[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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