Remarks at the Cornerstone-Laying Ceremonies of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the House and Senate:

I appreciate very much the opportunity to join you in dedicating this building today to Speaker Sam Rayburn.

We say in this country that ours is a Government of laws not of men, and it is, in the sense that we strive for equality and integrity in the administration of our Government and of justice. But this is also a Government of men, and it needs men of particular talents to make this system of ours work. Our Founding Fathers, concerned about the centralization of authority, which they were revolting against, wrote very careful safeguards, checks, and balances into the American constitutional system. This provides great protection for individual liberty and right, but it also places a heavy burden on the men and women who must make this system operate. The division of powers between the Executive, the Congress, the Courts, the divisions between the National Government and the State government requires the greatest comity between the various bodies if our system is to function effectively.

Sam Rayburn understood this perhaps as well as any man in the history of our country. Presidents of both parties pay equal tribute to him. While his devotion to his own party was never questioned, nevertheless he saw in a larger sense the necessity for harmonious relations between the various branches of the Government. And therefore I would be joined today by all of my predecessors with whom he served, I know, in paying tribute to him and to the traditions which have been followed with such distinction by others, in his wake, in attempting to make this system of ours work, to protect the individual but also to make the Government function.

This was his great skill and his lasting contribution, and I think sets the most powerful example before us all.

This ceremony, this edifice, this assemblage of public servants from all branches of the Government, all States and all parties, pay homage to the memory of Speaker Sam Rayburn. No monument, no memorial, no statue would please him half so much, I believe, as to have his name preserved here in this fashion on Capitol Hill. The Congress was his life, the House was his home, and he not only served it far longer than any who preceded him but with distinction and wisdom as well. He preferred to preside over the sessions of this body to any other place of prestige or power, and as a former Member of the House of Representatives I join with all of you in saying that while he may be long missed he will not be forgotten.

And our task is to carry on the work to which he was so deeply dedicated.

Thank you.