deep sense of admiration and respect for him. He filled a great need as a balance wheel on the committee because he gave his viewpoint in such way that those who disagreed with him could at least look long and respectfully at the point of view he presented.

His friends will miss him, Congress will miss him. I did not have the privilege of knowing his wife and his family, but to them goes my deepest sympathy.

Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Reuss].

Mr. REUSS. Mr. Speaker, we are all saddened by the sudden death of LAWRENCE SMITH, dean of the Wisconsin delegation. I knew LARRY for many years. I first met him some years before I came here when he and I debated one night before an audience in his native Racine County. At that time I learned to know what has since been brought home to me more and more, that here was a man of great earnestness, and sincerity, and goodness. He was a gentleman.

Since then he has paid me hundreds of little kindnesses. Just the other day when I discussed a point of foreign policy with him and wanted to explore it more fully, he took the trouble to write out his thoughts and bring them to my office to study in order to get the benefit of his thinking. I am going to treasure that last note I received from him the more.

If we in this body can follow the example of LAWRENCE SMITH for fairness, sincerity, gentleness, and goodness, we need have no fear for the future of this, the greatest of legislative bodies.

To his beloved wife Eleanor and his fine family go my deepest sympathies. We are going to miss LAWRENCE SMITH. Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? Mr. O'KONSKI. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Speaker, I am doubly shocked at the passing of LAWRENCE SMITH because my wife and I were present in the dining room when this tragedy occurred.

Mr. Speaker, the untimely death of Representative LAWRENCE SMITH today is a severe shock. A veteran of 17 years here he had the confidence of his constituents in the First District of Wisconsin.

I came to know him as a freshman Representative from the Ninth District of Wisconsin who came to Congress, like he did, as the result of a special election. Although we came from different political parties I always found LAWRENCE SMITH to be a gentleman who was generous and courteous in his discussions of political matters. No person ever questioned the sincerity of his viewpoints which always were precisely and accurately expressed. His devotion to duty is well known here on Capitol Hill where he started his day early and worked late in behalf of those who sent him here. I sincerely mourn his death and know that the Wisconsin delegation has been saddened by his loss. Mrs. Johnson and I shall miss him greatly. Our sympathies go out to his wife Eleanor and his children.

Mr. RIVERS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? Mr. O'KONSKI. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina.

Mr. RIVERS. Mr. Speaker, none of us know normally how we are attracted to various Members of this distinguished body. I have served here over 17 years and LAWRENCE served here for at least that length of time. I do not remember just when our friendship began, but, being an early riser I know that each morning at 8 o'clock LAWRENCE SMITH, the distinguished gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Mason], the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Brooks], and myself open up the cafeteria. It was not infrequent that we all occupied the same table for breakfast.

This morning two of us were there, LAWRENCE SMITH and myself, but later we were joined by the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. Engle]. We enjoyed a very pleasant breakfast. He did not appear to be ill. We discussed the budget, we discussed the state of the national debt, and, as it would happen, we discussed the raising of the public debt. I told him I was going to vote for it. He said he was not. We did not question each other's integrity. Of course, I did not question his. I asked him why? He said, "That would be my way of protesting against spending and that is my reason for voting against it. We are spending too much money."

But, as many of you have observed, never did he make one feel badly or cause one uneasiness because of his disagreement. He was a million percent American gentleman. Here I am from the Deep South, he from the Middle Northwest, and friends for many years.

LAWRENCE SMITH visited me in Charletson, my hometown. We offered our guest house in the spring of the year when our flowers beckon so many people from so many sections of America. Last spring he visited us and I was hopeful he would again this year.

LAWRENCE and his wife were two of the most charming people one could meet. He made many friends in my part of the world and, for that matter, wherever he went. As head of the subcommittee on real estate of the Committee on Armed Services, I worked with him very closely, and he worked tirelessly for the initiation and construction of a tactical airbase in his district, the Bong Airbase. He worked all the time, and it was such a great pleasure to work with him. But, this morning as he sat there he did not think and I did not think that, as the poet said:

But such a tide as moving seems asleep;

Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home

We will miss him. He will leave a void here. We will all remember him. He has returned home with the soundless tide to the boundless deep.

Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. Forand].

Mr. FORAND. Mr. Speaker, the sudden passing of our distinguished colleague, LAWRENCE SMITH, has shocked all of us. His is the most recent of the passing of several of our distinguished Members, and that should bring to all of us the serious thought of what pressures the Members of the Congress are under. It should cause us to pause for a moment and realize that it is well for all of us to give our best, as LARRY did, to the task that has been assigned to us by our constituents and to the responsibility we have as Members of this great body, to the care and the protection of all the people of our country. LARRY was a living example of one who devotes himself to the nth degree in discharging his great responsibilities, and as was so well said by some of our colleagues a few minutes ago, he gave his life for what he thought was best for all of our people.

I have been privileged to have known LARRY SMITH and his good wife over a period of many years. To know LARRY was to love him. He was a man dedicated to the nth degree to his responsibilities. There is so much that could be said of the fine example he gave to all of us by his actions. He was studious and knew the subject that he was to speak about and, as was said, he was never offensive but, rather, he stood firm in expounding his beliefs. That is true Americanism. It can well be said of him: This world is better because LAWRENCE SMITH lived.

My prayer is that the good Lord will give strength to his devoted wife and to his family to bear this great burden that has been thrust upon them and He will have mercy on his soul.

Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. O'Hara].

Mr. O'HARA of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, to some of us who have just returned from the funeral of one of our other distinguished friends, Mr. Andresen, of Minnesota, the passing of Mr. SMITH illustrates that all of us stand more or less a heart-beat between this life and eternity.

Things that have been said about LARRY SMITH have been so true and so sincere. LARRY came to the 77th Congress at a special election, and I have known and admired and respected him all of these years. LARRY, I think, more or less illustrates something that is so necessary in this country, of people who believe in principles and who sustain those principles no matter how few or how great the allies may be. With it all he had the noble gentleness of a fine Christian gentleman. I suppose there could be many things said, such as his deep devotion to his country and to his district, and that when you lose people like August Andresen and LARRY SMITH it is a long time before you can replace them in their respective districts and in the Halls of Congress.

To Mrs. Smith, to his family, to his district and the State of Wisconsin I extend my deepest sympathy. May eternal light and justice, the kind of justice that LARRY SMITH wanted in this country, be his forever.

Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Arends].

Mr. ARENDS. Mr. Speaker, within all too short a number of days we again have a colleague who has answered the last call. The knock came to the door of life for LARRY SMITH unexpectedly today. It impresses upon all of us that we live such lives as to be ready for that knock when it comes our way. LARRY SMITH lived such a life.

Many, many fine words have been spoken this afternoon about the life of LARRY SMITH, about the devotion of this man to his duties. They are all true. But yet words can