Remarks at the Unveiling of a Portrait of Abraham Ribicoff

Secretary Celebrezze, Senator Ribicoff and Mrs. Ribicoff, members of the Cabinet, ladies and gentlemen:

One day not so long ago, I was asked by one of my assistants if I would like to attend a hanging.

I was understandably hesitant. But I did inquire who was to be the honoree.

I was told that they were going to hang a United States Senator, my old and good and warm friend of many years, Abe Ribicoff.

I said--with caution befitting a former Senator--"You better double-check that. It is just possible they got the wrong man."

But all of us who know him, have served with him and cherish him as a friend, know that Abe Ribicoff has never been and will never be the "wrong man" for any honor or trust that is bestowed upon him.

I am very proud to be able to be at this "hanging" of his portrait in this vital department of the United States Government.

The work of this great department is concerned with the very foundation of our entire society:

With education on which our free society stands.

With health on which so much of the happiness of our people rests.

With welfare, which is the mirror of what we think of ourselves and our fellow man.

Since its inception this Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has been a demanding challenge. The size and complexities of the task here are enormous. It is to say what is already widely recognized that the organizational structure is less perfect than we might desire. But from the beginning, under Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, HEW has had uncommonly strong leadership at the top, as it does today under my good friend, the able Secretary, Secretary Celebrezze.

I looked last night, the last thing I did before I went to sleep, I looked at the 104 odd bills that have been drafted and are to be translated into legislation for this administration, and I believe by far the highest number that have been prepared and scheduled and presented and held hearings on, were those handled by Secretary Celebrezze.

I notice that he was appearing yesterday on four alone. I don't know how he came out on those four, but I did read something about the education bill being voted out 23 to 8 and that made us all very proud.

So long as this department exists, the tenure of our honoree today, Abe Ribicoff as Secretary, is going to be remembered as a landmark, because he charted a course of vision and courage which we still follow. We followed it on education as I said, yesterday. We follow it on consumer protection. We follow it on prevention of water and air pollution, on health insurance for the aged, and constructive welfare services, and other measures.

When Congress did not immediately accept all of these measures, the Secretary, I guess, decided the best way to lick them was to join them. So he decided he would become a Senator. And Connecticut gave him a vote as well as a voice and the entire Nation is grateful.

I doubt that Senator Ribicoff feels as Abraham Lincoln did when he once said: "Being elected to Congress--though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it--has not pleased me as much as I had expected."

The Senator from Connecticut has much to be pleased about since he returned to the Halls of Congress. In less than 3 years since he entered the Senate, we have had the Ribicoff-Mills Mental Retardation Planning Act; the Ribicoff Pesticide Control Act; the Ribicoff-Roberts Clean Air Act.

Now this year the Senator has been named Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Executive Reorganization. I am hopeful that we can look to his talents and insights to help accomplish so many of the reforms that have long been overdue in the executive branch.

Oliver Cromwell once told his portrait painter to "use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me and not to flatter me at all--otherwise I will never pay one farthing for it."

I haven't seen this portrait, but I know that the truth about Abe Ribicoff, whether of his countenance or career, is more flattering than the publicity other men might buy.

I am very honored and very proud to come here and be with you this morning to unveil this painting of the newsboy from Hartford who rose to be Congressman, Governor, Cabinet member, and a Senator of the United States--Abe Ribicoff.