[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 10, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1298-H1299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING REPRESENTATIVE CHARLIE WILSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to pay respects to 
my former colleague and friend, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson. 
Charlie Wilson was bigger than life, and he was as real as the Texas 
day is long. I considered it a privilege and a joy to know him as a 
colleague and as a friend. Most Americans will forever know Charlie 
Wilson from the movie ``Charlie Wilson's War.'' I have been asked by 
people who knew that I knew and served with Charlie whether he was 
really as colorful as he was portrayed to be in that movie. My answer 
is that that movie was the only time ever that Hollywood had to tone 
down reality in order to make it believable.
  I have no idea whether Charlie ever read Shakespeare, but whether he 
did or not, the truth is, he personified Polonius' wise observation in 
Hamlet: ``This above all: To thine own self be true, And it must 
follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any 
man.'' It makes me wonder if somehow Polonius didn't know Charlie 
Wilson.
  Charlie Wilson was not false to any man, any person or any 
constituent, not ever. He was the real thing, and I think in this 
sometimes cynical world, that is what all of us blessed to know him as 
a friend found so very endearing about him. In fact, Mr. Speaker, a 
number of Charlie's former colleagues who had served with him, members 
of the Texas delegation, have asked that we include their remarks with 
respect to Charlie, his life and his spirit.
  Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert into the Record the remarks 
of Ralph Hall who also served many years with Charlie, and I would only 
just summarize one statement made by Ralph about his good friend 
Charlie. He said, He was a courageous and kind man with a strong sense 
of justice that compelled him to work for the good of others.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's request will be covered 
under general leave.
  Mr. EDWARDS of Texas. Thank you.
  While he was known as Good Time Charlie--and yes, he did enjoy life--
the truth is that Charlie Wilson spent his entire adult life in the 
serious business of public service to our Nation. He graduated from the 
Naval Academy and then served our Nation as a lieutenant and as a naval 
intelligence officer. At the age of 27, he was elected to the Texas 
legislature where he was known as the liberal from Lufkin, supporting 
such progressive causes as the minimum wage, Medicaid, and the Equal 
Rights Amendment.
  In 1972, he was elected to Congress where he became known as a 
champion of a strong national defense, a friend of average working 
families, and yes, someone who played a key role in bringing down the 
Communist Soviet Union. Who would have ever guessed, my friends and 
colleagues from Texas, that Charles Hazard of Trinity, Texas, many 
years ago, killing his 13-year-old neighbor's dog, would lead to the 
mighty Soviet Union falling someday. History is an interesting thing, 
and Charlie Wilson certainly will always be a part of it, as playing a 
key role in one of the most monumental achievements in our Nation's 
history.
  Charlie Wilson did what every one of us, Republican or Democrat, 
would dream to do and would dream that it be said about us at the end 
of our public service careers: Charlie Wilson made a difference. He 
made a difference for his State of Texas, for his beloved constituents 
in east Texas. He made a difference for America, and, yes, he made a 
difference for the world.
  To his widow, Barbara, and to his sister, my dear friend Sharon 
Allison in my hometown of Waco, Texas, I hope they know that our 
thoughts and prayers are with them. I thank you and your family for 
sharing with us and for sharing with the world this great treasure that 
God brought into this world. His spirit will be with us always. May God 
bless Charlie Wilson and the great land that he loved.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take a few minutes to 
remember a patriot, a great Texan, and a great friend, Charlie Wilson. 
I had the pleasure of serving with Charlie in the Texas State Senate 
and then in the House for another 17 years, and though we didn't see 
eye to eye on every issue, it was not often we disagreed.
  Charlie was a courageous and kind man with a strong sense of justice 
that compelled him to work for the good of others. I think that, more 
than anything else, will be the enduring part of his legacy. He decided 
to commit his energy, and the efforts of this country, to helping the 
Afghani people against the Soviets, not just because it was the Cold 
War and it was us versus them, but because he saw the atrocities 
committed against the Afghani people and he knew that the United States 
could

[[Page H1299]]

not sit by and just allow it to happen. It was actions like that and 
his dedication to American values that ultimately helped President 
Reagan bring down the wall between East and West and bring democracy to 
so much more of the world.
  Charlie was also known for his ability to party, and it is true that 
he knew how to have a good time. He was married earlier in his life 
before coming up here to Washington, and I remember once, he had been 
dating this Russian beauty, and there were loud talks and rumors in the 
tabloids that wedding bells were inevitable, and then one day I woke up 
and the headlines read that the matrimony was off. So I asked him what 
happened, and he said to me, ``Ralph, you knew I wasn't going to marry 
that girl,'' and I said, ``Charlie, how was I supposed to know that?'' 
And he said, ``You ever see a three legged fox get near a trap again?''
  Well, he was a wise old fox indeed and managed, himself, to trap the 
love of his life, the beautiful Barbara Alberstadt, and she blessed the 
last 11 years of Charlie's life. We're all sad that he's gone, but I 
for one am proud to have served in this Congress with such an 
outstanding man, Charlie Wilson.

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