May 8, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 76 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO JAMES H. BILLINGTON, 13TH LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

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                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 8, 2019

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join 
numerous colleagues in honoring the life and legacy of James H. 
Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress, who died on November 20, 
2018.
  Before Jim Billington's appointment as Librarian of Congress in 1987, 
he served thirteen productive years as director of the Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars. Before that, and throughout his 
career, he was a researcher and author, continuing to produce serious 
scholarship on Russian history and culture.
  Jim was the inspiration behind the Open World Leadership Center, a 
unique Library of Congress--Legislative Branch initiative which for 
twenty years has administered thousands of exchange visits to the 
United States of professionals and other leaders from post-Soviet and 
post-communist states. As a current board member of Open World, I have 
deepened my appreciation of Dr. Billington's legacy and of the way the 
Center can compliment and support the House's work, through the House 
Democracy Partnership (HDP), to promote parliamentary development in 
emerging democracies.
  Like many members of Congress, I have enjoyed a cordial and 
productive working relationship with Jim Billington for years--from the 
Legislative Branch Appropriations subcommittee, to Open World, to 
encouraging Congressional Research Service engagement with HDP's 
partner legislatures, to the building of programs such as American 
Memory--the national digital library--and the John W. Kluge Center's 
program for visiting scholars. In recent years, Jim and his wife 
Marjorie have been a welcoming presence at the wonderful Library of 
Congress dinners, sponsored by David Rubenstein, featuring authors of 
major studies in American biography and history.
  Madam Speaker, Jim Billington lived a full and consequential life of 
scholarship, institutional innovation, and public service. We miss his 
cordial and collegial presence as we mourn his passing and appreciate 
his wide-ranging legacy. We extend gratitude and good wishes to 
Marjorie and their family in the hope that the outpouring of affections 
and appreciation will offer solace and support at this time of loss.

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