[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 22, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5381-H5386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
           REMEMBERING FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JIM WRIGHT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

[[Page H5382]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of 
one of the great leaders that stood tall here in Washington, D.C., and 
back home in Texas, James ``Jim'' Claude Wright, Jr., who passed away 
recently, back in May, at the age of 92.
  And, Mr. Speaker, I am sad to announce that his wife Betty just died 
on July 15, just last week. So the family has been through a lot.
  We have a lot of really nice stories to tell about Speaker Wright and 
how he has influenced so many people.
  I want to begin by yielding to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Hoyer), our minority whip.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding.
  Jim Wright would have been proud of Marc Veasey. He would have said 
Marc Veasey is in the Jim Wright tradition. I am going to speak a bit 
about that.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about a Mr. Speaker, to pay tribute to 
the life and legacy of a man who served this House and our country with 
distinction as a Member, as majority leader, and as Speaker.
  Jim Wright was a man of principle and great political skill, and he 
relied on both during his 34 years in Congress. I have now served 34 
years in Congress, and for part of that 34 years, I had the honor of 
serving with Jim Wright.
  Just 2 years after he was first elected to represent Texas' 12th 
Congressional District, Jim stuck to his principles and refused to sign 
the Southern Manifesto, opposing desegregation, as so many of his 
southern colleagues did.
  It was a risk, of course, Mr. Speaker, politically, but he put his 
belief in equal opportunity ahead of what was politically popular among 
his constituents at the time.
  When he voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957, it was a further sign 
of his courage, of his conviction, and of his adherence to the 
principles that have made our country so great and so respected.
  In spite of breaking with many of his southern conservative 
Democratic colleagues on that issue, he forged friendships with them 
based on mutual respect and good old-fashioned camaraderie, just as he 
did with Members from other parts of the country and across party 
lines.
  Jim was elected majority leader in 1976, and he was serving in that 
capacity when I came to Congress in 1981. Today, Mr. Speaker, I am 
honored to sit in the same office, H-148 in the Capitol Building, just 
a few feet from this floor, where Jim Wright sat as the majority 
leader.
  If you look up toward the ceiling in one corner of our office suite, 
you can still see the great seal of the State of Texas painted on the 
wall. Emblazoned in the center of that seal is the proud lone star of 
Texas.
  Sam Rayburn may have been one of those stars, Lyndon Johnson may have 
been one of those stars, and many other Texans may have been one of 
those stars. But in our office, that lone star stands for Speaker Jim 
Wright.
  In many ways, Jim was that lone star who stood out at the center of 
our party in this House, a leader who knew how to bring Members 
together by inspiring them to follow his example.
  He never wavered in his mission to bring Democrats and Republicans 
together and replace partisan divisions with cooperation, comity, and--
yes--compromise, which is in such little supply on this floor right 
now.
  Jim was an extraordinary person. He was someone who refused to take 
``no'' for an answer and seemed destined to serve his community and his 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, at age 10, he tried hard to join the Boy Scouts, even 
though he was 2 years shy of the minimum age to participate.
  At 13, Jim lied and said he was 16 in order to enter a boxing 
tournament. Now, there are some 13-year-olds who can empathize with 
that. And, Mr. Speaker, he almost won that competition.
  In high school, his classmates wrote in his class of 1939 yearbook 
that Jim would likely be serving in Congress by 1955. How prescient his 
classmates were, for he won his first congressional election in 1954.
  While in college at the University of Texas, Jim learned that the 
attack on Pearl Harbor had occurred. Without hesitation, he decided to 
drop out the next day and join the Army Air Corps.
  Jim flew more than 300 combat hours over the South Pacific. He flew, 
as my stepfather did, in the battles that were fought in the Pacific to 
combat those who had attacked Pearl Harbor. He was decorated for his 
distinguished service.
  Those of us who served with Jim in the House saw the same determined 
spirit he demonstrated in the Army as he applied himself to serving the 
people of Texas' 12th District.
  I had the opportunity to be at Jim Wright's funeral on May 11 of this 
year.
  On the day of his assassination, in the last speech of his life, 
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited what he called ``Jim Wright's 
city'' and praised the Congressman by saying, ``I don't know of any 
city that is better represented in the Congress of the United States 
than Fort Worth,'' Texas.
  I can remember the year after Jim Wright was elected Speaker of the 
House that I had the opportunity of chairing and emceeing a dinner that 
was held in Fort Worth, one of the biggest ever held there.
  I will echo, therefore, that sentiment. I can think of few who served 
in the Congress who will be remembered as fondly by those they served 
with than Jim Wright, by his constituents, by his colleagues, and by 
his family. He loved this institution dearly.
  His family and those who served with him, like me, will miss him. A 
grateful Nation thanks him for a lifetime of service to us all.
  And I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Hoyer, I thank you very much. I appreciate those very 
kind words about Speaker Wright, and everyone in Fort Worth and the 
metroplex will appreciate those kind words as well.
  I also would like to recognize Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. She is 
another Member of Congress who also served with Speaker Wright, someone 
that she was also very fond of. She had the opportunity to talk with 
Speaker Wright a couple of years before his passing when she was down 
in Fort Worth.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me on 
this very special Special Order.
  I thank you for affording me the opportunity to visit with Speaker 
Wright, as you mentioned, in just the recent past. On a number of 
occasions and visits to Texas, I have had the privilege of basking in 
his glow, because that is what we did here in the Congress of the 
United States.
  When Jim Wright was the Speaker of the House, I had the privilege to 
serve under his leadership for a short period of time because I was a 
new Member at the time.
  And when he would come to this floor, to this well, to speak as the 
Speaker of the House, his oratory was just so compelling. People would 
stop what they were doing to listen to what Jim Wright had to say and 
how he said it.
  In some ways, that was of another era that hearkened back to how the 
business or the work of Congress was conducted, where people would come 
and actually listen to the debate.
  He was a man of great oratorical skill, of course, a legislative 
master, but he was also a person of great courage and a person of great 
principle.
  Tonight we gather on the floor to honor the memory of this great 
Speaker of the House. From the service that earned him the 
Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II to leadership that defined 
his 34 years in the House, Jim Wright exemplified commitment to the 
bright future of America's families.
  He was a great patriot. He was one of America's most distinguished 
and dedicated public servants, a person known for deep courage, 
brilliant eloquence, and a complete mastery of the legislative process.
  Wright's strong, decisive leadership built an indelible legacy of 
progress not only in his beloved State of Texas, but around the world.
  Jim Wright championed investing in our infrastructure. Jim Wright had 
been a member of the Transportation Committee. He helped forge a path 
to peace in Central America.
  For that, I will always be grateful to him for his brilliance, for 
his leadership, and especially for his courage. It

[[Page H5383]]

was hard to do. Jim Wright sought prosperity for every hard-working 
family.
  Speaker Wright was a patriot who held the respect of friends and 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Even after he left the House, 
Wright continued to contribute to building a better future for our 
country by sharing his wisdom with the new generation of leaders, as 
professor at Texas Christian University.
  When Jim Wright was presented the gavel in 1987, becoming the Speaker 
of the 100th Congress, he spoke of the enduring promise of our 
Constitution and of the sacred responsibility it entrusts the Members 
of the House. He said:

       We are its custodians. Those men of principle and vision 
     who penned the deed to freedom had in mind a very special 
     place for the Congress. Ours is a creative and dynamic role. 
     We alone can legislate. Only we can appropriate. We are 
     expected to initiate, to innovate, to see the obstacles on 
     the road ahead, and to chart a path around them for our 
     Nation.

  He went on to say:

       Let us, with gratitude for the privilege that is ours, ask 
     Almighty God that He shall grant to each of us a portion of 
     the vision to see the right; the courage to stand for the 
     right; the honesty to admit human error; and the love that 
     binds our Nation and our people together, to the end that we 
     may continue to be not the envy of the world but an 
     inspiration to the world--and an instrument of His peace.

  Mr. Speaker, 28 years later, Jim Wright's prayer for bravery and 
humility still speaks to us through the decades. He was indeed a person 
who had the vision to see the right and the courage to stand for the 
right. And, for that, we are enormously grateful.
  Speaker Jim Wright never stopped serving our country, and his 
achievements will stand forever as a living monument to his determined 
vision and legislative ability.
  I learned a lot from Jim Wright in the short period of time that I 
served with him in Congress, and from time to time I share those 
lessons with newer Members of Congress, but also with great humor.
  We hope it is a comfort to Speaker Wright's family, friends, 
students, and colleagues that so many of us share their grief and some 
come to the floor to join with them in celebrating his memory.
  May his legacy long keep watch over the House he led, and may it 
challenge all of us to do more and do better on behalf of America's 
hard-working families.
  Thank you to Jim Wright's family for sharing him with all of us. It 
was an honor to serve with him. It was even a bigger privilege to call 
him friend.
  I will miss that I will not be seeing him from time to time in Texas. 
I always invited him to the Congress for any special occasion we had. 
And on one or two occasions, he did accept, and that was an honor for 
this House.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding and for calling this Special 
Order.

                              {time}  1915

  Mr. VEASEY. Leader Pelosi, I appreciate those kind words about 
Speaker Wright, and I know that his family will appreciate everything 
that you have to share. Thank you so much.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I do want to add to my remarks because I was 
so taken by speaking about Jim Wright; but on the occasions I did see 
him in Texas, on the most recent occasions, he expressed the pride he 
took in your service in the Congress.
  Congratulations to you, Congressman Veasey, for carrying on that 
beautiful legacy.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize, from the 30th 
Congressional District in Texas, the gentlewoman from Dallas, Ms. Eddie 
Bernice Johnson, who also was very well acquainted and was a good 
friend of Speaker Wright's and has some great stories about things that 
she shared with Speaker Wright over the years.
  Now, I would like to welcome and yield to the gentlewoman from the 
30th Congressional District from Dallas, Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice 
Johnson).
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with 
great pleasure to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the former 
Speaker of the House, James ``Jim'' Wright, who passed away on 
Wednesday, May 6, at age 92 of this year.
  Speaker Wright served in Congress for more than three decades and 
left an indelible legacy as chairman of the House Public Works 
Committee that is now named the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee.
  He was elected by his peers as Speaker in 1987. He was born in Fort 
Worth, Texas, the son of a traveling salesman. He was educated at 
Weatherford College and the University of Texas at Austin. He dedicated 
his life to serving the public. He bravely served in the United States 
Army Air Force during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished 
Flying Cross for flying combat missions in the South Pacific.
  Subsequently, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 
1946. He served as mayor of Weatherford, Texas, from 1950 to 1954; and 
he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1954. He was 
reelected 16 times.
  Speaker Wright was a visionary who served the people of Fort Worth 
and this Nation well. He is deserving of this tribute. Because of his 
leadership, the House experienced one of the most prolific periods.
  Speaker Wright demonstrated his skill as a political leader and a 
master legislator by shepherding extraordinarily complex legislation 
through the House. He understood that the business of legislating and 
good politics required good skill in the art of compromise.
  Speaker Wright never backed down from a challenge. Even after leaving 
office, he continued to serve the public diligently. I was always able 
to consult with Speaker Wright, and I will always cherish those 
memories.
  He was the author of the Wright amendment at the time the Dallas/Fort 
Worth airport was built. When it came time for it to change, only 
Speaker Wright, even in retirement, was able to get it loose in the 
Senate so that we could get it passed in the House as well.
  Our country has lost one of its finest statesman; and I have lost a 
very close personal friend whose wisdom, dignity, and knowledge of the 
legislative process was unquestionably enviable.
  He is among the most influential speakers in the history of the House 
of Representatives. Jim Wright is really an unforgettable public 
servant and leader. A man fueled by passion and concern for others, he 
set the bar high for his successors.
  At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Betty, who was 
deceased just recently, and four children.
  I stand today to honor former Speaker of the House Jim Wright and 
thank him for his work in the service of the people of Texas and 
throughout the Nation. He has left a powerful legacy that will live for 
generations.
  I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Veasey, for having the 
leadership and the vision for waiting for a while to be able to sponsor 
this hour in tribute to Speaker Wright.

                           Speaker Jim Wright

                     December 22, 1922-May 6, 2015

       Jim Wright, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives 
     and Distinguished Lecturer at TCU, died Wednesday, May 6, 
     2015, in Fort Worth.
       Jim Wright was born on December 22, 1922, to James Claude 
     and Marie Lyster Wright. His childhood years were spent in 
     Oklahoma and Texas during and after the Depression but for 
     the remainder of his life he referred to both Weatherford and 
     Fort Worth as home. This period in his life had a strong 
     impact on his later legislative priorities. He finished his 
     primary education by age 16 and soon thereafter enrolled in 
     Weatherford College and the University of Texas in Austin. In 
     his senior year, Pearl Harbor called many of the young men 
     his age to enlist in the military and to serve their country. 
     Wright enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age 19 and in 1943 
     flew the first of five legs in the South Pacific movement of 
     the 380th Heavy Bomb Group as a bombardier. During World War 
     II, men painted a personal name on the exterior of their 
     aircraft and Wright's group flew nightly raids from Australia 
     to nearby Japanese bases in a B-24 Liberator Bomber known as 
     Gus's Bus.
       Soon after enlisting, Jim married his college sweetheart, 
     Mary Ethlyn Lemons, on December 25, 1942. They were married 
     for 28 years and had five children: James C. III; Virginia; 
     Kay; Parker Stephen and Alicia Marie. Mary Ethlyn and Parker 
     Stephen preceded him in death. He married Betty Hay in 
     November 1972 and they lived together in Washington, D.C. and 
     later Fort Worth. Betty was his love and companion for 42 
     years. In addition to Betty and these children, he is 
     survived by 15 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and his 
     sister, Betty Lee Wright.
       Wright returned from the war and at age 23 was elected to 
     the Texas State Legislature

[[Page H5384]]

     as one of the youngest men to ever serve in that body. He 
     subsequently served as mayor of Weatherford and worked in his 
     father's rural economic development business as an 
     advertising agent for National Trades Day. In November of 
     1954 Wright was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 
     from Texas' 12th Congressional District. In Congress, he 
     served on the Public Works Committee, Budget Committee and 
     beginning in 1977 as the majority leader for the Democrats in 
     Congress. In 1987, his colleagues elected him to be Speaker 
     of The House. He had many lasting influences in Fort Worth, 
     including infrastructure projects such as DFW Airport, 
     veterans' programs and environmental projects.
       After World War II, Wright referred to Congress as a heady 
     place to be, where members of both political parties 
     cooperated to make America a world leader and to build and 
     support a strong middle-class. He said, ``We'd had to cast 
     aside the restraining remnants of local chauvinisms, ethnic 
     schisms, religious bigotry, and regional mistrusts. In the 
     words of our pledge of allegiance, we were becoming more 
     nearly `one nation, indivisible.' '' He loved the 
     institution.
       One of the most fulfilling days in Wright's political 
     career came on Nov. 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy 
     visited Fort Worth to meet and speak to residents. And less 
     than two hours after speaking in Fort Worth, it became one of 
     the most tragic in all of history when President Kennedy was 
     shot. The whiplash of that day's emotion haunted Jim as one 
     of the happiest then one of the saddest moments in his 
     lifetime. Before leaving Fort Worth, President Kennedy said, 
     ``I know of no other city in the United States that is better 
     represented in the Congress of the United States than Fort 
     Worth.''
       Wright's accomplishments as a U.S. Congressman were many. 
     Among his proudest memories he would recall legislation 
     creating the Clean Water Act, interstate highway system, 
     benefits for returning veterans, and the honor he felt as a 
     witness and participant to creating peace. He visited the 
     Middle East, facilitating the initial meeting that lead to 
     the accord between Israel and Egypt in 1977; and in ending 
     the internal strife in Nicaragua in 1988 by leading a 
     compromise to end the U.S.-financed war between the 
     Sandinista Government and the Contras. In foreign affairs, 
     Wright enjoyed the role of bipartisanship and peacemaker, and 
     Nicaragua was perhaps the most difficult of all bipartisan 
     efforts. To the surprise of an increasingly partisan group of 
     legislators wanting to overthrow the Nicaraguan government, 
     his approach led to an end to U.S.-financed weapons and to 
     constructive talks among the Nicaraguan leaders and 
     eventually to democratically-held elections.
       His success led a similar group of partisan legislators to 
     file ethics charges against him, and even though the initial 
     charges against him were dropped for lack of evidence, the 
     persistence of what had become an increasingly partisan and 
     combative Legislative Branch led to his resignation. In his 
     resignation speech he said, ``When vengeance becomes more 
     desirable than vindication, harsh personal attacks on one 
     another's motives, one another's character, drown out the 
     quiet logic of serious debate on important issues, things 
     that we ought to be involved ourselves in. Surely, that's 
     unworthy of our institution, unworthy of our American 
     political process. All of us in both parties must resolve to 
     bring this period of mindless cannibalism to an end. There's 
     been enough of it.'' To Jim's constant dismay, he did not 
     live long enough to see the end or even a diminished attack 
     by partisan efforts.
       After returning to Fort Worth, Wright put his official 
     office papers with the TCU Library and for more than 20 
     years, he taught at TCU a course on ``Congress and the 
     Presidents.'' His intention to keep the classes small was not 
     possible and his classes continued to grow by registering 
     interested students. In December 2010, his eyesight had 
     become an insurmountable challenge as a teacher and he 
     retired.
       Jim Wright approached life with an eager and courageous 
     mission in each pursuit. He had the balance of knowledge, 
     intuition, direction and wisdom that comes from experience. 
     His ability to forgive and move on was amazing, and his 
     desire to overcome was persistent. When he loved he did it 
     with all his heart and he loved this lifetime. Horace Greeley 
     had a quote that Wright used--``and fame is a vapor, 
     popularity an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer 
     today may curse tomorrow, only one thing endures: 
     character.''
       Well done, Jim Wright, your character endures and you will 
     be forever remembered.

                                --After a private conversation

                                                  with Dad in 2013
                                                            Ginger

  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman from the 30th 
District, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson, for her very kind words about 
Speaker Wright. He was very fond of you and appreciated your leadership 
in an area that he excelled in, which was transportation. I just want 
to thank you for your kind words.
  Now, I would like to recognize from Houston, Texas, the distinguished 
gentlewoman, Sheila Jackson Lee, who would also like to have a few 
words about Speaker Jim Wright.
  So many Texans that served with Jim Wright and those who didn't have 
the opportunity to serve with him really appreciated his style and 
everything that he stood for. He was such a statesman.
  You can tell how his influence was felt because so many individuals 
like Sheila, so many other people that knew the Speaker reached out to 
me after his death and wanted to send condolences to his friends and 
his family, and she was just thankful that he was so influential in 
Sheila Jackson Lee's life as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. 
Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be here with my 
colleagues from all over the Nation, Leader Pelosi, Whip Hoyer, and my 
colleague as well, Congressman Johnson from Dallas.
  We all gathered at the funeral of Speaker Wright, and it was almost 
like a reunion of family members from the many political persons, 
public servants who not only through the years have known Speaker 
Wright, but really, those who came to honor him because of the iconic 
role that he played in the history of Texas and the history of America.
  We are excited that he was a Speaker that cared about people and 
cared about Members. He, as was indicated, was born in Fort Worth, 
loved Fort Worth, and never wanted to leave Fort Worth.
  I think it is interesting that he was the son of a professional boxer 
who turned tailor. After the attack in Pearl Harbor in December 1941, 
he left college to enlist in the United States Army and flew combat 
missions in the South Pacific, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross 
and Legion of Merit. He was of the Greatest Generation.
  He served in the Texas House. From his hometown of Weatherford, he 
became the mayor for his boyhood home. He served in that post for 4 
years, from 1950 to 1954, before his first congressional victory.
  Speaker Wright had a way with words. He was an eloquent speaker. He 
was a disciple of House Speaker Sam Rayburn, a fellow Texan. He was 
also a disciple of another Texan, Lyndon B. Johnson, who served in the 
Senate during Wright's initial years in Congress before becoming Vice 
President in 1961.
  He was in the Presidential motorcade on November 22, 1963, when 
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. To describe the 
depth of sadness that engulfed us that day defies vocabulary, he once 
said, recalling how the friendly mood of the Dallas crowds turned to 
sheer terror and horror. It was that day that his friend, Lyndon B. 
Johnson, became the President of the United States.
  He worked hard for the people of Fort Worth. He was a person of deep 
courage, brilliance, eloquence, and complete mastery of the legislative 
process. He was decisive and strong, and he handled his Texas Members.
  He championed the causes of Texas. He believed in the goodness of 
America, and he was a great achiever. He loved the Boy Scouts. As I 
indicated, his father was a boxer, and he started out doing that as 
well.
  I come today to honor him as a great American and to add to this 
tribute that he served with President Lyndon Baines Johnson when the 
Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were passed.
  He was a friend of one of my predecessors, the Honorable Barbara 
Jordan. They served together. They knew each other. They were strong 
Texans, but they loved America.
  I know that, as we look to promoting his legacy, besides caring about 
this institution and loving America and honoring our men and women in 
the United States military, I know that it is also time, in his name, 
to bring forward the Voting Rights Act reauthorization that will, 
again, restore and invest in the rights of people to vote and will 
capture what he understood to be the right way to handle America's 
business, and as well, it captures his friend's vision, the Honorable 
Barbara Jordan, who, in fact, wrote the language to add Texas to the 
Voting Rights Act.
  I thank you, Congressman, for having this very special Special Order 
for us to thank a dear friend who, again, I salute tonight as a great 
American.
  To his family, thank you so very much for sharing Jim Wright--Speaker

[[Page H5385]]

Wright--a great Texan and a great American, with all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, today, we mourn the loss of one of America's most 
distinguished and dedicated public servants: Speaker Jim Wright.
  From the service that earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross in 
World War II to the leadership that defined his 34 years in the House, 
Jim Wright exemplified commitment to the future of America's families.
  Jim Wright represented Fort Worth in Congress for 34 years. Jim 
Wright was a peacemaker, local politician and international leader and 
a consummate Democrat who offered his hand for bipartisanship.
  Jim Wright worked for the people of Fort Worth, whether it was 
winning a bomber contract for a Fort Worth defense contractor or 
helping an individual with their Social Security.
  Speaker Wright was a person of deep courage, brilliant eloquence, and 
complete mastery of the legislative process.
  Speaker Wright's strong, decisive leadership built an indelible 
legacy of progress, not only in his beloved state of Texas, but around 
the world.
  Speaker Wright championed prosperity for every working family, and 
helped lead the way to peace to Central America.
  After he left the House, Wright continued to share his wisdom with 
new generations of leaders as a professor at Texas Christian 
University.
  Jim Wright was an achiever. When he was 10 years old, he tried to 
join the Boy Scouts, two years ahead of the minimum age.
  As a 13-year-old boxer, he told officials he was 16 in order to enter 
an AAU tournament, where he won two bouts and lost the third in a close 
decision.
  Jim Wright became hooked on history and decided to become a 
congressman while he was sidelined from high school football by a knee 
injury.
  Jim Wright was 23 when he started his political career when he was 
elected to the Texas Legislature.
  He never stopped serving our country, and his achievements will stand 
forever as a living monument to his determined vision and legendary 
ability.
  We hope it is a comfort to Speaker Wright's family, friends, students 
and colleagues that so many join them in grieving and honoring such a 
wonderful man. Today we bury a favorite son of Texas.
  Speaker Wright was a man who loved his country and today we mourn his 
loss. He was the Speaker of the House in Congress and a humble man.
  During the funeral many spoke to his ability to forgive and the words 
of his great-granddaughter will always stay with me which was that when 
we leave the funeral today she wanted us to think of hope over despair 
and prosperity over scarcity.
  If the Congress can begin to turn its attention to these philosophies 
America will be a better nation.
  We should always pay tribute to those who helped make Texas great. 
Speaker Wright has left us with a remarkable story.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from 
Houston, Sheila Jackson Lee, for sharing so many great stories and fond 
memories of Speaker Jim Wright.
  I would like to add a few words of my own. Jim Wright was very 
influential to me. When I was elected into the State legislature in 
2004 was when I really started to get to know him well. I had known him 
previous to that when I was an aide for United States Congressman 
Martin Frost, who was also from Fort Worth.
  Once I got into the State legislature, I got to know him even more, 
and I realized very quickly what a great storyteller he was. Speaker 
Wright had some amazing stories from people that he had met over the 
years, people that influenced him in his life.
  So many people always wonder how he became the great orator that he 
was. There were so many stories that I heard early on about before the 
House had C-SPAN--now, we can watch coverage of the House of 
Representatives 24 hours a day, thanks to technology--but Speaker 
Wright was such a great orator that, before C-SPAN came into effect, 
you heard stories about staffers coming to fill the galleries so they 
could come and hear this man from Fort Worth, Texas, come in and give 
speeches because they were so amazing.
  I asked him: How did you become the great orator that you were when 
you were in the U.S. House of Representatives and that you still are 
today? Even, unfortunately, with the oral cancer that he had--his 
speech had been hampered, but it was still amazing, the wisdom and the 
knowledge that he shared.
  As you have heard from so many speakers tonight, boxing was a very 
important part of life. He loved boxing. It was something that he 
watched over the years. When he was growing up in Weatherford, Texas, 
that was one of the ways how young boys and men distinguished 
themselves, was their boxing skills on the street.
  He told me that, one day, his dad told him that while it was great 
that he was able to distinguish himself with his fists through boxing, 
that if he really wanted to improve himself and improve his lot in 
life, that he would learn how to be a great orator, that he would learn 
what the anatomy of a great speech was all about; so Jim Wright, at a 
very early age, decided that he was going to learn how he could become 
a better speaker, and there are so many stories like that.
  I went to his office right before I was sworn in, in 2012, and I 
asked him to just share some of that wisdom with me as an incoming new 
Member of Congress. He told me so many stories that day. One of them 
related to boxing.
  Many of you know Larry Hagman from ``I Dream of Jeannie'' and from 
the TV series ``Dallas.'' Some of you may know that Larry Hagman's 
mother is Mary Martin of Peter Pan fame. Mary Martin was actually from 
Weatherford, Texas, and she knew Jim Wright and knew Speaker Wright's 
family.
  I said: Larry Hagman told a friend of mine that he ran into that you 
taught him how to box; is that true?
  Speaker Wright began to tell me the story about his mother thought 
that maybe he needed to get back to his Texas roots and have a little 
bit more Texas upbringing in him, and so she sent him back to 
Weatherford, Texas, with his dad; and Speaker Wright taught him how to 
box. That was how Larry Hagman learned how to become a boxer.
  One of the areas that Speaker Wright--and Nancy Pelosi talked about 
it a lot--how he was a big influence in my life and so many others' 
lives--and I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the former 
Members that also he was very influential in their lives.
  Congressman Martin Frost, who was the ranking member of the Rules 
Committee, Speaker Wright was very, very influential in getting him on 
the Rules Committee his freshman year in office.

                              {time}  1930

  Also Secretary Pete Geren, a former Member of Congress and Secretary 
of the Army and Air Force, again, Speaker Wright was very influential 
early on in his career. Pete Geren was actually Speaker Wright's 
successor in Congress, and that was also very important to him.
  Many people know that Speaker Wright was known as a very strong 
Democrat. He was someone that loved the Democratic Party, that was very 
proud of his Democratic roots and had a very strong relationship with 
organized labor in Tarrant County. When you talk to people that are 
longtime employees at Lockheed Martin, at General Motors, at American 
Airlines, the things that he did with transportation, all of those 
things were very, very important for who he became.
  In addition to that, he also learned a lot from some of the failures 
and mistakes that he made. He told me that his first term in the State 
legislature, that it was not easy, that he didn't get along with the 
speaker of the house in the State legislature.
  When he was elected here, he wanted to make sure that he got along 
with Sam Rayburn when he was elected to Congress. He told me: Marc, I 
have learned my lesson from when I was in the State legislature, and I 
really wanted to be on the Foreign Affairs Committee because that was 
what was really happening back in the 1950s when I first got elected. 
With the cold war going on, I wanted to be on that committee. It was 
something very important to me. Speaker Rayburn put me on the Public 
Works Committee--which is now the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee.
  He said, That ended up that was a mistake that I made because that 
committee ended up really making my career. It is hard to think that I 
would have become majority leader and Speaker of the House had I not 
been on the Public Works Committee--which is where Speaker Rayburn put 
him.
  Again, in addition to being that strong, strong Democrat that he was, 
I can tell you that bipartisanship was

[[Page H5386]]

something that he was very fond of because he talked a lot after his 
career in Congress about how bipartisanship helped make this country 
strong and about how it helped make him a better Member of Congress.
  If you go and look in the archives of the Star-Telegram from just a 
couple of months ago after he passed, you will notice the remarks that 
were given from a very bipartisan group of people in the Dallas/Fort 
Worth area. Roger Williams, also from Fort Worth, he was quoted in the 
Star-Telegram; Kay Granger, former mayor of Fort Worth, was also quoted 
in the Star-Telegram--about how Speaker Wright did so many great things 
for Fort Worth.
  One of the areas that he liked to talk about was the Voting Rights 
Act and how important voting rights were to him and also Eisenhower and 
the freeways. He told us a great story about how he and a few other 
Congressmen went to Eisenhower about getting the interstate highway 
bill passed and how President Eisenhower said, Let's get the votes; 
let's get it done--and how they came together in a bipartisan way in 
order to get that legislation done.
  My favorite story that he told me about is the importance of 
bipartisanship. I asked him: Mr. Speaker, I am going to be a new Member 
of Congress, and so many people talk about how Congress is broken and 
they don't work together.
  I said: Do you have any theories on why that is?
  He said: That is a very good question. When I was in Congress, we 
spent a lot of time getting to know one another. We spent a lot more 
time in Congress than we do today.
  He said: I want to tell you a story. One time, I told my daughter, I 
want you to go get a job--and this was before he was majority leader--I 
want you to go and get a job, and I do not want you to use my name. 
Whatever you do, do not use my name. She came home that evening and she 
said, Daddy, I found a job. He was like, Oh, great, where did you find 
a job? She said, I got a job in the minority leader's office.
  Speaker Wright, a great storyteller that he was, he said: I just 
exploded, and I said, What, you got a job at the minority leader's 
office? Did you tell them who I was? She said, Dad, you told me not to 
use your name.
  He said that he immediately picked up the phone; he called Gerald 
Ford up, and he said, Gerald, I need to apologize to you. I want you to 
know that my daughter has accepted a job in your office, and she is to 
report to your office first thing in the morning and apologize and say 
that she cannot accept the job.
  He said that Gerald Ford said to him: Jim, if your daughter wants to 
work here, it won't be any problem at all.
  He said: Marc, can you imagine that happening today?
  It really stopped and gave me pause just about how much things have 
really, really changed.
  Speaker Wright was an amazing person, a person of great wisdom, 
intelligence, humility. He would talk about how he lost the Senate race 
and it was fine for him to lose that special election for the U.S. 
Senate because things ended up working out for him in the U.S. House of 
Representatives. He could actually find humor even in something that 
was a big defeat for him.
  I just wanted to thank him, and I am so thankful that our paths 
crossed and that he was such an influence to me and so many others. I 
can tell you that the city that I am from, Fort Worth, Texas, that the 
city is the great city that it is today because of the work and the 
statesmanship of Jim Wright.
  His legacy continues to live on through so many others that continue 
to serve in Congress today that are in other positions in office and in 
business.
  Mr. Speaker, I am just very, very grateful and very blessed that I 
knew Speaker James Claude ``Jim'' Wright.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life 
and legacy of a great American and a great Texan, former Speaker of the 
House Jim Wright.
  Speaker Wright served our nation over five decades, first as a B-24 
bombardier in the Pacific during World War II, where he earned the 
Distinguished Flying Cross. Returning home to Texas, Speaker Wright was 
elected to the Texas State Legislature and then as Mayor of 
Weatherford.
  In 1954, Jim Wright would be elected to Congress, where he would 
serve for the next 34 years, 10 years as Majority Leader, and Speaker 
of the House from 1987 to 1989.
  In Congress, Jim Wright was known for his hard work on behalf of the 
12th District, centered in Fort Worth, Texas. Through his work on the 
House Public Works Committee, then-Rep. Wright secured important 
improvements to the Trinity River flood control and the revival of the 
Fort Worth stockyards area and become an important advocate for the 
local defense industry.
  As Speaker, Jim Wright guided the passage of significant legislation, 
including amendments to the Clean Water Act, the 1987 highway bill and 
expanded education benefits for military personnel.
  After leaving Congress, Speaker Wright said that his biggest 
achievement was sponsoring the bipartisan peace accord between the 
Sandinista government and the contras in Nicaragua, which had been 
fighting for a decade.
  Speaker Wright passed away on May 6, 2015, in his hometown of Fort 
Worth, at the age of 92. The passing of Speaker Wright is the end of an 
era in Texas politics. He was among the last of our great state's 
legislative giants, who learned his trade from fellow Texans, Lyndon 
Johnson and Sam Rayburn.
  Speaker Wright was a leader dedicated to bettering our country, and 
he will be sorely and dearly missed by his family, friends, and this 
Congress.

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