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Well, I kept the Speaker’s gavel,

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presiding officer, of course, the House of Representatives, in my desk,

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which is the legislative desk of the House.

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And, Mr. Rayburn, who was the Speaker, used the gavel.

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And, as you know, President Roosevelt came down

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to declare war against Japan and we did.

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And, I called the roll and took the vote

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and I think it was two days later, we declared war on Germany and Italy.

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And, the President did not come down to the

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chambers of Congress. And, I acted as proxy for the

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President and read his message asking for the declaration of war against

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Germany and Italy, and of course, I took the vote again on that.

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Well, after that, Speaker Rayburn, who I worked intimately

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with—and I was all alone at that time because the other two

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people that were involved in my work were—one was dying

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of cancer and the other was in his 90s, so I had to

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handle the whole thing and it was a terrific job with 435

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people out there. And, so, the Speaker said, “Irv,” he said,

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“You know, this is a momentous thing,” and he said,

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“Would you like this gavel?” And I said, “Only,” I said,

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“If you would sign it.” And, of course,

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he signed it and dated it and everything.