[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H5615-H5616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE TONY HALL, MEMBER OF CONGRESS

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my friend and 
colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), as he prepares to accept 
the nomination to be the ambassador to the Food and Agriculture 
Agencies of the United Nations. However, I also rise with great sadness 
with the realization that this Congress will soon be losing one of its 
finest Members.
  Tony Hall is a man who shows courage in the face of adversity, 
integrity when there is little to be found, and compassion when the 
prevailing winds blow with malice. Throughout his career, Tony Hall has 
served as the moral conscience of Congress on issues of hunger and 
poverty. Where there is hardship and injustice, Tony Hall is the first 
to enter the fray and the last to leave.
  During his career in Congress, Tony Hall has often traveled into the 
heart of distress. When Ethiopia was in the grips of a massive famine 
in the years 1984 and 1985, Tony was there experiencing firsthand the 
grim reality that most of us viewed at a distance on our televisions. 
When reports started trickling out about the growing deprivation in 
North Korea, it was Tony who was first there; Tony who traveled there 
five more times, who kept his colleagues and this Nation apprised of 
the situation. When no one else had the courage to do it, it was Tony 
who traveled to Iraq, against the advice of many, to assist the 
suffering of the innocent.
  The proverb that says ``Ease and honor are seldom bedfellows,'' 
applies to no one more than Tony Hall. It should come as a surprise to 
no one that Tony Hall has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and 
I imagine as Tony embarks upon his journey as ambassador to the United 
Nations Food and Agricultural Program, we shall hear his name again 
mentioned in connection with the Nobel Peace Prize.
  The departure of Tony Hall from this Congress will leave a void of 
leadership on the issue of hunger. There are many here who have worked 
with Tony and supported his efforts in world hunger, but there is none 
who have so relentlessly and singlemindedly reminded this Congress and 
this country of our moral obligation to honor the least among us.
  As we honor Tony's effort on the eve of his departure, I want to urge 
my colleagues to step into the space that will be left by Tony's 
departure and make sure to take up the reins of leadership in combating 
world hunger.
  Not only is Tony Hall a man of conviction and passion, but he is also 
a man of deep and abiding faith. All of us know that Tony knows that 
his convictions are grounded, first and foremost, in his faith in a God 
who has charged us to feed the hungry and to shelter the naked. It is 
this faith that gives Tony such grace in the face of adversity and his 
firm kindness when he stands alone.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a passage in the book of Isaiah that I love 
that I think bespeaks of Tony. It is Isaiah 58:10-12, and it says: 
``And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the 
afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will 
become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and 
satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your 
bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring water 
whose waters do not fail. Those from among you will rebuild the ancient 
ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be 
called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which 
to dwell.''
  Mr. Speaker, Tony Hall has given himself to the hungry, and his light 
has risen in the darkness. In so doing, he has spread the light to his 
colleagues, to this Nation, and has shed light on the actions that must 
be taken to satisfy the desire of the afflicted.

                              {time}  1445

  Because of his effort, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall) is what the 
Book of Isaiah calls the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the 
streets in which to dwell; and for this, Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank 
and honor our friend collectively, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), 
and to wish him God's blessing and Godspeed as he departs for Rome to 
continue his lifelong dream and work to ease the blight of world 
hunger.

[[Page H5616]]

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Mrs. CLAYTON. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for bringing this to 
the floor. I have considered it an honor to serve with the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Hall) on the Select Committee on Hunger for many years, 
and I know of the gentleman's dedication to try to rid the world of 
hunger. I know of no better man to take on the ambassadorship to the 
U.N. for world hunger. I commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), 
and wish him well in his new endeavors.

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