[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 70 (Wednesday, May 16, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H2800-H2807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE OF CHARLES COLSON
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Runyan). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren)
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the topic of my special order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, it is with mixed feelings that I come to
this body tonight and will have many of my colleagues joining me over
the next hour to remember someone who has had a huge impact, not only
on this city and on this Nation, but on our world, a gentleman who had
a very personal impact on my life, who passed away on April 21, 2012,
Charles W. Colson.
Chuck Colson, as many of us knew him, was a very intelligent man, a
very well-spoken man, a passionate man who served people, who looked
for ways to honor them, recognizing the value of every single person.
His life dramatically changed through a circumstance that he went
through by going to prison. And I'm going to pull out some information
here.
We were honored to have a service today, a memorial service at the
National Cathedral that was a memorial and remembrance of Charles
Colson's life. Charles Colson was born on October 16, 1931, in Boston,
Massachusetts. He graduated from Brown University. He served in the
Marine Corps, went to law school at Brown, and then went on to practice
law.
At a very young age, in 1969, while he was under 40, he was selected
by President Nixon to be Special Counsel to the President, and served
directly under the President from 1969 until 1973. During that time, he
was known as a very tough guy. He was known as Richard Nixon's hatchet
man, and was very intelligent, understood policy, understood politics,
understood how to get things done, very driven, very focused, very
tough. So he used his Marine Corps background, his tough upbringing in
Boston, and his sharp intellect to be a huge impact for President
Nixon.
Well, he was also, in that time, involved peripherally with
Watergate, and through that, he felt that he was called to be honest
with his involvement in there and pled guilty and entered a plea of
obstruction of justice and was sentenced to serve time in prison. And
it was really as he was preparing for that time in prison that he
started to examine his own life and to see what he had done, why he had
done it, and what life was all about.
It was really through a writer that he had read, a book that had been
given to him, a book by a great author and great thinker, C. S. Lewis,
``Mere Christianity.'' And through that book, and through the testimony
of one of Chuck's good friends, that Chuck Colson came to see his own
failings, his own sin, his need for a Savior and his need for a change.
And it was really in the friend's driveway, as they were talking, that
he heard his friend's testimony of what Jesus Christ had meant to his
friend, and the floodgates just opened up.
All of a sudden Chuck Colson understood what the fact of his need for
a Savior, the fact that he needed to turn his life around, that he was
going to have to pay a heavy price for his involvement in Watergate,
that he was
[[Page H2801]]
going to have to leave his friends and family, his young children, his
wife, to go to prison for a long period of time. He wasn't even sure
how long it was going to be. But it was that night, in that driveway
that he gave his life to Christ. And from that time on, before he
entered prison in the early seventies, through his death here in 2012,
Chuck Colson was an incredibly faithful servant of his Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
But more than that, he also was a servant to the least among us. He
never forgot that service, that time in prison, while he was there, and
seeing the conditions that prisoners suffer under, the fact that we are
all of incredible value, not because of what we've done, not because of
what we know, not because of how much money we can earn, but because of
how we have been created and the sacrifice that has been given for each
and every one of us. He saw that, and he never forgot that.
So through this time we're going to talk about much of his life since
that time of going to prison and coming out of prison. As he came out
of prison he had opportunities where he could have gone immediately
back into the private sector after being one of the chief people in the
White House. He certainly had many connections, could have had a seven-
figure income coming out of prison, but he decided not to do that.
Instead, he decided to start a ministry to fellow inmates. And it was
from that start that literally, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
inmates, millions of inmates around the world, have been impacted by
the ministry of Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship Ministries, and
many, many other ministries that have come out of that.
Angel Tree is another one that I'll talk about a little later on, of
serving the victims of crime that we don't talk about very often, and
that's children of inmates, unintended victims. Angel Tree is a
service, a ministry that provides gifts to kids whose parents are in
prison, a wonderful ministry that's provided gifts to millions of young
children around the world.
I am so honored tonight to be able to recognize, to honor, to talk
briefly and to share this time with some good friends of mine and to be
able to talk about someone who had a huge impact on my life, Chuck
Colson. I am going to hand it over to my friend Steve Pearce in a few
minutes here.
But very personally, let me talk about the impact and my connection.
I had known about Chuck Colson for the last 25 years or so, 30 years,
through many of his books. He's written well over 25 books. He's been a
speaker around the world. He had a weekly radio show called BreakPoint
that would talk about issues that were going on in the world and,
really, a Christian world view to addressing issues that we were facing
here.
But throughout all of his books, all of his speaking, all of his
literature, every time that he was talking, it was a connection that he
cared for people. He loved people.
One of my favorite stories that I hear over and over and over again
about Chuck Colson is, as he would travel around the world and travel
into the worst of the worst prisons, that he would go in there and meet
with prisoners. Oftentimes the warden wouldn't even go into some of
these areas and meet with prisoners. The wardens of these prisons would
be afraid. And yet Chuck Colson would go in, unarmed, without guards
right with him, but would go up and meet with the prisoners, talk with
them, touch them, hug them, and just interact with them and let them
know that he was going to continue to be thinking about them, praying
for them, caring for them, loving them, and that he would be back. That
made a huge impact on my life.
Reading many of his books, he often talked about what is our role in
government, and how should we view the challenges sometimes that we
see? As Christians, how should we be involved in government?
{time} 2020
He talked very clearly about that--of the respect of government but
also of the importance of everybody from all faiths to be involved in
government--and to recognize that this is our responsibility as
citizens to be engaged and involved in the political process. So I had
learned much about Chuck Colson through his readings, through hearing
him speak.
I had a wonderful opportunity a couple of years ago when I had heard
about a program that he did, that he had started up about 10 years ago,
called the Centurions Program. What this is is a program that Chuck
Colson and Prison Fellowship Ministries puts on. It's a yearlong
program of study--of seminars, of training--of really talking about how
to be involved in our country, to be involved in our government, to
make an impact in our communities. It involved dozens of books that we
read in a year: going through what impacts our culture, looking at
movies, looking at music, looking at government, looking at education--
every single sector.
Then we would come from all over the country out to Washington, D.C.,
three times during that year, to spend a long weekend together. Chuck
Colson personally led those seminars, along with wonderful speakers
from around the country who had come to train men and women from all
over the Nation to be more effective in their communities, to be more
effective in their families, to be passionate about using their gifts
to impact others for good.
I was privileged to be selected to be a part of this Centurions
Program in 2009, and I went through that yearlong process. Little did I
know at that time, honestly, that I would have the opportunity to serve
in Congress. This was before I even considered the idea of running for
Congress, but it was really through that program and through much that
I had learned that I was brought to start thinking about this, to pray
about it, to talk to my wife, to talk to my family, to talk to my kids
of how important this is and what a pivotal time in our Nation this is
right now. So it was much through the impact that Chuck Colson had on
my life and that the ministry had on my life that I decided to run for
Congress.
I was so excited to have Chuck Colson here in the Cannon Caucus Room
just several months ago to be able to meet with Members of Congress and
to make the connection again. I had spent so much time with him in that
year but hadn't had a chance to really connect with him since I had
been elected to Congress. He came up to me and gave me a big hug and
said, I am so proud of you. He wrote me a little note just saying,
again, of how excited he was and how he wanted me to continue to be
faithful in all that we had been studying together and learning
together. He continued to challenge me, and we talked about how we
were, hopefully, going to work together for many years to come.
Unfortunately, there was his untimely death. It was a very sudden
death. He was speaking before a group of people and had a dizzy attack.
Within a short period of time, he had a blood clot in his brain, which
had an impact there. Over weeks, they tried to do everything that they
could to save him and weren't able to. Unfortunately, we won't be able
to continue to work with him, but his legacy lives on in me and in so
many others, in literally millions of others around the world whom he
touched. So that is why it is such a privilege for us to be able to
honor him tonight as to the direct impact that he had on us.
Really, before I had the chance to get to know him more personally,
part of the impact that he had was on the studies that I was doing when
I was involved in our State legislature back in Illinois. My wife and I
had had our fourth child, and we were trying to think of a good name
for our new son. We decided together that we would name him Koleson. We
call him Kole, but his name is Koleson, named after Chuck Colson. So it
is such a privilege and a reminder all the time as I'm now with my 8-
year-old little boy, Koleson, of the legacy that he has, of the big
shoes that he has to fill and, really, of the power that his name means
to me of a man who had a huge impact on my life.
So, again, we will take this time over these next minutes to honor a
man we could spend days talking about. I am so privileged to have my
colleagues here tonight, and I am going to turn it over to my good
friend from New Mexico, Stevan Pearce.
Mr. PEARCE. I thank the gentleman for bringing this issue before the
House.
[[Page H2802]]
It is rare that a person can impact your life in a very strong way.
It is almost never that a person can impact your life in a very strong
way on different ends of the spectrum.
In 1970, I graduated from college. I had drawn a very low draft
number earlier in my college career. I had joined the Air Force ROTC in
order to avoid going to Vietnam in the middle of my college career;
but, as an ROTC graduate, I then had an obligation to go to pilot
training. I attended pilot training and then went overseas. I was
assigned to the C 130s. We were stationed at Clark Air Base in the
Philippines, but most of our missions were in Vietnam. For the next
year and a half, that's where I was.
On one particular mission there in that time of 1971 and 1972, I was
a copilot who was flying into Cambodia. Now, at that time, we were
supposedly not going into Cambodia, and we were supposedly not going
into Laos, but we were in and out on several trips that day. That
evening, when I got back to the BOQ, to the quarters there at Korat Air
Force Base, which I think is where we were stationed at that time for 2
weeks, I was interested to see that President Nixon was on TV. The
camera zoomed in very close to him, and he described that American
soldiers were not in or around Cambodia, that that mission was not one
that we as soldiers were fulfilling.
Now, having just been in and out around Cambodia the entire day, that
struck me as unusual that a President would say things that were
completely untrue, that I knew to be untrue. In my heart, I began to
believe that he could have said, I don't think the American people have
a right to know. He could have said, It's secret, and that's classified
information. But he came out with the camera looking him square in the
face, and he said that we were not there. Now, maybe he did not know.
I'll give him that.
Yet, when I got back to the U.S. and had found out about Watergate--
that was beginning to unravel--the idea of who to vote for in those
1972 elections was ever present on my mind. His opponent, there was no
chance I would vote for him. His opponent was Eugene McCarthy. I would
not vote for him, but I ended up filling my ballot out that neither man
was qualified or deserved this office. I did not vote for a President
that year simply because of my personal experience. Then in watching
this whole problem with Watergate, Chuck Colson, Haldeman, those guys
who were inside--the Plumbers--it began to give me a sense that this
was a very bad point in my life and that Mr. Colson was a part of that
group that was willing to mislead a Nation, that was willing to say
things that weren't true. At the end of the day, President Nixon, as
you know, stepped down. He gave up his office because of misdeeds that
a small group of them pulled together.
Now, it was with that background that I knew Chuck Colson for most of
my life. Then in 2003, when I arrived here at the Capitol when being
first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, I started going to
just a very small lecture series, and it was hosted by a gentleman
named Chuck Colson. It didn't take long to make the association; but he
was bringing in some of the best Christian worldview thinkers in the
entire country, and I was able to experience Mr. Colson in a far
different way than that remote acquaintance I had made in the early
seventies.
In this way, he was one of the most compelling thinkers in the
country. It was he who said that he lived in the dark until he saw the
light. It was he who committed himself to a different view of the
world, one that said that we must have redemption, that we must have a
savior, that there is no hope for us as human beings if we are not to
deal with those problems that each one of us faces in our lives. As he
began to develop his insights and began to be one of the premier
organizers of the Christian worldview, bringing in literally people
from around him, he established his pillars for glorifying God through
the works that we do.
Those pillars are: One, prepare well; two, keep an eye on the horizon
rather than up close to you; three, engage and enlist others; four, run
assessments; five, seek the abiding fruit, not just that that is
temporary; and, finally, have guidelines that you have applied.
It is in those principles of glorifying God that Mr. Colson really
developed a presence that affected the world and affected my life
significantly. He began to compel those of us attending this lecture
series in this House of Representatives, in one of the rooms beneath
us, to enlist those around us, to be a light that shines out to others,
to let our lives be different, to let our lives be the equivalent of
salt and light, which are rubbed, so to speak, into the fabric of the
American mind-set so that those around us will know that they have
embraced a lie.
{time} 2030
It was Mr. Colson who told me the most dramatic thing. His perception
was--and I believe it is still--``The greatest problem facing
America,'' he said, ``is truth.'' We don't know the truth in this
country anymore. It's not revered. As we don't know the truth, then we
see the fragments of society beginning to come loose around us.
I hear my own daughter and grandchildren say: Which side is right?
They're all saying different things. When we as a Nation walk away from
the concept of truth, when we as elected officials fail to honor our
obligations to speak the truth as we know it, when our courts declare
that there is no truth, then the Nation truly does suffer.
He made that extraordinarily clear and lived it in his life. It's at
that point that I began to be compelled that I should be more honest
and transparent in my own faith. Not that I would go out and be
interrupting people and thrusting myself into their consciousness, but
that they would look and see there's something different. They would
say: Maybe we can trust that viewpoint.
So it is with sincere appreciation to my friend who is honoring Chuck
Colson with this time tonight--because I believe that the Nation has
lost one of the premier thinkers, one of the premier people who would
guide us along a path, who would give us a wake-up call saying that we
must find that salvation, we must find that way back when things have
gone wrong. He was speaking from his experience of having gone so
desperately wrong at a young age, being upheld and lifted into the very
White House in this country, and having stumbled so badly.
He could speak with experience saying we all have to come back. There
are things that every single one of us slip into that eventually we're
going to want to change course. It's through his example, through his
words, through his values, through his ideas that I know there are many
here in this Congress who have lived a different life because of those
ideas.
He came to New Mexico a couple of years ago. They had a large
conference on the weekend. Again, I remember the same clarity, the same
professionalism, the same looking toward the horizon there at that
conference in New Mexico as we heard in this building here. He was a
constant. He was refreshing to speak so openly about his problems. He
was never able to let them loose, never get them away from him, never
get that stain off of him. But he embraced that, yes. That's who he was
and now he was different, that he had lived in the dark until he had
seen the light.
Each one of us, if we were to make those same understandings and give
those same acknowledgements, I believe, would live better and more
transparent lives with truth being a greater part of that life. And I
think the Nation would be better off for us living, as it is for him
having lived.
We mourn his passing, but we also glorify God that he was placed into
our midst that he might truly shine the light of truth into the
darkness that he found around him.
My friend, I will stay around to hear what else we have. Thank you
very much.
Mr. HULTGREN. I want to thank my colleague from New Mexico. I thank
you so much.
Now I want to yield to my good friend from North Carolina, Mike
McIntyre.
Mr. McINTYRE. Thank you so much.
Mr. Speaker, I share with these dear friends today marking the
passing into glory of Mr. Charles Chuck Colson. We new Chuck as a dear
friend and Christian brother, author, radio commentator, and also one
who challenged us all to think more about our world view.
With his passing, our Nation has lost an uncommon leader, a true
example of
[[Page H2803]]
the transformative power of Jesus Christ, and a reminder of the beauty
of second chances in life. While some will forever remember Mr. Colson
for his role in the Watergate scandal, I will remember and honor him
for the grace and perseverance with which he advocated for the least of
these in our society: those that were marginalized, those who were seen
as helpless.
With his work through Prison Fellowship, the world's largest
organization for outreach to prisoners and former prisoners and
prisoners' families, and through his inspirational books and
commentaries, Chuck Colson touched thousands of lives and advocated
tirelessly for programs that would not only address the physical needs
of those in our Nation's prisons, but also their spiritual needs, as
well.
In addition, Mr. Colson's daily radio show ``BreakPoint,'' during
which he would share a commentary on the life of Christ and also on the
Christian world view on the issues of the day, was such a challenge and
an inspiration to me that as a young lawyer in southeastern North
Carolina, in my hometown of Lumberton, I actually put copies of his
``BreakPoint'' commentaries out on the coffee table so that those
clients and prospective clients who came to our law office would take
time to hear from this lawyer, Chuck Colson, whose life had been so
transformed by the experiences he had gone through.
When I think about his insights, it's because they were so
challenging and so clear in their wisdom that they were so touching.
His books challenge you to think deeply about your own calling in life:
What was God calling you to do, and how could you take even the worst
of experiences? I remember him describing looking out on the south lawn
of the White House thinking he was just one door down from the
President and the neatly manicured lawn. I remember Chuck two or three
times in different testimonies describing that experience and thinking,
You know, I've made it.
But then Chuck Colson went from the White House to the very depths of
understanding what it meant to be in prison. But instead of letting
that ruin his life after the Watergate scandal, he came out of that
with his life being changed. His great book, ``Born Again,'' was a
bestseller back in the 1970s when I was in college. And I still
remember when my own father, who passed into glory last year, read that
book. Along with other experiences that happened to my own father, that
book, ``Born Again,'' told a story that my dad could identify with and
that helped to change his life.
Having heard Chuck Colson speak at Montreat, where my own dad made
his own Christian commitment, and hearing Chuck Colson speak at other
events with the late Dr. D. James Kennedy down at Coral Ridge
Ministries down in Florida, and being with Chuck so many times here on
Capitol Hill, being part of the lecture series that my good friend
mentioned just a moment ago--that I still remember he organized here on
Capitol Hill and would invite Members of Congress to come and to think
more deeply and challenge us to go beyond the politics of the issue.
Then in his monthly newsletter called ``Jubilee,'' he would have an
editorial at the back that I regularly read and made sure that often I
ripped that out and put it in a file because his thoughts were so
provocative and challenging in terms of our own world view.
I also had the opportunity to get to know Chuck Colson and count him
as a brother in Christ and as a friend, participating not only in the
lecture classes here on Capitol Hill, but when he rewrote the book that
he had written in 1982, ``Kingdoms in Conflict,'' which greatly touched
my life as I thought about the possibility of one day maybe coming to
this place. He rewrote that book on ``God and Politics,'' and
challenged us to think about where we are in our faith as we deal with
the tough times in the political world, so much so that my wife, Dee,
asked me if for our 25th wedding anniversary that instead of a gift or
going on a trip, could we be in the Centurion Program that Chuck Colson
had where he had 100 citizens from around this Nation participate and
spend an entire year studying the Christian world view on issues
ranging from health care to business, from medicine to education, from
law and government to issues within religion itself, and challenging us
to study the biblical perspective and the Christian world view, and to
think how we deal with those issues as Christians in the everyday
world.
{time} 2040
So with those 100 citizens from across the country, my wife and I
spent a year studying under Chuck Colson's guidance and went to three
different seminars that he hosted not too far from here in Washington.
What an inspiration this man was because he didn't just teach and he
didn't just talk, but he walked the walk and he changed lives by God's
power in the process.
I know some of you here with us today--so often, we shared the night
before the National Prayer Breakfast. Before we came and led the
spiritual heritage tours here at the Capitol that so many hundreds of
people have now done over the years, that we made it a regular habit to
go to Chuck Colson's annual Prison Fellowship dinner that he had on the
Wednesday night before the Thursday National Prayer Breakfast in
February. And we looked forward as much to that as being central to the
celebration of what the National Prayer Breakfast was all about because
we knew the night before, Chuck Colson was having his annual dinner,
usually honoring some great religious leader or reformer in society
before we had our spiritual heritage tour back here at the Capitol.
He often also talked about his experience as a United States Marine
at Camp LeJeune, just on the edge of my congressional district. And he
also talked about the practical ways that faith can change your life.
That's the great legacy I know Chuck Colson would be pleased with
today. We're talking about a man not only who was a great author and
speaker but a man whose life changed lives and made a difference.
Thank you very much.
Mr. HULTGREN. I want to thank my good friend and fellow Centurion.
Thank you so much, Mike. I appreciate you being here.
I yield to my other good friend, Robert Aderholt from Alabama.
Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening, along with my
colleagues, to honor the life and legacy of Charles Colson, better
known as Chuck Colson.
Many people remember Chuck Colson as the hatchet man for President
Richard M. Nixon and also the first member of the administration under
Richard Nixon to go to prison.
But Chuck Colson is probably known better as a central figure in the
Christian community since his conversion to be a follower of Jesus
Christ. Some at the time of his conversion may have said it was a
jailhouse conversion. However, if you knew and you looked at the life
of Chuck Colson and saw the life that he led following his release from
Maxwell Federal Prison Camp in Alabama, you would come to a far
different conclusion.
Chuck Colson emerged from prison with a new mission, and that mission
was to mobilize the Christian Church to minister to prisoners. This
would perhaps be his greatest contribution to the church and to the
world.
Chuck Colson was someone who rose to high places in the eyes of the
world during his time here in Washington and in his political career.
But it actually wasn't until Chuck Colson hit rock bottom that really
his life was turned around. It wasn't until he realized that he was
living in darkness, that he was in need of a savior, and that he was
powerless to earn God's favor that his life actually turned around.
If he were here with us tonight, I think Chuck would unashamedly say
that placing his trust in Christ, recognizing that Christ had paid the
penalty for his sins was the best decision that he ever made in his
life. And I can say these things about Chuck Colson because I had the
opportunity to get to know Chuck Colson personally over the last
several years, and I am honored to call him a friend.
Chuck Colson made many friends over his life and, of course, he will
be missed greatly by so many around the world. And of course to Patty
and his children, he will be sorely missed.
But, Mr. Speaker, I feel sure that Chuck has heard the words, Well
done, my good and faithful servant.
So I thank you again, Mr. Hultgren, for the time you have yielded to
me to honor Chuck Colson.
Mr. HULTGREN. Thank you, Mr. Aderholt.
[[Page H2804]]
Now it's my privilege to recognize a good friend from Iowa,
Congressman Steve King.
Mr. KING of Iowa. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to also offer my most appreciative words for the
life and the gift to all of us that was the life of Chuck Colson.
A lot of us got to know Chuck Colson as he came before our conference
on occasion, the Republican Study Committee on occasion and professed
his conversion. And when one listened to Chuck Colson talk about how
his conversion took place, how he hit rock bottom, as the gentleman
from Alabama just said, how he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal
savior, and accepted a new direction in life that had lasted for 40
years, a man that was at the pinnacle of power in the world found
himself in prison for about 8 months in Alabama.
And out of that prison, he came back and hit bottom and was launched
not at the pinnacle of this world power, but he was at the center of
the voice of the real power in the universe. And his inner voice, the
spirit within Chuck Colson, spoke to all of us.
Upon learning of his death, I sent out a tweet in those days, and it
read like this:
Chuck Colson, from Watergate to evangelical Christian to
Prison Fellowship to heaven in 80 years. Rest in peace,
Chuck. How now shall we live?
How now shall we live, Chuck Colson, who lived by the model that he
had. It was a blessing to all of us that he went through the difficulty
that he did. If he hadn't been formed and shaped in that way, I don't
know that we would have seen the Chuck Colson that we knew that we're
saying good-bye to here tonight whose life we honor so much.
His activities in Prison Fellowship set a standard that had not been
seen in this country or in the world. And the recidivism rate of
prisoners that didn't take part in the Prison Fellowship was extremely
high. I haven't committed that number to my memory; but it seems to me
that those who went through the Prison Fellowship, those who accepted
Jesus as their savior--and I have met with them in the prisons in Iowa
that were part of the Prison Fellowship effort--the recidivism rate--by
memory, not by research--was only 8 percent.
It was a tremendous thing to mentor so many prisoners in and out of
prison and the families of prisoners. He went to the place where he had
known despair and gave hope in the very heart of the place where Chuck
Colson had known despair. And I think that the testing of Chuck Colson
turned him into a man that was a gift to this country and a gift to the
entire world.
I remember a prayer that I offered for years and years throughout the
farm crisis, the years of the eighties, the difficulties in the
nineties. And it was:
Lord, please be finished testing me and start to use me.
I don't know if Chuck Colson ever offered that prayer, but I think he
would agree with me that there was a time that he was tested; there was
a time that he went through that test in the pinnacle of power and
through that test in prison, and there's no question that the Lord used
Chuck Colson, tested him for 40 years, used him for 40 years. Chuck
Colson was a gift to America and a gift to the world.
I saw a little quote in an article written about him that I thought
was useful and informative: The light just emanated from Chuck Colson.
You knew that he understood. He wrote eloquently about the depth of his
faith and the meaning in our lives in this life and in the next and the
power of redemption. And this quote was written about him. I will note
the author because it's useful.
The author is Michael Gerson, who wrote an article about him on April
22. He said, Chuck spent the last 40 years of his life dazzled by his
own implausible redemption. He knew it was a gift. It was implausible
that a person as humble as Chuck Colson could be the recipient of this
gift of grace, yet that gift shined from him like a lamp on a lamp
stand, not under a bushel basket. It was a light that shined across
this whole country, and it shone into this United States Congress over
and over again. He was a core for the values of our faith. He was a
core for the values of our morality. He brought our thoughts together
on the meaning of our service, our service here in this Congress and
our service to the world.
And I think he gave hope to many in despair, many of those that
served their time in prison or had been given hope and inspiration,
grace and salvation because of their exposure to Chuck Colson, the
inspiration that he was. His life dazzles by his own redemption. We are
dazzled by the life of Chuck Colson.
{time} 2050
Mr. HULTGREN. I want to thank my colleague from Iowa.
It's now my privilege to yield to my good friend from Texas, Louie
Gohmert.
Mr. GOHMERT. I appreciate my friend yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it's such an honor to pay tribute to such a great man as
Chuck Colson. I first read about Chuck Colson, of course, after the
Watergate event occurred and all of the events surrounding it. And then
I was in law school when I read his book, ``Born Again.'' It sounded
like this was a brilliant man who really and truly had had a conversion
experience. Life had been materially changed. Then, again, there are
those who as a judge I saw that would get in trouble and grab a Bible
and say, I'm changed, so go easy on me. Things like that. But this
really appeared quite genuine with Chuck Colson. And I knew, as the
Bible teaches, we'll be known by our fruits. What incredible fruits
this man produced. Amazing.
So over the years I stayed in touch. He didn't know me personally
during those years, but I listened to cassettes of his sermons, his
lectures. That tells you how far back it goes--they were cassettes.
Then I listened to CDs of him speaking and his lectures and sermons,
and I would read his books. Thank God he was so prolific that he was
moved to write such extraordinary books.
In fact, I came to realize with this kind of brilliance--and others
have pointed this out, but it struck me back in the eighties--this is a
modern-day Apostle Paul. He has that kind of intellect, that kind of
ability. And yet he's able to discuss anything with anybody on any
level. But his life is a living, breathing, walking testimonial.
I love the quote that Steven Curtis Chapman used in Chuck Colson's
own voice in ``Heaven and the Real World,'' where you hear Chuck's
voice say these things. Chuck said:
I meet millions who tell me that they feel demoralized by
the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of
us has is not in who governs us or what laws are passed or
what great things we do as a Nation. Our hope is in the power
of God working through the hearts of people. And that's where
our hope is in this country. That's where our hope is in
life.
As he pointed out on more than one occasion, our hope--the Kingdom of
God--will not arrive on Air Force One. And any hope of that happening
is just misplaced.
Well, I have a brother about 8 years younger, now a Baptist pastor
near Richmond, and Bill had acquired Chuck Colson's new novel called
``Gideon's Torch.'' And as a man who had worked in the White House, to
have him write a novel which, as you read it breathlessly, you realize
these things could easily happen, every one of them, just as he spells
out. It was an incredible book.
When I met Chuck Colson, I asked him, Are you going to write any
other novels? That was just a fantastic novel. And he said, My
publisher tells me people are not buying my fiction. They want my
nonfiction. And I want God to use me however he can use me. If it's
more productive, more helpful to people to write nonfiction, I'll write
nonfiction.
He also said writing ``Gideon's Torch,'' a novel, was far more
difficult than writing the nonfiction, which he does. I'm not sure that
it's still in print, but I would hope that after his passing there
would be a resurgence of requests and people would get that book and
greatly grow and benefit from it.
I just wanted to share a couple of things from his book ``God and
Government.'' He came to the Hill to provide this to many of us. As my
friends here know, one of the benefits of being in Congress--and there
are plenty of things that aren't benefits--but one of the benefits is
getting to become friends with people you have as heroes. And Chuck
Colson was one of my heroes. He was someone I truly looked up
[[Page H2805]]
to and I benefited from. And even before he knew me, he was a mentor.
At page 69 he says:
Whether or not God's existence can be proved, the evidence
can be rationally probed and weighed. (Author C.S.) Lewis
does so compellingly, and he cites moral law as a key piece
of evidence. Clearly it is not man who has perpetuated the
precepts and values that have survived through centuries and
across cultures. Indeed, he has done his best to destroy
them. The nature of the law restrains man, and thus its very
survival presupposes a stronger force behind it--God.
Or consider the most readily observable physical evidence,
the nature of the universe. One cannot look at the stars,
planets, and galaxies, millions of light years away, all
fixed in perfect harmony, without asking who orders them.
For centuries it was accepted that God was behind the
universe because otherwise ``the origin and purpose of life
would be inexplicable.'' This traditional supposition was
unchallenged until the 18th century's Age of Reason, when
Enlightenment thinkers announced with relief that the origins
of the universe were now scientifically explainable.
But in the past few decades, science has completely
reversed itself on the question of the origin of the
universe. After maintaining for centuries the physical
universe is eternal and therefore needs no creator, science
today has uncovered dramatic new evidence that the universe
did have an ultimate origin, that it began at a finite time
in the past--just as the Bible teaches.
Chuck Colson will be missed. But thank God and thank Chuck Colson
that he has left us so much in the way of wisdom that we can draw from
in the days ahead. We will be remembering his family and all of those
who loved and miss Chuck in our prayers.
With that, I appreciate being yielded to on behalf of Chuck Colson.
Mr. HULTGREN. Thank you, Congressman Gohmert. I appreciate it.
I do thank my friends that have been here. There's many others that
wanted to be here tonight and weren't able to. One of those was our
colleague Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana, who was unable to be
here but wrote a letter. Many others also over the last couple of weeks
have paid tribute to the life of Chuck Colson. I would like to
recognize just a couple of them.
One was Reverend Billy Graham, evangelist. He said:
For more than 35 years, Chuck Colson, a former prisoner
himself, has had a tremendous ministry, reaching into prisons
and jails with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. When I get
to heaven and see Chuck again, I believe I will also see
many, many people there whose lives have been transformed
because of the message he shared with them. He will be
greatly missed by many, including me. I count it a privilege
to have called him friend.
Again, that was Reverend Billy Graham.
I do think it is amazing to look at some of the history of the impact
and really the decisions that Chuck Colson made that we talked about.
Before he went to prison, his conversion, many were skeptical about
that, thinking it was a ploy to get a lighter sentence. Clearly, it
wasn't, when you look at the fruits of what happened afterwards.
And I just want to go through a quick history of Prison Fellowship,
something that, again, has had an impact on millions of people around
the world.
In 1976, a Watergate crook found Prison Fellowship. In 1974, the
Watergate scandal sent White House Special Counsel Chuck Colson to
Federal prison. A new Christian, he faced challenges and adversities
that tested his faith and self-respect. Paroled in 1975, Chuck could
easily have opted to close that book on that dark time and move on with
his life as inconspicuously as possible. But Chuck knew that God wanted
him to hold on to his ties to prison and continue to identify with his
fellow prisoners, despite the skepticism and scorn of Chuck's critics.
{time} 2100
So in 1976, with little more than a vision and the support of a few
friends, Chuck began Prison Fellowship to proclaim to inmates the love
and power of Jesus Christ.
In 1977, the next year after the founding, Prison Fellowship goes
behind bars. At first, through the support of the director of the
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Prison Fellowship began transporting dozens
of Christian prisoners out of prison for intensive training through
Washington Discipleship Seminars held in the nation's capital. Those
prisoners then were returned to prison to evangelize and teach their
colleagues. But in 1977, Prison Fellowship ran into a hurdle when a
warden from Wisconsin refused to furlough one of his prisoners to
attend the Washington Discipleship Seminars. Instead, he challenged: If
your program is so good, why don't you bring it inside the prison?
Chuck and his team were up for the task, and 3 weeks later, 93
inmates attended Prison Fellowship's first ever in-prison seminar in
Oxford, Wisconsin. That seminar paved the way for hundreds of thousands
of prisoners across the country to receive biblically based teaching
through in-prison seminars and Bible studies over the past 33 years.
That first in-prison event also reinforced the importance of training
local volunteers to go inside prisons and build relationships with
inmates. Today, Prison Fellowship ministry relies on a volunteer
network of well over 20,000 volunteers.
In 1979, Britain catches the vision. Prison Fellowship International
takes off.
In 1982, ex-bank robber reaches out to prisoners' kids and starts
Angel Tree. The same year that Chuck started Prison Fellowship, a
former bank robber named Mary Kay Beard was released from prison in
Alabama. And, as in Chuck's life, God graciously transformed the shame
of prison into a golden opportunity for ministry. In anticipation of
Christmas 1982, Mary Kay organized Angel Tree, a ministry to provide
gifts to prisoners' children on behalf of the incarcerated parents.
Beginning with 556 children that first year, Angel Tree has since
exploded into a geyser of ministry opportunities reaching more than
400,000 American children of prisoners every single year, and their
families, with the transforming message of Jesus Christ. Over 6 million
children have received gifts from Angel Tree from their parents donated
by someone else in the name of their parent. Again, the lost victim
oftentimes of crime.
In 1983, Justice Fellowship hits the stage. As Prison Fellowship was
expanding its ministry inside prisons, its leadership saw firsthand all
of the signs of a justice system in chaos: overcrowded and violent
prisons, neglected crime victims, communities shattered by crime. In
1983, Justice Fellowship was formed to promote biblical standards of
justice in our Nation's justice system.
Justice Fellowship volunteers successfully implemented reforms across
the country: victim-offender reconciliation programs; alternatives to
incarceration for nonviolent offenders; victims' rights legislation,
and more. In 1995, former California legislator and ex-prisoner Pat
Nolan took the helm of Justice Fellowship and has since spearheaded
efforts to pass the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons
Act of 2000, the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, and the Second
Chance Act of 2007.
In 1992, Operation Starting Line sweeps North Carolina. In 1991,
North Carolina's Secretary of Correction Aaron Johnson was pondering
the condition of his prisons and saw only one solution--spiritual
transformation. In an unprecedented move, he invited Prison Fellowship
into every prison in North Carolina to lead a contemporary version of
an old-time revival meeting. So in the fall of 1992, using teams of
professional athletes, musicians, comedians, and powerhouse speakers,
Prison Fellowship's inaugural Starting Line evangelistic campaign swept
through all of North Carolina's 90-plus prisons, sharing the life-
changing message of Jesus Christ. Since North Carolina, similar
evangelistic events have spread to prisons all across the country. And
in 1999, Prison Fellowship joined other Christian organizations to
launch Operation Starting Line, now an affiliation of 37 ministries
committed to prison evangelism.
In 1997, a new kind of prison ministry is born, Interchange Freedom
Initiative, a values-based reentry program founded upon the teachings
of Christ. With the full endorsement of then-Governor George W. Bush,
Prison Fellowship and the State of Texas partnered to launch the very
first IFI program in a prison unit near Houston. Interchange Freedom
Initiative immerses its inmates-all volunteer participants in
spiritual, educational, vocational, and life skills training from an
unmistakably Christian perspective. Today, IFI is active in both men's
and women's prisons in five states: Arkansas,
[[Page H2806]]
Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas, and many other States are
seeing the value of this, of really turning around recidivism. That
we've got to provide all of this for our inmates for them to really
have true life change.
After God parted the Jordan River, allowing the Israelites to cross
on dry land into their new home, He commanded them to erect a memorial
of stones. These would stand as a reminder of the miracles God had done
for them, Joshua explained. Today we seldom use stones as reminders of
God's provision. Instead, we preserve God's works in written accounts
and photographs. But the reason remains the same: to remember ``the
hand of the Lord is powerful''--that was from Joshua 4:24--``and by His
hand, He leads us.''
Since this time, Prison Fellowship has continued to minister around
the world, but Chuck Colson also had other activities I've already
talked about, and Congressman McIntyre talked about the Centurion
program, the impact it had on our lives, a hundred citizens each year
going through the Centurion program.
He also started the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which
again had a huge impact and has been directly involved in BreakPoint,
which is a weekly radio program that is on.
He also was awarded 15 honorary doctorate degrees. And in 1993, Chuck
Colson was awarded the Templeton Prize for progress in religion. This
is a very prestigious award. It's given to a person who has made an
exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension. With
the Templeton Prize is a $1 million cash award. Chuck Colson could have
taken that and spent it on his family. Instead, he donated it to prison
ministry to impact prisoners' lives. He also continued to donate
throughout his entire life all of the royalties that he received from
his books along with royalties from speaking.
In 2008, President George W. Bush honored Chuck Colson with the
President's Citizen's Medal.
So again, tonight we have taken just a few minutes to honor a man who
had a huge impact on our lives. Many of us in Congress have been
impacted by him through his writings and teachings and through our
friendship with him. He has also had a huge impact on prisoners around
the world and the plight of prisoners, and recognizing that all human
life is valuable and needs to be respected and honored and treated with
that respect that it deserves.
From the service today, there were a couple of different things.
There were a couple of different readings that were done at the
service, and I would like to close with this.
First, one of the readings was from Philippians, chapter 3. This was
a very important passage for Chuck Colson:
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as
loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything
as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all
things, and I regard them as rubbish in order that I may gain
Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my
own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith
in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want
to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the
sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,
if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not
that I have already obtained this or have already reached
this goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ
Jesus has made me his own.
My friend Steve King had talked about this radical transformation in
his life, and this first pointed to that radical transformation where
he could have had everything in this world, was right there next to the
seat of power in the Presidency and saw how fleeting that was. He could
have had money and resources when he got out of prison and a career in
law or so many other things, but instead decided to give back to
prisoners and to others as well.
Many would ask: Why would he do that? Well, there was another passage
that was read today. This was read by one of his grandchildren. This is
from Matthew 25:
Jesus said, Then the king will say to those on his right
hand, ``Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed
me, I was in prison and you visited me.'' Then the righteous
will answer him, ``Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry
and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?
And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you,
or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it when we saw
you sick or in prison and visited you?'' And the king will
answer to them, ``Truly I tell you, just as you did it for
one of the least of those who are members of my family, you
did it for me.''
Then he will say to those on his left hand:
``You are the accursed. Depart from me into the eternal
fire prepared for the devils and his angels, for I was hungry
and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me
nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not welcome
me; naked, and you did not give me clothing; sick and in
prison, and you did not visit me.''
Then they will also answer:
``Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn't take care
of you?''
Then he will answer them:
``Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to me.''
{time} 2110
Chuck Colson saw what his God had done for him, the incredible power
of his redemption and transformation that happened in his life, and
wanted to share that with those of greatest need. He saw that as the
weakest, the poorest, those in prison.
He was also dramatically impacted by his grandson Max. Max is
diagnosed with autism. Again, Chuck saw the incredible value of every
single life. Chuck was a hard driver, a type A personality to the
maximum, but he learned from his grandson Max patience and
understanding and love.
So I am so grateful again for the relationship that I've been able to
build with Chuck Colson and with his family. We will miss him so
dearly.
I want to end this time again by reading from one of Chuck Colson's
books. I think this is so powerful. This, again, was part of the
ceremony today, the memorial service over at the National Cathedral.
This was from Chuck Colson's book, it's him talking in his book,
``Loving God'':
Easter, 1980. As I sat on the platform waiting my turn at
the pulpit, my mind began to drift back in time to
scholarships, to honors earned, cases argued and won, great
decisions made from lofty government offices. My life had
been the great American Dream fulfilled. But all at once I
realized that it was not my success God had used to enable me
to help those in this prison or in hundreds of others like
it. My life of success was not what made this morning so
glorious. All my achievements meant nothing in God's economy.
No, the real legacy of my life was my biggest failure, that I
was an ex-convict. My greatest humiliation, being sent to
prison, was the beginning of God's greatest use of my life.
He chose the one thing in which I could not glory for his
glory.
Confronted with this staggering truth, I discovered in
those few months in the prison chapel that my world was
turned upside down. I understood with a jolt that I had been
looking at my life backwards. But now I could see, only when
I lost everything I thought made Chuck Colson a great guy,
had I found the true self God intended me to be and the true
purpose in my life.
It is not what we do that matters, but what a sovereign God
chooses to do through us. God doesn't want our success; he
wants us. He doesn't demand our achievements; he demands our
obedience. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of paradox, where,
through the ugly defeat of the cross, the Holy God is utterly
glorified. Victory comes through defeat, healing through
brokenness, finding self through losing self.
Chuck Colson truly was one of my heroes, someone I will miss dearly,
someone who impacted my family. I will think of him all the time when I
look at my own son, Koleson, named after Chuck Colson. But I just want
to thank my friends for joining me tonight to honor this great man,
honor this great life, and be challenged together to follow the example
that he left for us.
Thank you, Chuck. We'll never forget you.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PENCE. Mr Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to pay tribute
to a man we remembered just a few short hours ago at the National
Cathedral here in Washington, DC.
The Good Book says, ``Render therefore to all their due . . . honor
to whom honor.'' Charles W. Colson is certainly worthy of honor and
esteem.
The earthly life of this consequential American has come to an end
and I mark this occasion with a sense of profound personal loss.
Chuck Colson rose to the heights of political power and fell to the
depths of disgrace. But in his fall, he found redemption in the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Given a second chance, Chuck Colson devoted his life
to carrying the
[[Page H2807]]
Christian message of second chances to those in prison, and he saw
countless lives changed by his compassion and example.
His voice of moral clarity was an inspiration to millions of
Americans and made him an invaluable counselor to leaders in government
and business. I will always count it a privilege to have been able to
call him my dear friend and mentor. His dedication to moral integrity,
serving his fellow man and his steadfast faith have always and will
always be an inspiration to me and my family.
Karen and I offer our deepest condolences to Patty, the whole Colson
family and to all who mourn the loss of Chuck Colson.
____________________