Capitol Words a project of the Sunlight Foundation

Rep. David Dreier

Mr. Speaker, ``Praise Silence.'' Praise Silence is the very British expression that was used regularly by Ambassador Charles Price when he would stand up after dinner to offer thoughtful, insightful, and humorous remarks. He did it most often at the wonderful home--Sunnylands--of Ambassador Walter and Mrs. Annenberg, and he was one who provided a great deal of inspiration and leadership. I'm very saddened to have had the news, Mr. Speaker, of his passing, but I have to say that he lived a very, very full and active 80 years.

Ambassador Price and I shared a hometown and many mutual friends in Kansas City, and we also shared a great love of California. Mr. Price was someone who was very big physically, he was very big intellectually, and he had a great big heart. I always felt comforted around him because he had that wonderful embrace when he would bring you in. And with me, for the past several decades, he's offered very thoughtful political insight and advice and counsel on a wide range of issues.

He served as Ambassador to the Court of St. James after having served as Ambassador to Belgium under President Reagan during the 1980s. He was the first American to go to the site in Lockerbie, Scotland, where Pan Am Flight 103 went down. He was on the cutting edge of very, very important decisions that were made with our very important ally, Margaret Thatcher. And I have to say that Ambassador Price was someone who had that very unique ability, Mr. Speaker, to, as Rudyard Kipling said, ``walk with kings and keep the common touch.''

He was known for his great sense of humor, and he was known for having a great desire to spend time with working men and women. And to listen to people, he would often go to pubs in England, and I suspect that Charlie Price might have enjoyed a Guinness or two at the same time.

But, Mr. Speaker, he was also a great business leader and a great philanthropist. I remember that, as the leading diplomat that he was, our great former Secretary of State, George Schultz, once said to me, in describing Charlie Price, that when the Secretary would arrive in London and he would get into the car with Charlie Price, there was no ambassador who could provide him with more cogent, thoughtful insight into the circumstances that existed on the ground as they were.

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of Winston Churchill, I read in my original hometown paper--and Charlie Price's as well--the Kansas City Star, that he had just, not long ago, written a note to a grandson of his to lift his spirits. In that note he said: ``Never, never give up. You will always succeed if you accept that you will not succeed every time. But never accept losing as anything other than a learning experience to drive you to be a champion in all walks of life.''

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and prayers go to Carol Price and to the wonderful family. I have to say that, as we look to next week's--a week from this Sunday--dedication of the great new operation at Sunnylands in southern California, I know that Carol will be there, but Charlie Price will be greatly missed.