With the passing of Dr. MCVEY we have suffered a great loss. I have lost a personal friend for whom I have the greatest affection and admiration. I extend to his family my deepest sympathy.

Mr. BYRNE of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, with a heavy heart I realize our colleague, BILL MCVEY, is no longer with us. It was just last Friday that the gentleman from Illinois, our colleague, BILL MCVEY, was with us in this Chamber and it is an example of the fact that God Almighty has devious and different ways of letting us all know that none of us know the day or the hour when we may be taken from this world. As I stand here, as the Representative of the Third District of Illinois, I am going to miss in the days to come the gentleman from Illinois who represented the Fourth District just south of me. He preceded me in the Congress of the United States and was here for a number of terms. I recall, too, his professorship at De Paul University—my alma mater. I remember him, too, as a veteran of the First World War and his activities in the American Legion and other veterans' work. He made a mark in the field of education before he came to the Congress of the United States. I know he was a kindly man. He was a fine father and a devoted husband. He will be missed. To his fine wife and his fine children, I extend my sympathy. I know, as you do, that he is receiving his eternal reward in heaven. I extend to all his loved ones my sympathies.

Mr. SPRINGER. Mr. Speaker, I was one of those who came in January 1951 to the Congress with Dr. McVEY.

It has been a wonderful experience during these past 8 years to have known such a fine, inestimable person. He has always impressed me with his earnestness, his sincerity and his utter simplicity.

No man wore his Phi Beta Kappa key with more distinction but less concern for the honor than Dr. McVEY. He was one of those whose knowledge in the field of education was widely recognized. He practiced scholarship in every undertaking. His was a curious mind always looking for more knowledge and then, having achieved it, put to use for his fellow men.

In the field of education thousands of students went forth better equipped for life and with a great respect for a teacher who had made it possible. After knowing Dr. MCVEY it is easy to understand why he left such a lasting imprint upon youthful minds. He was not one given to a great volume of words. Whenever he spoke he was listened to because we realized that much thought had preceded what he had to say.

He was one man about whom it could be truly said he did not seek office-the office sought him. I knew many of his closest backers in his district on the south side of Cook County. They were eminent men in the field of finance and business and civic enterprise. They sought Dr. MCVEY as a candidate for office because they believed in his integrity and his utter honesty. In these intervening years he has served the people of his district well. He has made it a point to be present at all times when he was not ill or detained serving his people in his district.

It is easy for many of us who have enjoyed good health to serve in the Congress. Dr. MCVEY had not enjoyed good health in recent years but he still gave the same steadfast service as if he had been a man 30 years younger.

He never lacked courage to face up to an issue—always the sign of a statesman. He came during the Korean war when our country was engaged in the struggle to maintain the principles for which he had always believed. Since then he has served on the Banking and Currency Committee and, for me, has been a source of information and knowledge in that

difficult field. He was always able to explain both sides of a legislative issue and he could give you clear and concise reasons for his stand upon any issue. It was this clarity of mind and thoroughness of purpose which made him valued to those of us who sought his advice.

Dr. MCVEY has had a beautiful family life. Mrs. Springer and I have enjoyed knowing Dr. and Mrs. McVey during all of these 8 years. They have visited in our home and we have been in theirs. I can say for his bereaved widow that Dr. MCVEY will not only be missed by her but by all of us who have come to love him for what he was and what he meant to us in the Congress. I know Mrs. Springer as well as myself extends to her our sympathy and understanding on so great a loss.

Mr. BROWN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, Dr. MCVEY was one of the most useful and outstanding members of the Committee on Banking and Currency. I was distressed to learn this morning of his passing. He worked tirelessly and intelligently. He will be greatly missed by all the members of the Banking and Currency Committee.

Dr. MCVEY always looked for the best in his fellow man. I never heard him speak ill of anyone. I do not believe he had an enemy. He was highly respected by all who knew him.

I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife and family.

Mr. DAVIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it was with deep sorrow and sadness that I read in the paper this morning of the passing of Dr. MCVEY. Through the years that I have served with him here in the House I formed a great affection for him. I regarded him with respect and admiration.

During his lifetime, as has been testified here today, he achieved a great many distinctions, but he wore his honors with becoming modesty. He was not an ostentatious person at all, but he had deep convictions, and he had the courage of his convictions. It was a genuine inspiration to serve with him here. I came to look up him as a man who carefully thought through all of the problems which continually come before Members of this body. I came to look upon his decisions on legislative matters as decisions resulting from careful thought. He was a man who, regardless of consequences, would vote his convictions upon legislation.

He will be greatly missed here, not only on his side of the aisle, but also on our side. I join with all those who today express their sorrow at his passing in extending sympathy and condolences to his family.

Mr. HARRIS.

Mr. Speaker, another one of the most beloved and respected Members of this body has been called to his reward.

I have known Dr. McVEY since the day he first came to the House of Representatives. I learned to know him much better after he moved his office to my floor of the House Office Building. His office and mine have been in close proximity for some time now.

Dr. MCVEY was one of the most serious and conscientious men of this great body. He approached the great problems of the Congress in a very serious-minded way. He was a man of great experience, a man who gave a lot of thought and study to the problems of the common ordinary individual. His vast experiences prompted his deep devotion to education and the cause of education, but he had a much broader viewpoint than just the one subject as he served with equal distinction his district and the Nation.

Those of us who have learned to know and love Dr. MCVEY realize that he was a man of sterling qualities, a man of character and reputation. We can ill afford to lose such great and outstanding men from this body and the citizenry of this country.

In expressing my feelings of personal loss I want also to extend to the Illinois delegation my sympathy and to his family my sincere and deep sympathy in their bereavement.

Mr. O'BRIEN of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in the untimely passing of our colleague, the Honorable WILLIAM E. MCVEY, the Illinois delegation has suffered a great loss and all in the delegation are feeling a deep personal grief. He was a man of sweet personality, a man of large ability and of deep learning. Yet, in all of his associations he was gentle, unassuming, and self-effacing. While we were of different political parties, I counted him among my dearest friends. There was never a time when the interest of Chicago was at stake that Chicago could not count on BILL MCVEY and I wish to say that no member of our delegation made a larger contribution to Cal-Sag, the Lake Michigan water diversion and the other measures needed for the welfare of the people of Chicago. He served Chicago, Illinois, and the Nation with dedicated devotion. Mrs. O'Brien joins me in deepest sympathy to his widow and his children.

Mr. O'HARA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, mine is a feeling of personal loss. Dr. McVEY was one of the sweetest men that I have ever known. He was a man of great learning, he was a man of tremendous ability; yet he was always simple, he was always plain. He never projected himself into the limelight. There was about him a fairness, a fairness that is seldom seen in such measure as it was in Dr. MCVEY.