[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 86 (Thursday, June 19, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BILL EMERSON

  (Mr. HALL of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am very honored to join with the 
gentlewoman from Missouri, Mrs. Jo Ann Emerson, and other distinguished 
Members to pay tribute to Bill Emerson.
  So many of us like to say that this is my best friend, the great 
gentleman from Missouri, et cetera, et cetera, but I can tell my 
colleagues that Bill Emerson was a good friend.
  Like the gentleman from Virginia, Frank Wolf, said, Bill and I 
traveled together. We ate dinner together often. We, the gentleman from 
Virginia and I, met every Tuesday at 4 o'clock in the chapel and prayed 
together. We talked about our families. Our wives knew each other. Our 
children knew one another.
  Bill was a great man. He taught us a lot about what it was like to be 
a humanitarian. He taught me a lot about agriculture and about being a 
great example.
  My son and he had a special thing, too, because they both had cancer 
at the same time and they died within a month of each other. Bill would 
always send my son cheesecake every week from this famous place in his 
hometown of Girardeau, I believe, and my son always looked forward to 
it.
  So I loved this guy and I really miss him. He was a great man, and 
the gentlewoman from Missouri, Mrs. Jo Ann Emerson, is carrying on in 
the great footsteps of her husband.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to join with Jo Ann Emerson and other 
distinguished Members to remember and pay tribute to Bill Emerson.
  Occasionally, during the course of our work here in Congress, the 
word, ``friends,'' is used lightly. But, I can say that Bill Emerson 
was truly my good friend. Bill and I knew each other for many years. We 
worked together, traveled together, and spend time together outside of 
work as well. Our families knew each other and became close.
  I know that Bill was also a friend to many other Members of this 
body. He cultivated relationships with both Republicans and Democrats, 
judging his colleagues not by their party affiliation, but rather by 
their integrity, dedication, and willingness to serve. His own 
integrity and dedication were unmatched. Even after he was diagnosed 
with cancer, he continued to work and serve--not to score points or 
garner sympathy but because that was simply the kind of man he was.
  Bill was also a true friend to the needy. He worked endlessly to ease 
the pain of families and children suffering from poverty. I was honored 
to serve with him as cochairs of the Congressional Hunger Center and 
work with him to educate the Congress and the Nation about hunger.
  Bill was a good man with a truly humanitarian heart. He taught me a 
lot about serving others, about being a good legislator, and about the 
true meaning of friendship. I miss him.

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