Duncan Honors Victor Ashe on House Floor

September 29, 2009

Washington, DC -- Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of going earlier today to the flag ceremony at the State Department for Victor Ashe who is retiring as our ambassador to Poland. Victor Ashe is a longtime friend of mine, and in fact, we roomed together in San Francisco where we were attending the 1964 Republican National Convention. I was between my junior and senior years in high school and at the time was an honorary assistant sergeant at arms at the convention. I don't suppose you can get any lower than being an honorary assistant, but it got me in the door. And Victor that summer had just completed his first year at Yale, and I'm sure had a much more important position.

In the years since then, Victor Ashe has had one of the most distinguished careers of anyone from our State. He was elected to the Tennessee State House at the age of 21, the minimum age for service in that body. He began his service in the Tennessee State Senate at the age of 30, also the minimum age required. He was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate and then spent a year and a half as the executive director of the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors.

In 1987, he was elected as mayor of Knoxville, eventually serving for 16 years and becoming the longest-serving mayor in the city's history. In that position, he achieved national recognition by being named president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Five years ago, President George W. Bush named Victor Ashe as our Ambassador to Poland, where he served longer than any other U.S. ambassador to that country. Political appointees usually become our very best ambassadors, and that was certainly true in the case of Victor Ashe. He visited approximately 200 villages, towns and cities in Poland, covering almost every nook and cranny of that country. He hosted receptions and parties for over 28,000 people and had 320 overnight guests at the ambassador's residence. Showing that he never forgot where he came from, most of his overnight guests were from the Knoxville area.

I had the privilege of leading a congressional delegation of 11 Members to Poland; and Ambassador Ashe and his wife, Joan, went far above and beyond the call of duty in hosting us at that time. In addition, I had several Members of Congress who had met him on other trips, and they always came back singing the praises of our great ambassador.

I have met many U.S. ambassadors and ambassadors from other countries during my time in Congress. I have never met, heard of, or read about anyone who has worked as hard or has spent as much time going around the country getting to know people from all walks of life. I want to commend Victor Ashe for all his service to the people of Tennessee in the State house and senate and as mayor of Knoxville. But tonight I especially want to salute him for his great service as the 24th U.S. Ambassador to one of our strongest allies, the nation of Poland.

Having summed up his distinguished career thus far, I also want to commend him for continuing to advocate good things for our Nations.

James Morrison, a friend of mine, writes the "Embassy Row'' column for the Washington Times. This past Friday, most of his column was about the farewell message Victor Ashe posted on the Web site of the U.S. embassy in Poland. In that message, Ambassador Ashe criticized the construction of "fortress-like'' American embassies throughout the world. He pointed out that these fortresses have been built even in countries where Americans face little danger of terrorist attacks.

Going ridiculously overboard on security causes two very serious problems. One, it sends an unfriendly message from our diplomats, who are supposed to be trying to make friends; and, two, it has cost U.S. taxpayers many unnecessary billions all over the world. Ambassador Ashe wrote: ``The design of many of these buildings quite often creates a fortress-like atmosphere, and the impression given to host nations can be less than friendly, not the warm, welcoming impression we should offer as Americans.''

He complained that the State Department is imposing security requirements and design elements for all new U.S. embassies, regardless of the threat posed in more peaceful nations. ``Given different security situations in virtually every nation, wide flexibility in construction design and location is needed, as opposed to the one-size-fits-all approach,'' Mr. Ashe said. ``As such, different sites and designs can be adopted at less cost and with greater architectural warmth.''

I agree with Victor Ashe and congratulate him on his outstanding service to our country.