[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H10939-H10940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE DAVID E. BONIOR, MEMBER OF CONGRESS

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, today, and I do not want to use the word 
``last,'' but just in terms of chronology, today is the last day that 
our great minority whip, Democratic whip of the House, the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) will serve in that capacity while the House 
is in session.
  We will benefit for years to come from his service, 10 years, an 
historic 10 years as Democratic whip of the House, 4 years as chief 
deputy whip before that. That incredible experience is marked not only 
by longevity, but by the quality of his service. Leaders for all time 
to come will benefit from the example that he has set as a leader. 
Working families into perpetuity in our country have benefited and will 
continue to benefit from his championing of their issues. They have no 
greater champion. Working families in America have no greater champion 
than David Bonior. He has been a model leader. He has been a tireless 
worker for workers. We all owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bonior).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman 
yield?
  Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I join in this tribute 
to a career of remarkable service as a Member of this Congress, as our 
chief deputy whip, and as our whip for the last 10 years to my friend, 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), who will be stepping down 
from that position of whip and will be going on to run a successful 
race for Michigan. I have supported him in everything he has ever run 
for, and I plan to continue to support him. I have never been more 
proud of a public servant.
  I have to say to the Members of this House and to the public that may 
be listening, this is an individual that all of us can be proud that 
his district sent him to Washington because he never, never once veered 
from the track of taking care of the needs of his district. And as the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) has pointed out, on behalf of 
working families, he made it part of our agenda, he made it part of our 
lexicon, he made it part of our principles and part of our morality. He 
has done it in almost every meeting that I have been in. He has done it 
on our motions to recommit.
  We are not always given the best forum here to pursue these issues, 
but he has made sure that every opportunity we had, we did do it. Why? 
Because of his strong convictions about a notion of economic and social 
justice in this country, that those individuals who get up and go to 
work every day and work hard, that they ought to have the rewards to be 
able to support their families. If they fall on economic hard times, 
there ought to be an income supplement program so they do not have to 
lose their car or house or take their children out of school.
  Mr. Speaker, many people we are seeing in this recession have worked 
15, 20, 30 years, and now they find themselves unemployed. He has been 
a champion.
  I had the pleasure of traveling with David to Central America in 
pursuit of social and economic justice in Central America at a time 
when the violence was unbelievable. Many people forget what was taking 
place in Central America, the murder of American citizens, of religious 
individuals, of the archbishop, of so many people who were simply 
trying to get along, trying to live a life in Central America. He spent 
an incredible amount of his energy trying to bring the peace process 
around. We were eventually successful in Nicaragua, in El Salvador, and 
Guatemala trying to stop the violence. The

[[Page H10940]]

gentlewoman has been deeply involved in those issues with us.
  Mr. Speaker, we should all aspire to be such a champion of economic 
and social justice.
  David, I am very, very proud to have served in this Congress with 
you. I am very proud to be your friend, and I know that you are going 
to do great things for the people of Michigan and for the people of 
this Nation.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Ms PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, this is not a eulogy. The gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bonior) is alive and well, I am happy to say. But I must 
take this opportunity as we end this session of Congress and his career 
as the Democratic whip, recognizing he will continue to serve his 
district and our country in Congress next year, I want to say that 
knowing the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) personally and 
professionally has been one of the tremendous rewards of all of my 
years in public service, whether that be in Texas or here in the 
Nation's Capital.

  Many Americans may not know the name David Bonior, but millions of 
decent working families across America are living a better life today, 
making higher wages. Even those living at the bottom of the economic 
rung on minimum wage, have a higher minimum wage today than they would 
have had had it not been for one person's passionate commitment to 
working families and their opportunity to have a decent life for their 
children, and that is the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior).
  David Bonior, I am convinced, will be the next Governor of Michigan. 
While I do not know all of the voters of that great State, I have to 
believe that they recognize integrity and decency when they see it.
  What I have seen for 5 years working under the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bonior) as the chief deputy whip is the epitome of 
decency and integrity. For anyone who might be cynical about our 
democratic process in America, I wish they could have seen up close and 
firsthand what I have seen in the person I call my friend, David 
Bonior.
  His accomplishments are too numerous to mention in this brief time 
today, but they are well earned. They are significant. But I would 
conclude my remarks with two thoughts. It is not the tremendous 
accomplishments of making the difference for working families of 
America, and there is a list of specific achievements that I will 
ultimately respect the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) for, and 
although they are tremendously important, it is the kind of person that 
he is, the kind of human being he is, so honest, treating everyone as 
we would want others to treat us.
  I would just conclude with this thought. Winston Churchill, during 
some of the darkest hours of World War II, spoke to the British people 
and the world when he said, ``We make a living by what we get, but we 
make a life by what we give.'' By that high standard, David Bonior has 
lived and will continue to live an extraordinarily successful life. His 
passion, his decency and his integrity will be a model for future 
public servants for generations to come, and I am honored to be his 
friend and his colleague.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, in honoring the service of David Bonior, his 
vision, his knowledge, his effectiveness, his energy, his integrity, 
his experience, indeed the people of Michigan are very blessed to have 
him as their future Governor.
  I also want to acknowledge his very experienced staff who have served 
this Congress so well, the staff of David Bonior. I know that others 
will speak today about David and his staff, but I wanted to be sure to 
acknowledge their considerable contributions to this body as well.
  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to speak out of order for 
5 minutes and to revise and extend her remarks.)

                          ____________________