[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 161 (Wednesday, December 8, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     JOHN LENNON 30TH COMMEMORATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. McCotter) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCOTTER. The poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, ``For all sad 
words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, `It might have been.' 
''
  Mr. Speaker, given the prevalence of tenebrous sadness in our oft 
benighted world, tonight on the 30th commemoration of the murder of Mr. 
John Ono Lennon, I rise not to lament his inestimable loss, but to 
celebrate his inspiring life.
  Perpetually along our earthly journey, we stand at the crossroads of 
comfort and truth. Imperfect souls, we are mercifully measured not 
solely by our missteps into numbing comfort but also by our redemptive 
return to enlightening truth.

                              {time}  2140

  As shown in a recently released 1980 interview with Rolling Stone's 
Jonathan Cott, Mr. Lennon understood this. ``I've never claimed purity 
of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out 
songs and answer questions as honestly as I can. But I still believe in 
peace, love, and understanding.''
  Striving for honesty is how, in his family life, Mr. Lennon 
ultimately fulfilled his most challenging and rewarding role, that of 
devoted father and loving husband. Striving for honesty is how, in his 
music, Mr. Lennon met the artistic challenge expressed by Andre Bazin, 
namely, to ``have the last word in the argument with death by means of 
the form that endures.''
  Thus, because truth is beauty, beauty is truth, and the most 
beautiful truth is love, I thank Mr. Lennon for striving through his 
enduring art to reveal the immutable human truths that eternally unite 
us in our mortality, our frailty, and our beauty when we love.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the life 
of John Ono Lennon, and in extending our heartfelt sympathy to his 
widow and sons, to all whom he loved, and to all who love him. May he, 
and we, all shine on.

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