Whether or not you shared her political views you had to respect and admire the hard work and determination of former Rep. Helen Delich Bentley ("Helen Delich Bentley, congresswoman who was a staunch advocate of the port of Baltimore, dies," Aug. 6).
Many of her colleagues in Congress on both sides of the political aisle did exactly that. They respected and admired her. They recognized her intellect, tenacity and hard work.
She will always be remembered as one of the hardest working members of Congress. Not a single letter left her office without her reading it. If she knew the person or felt compelled to do so, she would write an additional note at the bottom. She was often kidded about being a bag lady because both hands would be carrying bags of correspondence for her to read, which she usually did while waiting to speak on the House floor. Few in Congress did it back then, and I doubt many if any today read every letter that leaves their office.
She admired Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. I viewed her as Maryland's Margaret Thatcher. Her direct and blunt conversational style was also akin to Harry Truman. Having grown up during the Great Depression and from humble beginnings, being wasteful or idle was not an option for her.
She was not afraid of hard work; rather she thrived on it. She earned everything she had that way and expected others to do so. She clearly was a trailblazer for women, yet her gender was not her focus. Rather her focus was on being recognized as an expert in the field of trade and maritime policy.
She was not impressed with position or title. Her concern was to apply common sense and what was best for America to whatever the issue. Many Ivy League educated CEOs and even presidents found she had little tolerance for anything other than measurable results.
When invited by President George H.W. Bush to join him on Air Force One to fly to Texas for a ceremonial transportation bill signing, she suggested it would be more cost effective if they put a card table out on the White House lawn and just sign the bill. She just wanted the job done and was not concerned with fanfare.
When a former Chief of Naval Operations once told her during a public meeting that it was cheaper to have military equipment manufactured overseas she responded that "Navy admirals are also cheaper over there." To Bentley, the rank of admiral was not as important as preserving jobs and our industrial base, which she rightly saw as a critical national security issue.
She was frugal with tax dollars and was often listed as one of the members of Congress who used the least amount of their congressional budget. The Christmas tree in her Towson office was a second-hand tree and the decorations were from her attic. I doubt many other congressional offices around the country could say the same.
I believe she did not see tax dollars as hers to spend but rather something to be used with great discretion. At the same time she was very giving and kind to those in need. I saw her do many things for people to help them because she saw a need, not to get recognition or good press.
She held a strong sense of personal responsibility. On my very first trip with her to Capitol Hill we were leaving the Longworth House Office late at night and her dog had an accident in front of the door. The Capitol Hill Police officer stationed at the door stood up from his desk and said he would have it taken care of. She told him to sit back down, then went to the woman's room and returned with paper towels and proceeded to clean up the mess herself. At that time I wondered how many in Congress would have acted as she did.
At her 90th birthday party she ended the event with everyone singing "God Bless America" and she told the crowd to do it the Dundalk way. That was for everyone to join hands when singing the song. Ms. Bentley loved Baltimore, the state of Maryland and this country.
Can you imagine if all of Congress had the values of Helen Delich Bentley? What a different country we would be. Our military would be strong and our industrial base thriving. We would not be extending debt limits but rather lending to other countries.
Helen Bentley embodied so many of the qualities that made America great. Hard work, common sense, tenacity, a sense of personal responsibility and a love of country and her fellow man.
Jeffrey Eney
The writer is a former congressional staff assistant to Helen Delich Bentley.