[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E902-E903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO BOB KRIEBLE
______
HON. NEWT GINGRICH
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 13, 1997
Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, Bob Krieble passed away last week. In
addition to being a friend, he was a scientist, an entrepreneur and an
investor. But most importantly, he was a man who loved his country and
loved freedom. He may not have been known to many Americans, but his
influence spread far and wide in this country and abroad.
As a scientist, he invented the chemical mixture to help metal
tighten to metal. From there, as a entrepreneur with his father, he
founded Loctite Corporation. He held patents in the field of silicones,
anaerobic adhesives and petrochems.
As an investor, he sought out emerging markets, including Korea and
encouraged entrepreneurs wherever he went.
Yes, he was a patron of the conservative movement and a great one at
that. In 1978, he joined the Heritage Foundation, and through his
leadership, helped build one of the premier think tanks in the country
today. In addition to Heritage, Bob also sat on the boards of Empower
America, the Free Congress Foundation and was an active participant in
many other conservative organizations. But it is not merely in the
furtherance of a particular ideology that Bob's impact was felt.
Most significantly, in 1989, he founded the Krieble Institute to
promote democracy, elections and free enterprise in the Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe--before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He made more
than 80 trips over there, conducting seminars, meeting with leaders and
training a full-time network of over 20,000 field experts to establish
political economic reform.
At the time, he shared this sentiment with a friend: ``I'm 76 and I'm
in a hurry to help these people achieve the freedom that so many
Americans take for granted.'' Bob Krieble had the vision to see that
rapid change in Eastern Europe could happen. Others thought it would
take more than a decade, but Bob put his money, mind and commitment
where his heart was and helped bring about the change he knew was
possible.
Bob Krieble was right, and so much of what has changed in the world
today is a tribute to Bob's work, insights and influence.
He will be sorely missed.
I enter into the Congressional Record a further remembrance of Bob
Krieble from our mutual friend Richard Rahn.
Dr. Robert Krieble, August 22, 1916-May 8, 1997
(By Richard Rhan)
Thoughts on a giant of a man.
It is rare to be able to make the unambiguous statement
that an individual has made the world, not a better place,
but a significantly better place, because of what he has done
during his life. Bob Krieble was one of those very rare
individuals--a world-class scientist, a highly successful
entrepreneur and businessman, a philanthropist, an
adventurer, an extraordinary fighter for freedom
[[Page E903]]
and liberty who altered the course of history, a visionary,
and always a kind and generous gentleman.
Bob Krieble invented what are commonly known as super
adhesives where the bond is stronger than the materials it
holds together. This invention has made life better and
easier for virtually every manufacturer, hobbyist and
homeowner on the globe. He literally changed the way many
things are put together, from engines to toys. Starting with
$100,000 from family and friends in the 1950's, he built a
billion dollar multinational corporation. He created tens of
thousands of well-paying jobs all over the world.
Bob was a distinguished chemist who did not forget that the
scientific method has equal applicability to the political
and economic sciences. He was a successful entrepreneur and
investor because he understood it is better to place your
assets in those countries that are pursuing relatively pro-
growth economic policies, and are moving towards freedom
rather than away from it. Though not a trained economist, he
understood far better than many in the economics profession
that low tax rates, a low level of economic regulation and
government spending, sound money, and strong enforcement of
property rights and civil contracts do far more to better the
human condition than government transfer payments. He not
only understood these things, he acted to bring them about
across the globe through his energy and his financial support
of politicians and institutions that were moving the world
towards freedom and away from statism.
There are literally dozens of pro-democracy and pro-free
market institutions that Bob Krieble generously supported,
and in many cases helped to create. For example, he was one
of the key early supporters of both the Heritage Foundation
and the Free Congress Foundation. In addition, he gave away
millions to help individuals who were in trouble all over the
world, whether it was because of personal hardship, or
because some totalitarian thug was trying to suppress the
liberties of the people. His wonderful family, wife Nancy,
daughter Helen, and son Fred shared his values, and have been
supporting his work in their own right.
When the conventional wisdom was that the Soviet empire
would go on many more years, Bob Krieble saw the rot and
decided to push the demise a bit faster. In the 1980's he
began financially supporting many of the dissident pro-
democracy groups in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. He
bought and delivered to them computers and fax machines. The
US media, business, and political establishment ridiculed
him. Business Week ran a derisive article entitled. ``The
Quixotic Quest of Robert Krieble.'' Bob, of course, remained
undeterred, and as usual was soon proven right, as the walls
came a-tumbling down. Bob not only fought communism and
helped to speed its demise, but understood that the
destruction of communism was not enough. He realized that to
have a safe, prosperous and free world, you have to have
people in place who understand democracy and free markets. He
created the Krieble Institute and spent millions of dollars
of his own money on building a network of influential people
in the former communist countries and on political and
economic training, to help ensure that qualified people would
be available to serve in the new non-communist governments.
Almost no one in the United States had heard of Boris
Yeltsin until Bob Krieble got some of the Republican
Congressional leaders to invite him for a trip to the US,
which Bob helped to underwrite. Bob was one of Yeltsin's
first American friends and apparently had a strong influence
on him. A couple of years after the fall of communism in
Russia, Bob was attacked by some communist deputies in the
Russian Duma and in the communist press, as the evil
capitalist who brought down communism. Bob's response was to
fly to Moscow and hold a press conference to respond to his
critics. He began by explaining that as much as he was
honored by their accusations, he felt that he could only take
a little credit for the end of communism.
For all of his accomplishments and wealth, Bob was a modest
man who sought few creature comforts. In his travels in
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, he rarely stayed
in the first class hotels--in those few cities where they
were available--but preferred to stay in hotels that could be
afforded by the locals, which most of us Americans viewed as
only one step up from camping. In Washington, he drove a
little Ford Festiva. After a typically hair-raising ride with
him one day (Bob drove more like an eighteen-year-old than an
eighty-year-old), I asked him why he did not buy a bigger and
safer car. He said, ``The less money I spend on myself, the
more I have to give away.''
Bob was a man of great physical courage and energy. The day
the Russian tanks were shelling the Russian ``White House,''
Bob was in Moscow. He walked to the Moscow river embankment
down below the building so that he ``could have a close
look.'' Bob was a pilot who enjoyed flying acrobatic
airplanes until he was well in his seventies. Scuba diving
was another of his hobbies. On one occasion, a couple of the
Novecon board members and I met him at the bar in the
Radisson Hotel in Moscow. There he was sitting on the bar
stool waiting for us, and after a bit, he casually informed
us that he had spent the previous night in a hospital in
Minsk because of illness, but there he was ready to go to
work the next day in Moscow.
Bob was a rarity among businessmen; he did not try to curry
favor in Washington, yet he was among the most influential of
all businessmen in the Nation's Capital. The influence came,
not just for his support of members of Congress who agreed
with him, but because he was so principled. For example, when
the US Chamber of Commerce reversed long-standing policies
against socialized health care and tax increases, in a short-
lived attempt to gain favor with the Clinton Administration,
Bob Krieble was among only a handful of Board members who had
the courage to resign in a public protest. Within a number of
months he was again proven right, as the Chamber's membership
forced it back to the principled position.
Many new companies around the world owe their very
existence to Bob Krieble. He delighted in helping new
entrepreneurs, particularly in newly freed economies. He
understood that without a vibrant private business sector in
the former communist countries, democracy would not prevail.
He often talked to me about the need to build business
partnerships in the transition countries. As a result, he co-
founded the Novecon companies with me in our attempt to
create profitable entrepreneurial partnerships in the former
communist lands. His love of new technology never waned. Just
a few weeks ago, I took him to Novecon Technologies' new
little silicon carbide wafer plant in Herndon, Virginia, to
meet with Gene Lewis, Jim LeMunyon and the Russian scientists
who had developed the process. He took a great interest in
Gene's explanation of the new and unique technological
process. On our drive back to Washington, he had the
enthusiasm of a twelve-year-old boy as he slapped the
dashboard and said, ``Those fellows really have something
there.''
Bob Krieble never gave up the fight for freedom. Each week,
until he was stricken last month, he would commute from his
estate in Old Lyme, Connecticut to his office and little
apartment in Washington. He spent his time helping people and
advising and supporting political leaders, institutions, and
influential individuals to do the right thing. After a life
of extraordinary accomplishment, Bob Krieble could have
easily chosen a life of quiet retirement. Instead, he
remained a vigorous revolutionary for free peoples and free
markets to the end.
____________________