[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H11364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO HAROLD FORD, SR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Tennessee for drawing our attention to the Honorable Harold Ford.
  Ironies have its virtues. Harold Ford was my boss. I served as a 
counsel to the Select Committee on Assassinations. It was there first 
that I saw in this American a commitment to duty, a recognition of the 
seriousness of the task: The investigation into the assassination of 
President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King.
  It was there, as a young lawyer, that I was able to see the 
leadership of a young Congressperson, someone who realized that the 
American people still were querying this Government about whether they 
were satisfied at the investigation of those two very disturbing and 
horrible assassinations.
  Harold Ford went about his business with extreme dedication and 
seriousness, recognizing that the work that he would do would either 
give comfort to the American people about this system or otherwise 
cause catastrophe and confusion. I am gratified that he stood for 
finding out the truth but in a balanced and honest manner that all 
could respect.
  I have watched in these 2 years as a freshman in the U.S. Congress, 
and even on this floor I see that he cares about his colleagues, he 
cares about his constituents, and he shows it in his legislative 
agenda.
  As a Congressperson that has been reelected for 11 terms from the 
Ninth District of Tennessee, we are sure that the people of his great 
city, Memphis, and his State, love Harold Ford. They love him not only 
because he cares, but because Harold Ford is a family man.
  And let me take my hat off to N.J. and Vera Ford, for they raised a 
family that considered public service the best testament to their 
commitment to the American flag and to this Nation.
  He is someone who comes from a historic line of Fords and individuals 
who know and are part of the Tennessee history. He knows that his 
leadership has created the foundation for his three sons as he stood 
alongside of his partner. And I look forward to being able to have the 
opportunity to welcome his son, Harold Ford, Jr., to this body.
  I watched Congressman Ford most of all through the tumultuous 104th 
Congress, for he had the issues that touched the people's lives who 
have the least among our brothers and sisters: health care, welfare 
reform, children at risk, and one that I think was particularly close 
to him, something called the EITC, the earned income tax credit.
  If ever there was a piece of legislation that withstood its attack, 
it was the earned income tax credit. I think Congressman Ford saw that 
as a way to give incentives to the working poor who, through no fault 
of their own, seemed to be always accused of not wanting to work.
  Harold Ford recognized that if we gave an incentive to single parents 
and individuals who were barely over the poverty line to continue 
working, to continue going every day to work, that there would be 
something in it for America.

                              {time}  2015

  Earned income tax credit gives to those barely over the poverty line 
a credit back for working. And I saw and watched Harold Ford work 
throughout the 104th Congress time after time after time saying to 
Republicans and Democrats alike, we cannot sacrifice the earned income 
tax credit, something that most people cannot even say the words or the 
acronym, but he fought for it because he believed in those people that 
sacrificed every day and said, I am not going to be on welfare, I am 
going to work, and they deserved an incentive.
  Then when it came to welfare reform, Harold Ford was at every single 
meeting, not to beat people down, not to accuse people, but to say to 
all of us, there is a better way, that there needs to be a bridge, we 
need to protect children. I have the expertise; I am here to help. I am 
here to create that bridge. And Harold Ford did it consistently for 11 
terms, but more particularly in this 104th Congress, as the ranking 
member on ways and means subcommittee.
  So I say to his family, I say to Harold Ford, I thank you for 
teaching me. I thank you for giving those of us who would aspire to the 
calmness and the demeanor that you bring to this body, the 
evenhandedness, the compassion, the love for America, the love for 
Texans and Tennesseans, because I am a Texan, the love for those from 
Memphis, but as well the love for family and the love for those who 
cannot help themselves, I thank you for being that shining light.
  As you go off, not from this place in terms of our hearts but 
physically from this place, let me call upon you to continue your 
leadership and to continue paving the way as we move into the 21st 
century. We will always be looking to hear your voice. We know that we 
will hear it in your son, Harold, but most of all, as I close, we know 
that you will continue that service. Again. let me join my good friend 
from Tennessee, Congressman Bob Clement, to say you are a great 
Tennessean, but you are truly a great American.
  God bless you.
  
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