Conte returned to Pittsfield and immediately turned his attention to politics. He was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1950, serving from 1951 to 1958. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958, defeating James M. Burns, a professor at Williams College. Conte was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee, a seat that he would keep for all of his long congressional career. He served as the Ranking Minority Member of the Committee until the time of his death.
Congressional career
Conte was effective in taking care of his district, which covered most of Western Massachusetts. He helped to win defense contracts for the General Electric plant in Pittsfield. An avid fisherman and environmentalist, he introduced legislation to bring back Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River and worked to protect other natural resources. He supported federal funding of research, and secured funding for a polymer research center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As he was a passionate advocate for federal funded health research through the National Institutes of Health, the NIH continues to honor him today with grants for neurological research awarded in his name. Conte never lost an election; he was the only Republican member of Congress who did not have an opponent in the 1964 election. He is somewhat famous for wearing a pig mask in a 1983 press conference, as a protest against pork barrel spending. In 1966, along with three Republican Senators and four other Republican Representatives, Conte signed a telegram sent to Georgia Governor Carl E. Sanders regarding the Georgia legislature's refusal to seat the recently elected Julian Bond in their state House of Representatives. This refusal, said the telegram, was "a dangerous attack on representative government. None of us agree with Mr. Bond's views on the Vietnam War; in fact we strongly repudiate these views. But unless otherwise determined by a court of law, which the Georgia Legislature is not, he is entitled to express them." A member of the Republican Party, Conte was part of what was then its liberal northern tradition. Conte voted against U.S. involvement in the 1991 Gulf War. On social issues, Conte's record was more Conservative, also reflecting his Roman Catholic faith; for instance, he was opposed to abortion. He encouraged a generation of young activists whom he hired as staff. For instance, Betty Boothroyd worked for him as a legislative assistant between 1960 and 1962; she later became Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Death and burial
Congressman Conte died at age 69 of prostate cancer in Bethesda, Maryland on February 8, 1991. He is buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in his home town of Pittsfield. More than 5,000 of his constituents waited in line in weather to attend his wake at tiny All Souls Church, his childhood church, in Pittsfield. His funeral was attended by four U.S. Cabinet secretaries, 100 members of Congress, and the sitting Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle. He was eulogized by long-time political friends Tip O'Neil and Senator Edward Kennedy. He was survived by his wife Corinne, and their four children. John Olver, a Democrat, succeeded him in Congress.
Legacy and honors
1988, Conte Forum, a multi-purpose sports arena at Boston College, is named for him.
The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut is named for him.
The Silvio O. Conte National Center for Polymer Research at UMass Amherst was named in his honor, as was Building 49 of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Several universities have established Silvio O. Conte Centers for neuroscience research.
The National Archives regional center in Pittsfield is named after Conte.
West Side Elementary School in Pittsfield was renamed Silvio O. Conte Community School after his death.
