[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 70 (Wednesday, June 3, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING ROBERT F. KENNEDY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, 30 years ago this week, Bobby 
Kennedy was taken from us by an assassin's bullet. I remember that 
night all too clearly, and I still feel the sadness of the loss. Today 
I want to take a moment to honor this public servant who was so 
committed to the cause of social justice and fairness.
  It was my great pleasure, my great honor, to have worked with Bobby 
Kennedy, to have known him. As I worked with this man, I grew to 
respect, admire and love him. He cared so much and he cared so deeply. 
He was a man so full of life, so driven by a vision for a better world. 
He had a fierce determination to enforce the civil rights laws of this 
Nation. And later he became a one-man crusade across the country, 
speaking out against hunger and poverty. To paraphrase his brother, 
Senator Ted Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy ``saw wrong and tried to right it, 
saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.''
  This man, this great man that we lost when he was so young, he spoke 
from his heart and from his gut. He had the ability and the capacity to 
look beyond the accepted way.
  This was a man who took off his jacket, his coat. He had the ability 
to loosen his tie and to travel outside of the usual circles. He went 
to visit poor blacks in the heart of the Mississippi delta and gave 
them hope. He visited low-income whites in Appalachia to bring them 
encouragement. He went to the barrios in the Southwest and he brought 
them inspiration. He went to the reservations and brought care and 
compassion. He knew that some in this great Nation of ours were in 
trouble, and he wanted to help.
  He was a wonderful, loving, compassionate person and leader. Bobby 
Kennedy used to say that we did not need a revolution in the streets, 
but in our hearts and in our minds. He wanted people to engage in 
meaningful dialogue, on poverty, on race, on the pressing issues of the 
day.
  Today, 30 years after his death, his voice, his commitment and his 
leadership are deeply missed and remembered. I for one will never 
forget Robert F. Kennedy, his wisdom, his wit, his moral courage, and 
his vision.

                          ____________________