sur- versity in the state. It is quickly becoming a heard of the loss. The loss is monumental. prise to those familiar with the Vandergriff vi- major research facility and contributes more to Few people have had such a positive im- sion for Arlington when he became instru- the local economy than any industry in the pact on the development and quality of life of mental in establishing the Six Flags Over city. north Texas, and no one has had a greater Texas theme park in 1961. The park was an There is more, of course, much more. In a impact on Arlington. His friends and admirers instant hit, and people all over the south- life lived as fully and as well as his, there is are legion, his accomplishments legendary. He western United States began traveling to Ar- always more to tell: his unwavering support was the personification of an ideal, the ideal of lington for family style entertainment.

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