Farewell to Bipartisan Champion Bill Frenzel Tribute by Congressman Rick Nolan. Democrats and Republicans alike gathered on the House Floor last week to pay tribute to our late friend and colleague, former Minnesota Congressman Bill Frenzel. Dear Mr. Adolfson, Sadly, we said goodbye last week to former Congressman Bill Frenzel, a true public servant and giant of Minnesota politics who represented our state’s Third District from 1971 to 1991. Bill was a loyal Republican who showed this young Democrat the value of bipartisanship as we served together – first in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and later in Congress. He set that example every day through his integrity and the way he built personal relationships with his colleagues – relationships he used to reach across the aisle, seek out areas of agreement and compromise, solve problems, and get things done. Bill taught me that bipartisanship is part of the heart and soul of what makes government work for people. And he brought that spirit of bipartisanship to so many areas of expertise. He would read the federal budget from cover to cover, and understand the consequences of everything in it. The same went for international trade and trade policies – and his knowledge of the rules and traditions of Congress. The Congressional Equivalent of a Signed Picasso: Bill Frenzel was quite the artist – a doodler – but not in the conventional sense. Bill’s doodles were incredibly creative, geometric works of art. To this day, many of his friends and former colleagues have Frenzel doodles framed in their offices, dens and living rooms. Thanks to Bill’s friend, Peggy Rehder, for sharing this Frenzel masterpiece, which he doodled on official White House stationary back in 1990, shortly before he retired from Congress. As a member of the House Rules Committee, Bill insisted that Congress operate under the time-tested process we call “Regular Order” – where every bill, idea and amendment is heard, argued and voted on. That’s how we foster the Bill Frenzel brand of bipartisanship – by getting to know one another and hammering out solutions together. As I told my colleagues during our tribute last week, if Bill Frenzel were serving in Congress today, he would be demanding that we go back to the “Regular Order” of working five days a week – like everyone else in America with a full-time job. In no uncertain terms, he would be pointing out that Members of Congress should be spending their time governing – not raising money on the people’s dime and time – or introducing bills purely for political posturing to aid in re-election. Bill Frenzel was a wonderfully good man. We will miss him terribly, as we pledge to carry on his great work in the spirit of bipartisanship that marked a life of accomplishment for our nation.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:52:10 +0000