Mr. Speaker, the best tribute we can pay to BILL STEIGER is to serve in the same manner he did. Mr. JENKINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my personal sorrow and loss on the death of our friend and colleague, WILLIAM A. STEIGER. It was my privilege and pleasure to serve with BILL STEIGER for 2 years, and I learned to respect him quickly. Having worked with BILL STEIGER on the Ways and Means Committee and on the Trade Subcommittee where he sat as the ranking Republican member, I know that his loss will be deeply felt by his party and the entire House of Representatives. BILL STEIGER was effective. He possessed that uncanny blend of idealistic and pragmatic instincts. His accomplishments came not through intimidation but from hard work, preparation, and persuasion based on a factual presentation. The persistence of BILL STEIGER in obtaining his legislative goals should inspire each Member of this House. I can only say to each new Member of the 96th Congress that he was a Member to whom his Republican and Democratic colleagues listened when he spoke. We listened because he was very often right and we listened because he was well prepared and his remarks showed thoughtfulness and reason. It has been one of my most rewarding experiences to sponsor with BILL STEIGER in the last Congress the Investment Incentive Act of 1978. When we began that effort to amend the capital gains tax rates to realistic levels to induce business expansion and investment, we faced a difficult and uncertain road. Against unimaginable odds and obstacles BILL STEIGER'S intellectual effort would prevail. Capital gains tax rates were effectively reduced in the 95th Congress. The effort was led by BILL STEIGER. The national benefits which we achieve from this effort which can be an historic cornerstone for American business development of the future will serve as a memorial to his energy and commitment. To Janet and Billy I share in your sorrow and I share in your great pride in BILL. He accomplished so much. We mourn his death and commit ourselves anew to the virtues which his life has taught us. Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, at a time when our country so desperately needs men and women of vision. BILL STEIGER's death was a loss not only to his family and to the people of Wisconsin's Sixth District but to our entire Nation. Throughout his six terms in Congress, BILL represented the very best in politics. He truly loved what he was doing for his State and for the country. Ernest Hemingway once wrote: "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." BILL STEIGER's life and career reflected that commitment to stand and be counted. He believed in the American way of life and in government limited in scope but compassionate in intent. His remarkable record of political involvement is a testimony to his ideals. I first met BILL STEIGER in 1969 while I was serving as an aide to his close friend, former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld. When I announced for Congress 5 years later, BILL was the first public official to campaign on my behalf, and when I was elected in 1976, he took personal responsibility for showing me the ropes and pointing out the pitfalls of Congress and the legislative process. "Be straight and let the chips fall where they may," was his guidance and his example. BILL STEIGER'S extraordinary skill as a legislator stemmed from his ability to command the respect of Members of all philosophical persuasions. His legislative craftsmanship was never in better evidence than this past year when singlehandedly he made the punitive capital gains tax a national issue. With careful argumentation and brilliant persuasion he pushed through a reduction in capital gains taxes which will free up the creativity of American enterprise. This uncanny talent for translating the abstractness of modern economics into a manageable legislative framework was his hallmark. BILL STEIGER was the leader of the intellectual reform wing of the Republican Party. Serving as chairman of the now famous Rule 29 Committee of the 1976 Republican National Convention he trumpeted the need for the Republican Party to open its doors to blacks and women and minorities of all faiths and countenances. A party that did not represent all the people, he argued, could never achieve a mandate to govern. But when BILL STEIGER is remembered it will be for more than just a series of accomplishments found on the pages of the Congressional Record or reflected in the doctrine of his chosen political party. He will be remembered for the sincerity, the honesty, and the principle that he brought to the political process-characteristics too frequently eclipsed with modern interest group politics. In a world of impersonal government, he represented family values. In an age of cynicism, he was an enthusiast. In a decade that has witnessed the most tragic abuses of power in American history, BILL STEIGER quietly stood for integrity. With the passing of BILL STEIGER the Congress of the United States has lost more than a fine legislator. It has lost something of its soul. Mr. ANDERSON of California. Mr. Speaker, early last December, this body once again was struck by a terrible loss. It was with a sense of great shock and sadness that I, and each of our colleagues, learned of BILL STEIGER's death—a death that was unexpected and unwelcomed. The sense of injustice and loss is only increased when we consider that BILL's remarkable ascension, both within his party and the House itself, was cut so desperately short. Although he and I served on opposite sides of the aisle and often professed different philosophies, BILL'S oratorical ability, his dedication to Wisconsin and to the Nation, and his diligent efforts to be the very best that he could, transcended mere political alliances. He was a man admired and respected by all of those with whom he came into contact. Those of us who remain to serve here will feel deeply the loss of our dear colleague. My wife, Lee, and I would like to offer our condolences to BILL's lovely wife, Janet, and his son, William. It is my most sincere hope that we, his colleagues, as well as his family and his close friends will remember not the tragedy of his death, but the excellence of his life. Mr. STANGELAND. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in expressing our great sadness over the untimely death of WILLIAM A. STeiger. The Nation has lost the services of an enormously thoughtful and industrious man. Respected by all, BILL STEIGER will be remembered for his astute political sense and his exemplary work on taxes as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. He was not only admired as one of the finest legislators in the Congress, but also well liked for his good humor and easygoing manner. BILL STEIGER at 40 had many more years of exceptional service to give to his country. We have been enriched by our association with him and the ideals of public service he epitomized. BILL STEIGER'S loss will be felt keenly among his friends and colleagues in the House, and by the people of Wisconsin. I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife, Janet, and their son, William Raymond. Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to join my colleagues and express my deepest sorrow at the death of our friend, BILL STEIGER. This is a particularly sad occasion, because BILL STEIGER was a young man whose greatest achievements were still ahead of him. He made it a point to be in the forefront of efforts on many important and groundbreaking pieces of legislation, and he had accumulated the kind of experience and insight that would have led to further and greater accomplishments in Congress. To have his life so abruptly ended, at a time when his potential was just being realized, is tragic for his family and for the Nation. But BILL provided an inspiration to the new Members of the Congress like myself. His example was that no matter how young you were, no matter how new, no matter what your belief-stand up and say what you believe in and what you think is right. That inspiration—that example—will live within this and future Congresses as a lasting memorial to BILL STEIGER. At this time, I want to extend my condolences to BILL's family and to his close friends, both in Congress and out. His presence will be sorely missed by all of us who knew and loved and respected him as a Member, a colleague, a friend. Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Speaker, all the Members of this body suffered a great loss with the death December 4 of BILL STEIGER. He had many friends and admirers on both sides of the aisle, and was known for his high ability, his energy, and his great promise as a public servant of unusual stature. His work in the Congress was of the highest caliber. You could rely on him to have the facts at hand. He was a true legislative craftsman. Those of us who served with BILL STEIGER since he came to Congress in 1967 knew him as a family man devoted to his wife Janet and his 9-year-old son, William R. Steiger. Mr. Speaker, we have all lost much by the passing of BILL STEIGER. But so has the Nation. He rose to prominence at an early age, being elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly the same year he was graduated from the University of Wisconsin. After three terms in the statehouse, he won election to the Congress in 1966. The U.S. Jaycees named him one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in America in 1968, and he served as a delegate to three Republican National Conventions. During his six terms in Congress, he had many accomplishments. He will be best remembered by many who did not know him personally for his work to reduce taxes on capital gains in the last Congress "The Steiger Amendment." His performance on this issue won him well-deserved national attention, and political pundits saw a bright future for our colleague from Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, the Congress will miss BILL STEIGER. The Nation will miss BILL STEIGER, and I will miss BILL STeiger. Let us honor his memory by upholding the principles and ideals to which he devoted his life, and by following his high example of public service. Mr. BALDUS. Mr. Speaker, it is no easy matter to observe the sudden passing of a close friend and admired colleague. It is even less easy to put into meaningful words what BILL STEIGER meant to me and what he meant to this legislative body. I believe it is fair that he was an inspiration to all of us, on both sides of the aisle. Now that he is gone, I know that the memory of his presence here will continue to have that same effect. to say In an institution whose mood often reflects the somber weight of the issues that must be decided here, BILL STEIGER brought a special, youthful enthusiasm, a brightness and energy, that gave a glow to all he touched. His fine intelligence and finer dedication set an example not easy to follow, but always encouraging to see. As a fellow member of the Wisconsin delegation, BILL STEIGER was a coworker whose contributions to his State gained him the respect and appreciation of both the people back home and of all of us here who were privileged to work with him. His influence on the Ways and Means Committee was not always cheered by his political rivals, but was always a boon to the constituency he served so well. Commentators and journalists have already remarked upon his youth and the personal tragedy of his early death. But the weight of this tragedy will be borne by the living, who must now continue without the benefit of his special presence. As was written long ago on a similar occasion: He went down As when a lordly cedar, green with boughs, And leaves a lonesome place against the sky. Mrs. HECKLER. Mr. Speaker, if I were to forecast the judgment of future analysis of the role of the Congress in the 1970's, their verdict about the performance of the Congress, and the selection they will make as to who the towering figures of Congress were- —the latter list would certainly include the name "WILLIAM |