OC resident attends State of the Union

Written by Ann Richardson Monday, 30 January 2012 12:34

OCEAN CITY — He was sitting above it all, in the front row of the gallery in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives.

It was a joint session of Congress, and President Barack Obama was about to deliver the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Seated between a school teacher and an oil industry representative, Ocean City resident Richard Tolson said he couldn’t stop smiling as they waited for the president to enter.

“I looked at the two men sitting next to me and said ‘I don’t know about you, but I feel like a kid in Disney World,’” he said.

“It was fabulous, absolutely awesome,” said Tolson, who is the director of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers of New Jersey. “I just couldn’t believe I was there.

“It was a magical night,” he said. “The whole process was just phenomenal. There we were in the Capitol building, my favorite building in the whole world, with all the history it represents.”

On the floor below was Vice President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House John Boehner, 100 US senators and 435 members of the House of Representatives. There were members of the Supreme Court and the joint chiefs.

Tolson said he would never forget watching Obama enter the chamber.

When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, critically injured in an assassination attempt in Arizona last year, entered, Tolson said the standing ovation lasted more than five minutes.

“The president greeted her and there was another rousing ovation,” he said. “I would count that as one of the more memorable experiences of my lifetime.”

A political junkie as well as a union labor leader, Tolson said he enjoyed the politics evident in the speech. When Obama made a poignant comment, half the lawmakers would stand and the other half would not. Sometimes they would all stand.

“It was great to watch, the posturing, the cheering, and the not cheering,” he said. “It was a wonderful opportunity.”

Tolson said his seat gave him a bird’s eye view of the chamber. He was seated not too far from First Lady Michelle Obama.

“You couldn’t miss Michelle,” he said. “When she came in, a light went off in the room.”

The House chamber, he said, is much smaller than it appears on television.

“There were about 1,200 people in the room,” he said. “It was intimate, I guess you could say. It was a lot different than I expected. I could see everything going on very well. I really felt like I was a part of it all, a part of history.”

As for Obama’s speech, Tolson said he was impressed.

“As usual, he is a brilliant man, and he presents it well,” he said. “He made real strong points for all of the domestic issues. He challenged Congress.”

Tolson said he was pleased that Obama pushed for legislation to achieve his goals and that he used the unionized company Master Lock, as an example of a company that came back to the United States and is doing well.

“He laid out a plan for the country,” he said. “I truly believe he is sincere.”

Obama, he said, has improved the “status” of the United States throughout the world and while the economy is improving, there is “still work to be done.”

“Congress has to stop the posturing, and that goes for both sides,” he said. “They have to work together to get some things done.”

Tolson said he wishes that Congress would present one issue at a time.
“Write a bill, with one issue, instead of packing all kinds of issues into one big bill,” he said. “Any piece of legislation, one idea, support it or not. With a Congress this divided, Harry Houdini would have to be president to get anything done. It’s not in the nation’s best interest.”

Obama, he said, is a “man of his convictions.”

“He believes in his proposals,” he said. “I don’t agree with him on everything. I disagree with his decision to stop the Keystone Pipe Line proposal.”

Not only did Obama prevent thousands of jobs from being created, Tolson said, but he passed on an opportunity for the United States to obtain oil from a friendly neighbor.

“I talked to someone from Canada while I was in Washington,” he said. “I have a whole new perspective on this. So many jobs are lost without this. The environmental issues can be resolved. If we’re going to deal with another country to get oil, it should be Canada.”

Tolson was born and raised in Ocean City. A 1976 graduate of Ocean City High School, he began working as a bricklayer for Dick Galante in November 1976.

“Mr. Galante taught me everything,” he said.

Tolson went out on his own for a while and joined the union in 1988; he worked in Atlantic City, eventually working his way up the union hierarchy.

Along the way, he got to know US Rep. Rob Andrews, a New Jersey Democrat.

“I’ve know Rob for 20 years,” said Tolson, who supported Andrews when he challenged US Sen. Frank Lautenberg several years ago. “We talk all the time about the issues. He’s a good guy and he always follows up, always gets back to me with information. He takes his time; he’s very conscientious and tremendously gracious. He’s a real gentleman and a statesman.”

Tolson said Andrews reminds him of former US Ambassador and Rep. William J. Hughes, an Ocean City resident.

“Rob is cut from the same cloth,” he said. “He’s true to his word, he doesn’t do things because they are convenient or expedient. Like Bill Hughes, Rob Andrews has a lot of integrity.”

Tolson was the lucky recipient of Andrew’s sole ticket to the State of the Union.

“Each representative is given one ticket,” Tolson said. “I was so honored, so thrilled.”

Tolson said when the evening ended, he walked out of the lit-up Capitol feeling on top of the world.

“I just couldn’t believe I was so fortunate,” he said. “It was such a memorable night.”

Tolson attended Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in a football stadium in Denver, Colo. in 2008 with 55,000 people.

“The convention was different,” he said. “It was remarkable; I got to meet Ted Kennedy, it was exciting.

“This was a little more special than it was exciting, on the rail in the front row, being able to see everything that was going on, it just doesn’t get any better,” he said. “It’s an experience, a night that I will never forget.”

 

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