[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 86 (Thursday, June 19, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BILL EMERSON

  (Mrs. EMERSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to my 
late husband, Bill Emerson, who spent 16 wonderful years as a Member of 
this Chamber, 2 years as a page, and who died a year ago this Sunday, 
June 22.
  I remember so well when Bill was first elected in 1980 and the 
excitement and joy that we felt after his election. And I can picture 
vividly so many memories: that first dinner in Statuary Hall, which was 
given by Bob Michel, who was then the Republican leader of the House; 
the many trips he, Mickey Leland, and Tony Hall made to Ethiopia, 
Somalia, the Sudan and other parts of Africa; fighting for flood relief 
throughout our district, standing up for the folks he represented; and 
the most recent memories of the days he sat in the Speaker's chair and 
oversaw the business of our House.
  He was so proud of the fact that he was the only Republican in the 
104th Congress who had actually been here during the last Republican 
Congress in 1953 and 1954 when he served as a page with our colleague, 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Paul Kanjorski, and he was real 
excited on the first day of the 104th Congress, too, when he was asked 
to preside over the House.
  It was Bill who taught me all about putting people before politics 
and ideas before ideology. He was my best friend and mentor, and gave 
me the tools that I needed to run for this seat in Congress and to try 
to be a productive Member of this legislative body.
  It was he who taught me the importance of friendship in a place that 
can be very lonely, and the importance of seeking out relationships and 
friendships with our colleagues across the aisle, which is why I have 
chosen to speak this morning from this side of the aisle.
  Bill, I know you are in a much better place now, though your friends 
and colleagues and I miss you very much, but we are all better off for 
knowing you. And when I look at the person sitting in the Speaker's 
chair every day, I see your smiling face and hear your deep and 
resonant voice and know that you are looking down on all of us, 
encouraging us to do the right thing as we fight for the very folks who 
sent us here to represent them. Thank you so very much for giving me 
and your friends here today the benefit of knowing you.

                          ____________________