[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1176-E1177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DEATH OF THE HONORABLE BILL EMERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 25, 1996

  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Missouri, Mr. 
Clay, for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, this week the people of Missouri, the House of 
Representatives, and the United States lost a great man--and I lost a 
friend.
  I want to extend my condolences to his daughters and his wife Jo Ann 
and thank them for sharing Bill with us.
  Bill Emerson's loss will be sorely felt in the Chambers of this House 
which he so loved.

[[Page E1177]]

  Bill wrote the book on kindness and decency. He was a warm, gentle, 
good person--the kind we need more of these days.
  He loved this institution, he loved the people who work here, and he 
loved representing Missouri's Eighth Congressional District.
  Bill Emerson worked hard and he worked well. Thanks to Bill, the 25 
million Americans who rely on food stamps for sustenance will continue 
to get the Federal help they need to make it from day to day. And 
that's quite a legacy.
  As Malcolm Forbes said, ``You can easily judge the character of 
others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to 
them.''
   Bill Emerson treated everyone well--from the Speaker of the House to 
the congressional pages, and everyone in between.
  I am honored to have worked with him and I join the thousands of 
others in mourning his loss today.

                          ____________________