[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H813-H814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1915
                    REMEMBERING CHAIRMAN JACK MURTHA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Madam Speaker, my heart ached so much last week when I 
heard that the chairman, and that's what I called Jack Murtha, Mr. 
Chairman, that he had passed on. My father served in the Congress for 
26 years. I

[[Page H814]]

have been here for 15 years. So that means for 41 years Jack Murtha, 
Mr. Chairman, has been part of our life, of the Walter Jones family.
  I wanted to come to the floor tonight because I could not go to bed 
knowing that this tribute would be held to honor a great man. I have 
the privilege of having Camp Lejeune Marine Base and Cherry Point 
Marine Air Station in the Third District of North Carolina. To the 
chairman, the Marines were a part of his heart, because he was a 
marine.
  The many times that I would go to that corner that so many people 
have made reference to, and I would stand in line because I am a 
Republican, and that didn't matter to him. What mattered to him was 
that I was a person, like the chairman, who cared. As has been said 
many times before me tonight, it didn't matter which party you were in. 
What was good for America, what was good for the military, that's what 
he stood for.
  I would stand and wait my time, and he would say, Walter, what do you 
need? I would go up and take my turn and say, Mr. Chairman, our marines 
down in Camp Lejeune are having many problems with PTSD and TBI, and 
there are not enough psychiatrists to help. This was the last time I 
spoke to him. He said, Well, why don't we get together. Why don't we 
have a meeting.
  So in the little room downstairs, I guess, on the first floor, the 
basement, in his room, we would go in, and I would talk to him about 
the needs of the marines, and the marines loved him. I had a couple in 
my room tonight when this started and they were saying, We've lost a 
great friend.
  But tonight, for me personally, it was to come down here and say, Mr. 
Chairman, thank you. Thank you for having the time for a person that's 
no more than a foot soldier in the Congress. I am talking about myself. 
It didn't matter who you were, what position you held in the Republican 
Party or the Democratic Party, it was a matter of his heart. His heart 
was what can I do to help you. What does your district need? What do 
your marines need? And he would always find time to talk to you.
  So, tonight, I wanted to come down for just a few minutes to say to 
the family that are here tonight that he was a great man, he was a 
patriot, and he is the kind of man that America needs to remember with 
great respect and also to thank him for being a man of humility.
  I have always said that Christ was a man of humility, and he got so 
much accomplished because he was a man of humility. Chairman Murtha was 
a man of humility. He had great power, but he did not flex the muscles 
of power. He walked and he worked with humility.
  Tonight I close by saying, Mr. Chairman, thank you for taking the 
time for all of us. You were a man that probably slept well at night 
because you were overworked, but you are in a better place now, and I 
am sure God is listening to whatever advice you might have to make 
America a better country.
  I thank you for giving me this time to say thank you and goodbye, and 
America will miss you, and the Jones family will miss you, also.

                          ____________________