[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 14 (Wednesday, February 8, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H200-H201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE LIFE OF NORTH CAROLINA SENATOR HAM HORTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, last week the State of North Carolina lost one 
of its finest citizens, North Carolina Senator Hamilton ``Ham'' Horton. 
I had the great privilege of serving with Ham for 10 years in the North 
Carolina senate. I considered him to be not only a great role model and 
mentor but a trusted friend.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Senator Ham Horton for leading a 
rich life of service to others. I rise in trepidation because Senator 
Horton was such a wonderful orator and my skills are so inferior to his 
in intellect and expression.
  Hamilton Cowles Horton, Jr., was born in Winston-Salem, North 
Carolina, on August 6, 1931. He was the great-grandson of Calvin Josiah 
Cowles, who represented Wilkes County in the United States Congress and 
the great-grandson of William Woods Holden, who was the Governor of 
North Carolina following the War Between the States. Obviously, public 
service was in Ham's blood from the start.
  Ham went on to receive his bachelor's and law degrees from the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served nine terms in 
the general assembly, one in the House, and the remainder in the State 
senate.
  During his time in the general assembly, Ham gave impassioned and 
eloquent floor speeches on a wide range of topics. Whenever he took to 
the senate floor, Ham commanded the respect of everyone in his 
presence, Republicans and Democrats alike. I often said he was like 
E.F. Hutton: when he spoke, everyone listened. Ham had a strong sense 
of justice and doing what was right. He was an ardent supporter of the 
individual liberties bestowed by our Founding Fathers.
  I will never forget when State inspectors tried to shut down a 
Winston-Salem market because it sold slices of country ham, Ham 
promptly introduced the Country Ham Preservation Act to exempt small 
markets from regulation on meat preparation. After all, he said, the 
only difference between tasting wine and tasting ham is that you spit 
out the wine and no one has been known to spit out the ham.
  In all of my years in the senate, I have never seen a bill move so 
quickly. The senate passed the bill just 2 days after Ham filed it. 
Then the State House passed it the following day.

                              {time}  2000

  Ham had a gift of bringing people together, despite partisan 
differences, to

[[Page H201]]

do what was best for our State. The North Carolina Senate Republican 
leader Phil Berger once said that Ham ``harkened back to another age in 
the Senate, an age when there was debate that focused greatly on the 
merits of the issues rather than politics and personality.'' Likewise, 
the editorial page of the Winston Salem Journal wrote, ``If only 
America could have more political leaders like Ham Horton. Smart, 
talented, intellectual, yet in touch with every man. A staunch 
conservative who saw liberals as his opponents, not his enemies. A man 
who understood that politics is the art of working with others . . . In 
an era of politicians who rage with anger, questioning the morality, 
patriotism, and goodness of those with whom they disagree, Horton never 
had a disagreeable thing to say to anyone. He just took their arguments 
apart the way a chef carves a turkey.''
  At Ham's funeral at Calvary Moravian Church last week, the Reverend 
Lane A. Sapp noted that Ham acknowledged his Lord with a life of 
unselfish service, whether he was ``serving as someone's lawyer, 
representing his constituents in Raleigh, serving on a church board or 
agency, or helping someone in need.'' Ham cared about helping others 
more than he cared about helping himself. Despite his difficult fight 
with cancer, he recently asked his daughter Rosalie to drive him to 
Raleigh for a Senate committee meeting. When asked why he did not stay 
home and rest, Ham responded, ``I took an oath to serve my constituents 
and I must fulfill it.''
  Reverend Sapp put it eloquently when he said, Ham Horton was a man 
who took to heart Jesus' parable of the talents, using the blessings 
given by God, not hiding or squandering them for his own use, but using 
his gifts in service to others, whether it was caring for his wife 
Evelyn and daughter Rosalie; serving his beloved Moravian Church, his 
Nation, or the State of North Carolina. Ham Horton was a good steward 
of all he had been given, and he never became too important that he 
forgot the call to humble service. In this he emulated his Master, who 
once told his quarreling disciples that ``whoever would be great among 
you must be your servant,'' Matthew 20:26.
  As I said, Ham was my mentor and someone for whom I had the utmost 
respect. Anytime I had the privilege to be with him, I went away as a 
better person because of him. He was a great calming influence on me, 
and I will miss his wise counsel more than I have words to express.
  Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and prayers are with Ham's wife Evelyn, and 
daughter Rosalie and his extended family. May God bless them and 
comfort them during this difficult time. The State of North Carolina is 
fortunate to have been served by Senator Hamilton Horton. He was truly 
a blessing to everyone whose life he touched, and there were many. Ham 
Horton will be sorely missed.

                          ____________________