[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 61 (Thursday, April 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H2471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1445
                  HONORING THE LIFE OF LOU COSTANTINO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank you 
for your leadership.
  As I begin my special order this afternoon, I want to pay tribute to 
two great Americans. One is a friend to us all. We know him well as Lou 
Costantino. We thank him so very much, and we really know him as Lou. 
We thank him for his friendship. We thank him for his warmth. We thank 
him for taking care of this place, this House.
  Lou, you see, was one of the distinguished men and women who stand 
outside of the house chamber, works with the Sergeant of Arms, is in 
conjunction with the Clerk's Office. But really, Lou is part of our 
family.
  He attended and was concerned about all of our guests that would 
come. He was concerned about the Members. He was equally concerned and 
passionate about America.
  I consider him a great patriot, a great American. He loved this work 
because he was serving America.
  Lou lost his battle just this past weekend, but we are reminded that 
Lou was with us last week. How truly valiant Lou is in life and in 
death, and I stand here today to offer my deepest sympathy to his wife, 
Doris; his daughter, Edie; his son, Lewis, Jr.; and to all of his 
family members. May he rest in peace and may God bless him.
  I also take note to acknowledge the happy celebration of the birthday 
of Maya Angelou, poet laureate, teacher, mentor, resident of Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, the author of the 1993 inaugural poem that 
suggested that those of us who live in the great land must come from 
underneath the rocks and shout out and be seen for justice. She also 
wrote the language or the words to a book, ``I Know Why the Caged Bird 
Sings,'' to talk about what it's like to be isolated, to be contained, 
to be inhibited as a child growing up in the deep south.
  Maya Angelou can be considered a great American, certainly a great 
poet, certainly a great mentor of men and women, college students, as 
she taught me at Yale University. I am honored today to be able to say 
``thank you'' to Maya Angelou.
  I now move, Madam Speaker, to something that has been continuing in 
this Nation, and very quickly I call upon the Secretary of State and 
the United States of America to reengage more actively in the 
negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I now believe 
fully that the only way that we will have success in recognizing and 
achieving peace in the Middle East is not through preemptive attacks, 
but through concern, negotiation, and firmness.
  We must tell the negotiators what America wants to see and provide 
them the support. We must insist that we will continue to be a friend 
of Israel, we will never step away from her, and we stand by Israel's 
right to exist as a freedom-loving democratic people.
  Let's say to the Palestinians if they are to move their people beyond 
the refugee camps, then they, too, must fight for democracy and two 
distinct separate states. The two-state theory must be put in action, 
but we can no longer stand by as an objective bystander. We must be 
engaged, we must roll up our sleeves, we must recognize that we are 
very much a part of the peace process in the Middle East.
  I remember very well when the President came in and he said, That's 
their business. My good friends on the other side of the aisle got up 
and joined him, That's their business. It's our business.
  And before the lights go out on this administration, it would do well 
for us in the name of Prime Minister Sharon, who began this process, to 
get engaged and to make sure that we can have peace in the Middle East, 
to have an ally in Israel, safe and secure, and to say to the 
Palestinian people that you can have good health, you can have housing, 
you can have education.
  I think, Madam Speaker, that this is a challenge that the Secretary 
of State should accept; this is a challenge for the President to 
accept. America can do no less.
  I did not say ``battle.'' I said ``engage,'' and be able to be part 
of the negotiation for peace. There is nothing wrong for being 
considered a peace-loving Nation that promotes peace.
  May God bless this Nation and bless our soldiers, wherever they may 
be, as they stand on the front lines around the world asking us to 
promote our ideals and our values, and that is peacemakers.

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