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Well, I kept the Speaker’s gavel,
presiding officer, of course, the House of Representatives, in my desk,
which is the legislative desk of the House.
And, Mr. Rayburn, who was the Speaker, used the gavel.
And, as you know, President Roosevelt came down
to declare war against Japan and we did.
And, I called the roll and took the vote
and I think it was two days later, we declared war on Germany and Italy.
And, the President did not come down to the
chambers of Congress. And, I acted as proxy for the
President and read his message asking for the declaration of war against
Germany and Italy, and of course, I took the vote again on that.
Well, after that, Speaker Rayburn, who I worked intimately
with—and I was all alone at that time because the other two
people that were involved in my work were—one was dying
of cancer and the other was in his 90s, so I had to
handle the whole thing and it was a terrific job with 435
people out there. And, so, the Speaker said, “Irv,” he said,
“You know, this is a momentous thing,” and he said,
“Would you like this gavel?” And I said, “Only,” I said,
“If you would sign it.” And, of course,
he signed it and dated it and everything.