Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to former Alabama Congressman Sonny Callahan, who was honored on April 8 with the Mobilian of the Year Award, presented by the Cottage Hill Civitan Club. Former Congressman Callahan received the…
Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to former Alabama Congressman Sonny Callahan, who was honored on April 8 with the Mobilian of the Year Award, presented by the Cottage Hill Civitan Club. Former Congressman Callahan received the Bienville Plaque and a proclamation from Mayor Sam Jones.
I was honored to deliver a tribute to Sonny Callahan's life and career during the award celebration on April 8 and below is an excerpt of my remarks.
The Sonny Callahan story is much like that of many other
young men his age--and from that time in Mobile's past. But
Sonny, according to those who have known him the longest, was
always someone special. He had the good looks, the charm and
personality that made other people feel good about themselves
when they were with him.
He had a natural charisma and intellect, often masked with
that Reagan-esque self-deprecating humor, that made Sonny,
even to his peers and colleagues, a natural-born leader that
people gravitated to for his counsel and advice, for his
often unique perspective on life . . . or simply for a little
humor and levity to lighten the moment.
As the story goes, we know he used those talents early on
in the world of business and it was a success story that made
for a natural campaign brochure.
I'll never forget what our wonderful friend, mentor and
advisor, the late Bill Yeager, told me when I was first
interviewing to be Sonny's campaign press secretary back in
1982 . . . Bill said, ``Jo, Sonny's story of a self-made man
who grew up with all the reasons not to succeed, but
overcoming one obstacle after another, always finding a way
to be successful, is not just biographical hype.
``Even if he is sometimes hard to pin-down,'' Bill told me,
Sonny is truly one of the most decent human beings I have
ever known.''
And as Bill Yeager often was in his judgment of others, he
was right on the money as it related to Sonny.
Sonny's early success on the campaign trail . . . he was
elected to the Alabama House in 1970 and only once--in the 14
times his name appeared on the ballot--did he not finish
first--was an omen of even bigger opportunities that would
come.
But Sonny wasn't just someone who loved politics . . . he
loved helping people.
And that, my friends, is a distinction that sadly, too few
of us make when it comes to lumping everyone in politics in
the same vat.
There were the light-hearted moments . . . like the time
when Sonny was driving to Montgomery when the legislature was
in session and his friend, Tommy Sandusky, had finally gotten
one of those Motorola car phones almost a year after Sonny
had gotten his first car telephone.
The story goes that Tommy was so proud of the fact that he
had finally caught up to Sonny, that he pulled up to Sonny in
his car at a stoplight in Montgomery, picked up the phone and
called him to say, ``hey Sonny, I just wanted you to know
that I'm calling you on my car phone.''
. . . to which Sonny--with that quick Callahan wit replied
without missing a beat--``Tommy that's great . . .
unfortunately, I can't talk right now because my other phone
is ringing.''
Sonny was always one step ahead of most of us. But the
light-hearted memories take a back seat to the stories that
were never written in the press but were the headlines of
Sonny Callahan's amazing life.
I got a call the other day from a lady who said when she
heard that Congressman Callahan had been named Mobilian of
the Year, she simply wanted me to be sure and mention that
had it not been for Sonny, her son . . . who at age two had
meningitis which left him deaf and blind . . . would have
been institutionalized. When her father arranged for her to
go see Sonny to tell him her plight, Sonny promised her that
he would help.
And help he did. Sonny found the money to start the area
school for Deaf and Blind here in Mobile, patterned after the
one in Talledega, and today, some 44 years later, her son was
able to graduate from high school, go on to college and is
now a successful young businessman. With tears of gratitude,
this lady wanted me to say ``thank you'' to the man who
helped give her son a new lease on life.
But that is just one of the many rich subchapters of the
Sonny Callahan legacy. In truth, they all have a similar
storyline.
Also from his days in the Legislature, there was Callahan
Tuition tax credit that help Alabama's private colleges, like
Spring Hill, Birmingham Southern and Huntington, assist young
Alabamians with their dream of a college diploma.
Perhaps most lasting, there was also the Heritage Trust
Fund that Sonny's leadership helped establish for the oil and
gas leases that were being let in the mid-1970s. This fund
mandated that the State invest the principal and instead live
off the tens of millions of dollars that would accrue in
interest every year, assisting dozens of worthwhile state
programs over the past 30 years.
When Jack Edwards retired from Congress in 1984 after an
impressive 20 years of service, Sonny got in the race to
succeed him--with Jack's full blessings and support, no
less--and shortly thereafter he began what would become an
equally-impressive 18-year-run.
The kind of commitment to helping others that Sonny had
become known for in the legislature soon became the hallmark
of his Congressional service as well.
About six months after Sonny had taken office, we had the
long-awaited dedication of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
It was every politican's dream . . . a beautiful, festive
day, thousands of people in attendance, and everyone was in
an upbeat mood.
Jack, naturally, was invited to sit on the speaker's
platform with the governor, both senators, the mayor and all
of the other dignitaries of the day. After all, Jack Edwards
had spent practically his entire 20-year-tenure in Congress
trying to keep the funding going for what was the biggest
public works project in American history.
But true to form, when it came Sonny's turn to speak, the
newly-minted freshman congressman took the microphone,
thanked everyone for coming out and said, ``you know, Jack,
you certainly accomplished a lot for our area during your 20
years in Congress. But let the record show that it was during
my first six months in Congress that we were finally able to
finish the Tenn-Tom!''
Jack likes to tell people that he knew then that he had
backed the right man to follow in his footsteps.
While others in Congress have spent their time building
monuments to themselves, Sonny quietly went about doing the
work that a true member of the ``People's House'' takes pride
in doing for it was always about the ``people'' that Sonny
worked for . . . the young mother who had that blind and deaf
son . . . the veteran whose government had forgotten him long
after his service had ended . . . or the worker who toiled in
the hot, un-air conditioned plant and never knew what the
inside of a college classroom looked like, but who, when he
became injured on the job, turned to Congressman Callahan for
the help he needed.
As he gained seniority and certainly after his party had
taken the majority in Congress with the historic 1994
election, Sonny never let the additional titles and
responsibilities that came with those leadership positions
change what was important to him.
Sure, when he became the Chairman of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations--the
committee that funds all of America's foreign aid--Sonny
would come to the office often to find a line of Kings,
Presidents and Prime Ministers waiting for just a few minutes
of his time.
But Sonny would remind his staff . . . don't get too
impressed, these folks are here to see ``the chairman.'' If
it were not me, they'd be standing outside someone else's
office.
And never once, when Sonny had control of a budget that was
greater than the budgets of two or three states combined . .
. did he ever think talking to a head of state was more
important than talking to Mayor Shell in Atmore, Judge Biggs
in Monroe County or some person who didn't have a title, but
who just needed to talk to ``my congressman about a personal
matter.''
If our friend, Mayer Mitchell, were still alive, he would
be the first to tell you that when Sonny flew to Israel to
meet late one night with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
to discuss a new plan that Sonny had conceived to decrease
the economic aid to Israel while, at the same time, increase
the military assistance to our best ally in the Middle East,
neither Mayer nor even President Bill Clinton, who had told
Sonny just hours before the trip that this couldn't be done,
gave him any chance for success.
But succeed he did. And that's why when President Clinton
needed a Republican to step up and provide the crucial
support for his administration's plan for Bosnia--back when
most Republicans and a lot of Democrats weren't eager to go
along--the president turned to Sonny to provide that
leadership.
Soon thereafter, others on both sides of the political
aisle followed his leadership and this humble, self-
described, ``back-bencher'' in Congress, was fast becoming a
major player on the international stage.
From the pages of the Washington Post to the Wall Street
Journal, conservative and liberal pundits alike called
Chairman Callahan ``an unlikely champion.''
But once again, the folks in his hometown were always more
comfortable calling him Sonny, not even congressman, and to
him, that was his reassurance that he had not lost touch with
those for whom he worked.
The list of his signature accomplishments throughout
southwest Alabama is literally endless. I honestly don't know
of a complete assessment.
But here's just a quick stab at some of the highlights . .
. Sonny secured the initial funding for what is today the
Mitchell Cancer Center at the University of South Alabama . .
. he helped make the initial down-payment on the new library
at Spring Hill College . . . he found the funding to restore
the historic GM&O Building in downtown Mobile . . . he
secured the first installment for a new bridge to replace
congested tunnels along Interstate 10 . . .
The money to replace the 14 mile rail road bridge, funding
for towns like Fairhope, Bayou La Batre, Jackson and
Thomasville . . . Sonny got the money to help refurbish the
historic old Monroe County Courthouse, just as he secured the
funding for the Foley Beach Express.
When they start construction on the new VA cemetery in
Baldwin County, it will be because of Sonny Callahan's
determination--and leadership--several years ago, that this
dream will one day soon become a reality.
But as I have said before, Sonny never did any of this for
personal gratification or recognition. He did it because it
was what the people of his district needed and wanted.
After he retired from Congress, grateful communities and
groups alike began the naming process . . . a tiny little
bridge near Foley, the airport in Fairhope, a building at
Mercy Medical, a Boys and Girls Club in West Mobile.
No one did more to help make sure Mobile Bay was included
in the National Estuary Program, or build on the work started
by his predecessor to help expand and protect Bon Secour
National Wildlife Refuge and Weeks Bay Estuary.
A few years ago, The University of Alabama was able to
complete work on the finest child development center in the
nation, thanks solely to Sonny Callahan's leadership.
At about the same time, the University of Alabama
Birmingham established an endowed student scholars program in
his honor because, as they said, his creation of the Child
Survival and Diseases program--back when he was in Congress--
guaranteed that children and adults--``from the Black Belt of
Alabama all the way to Bangladesh--today enjoy cleaner water,
safer food and a lower incidence of disease because of
Sonny's labors.''
In 2004, our local veterans made him the ``Patriot of the
Year,'' Governor Riley appointed him to serve on the board of
the Alabama Port Authority . . .
And I'm telling you . . . I literally could go on and on.
There were also the gaffes . . . we've all made them and
most of us, when we do, it eats us to the core. Not Sonny. He
always kept things like that in perspective . . . like the
time he admitted to being in the desert when Operation Desert
Storm commenced. Sonny was in the desert . . . at a luxury
hotel in Palm Springs playing golf . . . but that wasn't the
sand most people were thinking about at the time.
Or the time that he told both President and Mrs. Clinton
that they needed to slow down the money spigot going to other
countries . . . you can imagine how much fun the press
secretary had at the time trying to explain his comment
``it's Halloween in Washington and if you want to get some
treats, just put a turbain on your head and go knock on the
White House door.''
The Washington press corps loved that line, Sonny got the
President's attention but I got a migraine dealing with that
one.
And of course, when Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
was in Mobile, he meant it as a compliment when he said,
``Madeleine, you are like a flamingo in the barnyard of
politics.''
She has actually told others that she couldn't have had a
more supportive chairman to work with than Sonny Callahan so,
congressman, I think she knew you were paying her a
compliment.
But I'm going to close by saying this to tonight's honoree
. . . and I want to say this as all of your friends and
family are listening on . . .
As I've been reflecting back over our almost 3 decades
together, your story really isn't like most everyone else's .
. . for when you were given the opportunity . . . an
opportunity that few people in life are really
ever afforded . . . to do great things and to make your mark,
you did--and I truly mean this--you always did it with
humility and with humor . . . without the malice and nasty
partisanship that is so prevalent in Washington today . . .
you did it because of the greater good that would accrue to
the benefit of untold numbers of people that you might not
ever meet or know . . . but you did ``it'' . . . whatever
``it'' was . . . because ``it'' was the right thing to do at
the right time to do it. Thank you, Sonny, for always being
our champion.
Before I turn the microphone over to Mayor Jones, I would
be extremely remiss if I did not thank two other groups of
people who deserve special recognition . . . first of all, to
Sonny's family . . . certainly his brothers and sisters and
countless cousins, but most especially, his beloved Karen . .
. wife, partner, soul-mate and mother to their six children.
Sonny used to say that Karen must have been the inspiration
for the song, ``Wind Beneath My Wings,'' because she was
always there for him, standing off in his shadow, never
having the sunlight on her face . . . but he could fly higher
than an eagle, because she was the wind beneath his wings.
I must admit that until I was elected to Congress, myself,
in 2002--thanks in no small part to Sonny and the incredible
reputation he had earned--you know, when Sonny retired he had
the highest approval rating of any sitting member in the
entire U.S. Congress at 92 percent--contrast that today with
an approval rating for Congress, as a whole, at an
embarrassing 13 percent nationally--and I don't know that
even I fully appreciated the demanding, difficult--and yet
absolutely critical roles--that the spouse and family of a
public figure play.
But Karen, for all sacrifices that you, Scott, Patrick,
Shawn, Chris, Kelly and the always close-to-our-heart,
Cameron, have made . . . for the nights, the days, the weeks
and the years that y'all have shared your wonderful husband--
and daddy, and now granddaddy--with everyone else . . . thank
you.
Mobile--and indeed the entire state of Alabama--is a better
place to live because of the man you love and tonight, the
man we honor.
Finally, and I know Sonny would be the first to agree with
this, but I must also thank the tremendously dedicated, loyal
and extremely talented staff that Sonny brought together
during his many years in the public arena.
No one person can answer all the mail, return all the phone
calls, make all the contacts that are required to be made and
do everything else that is expected of a person who has
635,000 constituents--as well as a national responsibility--
and while Sonny was the best I have ever seen in this often-
misunderstood job, he was able to do what he did because he
surrounded himself with a team that was second-to-none.
Together, his family and his staff can take great pride in
knowing that the lives Sonny has touched . . . and the legacy
Sonny has built . . . is a living testament to your unselfish
love, loyalty and admiration of a man known by kings and
presidents . . . movie stars and musicians . . . truck
drivers and ditch-diggers . . . simply as our friend, Sonny
Callahan.