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Floor Speech
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Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, last week, Indiana lost a legend, and America lost a true original. Rex Early died Friday at age 88, after a long battle with illness.
Rex was a lot of things in life. He was a U.S. marine. He was chairman of the Indiana Republican Party. He was a candidate for Governor of the State of Indiana. He is one of the few people in Indiana you had to go see if you wanted to run for public office.
But Rex will be remembered mostly for his sense of humor, his way with words. Many of his stories and ``Rexisms'' can be found in his book, ``It's a Mighty Thin Pancake (That don't have two sides).''
After being stationed in Japan in the Marine Corps, Rex went to Indiana University on the GI bill. He married his sweetheart Barbara, and they moved to Indianapolis.
Rex said when he first went to register to vote in Indianapolis, the ward chairman said: Do you want to be a precinct committeeman? The last guy just went to jail.
Of course, Rex responded quickly ``Sure,'' and that is how he got involved in local politics--or so Rex told us.
Now, Rex said that one of the highlights of his professional career came during Ronald Reagan's Presidential campaign when Rex hosted an event at his home for the future President. Rex said he was considering hanging a plaque that read ``On May 4, 1980, Ronald Reagan used this bathroom.''
But as Reagan left his house that day, Governor Reagan told Rex, ``All those people were wrong, Rex.''
Rex said, ``What people?''
Governor Reagan said, ``All the people who said you had no class.''
So Rex decided not to hang that plaque in his bathroom.
The Republican Party in Indiana today has enjoyed a long period of governing success, helping our State become one of the best run and most fiscally sound in the Nation. You can trace that success directly back to work Rex Early put in in the early 1990s.
One of Rex's 19 rules of politics was ``You might be important, but the number of people who will attend your funeral will be dictated by the weather.'' I don't understand what Rex was trying to say. Don't think too highly of yourself--perhaps that is what Rex had in mind. Don't become, as Rex would call you, a ``sophisti-suck.''
But I disagree with Rex perhaps on this point. Rex's memorial service was well attended and not because the weather was good but because he made an indelible impression on everyone he met.
Semper fi, Marine.
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