[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7100-H7102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EULOGY FOR THE LATE HONORABLE BILL EMERSON
(Mr. ROBERTS asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous
material.
Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Speaker, today, in the Cape Girardeau First
Presbtyerian Church, in very emotional but appropriate services, the
loving family, friends, colleagues, and constituents of Bill Emerson
bade farewell and paid tribute to our dear friend and colleague.
Mr. Speaker, just 2 days ago, Member after Member of this body rose
in an outpouring of personal tribute to our late colleague; the
comments diverse in content but uniform in affection, appreciation, and
sense of personal loss. A veteran member of this House observed the
tribute to Bill was the most far reaching in terms of both time and
members that has been witnessed in recent times.
Mr. Speaker, the American Heritage Dictionary defines `'eulogy'' as a
public speech or tribute extolling the virtues or achievements of a
person and honoring one recently deceased. The eulogy for Bill was
given by his longtime friend and trusted assistant, Lloyd Smith, and in
his remarks, Lloyd provided all of us a life portrait of Bill so
fitting to our celebration of his life. In behalf of the Speaker and
all of those present, we thank Lloyd for his most fitting, appropriate
and comforting tribute.
I commend to my colleagues and to the citizens of his beloved Eighth
Congressional District and this country that he served so well, the
eulogy in behalf of our friend, the Honorable Bill
[[Page H7101]]
Emerson, Congressman from the Eighth Congressional District of
Missouri.
The eulogy referred to is as follows:
Marie, Jo Ann, Liz, Abby, Tori, Kathryn, Mr Speaker,
Colleagues and the many friends of Bill Emerson, both here in
this beautiful sanctuary and around the area, today I have
the distinct honor and pleasure to share a few words about
the life journey of our friend Bill Emerson. This
extraordinary journey makes this day a day of celebration.
Even in his passing Bill had the last word. Now, why should
that be different? Because in my 15 years of working for him,
he always had the last word.
You know, I'm doing this today because Bill dictated it in
a memo, and I always did what Bill told me to do--
(particularly if it was in writing). Bill's biography is
known to most, and although it is well know, in rereading it
I found a grievous error. The Committee assignments were
correct, both Agriculture and the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure--but the first line in the second
paragraph reads--``Bill's political career began at the age
of 15 when he was appointed a Page in the U.S. House of
Representatives.'' Now folks, that is simply not the fact.
Bill's career began on the knee of a sage politician in
Jefferson County. Bill's political career and life's journey
began when he listened to Associate County Judge Bill (Fritz)
Reinemer tell stories about political battles. Mr. Reinemer,
Marie's father (and Bill's grandfather), was the strongest
political influence in Bill's life. He urged young William
(along with Marie's teaching guidance) to read newspapers, 2
or 3 a day, ``because you never know which one is distorting
the facts.''
As a Mayor and county school board member, Grandpa Reinemer
taught little Billy to listen to people--to listen to people.
So, the beginning of Bill Emerson's political journey was on
his Grandpa's knee.
Most people think that his Page experience was his first
trip to Washington, DC. It wasn't. He had previously traveled
there with his Mom and Margaret Kelly, our State Auditor, and
her mom.
He may have caught the national political fever on that
trip. Because his next journey to DC was in January 1953, to
see Ike (the beloved General) inaugurated as the 34th
President of the United States. He traveled by train alone at
15 years of age, and with only one brown suit.
While there Congressman Tom Curtis tracked Bill down and
offered him a Page position in the House of Representatives.
The problem was the job started in two days and Billy didn't
have a blue suit. He bought one and some black shoes and
called his Mom and told her the news. Marie had sent her 15-
year old son to Washington, DC alone on a train, and now her
only child had been appointed a Page in the U.S. House. Marie
cried, and old Judge Reinemer went straight to a Republican
Township meeting and celebrated and told them Billy wasn't
with him because he had gone to help Ike run the country--and
even better, the Republicans were in the majority in
Congress. The journey continued.
While in Page school, Bill met Paul Kanjorski, who is here
today and they were not only roommates and Pages in the
Congress, they also served together as Members. Bill and Mr.
Kanjorski were there when the Puerto Rican Nationals shot up
the House of Representatives from the gallery. They helped
carry Members from the chamber. Following this incident, the
journey would continue and would lead to graduation from the
House Page School, Westminster College, and the University of
Baltimore. The next part of his life's journey included
working with Congressman Bob Ellsworth of Kansas and
Congressman Senator Mac Mathias of Maryland, and many
corporate jobs. Along this early way, Bill married and had
two wonderful children, Liz and Abby--and then the journey
really got exciting for Southeast Missouri.
In 1979 Bill came home a 6th generation Missourian and
threw caution and his corporate career to the wind. He ran
for and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives by
defeating a 6-term incumbent (no one could believe it--since
the seat had not been held by a republican in years). His
journey mates in 1980 were his wife Jo Ann, and his new
daughter Tori, as well as Liz and Abby. Jo Ann, a politician
in her own right, pounded the streets and campaigned with
Bill side-by-side. The journey which had begun at his
granddad's knee now had come again to the U.S. House of
Representatives, but now Bill was a Member of the institution
he loved.
His campaign manager in 1980 was Peter Kinder, now a MO
State Senator. His political consultant was Al Sikes--who is
with us today.
Bill won with a coalition of conservative democrats and
republicans, and he continued to win because he never forgot
his grandfather's admonition to listen to the people. With
Bill, there were no democrats or republicians--only
constituents. (Newspaper editorial--Emercrats)
He said yes to his constituents with expanded services and
answering the mail (he loved signing those letters and
catching those mistakes).
On numerous occasions he would ask if every ``t'' had been
crossed and every ``I'' dotted. He personally wanted to make
sure the right envelope was with the right letter--even after
we started using window envelopes.
Bill was, in the words of our junior U.S. Senator, John
Ascroft, ``of the people.'' To quote the old saying he
``danced with those what brung him.''
His journey of service to the 8th district included touring
farms, the National Forest, the clear running Ozark streams,
and his beloved Mississippi River all across our 26 country
district. Bill would often comment that our Congressional
District is 5000 square miles larger than the country of
Switzerland. He loved the people and we loved him. His staff,
whom he loved and encouraged, is a legacy to Bill. Numerous
of the staff and volunteers have gone on to elective offices
and stellar careers. Although he trusted his staff, in
certain cases when the final decision was made--it was always
his decision. As he reminded us many times--``you know I am
the Congressman.''
The journey included a deep love of family. He could name
his first, second and third cousins, and all his aunts,
uncles and great aunts and uncles by name. His love and
deepest pride was for his daughters. He cherished his time
with them and would brag about Tori's grades and softball
finesse; Kathryn's soccer success and her outstanding oboe
playing abilities. He rejoiced with each new career
advancement of Liz and Abby. He loved them all and only
regretted he had not spent more time with them. And, that's
why today the family should know that the journey included
them in a very important way. Marie, Jo Ann, Liz, Abby, Tori,
and Kathryn, shared Bill with this District. His
accomplishments are their accomplishments as well.
Whether it's new bridge here at Cape, a new Highway 60,
providing food for the starving in Somalia or the hungry here
at home, or helping the disabled person, you were a part of
the journey. You shared with half a million people, the most
precious resource--your son's, your husband's and your
father's time. You allowed Bill's journey to include all of
us and we consider you family--just as he considered us
family.
Probably the pinnacle of his Congressional career was
chairing the House of Representatives on opening day of the
104th Congress, the institution he loved. A man ``of the
people,'' the journey had bridged the Republican 83rd
Congress of 1953, and the Republican Congress of 1995. We all
rejoiced with him.
There was another part of the life journey of Bill
Emerson--the spiritual side. He loved his Lord, and in recent
years and months, had been heavily involved in the Thursday
Morning Prayer Breakfast and also a small chapel group that
met each Tuesday. It seems to me that after chairing the
National Prayer Breakfast in 1993, his spiritual journey
became his mainstay--whether it was helping those that had
substance abuse problems or spreading the gospel to places
such as the former Soviet Union--he, indeed, felt ``a calling
to spiritually reach out to his fellowman.'' He loved
uplifting music and sometimes driving down the highway we
would strike up a gospel favorite. An ongoing joke was that
we needed to keep the windows rolled up because we could be
charged with noise pollution.
One of our favorite scriptures was Isaiah 40:30-31--
``Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble
and fall: but those who hope in the Lord will renew their
strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run
and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.''
Last Saturday the journey on this earth for Bill ended, but
I know, and the family knows, that Bill soared on wings like
eagles, and he now runs and is not faint.
In your program is Bill's favorite Theodore Roosevelt
quote:
``It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points
out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds
could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs, and
comes short again and again, because there is not effort
without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive
to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great
devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the
best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and
who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring
greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.''
Bill's journey into the arena of life touched many of us.
One staff member, in a note to Bill on Saturday, wrote ``I am
honored to have been a part of your team on earth and one day
we will be on the same team again.''
Today, Bill's journey on this earth will end at the place
it began--in the small community of Hillsboro, at his
grandfather's side. But his eternal journey has already
started, and the hymns he's singing now in glory, exceed his
beloved Mormon Tabernacle Choir. To his family and friends he
would state the Prince of Wales quote as he sent the troops
into battle--``Be strong to endure and resolute to
overcome.'' Another Emerson handwritten note to a departing
staff member read: ``I'm sorry I missed you, but I'm not good
at saying goodbye, and besides it's not goodbye--just altered
circumstances.''
Thank you Bill Emerson for taking us on this journey with
you. Remember, it is not ``goodbye--just altered
circumstances.''
God Bless the family and all of you.
[[Page H7102]]
REMOVAL OF NAME OF MEMBER AS COSPONSOR OF H.R. 1462
Mr. POSHARD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be
removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1462.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to second the comments made by my dear
friend, the gentleman from Kansas, about the services for Bill Emerson.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
____________________