To honor the memory of Arnold "Red" Auerbach.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, and I thank the Members of the House for allowing us to have these few minutes on the floor of the House of Representatives to honor, to recognize one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century, one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, but also a man who was a pioneer in race relations.

In 1950, he was the first person to draft in the NBA an African American. In 1966, he named Bill Russell as the coach of the Boston Celtics, the first African American coach of any major sport in the United States. In 1965, he won the NBA title playing five African American starters on an NBA team. No one had ever done that before, because he was blind to race.

I know this, because in 1959 when I was 13 years old, Red Auerbach decided that he was going to have four teams that would alternate playing a game at Boston Garden right before the Boston Celtic game at 1 o'clock. He had a YMHA team, Young Men's Hebrew Association; a Chinese American team; an African American team from Roxbury; and he had a CYO team, a Catholic Youth Organization team, and I was on that team. I was one of the 10 boys on that Catholic team. And we played alternating Sundays right before the Celtics game, in uniform with all the fans coming in; Chinese, African American, Jewish, white, in Boston, in 1959.

Red Auerbach was a very special man, because he was dedicated to being color-blind. He was dedicated to excellence, regardless of where the talent came from. It was a message that all of us in Boston saw and heard, and to a very large extent this new African American Governor, this great new Governor that we have in Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, he is a political godchild not only of Bobby Kennedy and John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, but also in Boston, in Massachusetts, of Red Auerbach and the message he was sending through Bill Russell, through these other players a generation ago, to all of us in our State. So we are so, so proud of him.

He always knew that a team could be bigger than the sum of its parts if they all worked together. That was his message. That was something that made him the most successful basketball coach in the history of basketball. It was that notion of teamwork.

After each victory, he pulled out a cigar, and I know that it is in violation of House rules to smoke, although in the State of Massachusetts, in all public places, it is illegal to smoke, except written into the law Red Auerbach, because he had a special exception, and out here on the House floor today, to Red I say that you were the ultimate winner, that you were someone who not only won on the court but you won

in life and you sent that message to all of us. We thank you for your example.

I thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia for recognizing me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution to honor ``Red'' Auerbach, the legendary basketball coach and executive of the Boston Celtics, who passed away in October at the age of 89.

Mr. Speaker, Red Auerbach was a winner. As a coach, he won more than a thousand games, including 9 world championships and an unbelievable 8 in a row--a record that still stands today. Overall, he won almost two- thirds of the games he coached over a 20-year NBA career. The 16 world championship banners that hang from the rafters in Boston Garden today are an everlasting testament to Red's incredible talent.

As an executive leading the Celtics, he was the architect of one of the greatest dynasties in the history of professional sports. The players he brought onto the Celtics--often by outwitting and outmaneuvering the general managers of the other teams in the league-- remain among the greatest to ever play the game: Bill Russell; Bob Cousy; John Havlicek; Kevin McHale; and of course, Larry Bird.

Red understood that it took much more than individual stars to win consistently. That's why he constructed teams with players who knew and excelled at their specific roles, building a whole that always was greater than the sum of its parts. It wasn't unusual for players from other teams to suddenly start playing better when they joined the Celtics than they ever had with their previous team.

Red infused the entire Celtics organization with the values of teamwork, respect, tenacity and loyalty, creating a culture known as ``Celtic Pride'' that forever will be associated with the Boston Celtics franchise.

It's impossible to overstate Red's impact on the City of Boston and the entire New England region. With his leadership, the Celtics became hometown heroes, and Red was a living legend.

Growing up as a boy in Massachusetts, I always got a thrill when Red would let the CYO teams from across the state play on that incredible parquet floor in Boston Garden. It was a highlight for us, and it also was an example of Red's work to break down racial and class barriers. To have white kids and black kids, Hispanic and Jewish kids from communities across the state mixing together was unusual in Boston in the 50s and early 60s, and Red was the one making it happen.

Red's lasting impact on our country transcends basketball. His unrivalled ability to identify gifted players was fueled by his laser focus on talent and attitude, which left no room for considerations of race, creed or color.

In 1950, Red drafted the NBA's first African-American player, Chuck Cooper. He hired the first African-American head coach in professional sports in 1966 in Bill Russell and was the first coach to put together a starting lineup consisting entirely of African-American players in 1964.

While Red made his indelible mark in Boston, his home remained in Washington, DC throughout his career with the Celtics. I was fortunate to be invited to Red's famous lunches at the China Pearl restaurant, where Red would hold court in the middle of a diverse group of journalists, athletes, doctors, coaches, and other friends he had made over the years. Watching Red, it was clear that he was a natural leader--he would have made a great Speaker of the House in his day.

Red's place among the greatest coaches and executives of all time is assured, his contributions to the betterment of society will always endure, and his life exemplifies the very best ideals of our country.

There will never be another Red Auerbach--he was an American original. Our hearts go out to Red's family and friends. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution in Red's honor.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the resolution that recognizes the achievements and the life of famed basketball coach, Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach. Auerbach was both a player and a coach during his career in collegiate and professional basketball, but we all best remember Red as the cigar-chewing coach of the Boston Celtics.

As coach of the Celtics, Auerbach led his team to ten Eastern Division titles in 16 years and nine National Basketball Association titles overall. His most astonishing achievement of his 17-year career as coach of the Celtics was winning eight straight NBA titles, a feat unmatched before or since.

Red coached the Celtics from 1959 to 1966, but he did not stray far from the team when his coaching days ended. He moved from the court to the front office and was an executive with the franchise until 1980. Auerbach will always be remembered as the coach of one of the most famous basketball dynasties in history. He will always be regarded by many as the best NBA coach of all time.

The picture of Red Auerbach that most of us carry in our minds is the image of him lighting up a cigar on the sidelines after his Celtics had won another game, but there are a few lesser known facts about Auerbach that mean a great deal to me and to all African Americans.

Red's great vision led him to draft the first African American basketball player in NBA history, he was the first coach to start an all African American lineup in the NBA, and Auerbach was the first executive to hire an African American to coach a professional basketball team. Red changed the way professionals play the game of basketball, and these achievements helped to change the face of basketball as well.

On October 28, the basketball world lost a great coach, and the rest of us lost a great American citizen. Although we mourn his loss and will miss his presence at NBA events, we cannot help but see his influence on the game of basketball, wherever it is played. I ask for the adoption of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the cosponsor of this resolution with me.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the gentleman for those comments. That is a very appropriate prop to use this time. I have just an additional word about Red Auerbach.

Mr. Speaker, when you have won two-thirds of the games you ever coached over a 20-year period, there is hardly anybody in America who is not going to claim you. Brooklyn has every right to claim Red Auerbach for growing up there. Boston certainly claims him. Actually, Russia could claim him. The man was born in Russia, and we remember the time when Russia used to claim to invent everything whether it happened there. Well, this did happen there.

I am here to claim Red Auerbach, too, because he actually began his coaching career right here in the District of Columbia, coaching on two high school teams, one, a private high school team, St. Albans; the other, a public high school team, Roosevelt High School. Wouldn't you know it?

The great characteristics of sportsmanship should be remembered as much as the more than thousand games that Red Auerbach won, the notion of respect and loyalty, the culture he brought to the game, which, if I may say so, often today seems absent from the game and from sports. As we remember Red Auerbach, I hope we will remember his standards and the culture that he insisted upon by the example he set in the sport where he excelled above all others.

He never stopped working for basketball in countless ways, as an ambassador of the game, his television series, Red on Round Ball. The man wrote seven books about basketball.

Finally, of course, today it may seem unbelievable that as recently as 1950 Auerbach distinguished himself by drafting the first African American player in the NBA, Chuck Cooper. Goodness sakes, very late in the history of our country, particularly if we consider that the game is, if anything, inordinately dependent today on African American players.

Then, of course, about 16 years later, it would seem he hired the first African American head coach in professional sports. That is a real breakthrough because you have to have the courage to move with someone whom you believe can do exactly what you are doing and what those who are leaders of the game did, and of course he found the right man and the right time in Bill Russell. As recently as 1964, Red started the first all African American lineup of players. I think there was some reluctance to do that by some. Regardless of what it might have done for the game before that, Red Auerbach simply did it.

There are many ways, Mr. Speaker, for a man or a woman to show courage on race. There are many ways to be a civil rights leader. For America and especially for those who needed him most, we in the House today say thanks, Red.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I want to express my thanks to all of my colleagues for adopting this resolution to honor the memory of Boston's greatest sports champion and legend, Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach. Plain and simple, Red Auerbach was basketball. He was more than just the greatest NBA coach of all time; he was the creator of the modern professional game.

Through the selection of the likes of Cousy, Russell, Havlicek, and Bird, Red built the greatest basketball dynasty in history. During two decades of coaching, Red Auerbach won 938 games and led the Boston Celtics to a record 9 National Basketball Association, NBA, championship titles. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice, once for his coaching and once for his contributions to the game. In 1980, Red was voted the greatest coach in NBA history by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America. Fourteen of Red's players have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. After moving to the Celtics front office in 1966, Red's knowledge of basketball was instrumental in helping the Celtics win seven additional NBA titles.

In 1985, a life-size sculpture of Red Auerbach was placed in Boston's historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace to honor Red's contributions to the Boston Celtics and the city of Boston.

Most importantly, Red was known as a visionary and for his fierce loyalty to the people who worked for the Boston Celtics. From the players, to the coaches, to the ball boys, Red recognized the goodness in people and brought out the greatness in everyone he touched. He was an agent of change, hiring the first African-American coach in all of pro sports and drafting the league's first African-American player.

Red will be forever remembered as Boston's greatest winner on the court, but through the Red Auerbach Youth Foundation, he made a difference in thousands of young lives throughout Massachusetts. Red's foundation focuses on getting children, who would not otherwise participate, involved in sports and to bring children of all racial and ethnic backgrounds together through sports.

Red was also a proud Navy man. The values of honor, commitment, and integrity that Red brought to his coaching were also taught in the Navy where he served so proudly. The Navy's ``Lone Sailor Award,'' which he recently received, will sit in a special place of honor in this giant's trophy case along with an awe inspiring number of championship trophies.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his children, Randy and Nancy, and his granddaughter Julie during this very difficult time. We take comfort knowing he is once again in the arms of his beloved Dot. While we may never again catch a whiff of that unforgettable cigar smoke or see him shake his rolled up program at a bad call by an official again, we will never forget the man who taught us how to win again and inspired a city to be champions. Boston--indeed America--lost one of its finest with Red's passing. And I am so pleased that the U.S. Senate is honoring his life today by passing this resolution

Mr. President, today, we pay special tribute to a giant of sports in Massachusetts we are proud to call our own. I was honored to speak at his memorial service in Boston, and I am honored today to offer this resolution on the one and only Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach, who died in October at the age of 89.

Red was a pioneer in sports and in civil rights as well. He has been widely praised as one of the architects of the new Boston. He will never be forgotten--and there will never be another like him.

Basketball was his sport, and the Celtics he led with the legendary Bob Cousy and incomparable Bill Russell set the gold standard for the NBA for many years and transformed his city as well as his sport.

The stories of his competitive drive have become legendary. Red had a deep and abiding passion for life and for living each day as if it was a gift from above. Whenever you were in his presence, you could sense the powerful joy that comes to the rare few like Red Auerbach, who know they have done everything possible in every way on every day to achieve their dream.

Red Auerbach was a great coach and also a great man. He believed in winning, but he also believed that every individual should have the chance to be a winner. In the 1950s, before every Celtics game Red would invite a few children to play a brief game of basketball, complete with uniforms, official referees, and all the rest on the famous Boston Garden parquet floor. One player would be from the CYO, one from Chinatown, one from Roxbury, and one from the Young Men's Hebrew Association.

Long before anyone ever dreamed of it, Red had created his own ``Rainbow Coalition,'' and he continued to champion civil rights all his life. He was the first to go overseas with American players to teach basketball to children in Europe and Asia, and he deserves immense credit for making it the international game it is today.

But his heart was in Boston, where he single-handedly put basketball on the map. He created the famous Celtic ``magic & mystique,'' and renewed it year after year with exciting basketball. In the end, he led the Celtics to 9 world championships as coach--8 in a row and 16 world championships altogether. He was voted greatest coach of all time by the Professional Basketball Writers of America.

Few giants in the world are known by one name--Cher, Madonna, Elvis, Bono, and our very own ``Red.'' He will be greatly missed and never forgotten, and his record of success will probably never be matched anywhere.

It is an honor to urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this resolution. Even if you rooted against the Celtics, Red Auerbach made your home team great, too.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 497. As a Boston Celtics fan, I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution, which honors the memory of Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach.

Red Auerbach was known as the man who turned the Boston Celtics into a dynasty franchise. A fiery and competitive coach, he understood the importance of each individual player's role on a team. He was also a savvy businessman who made his decisions based on what was best for his team, regardless of how society might have viewed him. His methods and coaching styles were copied by many, leading to Auerbach being called the inventor of modern professional basketball and one of the greatest coaches in professional sports history.

Born on September 20, 1917, in Brooklyn, NY, Auerbach was a basketball captain and also school president at Eastern District High School. He went on to earn both a bachelor's and a master's degree from George Washington University, where he played basketball for three years. His marriage in 1941 to Dorothy Lewis, as well as his ties to his alma mater, led Auerbach to establish his home in the Washington, DC area, where he also began his basketball coaching career. In 1950, he began his legendary run as the head coach of the Boston Celtics.

As the Celtics coach, he won nine National Basketball Association championships, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966, which still stands as a record in North American professional sports. Fearless and not easily swayed by the prevalent attitudes surrounding him, Auerbach drafted the NBA's first black player, named the first black coach in any professional sports league, and had the first all-black starting lineup in NBA history. After the 1966 season, he decided to hand over the coaching reins, but remained with the Celtics as an executive, and he would be affiliated with the organization for the rest of his life.

Red Auerbach passed away on October 28, 2006, just shy of attending his 57th straight Celtics game opener in Boston. Red Auerbach was the epitome of the Celtics, and his legendary status made it seem he would live forever. While it is hard to picture the Celtics and the world without him, Red Auerbach has left his mark. His guiding principles-- family, loyalty, teamwork--should not only be taught on the basketball court, but guidelines we should all follow.

Red Auerbach leaves behind two daughters, Nancy Collins and Randy; one granddaughter; and three great grandchildren. May we keep his loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, and may his memory live on forever.