Charles Norwood Jr.

News Obituary Article

REP. CHARLIE NORWOOD, 1941-2007: Conservative wouldn't waver

By BOB KEMPER, JIM GALLOWAY

U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, a strong-willed, salty-tongued Georgia Republican who made it a personal crusade to ensure that the rights of medical patients were protected, died Tuesday at his home in Augusta after a years-long battle with lung disease and cancer. He was 65.

Norwood, who had halted his medical treatment for cancer last week and returned home to receive hospice care, died in the company of his wife, Gloria, and their family shortly after noon, said spokesman John Stone.

As word of his death spread in Washington, the House halted its debate over the Iraq war to offer a moment of silence in Norwood's memory. In Georgia, Gov. Sonny Purdue ordered flags at all state buildings lowered to half-staff and the state Senate canceled its session today.

Georgia's congressional delegation will introduce a resolution honoring Norwood later this week. A public funeral service for the former dentist has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church on Walton Way Extension in Augusta.

There will be a public viewing today from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Poteet and Son Funeral Home on Davis Road in Martinez.

"Charlie was a strong conservative of high morals and integrity who never backed away from any of his beliefs," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who was elected to the House the same year as Norwood. "He added a great deal of candor to the legislative process that will be sorely missed in Washington and in Georgia."

"Charlie was a great member of this body and a friend to all," Rep. Nathan Deal, a Hall County Republican and long-time friend of Norwood, said on the House floor Tuesday.

Despite his health problems, Norwood's passion for a cause never wavered, his approach never softened and his concern about what his critics were saying never seemed to weigh heavily on his mind.

In his last full term, Norwood was a lightning rod for controversy --- and an unapologetic antagonist of liberals --- pushing for stricter punitive measures to repel illegal immigrants and for a partial repeal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The law was intended to protect African-American voting rights by requiring federal approval of election changes in states with a history of discrimination, but Norwood said it amounted to "blatant discrimination" against states like Georgia that had overcome their pasts.

"Charlie was always just Charlie," said Francis Tedesco, former president of the Medical College of Georgia. "I'm sure people didn't always agree with his positions, but he was someone you could always talk to."

'Extraordinary strength'

Norwood's health problems stretched back to 1998, when he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable disease that causes lung tissue to harden, making it increasingly difficult for the victim to breathe. Six years later, in October 2004, Norwood underwent a single-lung transplant. His condition, which he had kept secret, became public knowledge, and he rued the revelation.

"From a political point of view, it wasn't anybody's business," Norwood said in an interview following the operation. "It wasn't affecting anything I was doing, I just don't want that to be the topic of conversation."

Indeed, he was able to return to Congress in a matter of months, using an electric cart to get around. A year later, he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor was found on his untransplanted lung, a condition doctors told him may have been the result of the immune-system-suppression drugs he was taking to keep his body from rejecting the new lung.

Norwood was once again able to return to Congress. But last November, doctors determined the cancer had spread, and it eventually reached his liver. He returned to the hospital in December, and except for an excursion to the House Jan. 4 for his swearing-in for a seventh term, he remained hospitalized. Seeing little improvement, he halted his medical treatments last week and returned home.

President Bush noted Norwood's absence during his State of the Union speech Jan. 23, with wishes for a speedy recovery.

On Tuesday, Bush recalled Norwood fondly, though they had clashed at times.

"After becoming ill, Charlie demonstrated his extraordinary strength by continuing to serve our nation with the same dedication," Bush said in a statement. "Charlie was a good friend and a strong, spirited legislator who always stuck to his principles, remembering that his duty was to represent the best interests of the citizens of his district."

Core conservative

Norwood was first elected to Congress in 1994, part of the Republican revolution that swept into control of the House for the first time in 40 years under the leadership of his fellow Georgian, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and the banner of "The Contract with America."

"I remember sitting on the House floor when the balanced-budget amendment passed. I turned to (then-Rep.) Saxby (Chambliss) and I said, 'Saxby, this is why we came here,' " Norwood recalled.

"I loved every second of that," he said. "I was full of fire and brimstone. That first 90 days (of the 1994 Congress) just took the wind out of the sails of the Democrats. I just wished we'd done more."

Among Georgia's seven Republicans in Congress, Norwood was the most involved in state political affairs, recruiting candidates and resolving behind-the-scenes differences --- though he liked to speak his mind, even at the risk of offense.

Asked once about when he was going to replace the old Georgia flag flying in front of his home with the new one that didn't include the Confederate battle emblem, Norwood said, "When it rots."

Conservative to his core, Norwood called government "oppressive," once telling a reporter, "If I want to put bad wiring in my house and burn my family down, that's my problem," not the government's.

Norwood at times seemed oblivious to critics who said he ignored black voters in his district. When President Bush proposed pumping more federal money into churches with social-service programs, Norwood told a public gathering of supporters, "I can just see a lot of Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons springing up all over the country getting handouts."

A staunch opponent of illegal immigration, he became known for his proposal to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in the United States, and engaged in a long-running dispute with the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights group.

Yet Norwood worked with black leaders in Georgia. Louis W. Sullivan, president emeritus of the Morehouse School of Medicine, said Norwood helped the school greatly, including finding federal money to build the National Center for Primary Care, which was named after Sullivan.

Norwood was widely discussed as a likely candidate for governor in 2002 and as a possible successor to retiring U.S. Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) in 2004, but he declined to run. He later said he feared his then-secret lung ailment would worsen in the campaign and undermine his party's chances of winning.

Health care reform

Charles Whitlow Norwood Jr. was born July 27, 1941, in Valdosta. After graduating from Georgia Southern University and the Georgetown University dental school, he volunteered for the Army and was sent to Vietnam.

He participated in an experimental program in which dentists were sent to forward operating bases. Among other things, he provided the first field-based dental care to military guard dogs. Norwood attained the rank of captain and won two bronze stars.

After being discharged, Norwood set up a dental practice in Augusta. He came to politics lat