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




               HONORING CONGRESSMAN JOHN ``JACK'' MURTHA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, to whom God has given 
much, much is expected. We are truly blessed that we have had the 
opportunity to work and serve with Mr. Murtha.
  Now, I have my Mr. Murtha story. I was able to get Mr. Murtha to come 
to my district, Jacksonville, Florida, the Third Congressional 
District, which is a military district, but I knew that when he came 
that I would only have one shot. So I wanted to make sure I covered 
everything he needed to see in my district.
  We started out at the marine base, we went to the port, we went to 
Cecil Field, we went to Shands Hospital where we had the proton beam. 
Well, they had tried to get a proton beam in his area. I took the 
doctor in my area, so he was very shocked when he came to Jacksonville 
and found out that not only did I have the proton beam in Jacksonville, 
I had his doctor from his area.
  Then I had a reception scheduled for him, and, of course, he said, I 
don't work this hard. You have shown me everything that you want to 
develop in your district. Of course, the point is, he came, he saw, and 
we were able to get the services that the military people needed in my 
area.
  I will never forget, when I went to Normandy, and we had a visitors 
center, and they had just opened the visitors center there. It was a 
tribute to all of the people that had served and died in Normandy. And 
they had no place to go, it was all the crosses, but it was a center 
that Mr. Murtha and the chairman of Appropriations had gotten funded. 
Yes, it was an earmark, it was an earmark and a tribute to the people 
that had served this country. I will never forget how proud I was to go 
to that visitors center. That should be Mr. Murtha's name on that 
visitors center in Normandy because he did so much.
  In closing, I want to say we always sing the song ``God Bless 
America,'' and, yes, God blessed America because of Mr. Murtha. In 
closing, the scripture, Paul, he has fought a good fight and he has 
finished the course, but it is left up to us now to continue to work, 
to continue to work for our veterans, to continue to work for the 
military. This is the kind of tribute that we should pay to Mr. Murtha. 
The work is not finished.
  God did bless America with giving us the example of Mr. Murtha.
  I was extremely saddened to hear about the passing of my close 
colleague and dear friend, Congressman John Murtha, Chairman of the 
Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Elected to the House of 
Representatives in 1974, Rep. Murtha dedicated his life to serving his 
country, both in the military and in Congress. A former Marine, he was 
the first Vietnam combat Veteran elected to Congress.
  Ever since I came to Washington, Congressman Murtha and I had always 
had a very close relationship; in part, because my district, Florida's 
third, has a strong military presence, and because of our joint efforts 
in the arena of veterans affairs. Considered by most to be one of the 
most influential Democrats in the House, he was an expert and a leader 
on issues concerning Defense, the military, and our nation's veterans. 
Deeply respected by Republicans and Democrats alike, Congressman 
Murtha's leadership and institutional knowledge of all aspects of our 
nation's security policy will be greatly missed, as will his charm and 
leadership within the Democratic party. My thoughts and prayers go out 
to the Congressman's wife, Joyce, and the entire Murtha family.

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