    [JPRT, 114th Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

    114th Congress               JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT          1st Session
    _______________________________________________________________________

      				MEMORIAL ADDRESSES AND

                                       OTHER TRIBUTES

                            HELD IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                                    OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TOGETHER WITH A MEMORIAL SERVICE

                                         IN HONOR OF

                                         JIM WRIGHT

                               LATE A SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

                                           AND A

                                   REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS

    July 14, 2015
    Joint Committee on Printing
    94-622

                                HON. JIM WRIGHT

                                   1922 -2015

                                   Jim Wright

                          LATE A SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

                                     AND A

                           REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS

                             MEMORIAL ADDRESSES AND
                                 OTHER TRIBUTES

                                IN THE CONGRESS OF
                                THE UNITED STATES

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                        Jim Wright

                                   Memorial Addresses and

                                       Other Tributes

                            HELD IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                                    OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TOGETHER WITH A MEMORIAL SERVICE

                                         IN HONOR OF

                                         JIM WRIGHT

                               Late a Speaker of the House

                                           AND A

                                    Representative from Texas

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                        One Hundred Fourteenth Congress

                                 First Session

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                Compiled under the direction

                                           of the

                                 Joint Committee on Printing

                                          CONTENTS
                 Biography.............................................
                                                                          v
                 Proceedings in the House of Representatives:
                    Tributes by Representatives:
                        Boehner, John A., of Ohio......................
                                                                          4
                        Burgess, Michael C., of Texas..................
                                                                          3
                        Foxx, Virginia, of North Carolina..............
                                                                          4
                        Johnson, Eddie Bernice, of Texas...............
                                                                          3
                 Memorial Service......................................
                                                                          7

                                          BIOGRAPHY

                   The insights gained by Speaker Jim Wright in his long
                 and tumultuous career can shed light on many of the
                 problems we face in the world today. A Member of Congress
                 for 34 years, Mr. Wright served with eight American
                 Presidents. He was chosen by his colleagues as Speaker of
                 the U.S. House of Representatives, the highest honor
                 Members can bestow upon one of their number. He met and
                 came to know many heads of state including Mikhail
                 Gorbachev and several of the current leaders of Middle
                 Eastern nations.
                   As majority leader, Mr. Wright helped President Carter
                 achieve the historic peace agreement between Egypt and
                 Israel. He was the principal advocate in Congress for an
                 energy policy to reduce our Nation's dependence on Middle
                 Eastern oil.
                   As House Speaker, Mr. Wright presided over the historic
                 100th Congress, considered the most productive in a
                 generation. Under his leadership, Congress passed landmark
                 legislation on such major issues as shelter for the
                 homeless, catastrophic medical assistance for the elderly,
                 safer highways and bridges, fast-track trade negotiating
                 authority and U.S. competitiveness, quality education,
                 clean water, and affordable housing. That 100th Congress
                 fashioned the beginnings of an effective war on drugs and
                 passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 as a step to
                 addressing the wrongs done to Japanese-Americans in World
                 War II.
                   Jim Wright was born in Fort Worth, TX, a city he
                 represented in Congress from 1955 through June 1989. He
                 completed public school in 10 years and was on his way to
                 finishing college within 3 years when Pearl Harbor was
                 attacked. Following enlistment in the Army Air Corps, Mr.
                 Wright received his flyer's wings and a commission at 19.
                 He flew combat missions in the South Pacific and was
                 awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of
                 Merit.
                   After the war, Mr. Wright was elected to the Texas
                 Legislature at 23. At 26, he became the youngest mayor in
                 Texas when voters chose him to head their city government
                 in Weatherford, his boyhood home.
                   Elected to Congress at 31, he served 18 consecutive
                 terms and authored major legislation in the fields of
                 foreign affairs, economic development, water conservation,
                 aviation, education, and energy. Mr. Wright received
                 worldwide recognition for his efforts to bring peace to
                 Central America.
                   Jim Wright served 10 years as majority leader before
                 being sworn in as Speaker on January 6, 1987. He was
                 reelected as Speaker in January 1989.
                   A prolific writer, he authored numerous books: ``You and
                 Your Congressman,'' ``The Coming Water Famine,'' ``Of
                 Swords and Plowshares,'' ``Reflections of a Public Man,''
                 ``Worth It All: My War for Peace,'' and ``Balance of
                 Power: Presidents and Congress from the Era of McCarthy to
                 the Age of Gingrich.'' He has also written articles for
                 major magazines and newspapers.
                   Mr. Wright also served as senior political consultant to
                 American Income Life Insurance Company. He wrote a
                 frequent newspaper column and occasionally appeared on
                 network TV news programs. Speaker Wright donated his
                 papers and memorabilia to the Texas Christian University
                 Library in Fort Worth, TX. He was also a distinguished
                 lecturer at TCU where he taught a course entitled,
                 ``Congress and the Presidents.''

                                     MEMORIAL ADDRESSES

                                             AND

                                       OTHER TRIBUTES

                                             FOR

                                         JIM WRIGHT

                         Proceedings in the House of Representatives
                                                      Tuesday, May 12, 2015
                   Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged
                 resolution (H. Res. 254) and ask for its immediate
                 consideration.
                   The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
                                         H. Res. 254
                   Resolved, That the House has learned with profound
                 sorrow of the death of the Honorable James Claude Wright,
                 Jr., former Member of the House for 18 terms and Speaker
                 of the House of Representatives for the One Hundredth and
                 One Hundred First Congresses.
                   Resolved, That in the death of the Honorable James
                 Claude Wright, Jr. the United States and the State of
                 Texas have lost a valued and eminent public servant and
                 citizen.
                   Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions
                 to the Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of
                 the deceased.
                   Resolved, That when the House adjourns today, it adjourn
                 as a further mark of respect to the memory of the
                 deceased.

                   The resolution was agreed to.
                   A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                   Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise
                 today with great pleasure to pay tribute to the life and
                 legacy of former Speaker of the House James ``Jim''
                 Wright, who passed away on Wednesday, May 6, at the age of
                 92. Speaker Wright served in Congress for more than three
                 decades and left an indelible legacy as chairman of the
                 House Public Works Committee. He was elected by his peers
                 as Speaker in 1987.
                   Jim Wright was born in Fort Worth, TX, the son of a
                 traveling salesman. He was educated at Weatherford College
                 and the University of Texas at Austin. Jim Wright
                 dedicated his life to serving the public. He bravely
                 served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and
                 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying
                 combat missions in the South Pacific. Subsequently, he was
                 elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1946. He
                 served as mayor of Weatherford, TX, from 1950 to 1954. He
                 was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1954
                 and was reelected 16 times.
                   Speaker Wright was a visionary who served the people of
                 Fort Worth and this Nation well. He is deserving of this
                 tribute. Because of his leadership, the House experienced
                 one of its most prolific periods. Speaker Wright
                 demonstrated his skill as a political leader and master
                 legislator by shepherding extraordinarily complex
                 legislation through the House. He understood that the
                 business of legislating and good politics required great
                 skill in the art of compromise.
                   Speaker Wright never backed down from a challenge, and
                 even after leaving office, he continued to serve the
                 public diligently. I was always able to consult with
                 Speaker Wright regarding difficult legislation, and he
                 never failed to provide thoughtful and principled insight.
                   Our country has lost one of its finest statesmen, and I
                 have lost a close personal friend whose wisdom, dignity,
                 and knowledge of the legislative process was
                 unquestionably enviable. He is among the most influential
                 Speakers in the history of the House of Representatives.
                   Mr. Speaker, Jim Wright is an unforgettable public
                 servant and leader. A man fueled by passion and concern
                 for others, he set the bar high for his successors. He is
                 survived by his wife, Betty, and four children. I stand
                 today to honor former Speaker of the House, Jim Wright,
                 and to thank him for his work in service to the people of
                 Texas and throughout this great Nation. He left a powerful
                 legacy that will live for generations.

                   Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now
                 adjourn.
                   The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 10 o'clock and
                 16 minutes p.m.), under its previous order and pursuant to
                 House Resolution 254, the House adjourned until tomorrow,
                 Wednesday, May 13, 2015, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour
                 debate, as a further mark of respect to the memory of the
                 late Honorable James Claude Wright, Jr.
                                                    Wednesday, May 13, 2015
                   Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, the Honorable James Claude
                 Wright, former Speaker of the House of Representatives,
                 died on May 6, 2015. On that day, I issued the following
                 statement:

                   The whole House mourns the passing of Speaker Jim Wright
                 of the State of Texas. We remember Speaker Wright today
                 for his lifelong commitment to public service, from flying
                 combat missions over the South Pacific to fighting for
                 Fort Worth on the House floor. Speaker Wright understood
                 as well as anyone this institution's closeness to the
                 people, calling the House ``the raw essence of the
                 Nation.'' It is in this spirit that we send our deepest
                 condolences to his family and community.

                   The House took several steps to honor the former
                 Speaker. The Speaker's chair on the rostrum was draped in
                 black--the same mark of respect first made upon the death
                 of Michael Kerr of Indiana, Speaker of the House in the
                 44th Congress, and most recently for Thomas Foley. The
                 Speaker's gavel rested on the rostrum during this period.
                 Outside the House Chamber, Speaker Wright's official
                 portrait in the Speaker's lobby was draped in black. A
                 book of condolences was made available for the
                 remembrances of friends and colleagues. On May 12, 2015,
                 the House adopted House Resolution 245, expressing the
                 condolences of the House upon his death, and the House
                 adjourned on that day as a further mark of respect to his
                 memory. A funeral was held on May 11, 2015, at First
                 United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, TX. The following
                 is a transcript of those proceedings: [The transcript may
                 be found on page 11].
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    				S p e a k e r  J i m  W r i g h t

                    D e c e m b e r   2 2,   1 9 2 2 - May   6,   2 0 1 5

                  A Service of Thanksgiving to God for the Life and Legacy
                                             of

                                  James Claude Wright, Jr.
                                December 22, 1922-May 6, 2015

    PRELUDE

    Ms. Peggy Graff

    PROCESSIONAL

    ``Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee''

    CALL TO WORSHIP

    Dr. Tim Bruster

    PRAYER

    PSALM 23 (In Unison)

                       The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh
                       me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me
                       beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He
                       leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His
                       name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley
                       of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for
                       thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort
                       me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
                       of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my
                       cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
                       follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell
                       in the house of the Lord forever.

    HEBREW SCRIPTURES

    Psalm 46

    Micah 6:6-8

    SOLO

    Mr. Christopher Auchter

    ``Let There Be Peace on Earth''

    TRIBUTES

    Mr. Martin Frost

    Mr. Bill Alexander

    Mr. Paul Driskell

    CONGREGATIONAL HYMN

    No. 437

    ``This is My Song''

    NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

    I Corinthians 13

    Luke 6:27-36

    SERMON

    PRAYER

    BENEDICTION

    Jim's Great Grandchildren

    CONGREGATIONAL

        HYMN

    ``When the Roll is Called Up Yonder''

                       When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound,

                       and time shall be no more,

                       And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;

                       When the saved of earth shall gather over on the
                       other shore,

                       And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

                       Refrain:

                       When the roll is called up yonder,

                       When the roll is called up yonder,

                       When the roll is called up yonder,

                       When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

                       On that bright and cloudless morning

                       when the dead in Christ shall rise,

                       And the glory of His resurrection share;

                       When His chosen ones shall gather to their home
                       beyond the skies,

                       And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

                       Refrain

                       Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till
                       setting sun,

                       Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;

                       Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth
                       is done,

                       And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

                       Refrain

    RECESSIONAL

    ``For All the Saints''

                   Please join the family for a reception in Wesley Hall
                             immediately following the service.

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                     The funeral procession will depart at 4:00 for the
                           interment at City Greenwood Cemetery in
                        Weatherford. If you are planning to join the
                       procession and are parked at Farrington Field,
                         please take the shuttle to the parking area
                        and return to the church for the procession.
                 The Reverend Dr. Tim Bruster (First United Methodist
                 Church, Fort Worth, Texas). Please be seated.
                   Hear these words of Jesus: I am the resurrection and the
                 life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will
                 live, and everybody who lives and believes in me will
                 never die.
                   Christ said, ``I am alpha and omega, the beginning and
                 the end. Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and
                 the living one. I was dead, and now I am alive, forever
                 and ever.
                   Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to draw
                 comfort from our faith and to give thanks as we celebrate
                 the life of Jim Wright.
                   We come together in grief, of course, acknowledging our
                 human loss. But we also come together in gratitude,
                 acknowledging and giving thanks for his life and his
                 legacy and for everything in his life that was a
                 reflection of the love and the grace of God.
                   May God grant us grace in this time that in pain we may
                 find comfort, in sorrow we may find joy, and in death,
                 resurrection.
                    Let us pray.
                   Our gracious and loving God, we bow in awe of Your
                 greatness and Your love. You have spoken words of life to
                 us in so many ways. You've given form and beauty to our
                 world, and all of creation sings Your praise.
                   You have given us one another to love and receive love,
                 a reflection of Your gracious love for us. And You have
                 spoken to us in the words of Scripture and in Jesus, the
                 Word made flesh, the Author of life.
                   As You speak to us now, in this service of worship, help
                 us once again to hear Your words of life as we celebrate
                 the life and legacy of Your servant, Jim.
                   In Jesus' name.
                   Amen.
                   I invite you now to turn in your worship guide to the
                 words of the 23d Psalm as we say them together:
                   ``The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
                   ``He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth
                 me beside the still waters.
                   ``He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of
                 righteousness for His name's sake.
                   ``Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
                 death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod
                 and Thy staff they comfort me.
                   ``Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
                 mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup
                 runneth over.
                   ``Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
                 of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
                 forever.''
                   The words of Psalm 46:
                   ``God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
                 trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the Earth
                 should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of
                 the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the
                 mountains tremble with its tumult.
                   ``There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
                 God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the
                 midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it
                 when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the
                 kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the Earth melts. The
                 Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
                   ``Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what
                 desolations He has brought on the Earth. He makes wars
                 cease to the end of the Earth; He breaks the bow, and
                 shatters the spear; He burns the shields with fire. `Be
                 still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the
                 nations; I am exalted in the Earth.' The Lord of hosts is
                 with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.''
                   The words of the prophet Micah:
                   `` `With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow
                 myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with
                 burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be
                 pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of
                 rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my
                 transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
                 soul?'
                   ``He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does
                 the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love
                 kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?''
                   God speaks to us in the reading of Scripture.

                 The Honorable Martin Frost (U.S. House of Representatives,
                 24th District of Texas, 1979-2005). In the words of
                 President John F. Kennedy about Jim Wright, ``No city in
                 America was better represented in Congress than Fort
                 Worth.''
                   I'm here today to speak on behalf of the scores of
                 people--many of whom, Texans--that Jim Wright helped along
                 the way with their careers. He was our mentor, our
                 colleague, and our friend. We were better public servants
                 because of Jim Wright, and many of those Members, past and
                 present, Democrat and Republican, are here with us today
                 to honor Jim.
                   In a minute, I'm going to speak about what Jim did for
                 my career, but it really speaks volumes for what he did
                 for a lot of others, too.
                    Jim Wright was an extraordinary leader both for the
                 people of Fort Worth and for our Nation. He always
                 remembered the people who sent him to Washington and
                 worked tirelessly to make our country even better every
                 day he was in office. Few Congressmen in recent times have
                 had a greater impact than our friend Jim Wright.
                   I met Jim Wright 57 years ago, in 1958, when he was a
                 young Congressman beginning his second term and I was a 16
                 year old. Jim was the guest speaker at the Temple Beth-El
                 youth group in the basement of the old synagogue building
                 on West Broadway, near downtown.
                   I had never met a national politician before, and he
                 made a deep impression on me that day. I remember to this
                 day some of what he said, and more of that a little bit
                 later.
                   Seven years later, in 1965, I showed up in Washington as
                 a young reporter covering Congress for a magazine, and the
                 first thing I did was to go see my hometown Congressman,
                 Jim Wright. Jim and his chief of staff, Marshall Lynam,
                 were very helpful to this young reporter, suggesting who I
                 should get to know on congressional committee staffs.
                 Three years later, in summer 1968, Jim helped me get a job
                 on Hubert Humphrey's national Presidential campaign staff
                 while I was a student at Georgetown Law School.
                   The last two people I saw before I headed back to Texas
                 following graduation in 1970 were Jim and Marshall. I told
                 them that I hoped to come back to DC some day as a
                 Congressman--in a neighboring district. I had no intention
                 of ever running against Jim Wright.
                   Fast forward to 1976 when I was north Texas coordinator
                 for the Carter-Mondale Presidential campaign. The Carter
                 campaign wanted to come to Texas the weekend before the
                 general election when carrying Texas was still in doubt.
                 They wanted to only stop in Dallas. As a Fort Worth boy, I
                 told them they also had to come to Cowtown and that I knew
                 that local Congressman Jim Wright would put on one hell of
                 a show for them, and that's exactly what Jim did. He
                 filled the downtown convention center with more than
                 10,000 people early in the afternoon that Sunday. It made
                 great television, and Carter became the last Democratic
                 Presidential candidate to carry Texas.
                   Shortly after that election, Jim Wright became House
                 majority leader by one vote in a hotly contested secret
                 ballot election. He certainly knew how to count.
                   Two years later, I was elected to Congress from the 24th
                 District, which, in fact, adjoined the 12th District that
                 Jim represented. Jim went to Speaker Tip O'Neill and made
                 sure I was named to the powerful House Rules Committee, an
                 appointment that almost never went to a freshman Member.
                   From that day on, Jim Wright and I became both
                 colleagues and friends. He was my mentor during the 11
                 years we served together, and I learned an enormous amount
                 just watching him in action. When I inherited the Black
                 community in southeast Fort Worth following the 1991
                 redistricting, I only used one picture in my mailing: a
                 photo of Jim Wright and me. There wasn't anything else the
                 voters in that part of my district needed to know.
                   They continued to be my base for the remainder of my 26
                 years in Congress, and just to make sure people in Fort
                 Worth knew that I had strong ties to Fort Worth, even
                 though I now lived in Dallas, he used to tell anyone who
                 would listen that I went to high school in his district at
                 Fort Worth's Paschal, and he went to high school in my
                 district at Dallas' Adamson.
                   When Jim taught a course at TCU on Congress for 20 years
                 after leaving the Congress, I was proud to be a guest
                 lecturer for him every single year. The last time I saw
                 Jim was in spring 2014, when I was working on a book about
                 Congress. We visited for about an hour in his office at
                 TCU. His body was frail, but his mind was as sharp as
                 ever.
                   I learned how to be an effective Congressman by
                 observing Jim as a colleague and as a junior partner on a
                 variety of matters that helped Fort Worth. He never forgot
                 the people who sent him to Washington. He was a stalwart
                 in his work on behalf of defense workers at what is now
                 Lockheed Martin, which was General Dynamics, and Bell
                 Helicopter in Fort Worth.
                   He played a significant role in the decision by American
                 Airlines to move its corporate headquarters from New York
                 to the Metroplex, and he was a strong supporter of DFW
                 Airport, the jobs magnet for this part of the State.
                   We worked together--and by the way, he did the heavy
                 lifting--to convince the railroad to make its right-of-way
                 available for the Trinity River Express connecting Fort
                 Worth and Dallas. No request from anyone in Tarrant County
                 was too small to win Jim's help.
                   Also, Jim's role in promoting the careers of promising
                 African Americans from Fort Worth was of great
                 significance. He brought Lorraine Miller, a young woman
                 from the southeast side of Fort Worth, to Washington to
                 work on his staff. Years later, she became the first
                 African American to serve as Clerk of the U.S. House and
                 recently served as interim national president of the
                 NAACP. Just a few years ago, Jim played a key role in the
                 election of Mark Veasey, who became the first Black
                 Congressman from Fort Worth.
                   One of Jim's greatest strengths was molding a disparate
                 group of Democrats into an effective majority when he
                 became Speaker. During his first year as Speaker in 1987--
                 and Tony and Steny, you will remember this--Congress
                 passed all 13 appropriation bills before the start of the
                 new fiscal year on October 1, something that is almost
                 never done today.
                   I remember his response to a question from the audience
                 at that speech at Temple Beth-El in 1958. He was asked
                 what a Congressman does when he feels one way about an
                 issue and his district feels the other way. He responded
                 that the job of a Congressman was to reflect the views of
                 his district as often as he could. He then added that he
                 reserved a small percentage of votes, perhaps 10 percent,
                 to vote against the majority of his district if he felt
                 something was vital in the national interest. He then
                 added that it was his responsibility to go back to his
                 constituents to explain his vote and hopefully convince
                 them that he was right and they were wrong. He added that
                 if a Congressman couldn't successfully do that, he
                 wouldn't be reelected, and that was as it should be.
                   He did a very good job following his own advice. I did
                 the same and found that he was exactly correct.
                   Fort Worth is a great city today because of Jim Wright.
                 We all owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. We will
                 never see his like again.

                 The Honorable Bill Alexander (U.S. House of
                 Representatives, First District of Arkansas, 1969-1993).
                 Jimmy and Ginger, Kerry, Lisa, and all the Wright family,
                 I feel that we are kin.
                   To all of his friends who are here today, I join you in
                 tribute to one of my dearest friends.
                   I kept up with Jim through the years, even after he left
                 Washington and returned to Texas; and following his
                 recovery from surgery, I gave him a call one day, and he
                 invited me to come to Fort Worth. So my son and I--Alex,
                 who is here--with his sister Ashley, who came to TCU at a
                 later time, boarded our plane and came to DFW. At those
                 days, Jim was driving, and so he met us at the airport.
                 I'd never been outside of DFW before, so I didn't know
                 what to expect.
                   As we left the terminal, I noticed all of the concrete
                 infrastructure that supports the airport: the entrance
                 ramps, the exit ramps, the overhead bridges, the long ride
                 to the interstate. I never saw so much concrete in all my
                 life. I turned to Jim, who at one time, as most of you
                 know, was chairman of the Public Works Committee, and I
                 said to him, ``Jim, how much money did the Public Works
                 Committee spend on this airport?'' He looked at me and
                 rolled his brow and lifted his big bushy eyebrows and he
                 said to me, ``Not a penny more than the law allowed.''
                   Jim was probably one of the most successful chairmen in
                 Congress; and with that success, people encouraged him,
                 and he ran for majority leader. As all of you probably
                 followed in the news, it was a very contentious race, and
                 on the day of the vote, I was appointed to be a judge. So
                 after the votes were cast, I adjourned with the other
                 members of the election group and counted the votes. We
                 counted them twice, and Jim won by one vote.
                   I got up from the chair in the Speaker's lounge--the
                 Speaker's lobby, we call it--rushed through the door to
                 the House Chamber, and Jim was sitting on the second row
                 on the Democratic side in the Hall of the House. I rushed
                 up to him and I said, ``Jim, you won.'' He was surprised
                 because no one knew the outcome of that election. He
                 looked at me, and he said, ``Are you sure?'' I said,
                 ``Jim, I counted the votes, and if you hadn't won, Phil
                 Burton said he would send me to Alaska.''
                   Following in the footsteps of Sam Rayburn and Lyndon
                 Johnson, Jim asserted leadership in Congress at a time of
                 confusion in the Senate and the White House, demonstrating
                 a unique ability to command our Nation's political
                 resources to get things done. This went across the aisle
                 to the Republicans and even down Pennsylvania Avenue to
                 the White House, which is a million miles away if you
                 serve in Congress sometimes.
                   Jim Wright had fought in World War II to defend the
                 values of the Greatest Generation, as Tom Brokaw describes
                 this generation, a generation of men and women united in
                 common purposes of family, country, duty, honor, courage,
                 and service. During World War II, he flew many combat
                 missions. I haven't really been able to discern exactly
                 how many yet because there's such a debate over it. Maybe
                 somebody will tell me before I go back to Washington. He
                 served as a bombardier and was awarded the Distinguished
                 Flying Cross for his bravery.
                   Jim believed that government should serve the people as
                 well as the economic interests, which also must be
                 represented, and provide Federal assistance to communities
                 and States like Arkansas, where I'm from. It's in need of
                 capital development in order to provide infrastructure to
                 try to attract industry and jobs for our people. That was,
                 in his view, providing building blocks for the foundation
                 of the economic development that benefits all of us. All
                 you've got to do is look around in Texas a little bit to
                 find out if it works.
                   The criticism of Speaker Wright, which is in the news,
                 instead of all of the accomplishments that we know he
                 achieved, his strong leadership came from a changing
                 Congress. Some of my former colleagues from Congress are
                 here today, and they know what I'm talking about.
                   Beginning with the 1968 election, which was my first
                 election to Congress, the ideals and values of the
                 Greatest Generation began to evolve. A Congress run by
                 Southern Democrats, who chaired mostly the important
                 committees in the Congress, was gradually replaced by a
                 younger generation of Congressmen and Senators, many of
                 them in the other party. When he left Congress, even his
                 political enemies often remarked that, had he stayed in
                 Congress, he would have been the greatest Speaker since
                 Henry Clay.
                   His time as Speaker laid down historic markers. He was
                 the last great figure in Congress to keep alive the idea
                 of development--that came from the New Deal--that would
                 help our economy.
                   After him came what we call Reaganomics and the tidal
                 wave of polarization of our two political parties and the
                 continuing mindless cannibalism which we can still see
                 evident today between the parties and even in the parties
                 in Congress.
                   Criticism of Speaker Wright's forceful leadership came
                 from Republicans and Democrats alike; although, at the
                 time he stepped down, the principal antagonists came from
                 within our own party. I was there, and I know who they
                 are.
                   What followed was a profound change in the power
                 structure in Congress, shifting away from the power and
                 authority lodged in a handful of key Southern committee
                 chairmen to a dispersion of power among proliferating
                 committees and subcommittees, encouraging intensifying
                 rivalries and even political fratricides throughout the
                 House. His departure marked the end of an era when
                 Southern Democrats dominated in both the House and the
                 Senate, along with a gradual evolution of the Congress
                 toward social issues.
                   It marked the transition from Southern leadership of
                 Congress to a growing concentration of power of the
                 Democratic Party in our Nation's biggest cities, many of
                 them in the North, opening a widening rift between our
                 Nation's small towns and rural areas and the political
                 interests of the inner cities. The way was opened for
                 lobbyists to shift attention away from schools and roads
                 and bridges and water systems that helped our people to
                 special interests of Wall Street banks and a commercial
                 agenda.
                   A fluent speaker of Spanish, he took the initiative to
                 intervene in the political crisis in Nicaragua and crafted
                 peace talks that laid the foundation for elections. When I
                 assisted him in this so-called ``junket,'' in his endeavor
                 I found that what we tried to do generated much
                 consternation among President Reagan's White House staff.
                 Later, another great Texan, James Baker, observed that
                 what Jim Wright did with his intervention in Nicaragua
                 turned the corner for that nation and helped the United
                 States and Nicaragua to come to better terms with one
                 another.
                   Jim Wright was not only a master of the political
                 structure and the rules in Congress, he also was an
                 author, a professor. He lectured at Texas Christian
                 University with eagerness to inspire and guide our
                 Nation's youth.
                   In the tradition of Sam Houston and Sam Rayburn, Jim
                 Wright was a giant. I was his chief deputy whip in the
                 Congress, the worst job in the House of Representatives,
                 but it was worth all the knocks and the cuts and the
                 bruises and the criticism that I endured to fight for the
                 values established by the Greatest Generation until the
                 ideals were changed by a new breed of voter who believes
                 that Washington is not a solution, rather, Washington is
                 the problem.
                   He was my dear friend, and I stood with him in every
                 fight for the values that won World War II and provided
                 the building blocks and foundation for the greatest
                 economy on Earth.
                   God bless Jim Wright.

                 Paul Driskell (Special Assistant, Majority Leader Jim
                 Wright). Martin, Bill, Betsy, Mike, Kenneth, Mr. Leader,
                 Steny Hoyer--the one man in this sanctuary today who knows
                 the full weight and measure and the responsibilities of
                 the job this prince of peace executed so beautifully for
                 so many years. Dear Steny, thank you for your presence
                 today. How very special, how honored he would be, how much
                 he would love this congregation today. This is a
                 delegation of community builders.
                   Mr. Wright loved Sam Rayburn dearly, and he often quoted
                 him; and of course many people wondered why Mr. Rayburn
                 went back to Bonham, TX, after announcing he was going to
                 leave the House, and Rayburn's answer was simple, ``Bonham
                 is a place where people know it when you're sick, and
                 where they care when you die.''
                   You have validated Jim Wright's recitation of that
                 quote, all of you today, by honoring him in coming here.
                 You knew he was ill, and you cared that he died. How he
                 would celebrate you. How he must be enjoying this. He
                 loved people of accomplishment. He loved people who
                 contributed and built.
                   Mr. Rayburn used to always say, ``A jackass can kick a
                 barn down; it takes a carpenter to build one.'' It's no
                 accident that our Lord was fathered by a carpenter--and
                 parented by a carpenter in his early years.
                   I'd like to give you a sense of Speaker Wright, Jim
                 Wright, and my friend. It may be unique. As I have thought
                 about him so much and as I visited him in those final
                 days, things came to me that I would have never imagined.
                 He was, in fact, the first gifted multitasker. Now, if you
                 know anything about Jim, he despised anything to do with
                 technology, but he was a multitasker. Let me explain what
                 I mean.
                   February 7, 1985, after about 30 days, some of the
                 people in this room--Tony, John--had been working
                 diligently because Mr. O'Neill had told us privately he
                 was going to retire. So we were trying to collect the
                 requisite number of votes for him to become Speaker of the
                 House 2 years out.
                   February 7, 1985, 11 o'clock in the morning, a national
                 press conference was held in the office that Steny Hoyer's
                 offices are in today. He met the national press. He was
                 surrounded by his colleagues. He was surrounded by people
                 who loved him and wished well for him, and he made the
                 announcement that he had achieved the requisite number of
                 votes to capture his dream, to be Speaker of the House. He
                 put at peace, if you will, a body that's not given to
                 peace easily about the next years and how things would
                 follow.
                   Fifteen minutes later, he grabbed me by the arm and
                 escorted me and my wife, Donna, up the back stairs with 31
                 other people to the House Chaplain's office where Chaplain
                 Ford married us at Henry Clay's desk, the Great
                 Compromiser. Then, he walked back downstairs with us. We
                 had a reception in the office. He pulled Donna and me
                 aside and he said, ``I only have two things to tell you
                 two: Paul, always hold her hand, and never go to bed
                 mad.''
                   Mr. Speaker, sometimes you set the bar too high. I have
                 removed pillows from my bed so as not to elevate the
                 temptation for Donna to smother me.
                   There are so many things privately that I loved about
                 him and that we shared. He had a passionate love for
                 boxing. He knew boxing like Nat Fleischer, the famous
                 author who recorded almost everything of significance
                 about American heavyweight boxing. We went to a fight. We
                 went to Golden Gloves. We went to the Olympic trials. We
                 went to tons of professional fights. It was like going to
                 that fight with Nat Fleischer, and he would be sitting
                 there and he would be reciting to you the ring scores of
                 the Firpo-Dempsey fight. He knew every hobby and interest
                 he had, he wanted to know everything there was to know
                 about it. If you ever saw the roses that he cultivated,
                 you'd understand that in spades. He was a gifted
                 horticulturist. He was a great teacher.
                   Kay, you and I sat just about where Steny was sitting 2
                 years ago, 2\1/2\ years ago, and you told me how he taught
                 you and Ginger, Jenny, and Lisa about God. In fact, he
                 used a wagon wheel and said that was the universe and God
                 was, indeed, the hub; and the spokes represented the
                 people, and, of course, the rim, where all the damage and
                 impact takes place, was the furthest from God. He
                 admonished you that it was your job, it was your
                 responsibility, it was a testament of your faith to move
                 closer down those spokes because you would be closer to
                 more people, and as you were closer to more people, you'd
                 be closer to God. What a gift.
                   I've often wondered, and I think everyone in this
                 sanctuary today wonders, why God lets us see certain
                 things at certain times. It seems rather odd. Last week,
                 just the day before his passing and only a few days after
                 my last visit with him, there was a documentary on about
                 George Foreman. I happened to turn it on the other night.
                 George Foreman, the famous heavyweight, struck fear and
                 terror in everyone's heart--undefeated, knocked poor Joe
                 Frazier down eight times. The interviewer asked him a
                 question. He said, ``Who was the greatest champion of all
                 time in your estimation?'' George Foreman didn't hesitate.
                 He said, ``Muhammad Ali.'' That stunned the interviewer.
                   Muhammad Ali had defeated George Foreman in Zaire,
                 Africa, and usually when a boxer loses to another one, it
                 was a lucky punch or you're just a little better that
                 night, not the greatest champion that ever lived. He
                 didn't hesitate. He said, ``Muhammad Ali.''
                   The interviewer said, ``Why? Why do you choose him?'' He
                 said, ``Well, if you saw the fight in the eighth round, he
                 hit me twice in the face.'' If any of you remember or
                 happened to have seen it, George Foreman began to
                 cartwheel. He began to turn and fall to the floor. As he
                 was falling, Muhammad Ali, as all boxers are trained all
                 their life to do, cocked his arm to hit him with what is
                 known as the ``killing punch.''
                   George Foreman said, ``I looked up out of my left eye,
                 just partially conscious, knowing I was going to the
                 floor, and he never threw that punch. So for me, he's not
                 the greatest champion that ever lived for the punches he
                 threw; it's for what he didn't do. It's the punch he
                 didn't throw.''
                   The very people who besmirched and impugned this prince
                 of peace at the end of his public career, when they fell
                 on hard times and they fell by the sword they had so
                 recklessly wielded, not once in private--and certainly
                 never in public--did Jim Wright throw that punch. He could
                 not retaliate. He didn't just talk Christian forgiveness;
                 he lived it. His higher calling at that time was to find a
                 way to inspire students at TCU to engage in public service
                 and to think about the possibilities of what they could
                 build, like the beautiful people in this room today. He
                 didn't throw that punch.
                   I was 15 years old, standing in front of a black and
                 white television, and I watched Robert Kennedy say, ``When
                 he shall die, take him and cut him out into stars, and he
                 shall make the face of Heaven so fine that all the world
                 will be in love with night and pay no worship to the
                 garish Sun.''
                   I didn't know at 15 just what that meant. At 65, I
                 marvel how Bobby Kennedy could have mustered the strength
                 and the insight to say that about the brother he loved, in
                 some ways his best friend, and, oh, by the way, in
                 passing, the President of the United States.
                   I understood because of this church and because of my
                 association with him that all of us have a spark of
                 divinity. We are all made in God's image, and that spark
                 is there, but what I didn't understand was that there are
                 a special few who possess a flame, a torch. It's bigger.
                 It's more committed. It's something we can appreciate.
                 It's not necessarily something we readily understand.
                   It's not by accident that there's an eternal flame that
                 burns at John Kennedy's grave and why, for all the
                 accomplishments: the Peace Corps, the space program, all
                 of those things--no. That's part of it. That's why
                 millions go there to pay respects. The part of it is that
                 during the most sensitive time in our Nation's history,
                 when we were the closest to engaging in a nuclear
                 holocaust, when every adviser that that President had was
                 admonishing him to take advantage of the tactical and
                 strategic position we occupied for those precious few days
                 and strike Cuba with nuclear weapons, he didn't throw that
                 punch. We're all breathing good air and loving our friends
                 and conducting our lives because of that divine torch.
                   The thing I think I will miss most is a private passion
                 that Jim had and I shared. He loved movies. The singular
                 thing that we really appreciated together was we happened
                 to think that Robert Duvall was the greatest American
                 actor that's ever lived.
                   Jim's favorite movie was ``Tender Mercies,'' and my
                 favorite film was ``The Natural.'' In ``The Natural,''
                 there's a scene--of course, all the ladies in here know
                 Robert Redford was the natural. He was Roy Hobbs, the
                 gifted baseball player. Robert Duvall was the cynical
                 sportswriter; Wilford Brimley was the crusty old coach.
                   There's that beautiful soliloquy where the coach walks
                 in and he says--I mean, pardon me, Robert Duvall walks in
                 and says to the coach, ``Coach, who is this Roy Hobbs?''
                 The coach turns on his heels and says, ``I don't know who
                 Roy Hobbs is. I just know he's the best there is and the
                 best there ever will be.''
                   Jim Wright, you are the ``Natural.''
                   There probably has never been a man in American history
                 who I can recall that so eloquently used the English
                 language. He helped those of us who only have sparks
                 appreciate the flame with his application of our language.
                   It seems a shame that I can't find words in my language
                 to encompass all that he was, and yet he will always be.
                 Only in Spanish: Vaya con Dios--go and be with God. Light
                 of our land. Vaya con Dios, friend of my life.

                 Reverend Bruster. I invite you to hear now the words of
                 the Apostle Paul from the first letter to the Corinthians,
                 chapter 13:
                   ``If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels,
                 but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging
                 cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all
                 mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so
                 as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
                 nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand
                 over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I
                 gain nothing.
                   ``Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or
                 boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its
                 own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not
                 rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. Love bears
                 all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
                 all things.
                   ``Love never ends.''
                   Paul ends that chapter with the words, ``And now faith,
                 hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of
                 these is love.''
                   The words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, a sermon on
                 the plain:
                   ``But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do
                 good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
                 pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the
                 cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes
                 away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to
                 everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your
                 goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you
                 would have them do to you.
                   ``If you love those who love you, what credit is that to
                 you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do
                 good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to
                 you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those
                 from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you?
                 Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
                 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting
                 nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will
                 be children of the Most High; for He is kind to the
                 ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your
                 Father is merciful.''
                   Jim had a wonderful, quick wit as we all know. His
                 responses to glowing introductions illustrated that point.
                 Two years ago, when Cissy Day was introducing him to a
                 Sunday school class where he was about to speak, she told
                 a story at the end of her introduction of something that
                 he had done that was very kind and a note that he had
                 written to her that was a kind note that she treasured.
                 When he stood up then to speak, he looked over at her and
                 he said, ``I had forgotten how nice I used to be.''
                   After a glowing introduction at another event, he said,
                 ``An event of this dimension is just terribly hard on
                 one's humility. Try as I might to look and sound humble, I
                 just can't quite pull it off.''
                   Then he quoted Jesus: ``Let your light so shine before
                 others that they may see your good works and give glory to
                 your Father who is in Heaven.''
                   He said, ``You know, when I read that, I realized he
                 doesn't say, `Let your light so shine so that others may
                 see your good works and think what a great guy.' '' Then
                 he went on to say, ``The purpose of good works is not to
                 get bragged on.'' Then he said this, ``But if I'm honest
                 with you, I guess I'm going to have to let you in on a
                 little personal confession. Being bragged on, I like it. I
                 eat it up.''
                   On another occasion, he said after an introduction,
                 ``Undeserved as though an introduction like that is,
                 indeed I want you to know that I liked it. I liked every
                 word of it.''
                   Then he said, ``There are two kinds of people who
                 appreciate flattery: men and women.''
                   So since Jim made that confession, I guess it's OK that
                 we tell of his good works and that we laud him. I hope
                 that he would appreciate that we do it not just pointing
                 at Jim, but pointing at the source of all of that for Jim;
                 pointing not just to Jim, but beyond to the legacy that he
                 received from other people, and beyond Jim to his faith
                 and his commitment to Christ that guided his life.
                   He leaves a great legacy, and our words hold up those
                 great attributes not to point just to Jim, but to also
                 point to his faith and commitment and the One in whom he
                 had faith and the One that he sought to follow, and also
                 to see Jim's life as an example to all of us.
                   I want to think about that with you for just a few
                 minutes. Jim was an encourager. As he sought to be a
                 follower of Christ and as he put that into practice in his
                 life, he knew the importance of encouragement. He was an
                 encourager.
                   In the Book of Acts, we meet a man named Joseph. He was
                 from Cyprus. But we don't know him as Joseph. We almost
                 never hear that. After his first introduction in the Book
                 of Acts, he's known by his nickname, and his nickname was
                 Barnabas. The disciples, the apostles, nicknamed him
                 Barnabas because Barnabas means ``son of encouragement.''
                 He was an encourager. Imagine having your nickname mean
                 one who encourages. We could call Jim that, a Barnabas,
                 because he was. He was a son of encouragement.
                   How many of us in this room, I wonder, have, in our
                 possession, notes of encouragement from Jim Wright? I
                 would guess a lot of us. Those notes arrived at a time of
                 discouragement, perhaps, or a time of grief or a time of
                 uncertainty or a time of failing confidence or a time of
                 waning courage. A note of encouragement arrived at just
                 the right time.
                   What is the value of those notes? I was thinking about
                 that and thought, the law of supply and demand would say
                 those notes are not worth anything at all; there are too
                 many of them on the market. But the value of those notes
                 goes far beyond that. They're valued in a different way.
                 One person told me that she had such a note in a plastic
                 sleeve and carried it with her for a long time.
                   What an encourager, not just the notes, but the right
                 words spoken at the right moment.
                   We give thanks to God for Jim because Jim was a
                 peacemaker, and we have heard our speakers talk eloquently
                 about his peacemaking efforts. He often quoted Jesus,
                 again, from the Sermon on the Mount: ``Blessed are the
                 peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.''
                   He was a peacemaker. He was a man of strong convictions
                 but yet able to see and to respect the perspective of
                 another and to bring people together in ways that make for
                 peace. He was, as a peacemaker, a child of God, as Jesus
                 said.
                   Now, peacemaking extended beyond what you may know about
                 to his role as a parent. His daughters, Ginger and Kay,
                 were fighting one time as sisters do, and Jim intervened
                 as the peacemaker. He made each one of them go to her room
                 and write an essay, entitled, ``Why I Love My Sister.'' He
                 held on to those essays for 30 years, and then he gave
                 them back to the girls so they could read them.
                   Kay wrote this: ``Well, I suppose she's nice. Her
                 friends seem to like her.''
                   Ginger wrote: ``Well, she seems to like my clothes
                 because she wears them all the time.''
                   He closed the door after reading those essays and
                 guffawed, as you can imagine.
                   Ginger's comment, when she was telling me about it, was,
                 ``And he thought the Sandinistas and Contras were tough.''
                   Jim was a servant leader; we know that. His
                 accomplishments were many. In serving his beloved
                 Weatherford and his beloved Fort Worth and his beloved
                 Nation, he was a servant leader. Whether that was as a
                 father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, a soldier, a
                 State legislator, a Scoutmaster, a Golden Gloves boxing
                 coach, a Sunday school teacher, a church leader, a mayor,
                 a Congressman, a majority leader, a Speaker of the House,
                 a teacher, or a friend, he was a servant leader--again,
                 following the words of Jesus that we are to be servants of
                 one another if we're ever to be called great.
                   His life was committed to compassion and justice. I read
                 those wonderful words from Micah a moment ago. Micah was
                 writing to a nation, to his people, who had lost their
                 way, who had lost sight of that which was most important.
                 They had the right words. They had the right rituals. But
                 Micah wrote that that was all empty and reminded them of
                 what was most important that they should have known
                 already.
                   He said, ``What has he told you, O mortal, but what is
                 good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do
                 justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with
                 your God.''
                   On so many occasions, I saw Jim share his faith; I saw
                 Jim share his values, heard him speak in this pulpit. A
                 number of years ago--I think it was in 2006--my wife,
                 Susan, who was working at William James Middle School as
                 an academic coordinator, shared that with Jim, and he
                 said, ``I used to go to William James Middle School.'' She
                 invited him then to come and speak to the students, and
                 she had Jim Wright Day, and he spent most of the day at
                 the school. He talked with those students, and he had a
                 reception in the library where he shared with them.
                   There was a big assembly in the auditorium, and it's one
                 of those old classic schools with a big auditorium, a
                 balcony in the back, and it was packed with middle school
                 kids. I couldn't believe my eyes and my ears when he spoke
                 to them. You could hear a pin drop. He was a master.
                   He shared with those kids the story of the Good
                 Samaritan. I remember how he started into that. He said,
                 ``There are a lot of different beliefs.'' He said, ``There
                 is a man who lived a long time ago. His name was Jesus. He
                 was a very good man, and a lot of different people
                 believed a lot of different things about him. But he told
                 some stories that taught some important values, and
                 everybody agrees on that.''
                   He told the story of the Good Samaritan. You know the
                 story. The man is beaten and robbed, lying on the side of
                 the road. Along come two people who pass by on the other
                 side, and then comes the Samaritan who is the outsider in
                 the story, and he's the one who helps the man. I remember
                 Jim said to those kids, ``This illustrates really three
                 philosophies of life, the three ways of approaching
                 life.''
                   He said, ``There is the philosophy of the thieves, and
                 their philosophy is what's yours is mine, and I'll take
                 it.'' He said, ``That philosophy still lives in attacking
                 others and cheating people and greedy business practices
                 and being envious of others and whatever belittles or
                 injures or degrades another person. It's not always
                 physically violent. We rob others by slander or gossip
                 when we injure their reputations.''
                   He said, ``The second philosophy is that of the two men
                 who saw the wounded man but offered no help. Their central
                 operating principle is what is mine is all mine, and I'll
                 keep it for myself. That's less violent, but in its own
                 way it's as selfish as the first.'' He said, ``We can come
                 up with all kinds of excuses to justify not helping those
                 injured along life's highway. We deceive ourselves and
                 ignore their suffering by saying that they're not our
                 responsibility.''
                   Then he said, ``Then there's the Samaritan. This was
                 Jesus' model for humanity. He was a stranger and a child
                 of another religious heritage, but he extended himself
                 freely to help one in need. His philosophy is what's mine
                 is yours if you need it, and I'll share it with you.''
                   Then he said, ``Jesus told that story in answer to a
                 question. The question was, `Who is my neighbor?' '' Then
                 he told those kids, ``There are these three philosophies
                 of life, and there's only one that makes the world a
                 better place. There's only one that makes your
                 relationships better, and it's that of the Samaritan. And
                 we each can choose how we live.''
                   Now, that illustrates so much how Jim lived and how he
                 wanted to pass on that legacy to those who came after him.
                   Much has been spoken about his ability to forgive, and I
                 cannot but think, as we meditate on those words of Jesus,
                 the words of Paul about love, Jesus' words about
                 forgiveness, and I can't help but think of the quote that
                 he often gave from Abraham Lincoln.
                   Someone once asked Lincoln if he believed in destroying
                 his enemies, and Lincoln replied, ``Of course, I would
                 like to destroy my enemies because I've never wanted
                 enemies. The only way I know satisfactorily to destroy an
                 enemy is to convert him to a friend.''
                   The Fetzer Institute has done a lot of research on
                 forgiveness, and they define it in a way that I think is
                 so meaningful, and that is, forgiveness is the difficult,
                 intentional process of letting go of an old reality and
                 opening up one's self to a new one. Jim lived that
                 difficult, intentional process of being able to let go of
                 an old reality and opening up and living a new one.
                   One friend emailed me and said, ``He was the poster
                 child for amazing grace.''
                   That's the legacy that we celebrate today, and there's
                 so much more that could be said. The challenge for all of
                 us today was how do we winnow it down. But you know what?
                 You carry those stories of Jim; you carry those memories;
                 you carry that legacy. Share it; share it with one
                 another; and do your best. Let us all do our best to live
                 it.
                   In the obituary that you were handed as you came in,
                 there is a favorite quote of his from Horace Greeley,
                 ``Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take
                 wings, those who cheer today may curse tomorrow. Only one
                 thing endures--character.''
                   Well done, Jim Wright, good and faithful servant.
                   Let us pray.
                   Gracious God, we give You thanks for the hope that faith
                 in You gives. For all Your people who have laid hold on
                 that hope, especially we thank You for Your faithful
                 servant Jim Wright. We thank You for all Your goodness to
                 him and for everything in his life that was a reflection
                 of Your love and Your grace. We give You thanks for his
                 faith, for his love for and his commitment to You and to
                 his family and to his friends, to his Nation.
                   We give You thanks for his kindness, his passion for
                 justice, his courage, and his strength of character.
                 Loving God, hold us and all who mourn in Your love, and
                 comfort this loving family and comfort us, his friends.
                 Help us all to be ever mindful of Your sustaining
                 presence.
                   We offer a prayer in the name of Jesus.
                   Amen.
                   In just a few moments, the family will process out, and
                 you're invited to Wesley Hall, which is across the garden
                 in that adjacent part of the building, for a reception
                 with the family. Please note the instructions that are on
                 the back of your bulletin, and I invite you to please
                 remain seated, if you will, until the ushers direct you.
                   Ginger shared with me one of her favorite memories of
                 the opening of the Presidential display, the new
                 Presidential display in the early 1990s, a room turned
                 into a replica of LBJ's office there in Austin. There was
                 an antique pump organ there signed by all the Members of
                 Congress, and Jake Pickle sat down at the organ and
                 started playing a hymn. The Congressional Members and
                 former Members there started singing the hymn, and it's
                 the hymn that we're going to sing in just a moment after
                 Jim's great-grandchildren give us our benediction.
                   A benediction isn't really a prayer. It can be a prayer
                 of course, but traditionally, it is not. The word
                 ``benediction'' literally means ``a good word.'' The
                 great-grandchildren, led by the oldest, Campbell, will
                 give us their good word.
                   Will you come now.

                 Campbell Brown (Jim Wright's great-granddaughter,
                 accompanied by Jim Wright's great-grandchildren). Hi, my
                 name is Campbell Brown. Everyone on stage with me is a
                 great-grandchild of Jim Wright or, as we like to call him,
                 ``Great Pop.''
                   None of us were born when he was in Congress, but we all
                 knew his love for this great country, especially Fort
                 Worth. We are told by many people that he often said, ``I
                 want to make the world a better place for my children,
                 their children, and their children's children.'' Well,
                 that's us. Next to me are the children of the
                 grandchildren. We are the next generation.
                   We would like to ask you to honor our Great Pop for the
                 rest of the day by thinking about how you can make the
                 world a better place. As you walk out of the church and
                 for the rest of today, think about peace, not war; think
                 about abundance, not scarcity; think about love, not hate,
                 and hope, not despair.
                   Please help us lift Great Pop to his next rollcall by
                 singing the final hymn.
                   Thank y'all for coming today.