[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               MIGHTY JAZZ DEFEATED BY THE MIGHTIER BULLS

  (Mr. COOK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. 
Jackson].
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, we are not worthy, we are not 
worthy, we are truly not worthy.
  I was approached during the NBA championship series by my colleague 
from Utah, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Cook made a friendly wager, that if the 
Chicago Bulls had won the championship, that he would indeed wear a 
Chicago Bulls hat for the remainder of a day.
  ``I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career,'' a Bull once 
said; ``I've almost lost 300 games, 26 times I have been trusted to 
take the game-winning shot and missed.''
  Character, Mr. Speaker, character speaks for both the Utah Jazz and 
the Chicago Bulls, of whom we are both extremely proud.
  I want to express our condolences once again to Shannon Anderson and 
his family, and to all of the Utah Jazz that played with such 
character, with such determination, we look forward to beating the Utah 
Jazz for a sixth time.
  Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, we certainly look forward to a repeat 
performance, and I think the result is going to be a little bit 
different.
  I am here today to honor the promise. My team, the mighty Jazz, was 
defeated in the NBA finals by the mightier Bulls, and let me just make 
the statement as I promised the gentleman from Illinois. I did not say 
I would go that far.
  I had a busy week, and I asked my chief of staff to help me with this 
piece, but it turns out she is not a sports fan. Now, as a Utah woman, 
she knows two names in basketball: Stocton and Malone; actually in Utah 
it is Stocton to Malone, and that is just one word.
  Now I told her that there is a man out there named Michael Jordan. It 
is not Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan; and he is a very fine player, 
particularly when he has the flu. If it were not for this man, I told 
her, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Jackson] would be standing here 
today in a Jazz cap. ``One ball player can't be that important,'' she 
said. My staff is chipping in to send her to a Bulls game the next 
season. In the meantime perhaps I could use this cutout as a visual aid 
to explain the wonder of Michael.
  To Mr. Jordan, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Jackson] and to all 
the Bulls team, congratulations on an outstanding playoff series, and 
we will definitely see them next year.

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