[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 53 (Friday, May 5, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E741-E742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE PASSING OF BILL WALSH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB SIMMONS

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 4, 2006

  Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, it is often said one of the best things we 
can do in this world is to take a tragedy and use it as a catalyst to 
do something positive. The April 5th death of a 64-year-old homeless 
man, Bill Walsh, in the woods of southeastern Connecticut has become a 
rallying cry for the homeless. I hope that the death of Bill Walsh will 
be turned into something positive.
  As a Vietnam veteran I have long been involved in addressing the 
dilemma of homelessness. Vietnam divided our nation and many soldiers 
returned from Southeast Asia with a variety of troubles. On far too 
many occasions their troubles led them to the streets and to the ranks 
of the homeless. We know that many of the homeless suffer from 
addictions and mental problems. We will never be able to help them 
secure a home and until their lifestyle issues are addressed.
  In Connecticut we are taking action. A coalition of business leaders, 
social service agencies and government officials have produced the 
Southeastern Connecticut Ten Year Plan To End Homelessness. The three 
pronged attack seeks to establish a safety net by identifying social 
services available to the homeless and finding more effective ways to 
deliver them. Supportive housing is an essential component--supportive 
housing helps address issues of heart and head while providing a place 
to live. In supportive housing complexes individuals find 
companionship, security and a staff that will help them address issues 
such as substance abuse, education and other barriers that prevent 
people from participating as productive members of society. The third 
part of the program is to help the homeless find employment.
  I attended Bill Walsh's funeral and those who knew him described him 
as ``a gentle soul'', ``just like us'', and a ``sweet man who never 
bothered anybody.'' No doubt we also would all agree that a 64-year-old 
``gentle soul'' should not be living in the woods.
  Many families are one paycheck away from being homeless. They are our 
neighbors and our friends. Those who are already experiencing life on 
the street or in the shelter are in need of support. A society that is 
dedicated to helping others help themselves will take the tragedy of 
Bill Walsh and use it as motivation to address homelessness. I believe 
ours is such a society.
  In attendance at Mr. Walsh's funeral was the Rev. Emmett Jarrett, of 
St. Francis House, in New London. He made some insightful and 
compassionate remarks about Bill Walsh. I ask by unanimous consent that 
his meditation be included with my statement for the Record.

          Seeing The Invisible: A Meditation on Luke 16:19-25

                     (By Fr. Emmett Jarrett, TSSF)

       The story you have just heard--the story of Lazarus, the 
     poor beggar, and the rich man--is one of the stories Jesus 
     told to call people to live not in selfish isolation but as 
     sisters and brothers. It's also a story that Martin Luther 
     King, Jr., the great American patriot, preached on many 
     occasions, including the last Sunday sermon he ever preached, 
     a few days before he was assassinated in April, 1968. King 
     said of this story that it was not about Jesus condemning 
     wealth, or the rich. ``There is nothing in that parable,'' 
     King said, ``that said [the rich man] went to hell because he 
     was rich. . . . [He] didn't go to hell because he was rich; 
     [he] didn't realize that his wealth was his opportunity . . . 
     to bridge the gulf that separated him from his brother, 
     Lazarus. [He] went to hell because he passed Lazarus by every 
     day and he never really saw him. He went to hell because he 
     allowed his brother to become invisible.''
       Our country remembers Dr. King because of his dream that 
     America would some day fulfill its promise and become a land 
     of freedom and equality for all. But King was not just a 
     great patriot, he was not just a great civil rights leader. 
     He was also a leader in the movement to end the war in 
     Vietnam. He was a leader in the struggle to end poverty in 
     our country. When he preached his last sermon at the 
     Washington National Cathedral in 1968 he was on his way to 
     Memphis, Tenn., to support sanitation workers in a strike for 
     decent wages. He was preparing to lead a national march on 
     Washington from the rural South, from Appalachia, from the 
     ghettos of Northern cities, a march of white people as well 
     as black people, a ``poor people's march.'' He was working to 
     make the invisible people in our country visible. He was 
     working for brotherhood and sisterhood, for what he called 
     ``the beloved community.''
       We are gathered here today to remember an invisible 
     brother, Bill Walsh, who died in

[[Page E742]]

     the woods a few days after the New London winter emergency 
     shelter closed. Bill died in the woods--technically in 
     Waterford--but he was a New London resident. His last 
     residence had been the shelter at St. James Church around the 
     corner, but his last proper home was an apartment in the 
     Mohican just down State Street from here. But Bill was 
     invisible, and so he died, without the minimal attention 
     any human being requires and is entitled to. Like Lazarus, 
     the poor beggar in Jesus' parable, Bill was our brother, 
     and most of us didn't see him.
       So we gather here today in the First Congregational Church 
     of New London, the church where Bill worshipped, and where he 
     ate breakfast many mornings. Because the beloved community 
     includes not only like-minded people who worship together, 
     but people who break bread together, people who eat together. 
     As the prophet Isaiah says, the life God asks of his people, 
     of us, is a practical life of friendship and service. God 
     requires of us that we ``share our bread with the hungry, and 
     bring the homeless poor into our house'' (Isa. 58:7). It is 
     appropriate, then, that we gather this morning and remember 
     Bill, and pray for him and for ourselves.
       But we will not be the beloved community if we do not 
     accept our responsibility for Bill's neglect, and for his 
     death. The great rabbi Abraham Heschel said that ``in a 
     democracy, some are guilty, but all are responsible.'' All of 
     us, as a community, as the people of the City of New London, 
     are responsible when some of our brothers and sisters, some 
     of our neighbors made in the image of God, have no place to 
     lay their head. Thomas Jefferson said about slavery in 
     America, ``I tremble for my country when I reflect that God 
     is just.'' Well, friends, I tremble for our country today. 
     There are more than three million homeless people in the 
     richest nation in the world. We are that rich man, who went 
     to hell not because he was rich but because he allowed his 
     brother Lazarus to become invisible. We have an opportunity 
     to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the 
     homeless. It's no use blaming other towns and cities. God 
     will judge them. It is myself and my city that I tremble for. 
     It is for New London that I will be judged.
       So I ask you this morning, as we remember Bill Walsh, to 
     join the struggle in our city to make him and others like him 
     visible. I invite you this morning to see the homeless poor, 
     many of whom are present in this house of worship today. Look 
     around you. See your neighbors. Some of your neighbors have 
     homes to go to tonight. Some don't. But all of us are 
     neighbors. All of us are brothers and sisters to Bill Walsh 
     and to one another. Let us resolve today, in his memory, to 
     make our city a ``city on a hill,'' to which everyone can 
     look for inspiration, to make our country ``a light to the 
     nations,'' that cares for its neediest citizens. We have to 
     see each other to do that. As the great labor organizer 
     Mother Jones said, ``we've got to mourn the dead, but fight 
     like hell for the living.'' We can't bring Bill Walsh back 
     from the dead. He is with Lazarus, the poor beggar that Jesus 
     talked about, ``in Abraham's bosom.'' But we can see the 
     invisible poor, and shelter the homeless and needy, and not 
     find ourselves under judgment for our failure to see.
       Now let us remember Bill. But let us get up tomorrow 
     morning and start to work together to create a homeless 
     hospitality center in New London that will be a model for the 
     rest of our region and our nation. Let us see the invisible 
     poor, and live together with all our sisters and brothers in 
     the beloved community the God of justice invites us to 
     become. Then Bill will be like one who has risen from the 
     dead and brought us to the promised land.

                          ____________________