Madam Speaker, I rise to honor a true Texas statesman, Bob Krueger. Decades ago, Bob and I were fierce political adversaries, but since then we have joined on behalf of our State and our Nation in…
Madam Speaker, I rise to honor a true Texas statesman, Bob Krueger. Decades ago, Bob and I were fierce political adversaries, but since then we have joined on behalf of our State and our Nation in common cause. Now I join so many of his former colleagues and many Texans in recognizing his remarkable contributions.
He is a proud native of New Braunfels, which remained his home in recent decades. He once served here in this House in a district that many parts of had more cattle than constituents that stretched from San Antonio to San Angelo and almost to El Paso.
After studying at Duke and Oxford, Bob served Duke as vice provost and dean before returning to Texas to win a rather improbable election and reelection as a Congressman. He was voted the most effective Member of his freshman class by colleagues here in the House.
He voted to prolong the life of the Voting Rights Act and extend its application to Texas, he supported the admission of women to the service academies, and supported an increase in the minimum wage, among other matters.
In those elections and a subsequent race for the U.S. Senate, he attracted talent like Land Commissioner Gary Mauro, media legend Roy Spence, and future Deputy Energy Secretary and Mayor of Houston, Bill White, among many others.
When the Senate race was unsuccessful, Bob was named by President Carter as Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Mexican Affairs. In 1990, he won a statewide election to serve in the important position on the Texas Railroad Commission. A few years later, Governor Ann Richards appointed him to fill a Senate vacancy, but within a few months he was defeated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. Yet, Bob never let these setbacks get in the way of lifelong civic engagement and public service.
After Senator Hutchison's victory, President Clinton appointed him as Ambassador to Burundi, which he described as the most fulfilling period of his life. There he met with Rwandan refugees fleeing massacres, which he documented, putting him at personal risk, as one of the first Western voices to report the genocide.
He discovered villages where children were massacred and livestock was left alive. Even after the front pages of two local newspapers there in Burundi called for his death, he continued this mission: Sounding the alarm, documenting the genocide and the atrocities. He survived an assassination attempt, and only after it became too unsafe for his family to remain there, he was evacuated and then appointed as Ambassador to Botswana.
He cut a singular figure: a Shakespeare-quoting, former East Coast professor who connected with Texas ranchers, a busy public servant, who nevertheless valued a few days of daily meditation.
Throughout all his types of service, whether he was driving a pickup truck around West Texas or in an armored vehicle in Burundi, he always was driven by the same values, the same faith, and the same guiding light: his family.
His partner for almost four decades, Kathleen Tobin Krueger, meant the world to him, they traveled it together. Recently, she has been involved in continuing their work in advocating for their close friend and San Antonian, Paul Rusesabagina.
Paul, who inspired ``Hotel Rwanda,'' and who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in saving people in Rwanda, remains wrongly imprisoned in Rwanda today.
Bob's wonderful daughter, Mariana, an accomplished photographer, who shares his love of Duke as both an undergrad and graduate of Duke, and now lives in Austin, continues his legacy.
His daughter, Sarah, a double Duke alumna, works as a senior reporter for WRAL in Durham, living there with her husband Will and their son Brooks.
His son, Christian, who worked here in the House recently as a legislative assistant for Congressman Joaquin Castro, lives in Texas with his wife Marion.
At the memorial service this spring after Bob passed away at 86 years of life well-lived, former Ambassador Scott DeLisi, who worked with Bob in Botswana, said Krueger had ``the most finely tuned moral compass of any man
that I worked with in over four decades of public service.''
A true gentleman and a scholar, it is a mark of Bob's character that after completing such important public service, it was Bob, as a visiting professor at Texas State in San Marcos back in 2004, who, despite our previous personal differences, graciously presented me a public service award rather than the other way around.
Today, by authoring this bill, I recognize his truly award-worthy service.
Madam Speaker, this legislation provides a modest way for us to honor one who did so much in so many ways to benefit so many people. So let's name the post office in the heart of the community that he called home, just a block away from a twist and turn of the great Guadalupe River, in honor of the great, late Bob Krueger, honoring his memory and make his rich legacy--his values, his grace, his kindness, his commitment to service--a part of our future.
Madam Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for her leadership and for our Republican colleague, as well.
Madam Speaker, I would just address for the Record the comment that was made about the sponsorship. There were 34 of the 36 Members of the Texas delegation who have indeed cosponsored this bill. The other two Members who chose not to cosponsor have indicated they have no objection to the bill.
We are, by presenting this bill, applying the same standard that will apply to the next bill up honoring properly our former colleague, Mr. Wright, in legislation sponsored by Mr. Cornyn and by House Members here, treating them the same way. I think both are well-justified pieces of legislation, and I look forward to their approval.
