[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3695-H3701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF FIRST LADY BARBARA PIERCE BUSH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
participating tonight may have 5 legislative days in which to revise 
and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic 
of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege tonight to pay tribute 
to the life of a great Texan and a great American: Barbara Pierce Bush.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Burgess), my colleague.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
thank the gentleman for calling this Special Order hour to honor the 
life and legacy of his constituent, Barbara Pierce Bush, whom we lost 
last week. I am certainly proud to stand with my colleague from Texas 
to honor the life and the legacy of our former First Lady Barbara Bush.

  From Rye, New York, to west Texas, to the West Wing, Mrs. Bush served 
her family and her country with integrity, strength, and grace. She, 
indeed, was a member of the Greatest Generation and spent her life in 
service to others.
  It is incredible to reflect. She was only the second woman in our 
Nation's history to be both the wife and the mother of a United States 
President. Mrs. Bush joined Abigail Adams in an exclusive club of those 
who have advised our Nation's Chief Executives long before they reached 
the Oval Office.
  In her capacity as First Lady, Mrs. Bush used her influence to enact 
positive change. Although her name was never on a ballot, the American 
people chose Mrs. Bush as a leader and as a role model.
  Just yesterday, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee marked up 
more than 50 bills that offer solutions to what is currently a 
significant crisis in our country dealing with deaths caused by 
opioids, a devastating epidemic that has touched literally every 
neighborhood in our Nation. Combating this crisis requires not only 
legislation, but compassion and understanding.
  But years ago, in her work to help the most vulnerable, Mrs. Bush 
epitomized such compassion. I actually mentioned this at the start of 
yesterday's markup in committee. A significant part of Mrs. Bush's 
legacy will always be her simple embrace of a child with HIV/AIDS at a 
clinic at a time when the illness was not well understood and, I dare 
say, the illness was feared by most people in the country. This simple 
act, this simple embrace, to reach out and pick up a child at an HIV/
AIDS clinic, helped to destigmatize HIV/AIDS in American culture. It 
was a seemingly small, but a powerful, gesture in 1989.
  Then Mrs. Bush paved the way for acceptance of patients with HIV/
AIDS, their families, and they were moved out of the shadows and could 
begin to look at treatment options. The world is vastly different today 
for the patient with HIV/AIDS because of that simple act of compassion 
evidenced by Mrs. Bush.
  As Congress now considers how best to end the opioid crisis and other 
human dignity issues before us, I hope we can remember and follow Mrs. 
Bush's unwavering dedication to always do what is right.
  I am certainly proud to join my fellow Texan from Houston honoring 
his constituent tonight and expressing our condolences to former 
President George H.W. Bush and the rest of the Bush family and 
celebrating the wonderful life of former First Lady Barbara Pierce 
Bush.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those remarks.
  Barbara Bush and George H.W. Bush do exemplify all of the greatest 
character traits that made the Greatest Generation what it is and made 
this country what it is. It has been a privilege to represent the Bush 
family and to succeed George H.W. Bush in Congress, who was followed by 
Bill Archer.

[[Page H3696]]

I succeeded Bill Archer. He was chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee. He succeeded George H.W. Bush. The Bush family is revered 
nationwide and admired and revered by all of us in Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joined tonight by my colleague from 
Dallas.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson) to 
honor the life of Barbara Bush.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my 
appreciation for the leadership of Representative Culberson in setting 
this special time to give recognition to Mrs. Bush.
  We honor the life and legacy of First Lady Barbara Pierce Bush, a 
great Texan and a great First Lady, a remarkable woman.
  For her 92 years on this Earth until her taking her last breath on 
April 17, she demonstrated constant examples of radiant elegance, 
abundant courage, and brilliant intellect. When the news of her death 
was announced, people from every political party, religious faith, 
background, color, and creed mourned her with the Bush family.
  She transcended the differences that are all too often exploited and 
gave us a living example of goodness that can bring people together as 
human beings. During times of trouble in the administration of both her 
husband and her son in Washington, she remained a beacon of hope, 
standing firm against the most horrific of storms. Even those who 
violently disagreed with the policies of both Presidents found comfort 
in the wisdom and compassion of Mrs. Bush.
  I always admired Mrs. Bush's charisma, her true patriotism, and the 
leadership she demonstrated in advocating for stronger literacy 
programs. As our Nation's First Lady, Mrs. Bush made sure our young 
people were better off through her commitment to charitable causes and 
passion for service. She was a strong advocate for both civil and 
women's rights and policies during her husband's administration, which 
spoke volumes to her character and the legacy she leaves behind.

  Four living Presidents, including her husband and her son, paid 
homage to Barbara Bush at the memorial service celebrating her life and 
legacy. Nearly 1,500 friends and admirers came to be with the Bush 
family and to say good-bye to a woman who had befriended many of them.
  Hours after the internationally televised service concluded, she was 
laid to rest in a grave located on the grounds of the George Bush 
Presidential Library and Museum in College Station. She was buried next 
to her daughter, Robin, who passed away from cancer when she was just 3 
years old.
  We all have been blessed to bear witness to a truly exceptional woman 
who embodied what she believed: those who have been blessed with 
abundance have a responsibility to assist those who were not as 
fortunate.
  There are many whose lives were enhanced by the service, 
graciousness, and the love that First Lady Barbara Bush carried in her 
heart and soul.
  Mrs. Bush took pride in her family and taught them to love and serve 
others. I hope her family can take solace in knowing that she is in a 
better place watching over them.
  All of us will miss Barbara Bush. Her truthfulness, her fairness, her 
elegance, and her passion. The Nation and the world is a better place 
because she lived amongst us, giving all that she could without malice 
or animosity.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, my colleague is right. All of America is 
better because Barbara Bush has lived. All of us are better people for 
having known and admired Barbara Bush. She has been a source of 
inspiration to me, as I know she has been to my colleague from Dallas 
and the millions of Americans.
  People from all over the world poured into Houston to celebrate her 
life and to pay tribute to her as she lay in repose at St. Martin's 
Episcopal Church, people from all walks of life.

                              {time}  1900

  As my colleague, Dr. Burgess, said, she, in a very simple gesture, 
with a patient who was ill with HIV, broke down the stigma that people 
felt, the fear people felt that HIV might be contagious. Barbara Bush 
just acted instinctively, as she always did, with courage and 
compassion, in hugging that young man that was ill and demonstrating to 
the world that no one needed to fear people who were ill with HIV. And 
now that disease has been contained and rolled back. It is a treatable 
condition.
  She devoted her life to, as my colleague from Dallas said, helping 
those who were less fortunate.
  Barbara Bush was born in 1925, June 8, in New York City. And as my 
colleague, Dr. Burgess said, she was one of only two women in American 
history who was both a wife and a mother to a United States President. 
She was the wife of the 41st President, George H.W. Bush; and mother to 
the 43rd President, George W. Bush.
  Barbara was only 18 years old when she married George Herbert Walker 
Bush in 1945. They had six children together over the course of their 
marriage.
  As First Lady, she is best remembered for her untiring advocacy for 
universal literacy, and she founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for 
Family Literacy.
  She first met George at a Christmas dance in Connecticut in 1941 when 
she was 16 and he was 17. George Bush asked a friend if he knew 
Barbara, and the two were officially introduced, but when the waltz 
began to play, they sat out the dance, because he did not know how to 
waltz. So they just spent their time getting to know each other.
  As they spent more and more time together and fell in love, shortly 
after George's 18th birthday, they both became each other's first kiss.
  Their engagement was officially announced in the newspaper in 
December of 1943. George was on leave during Christmas as a Navy pilot, 
and they were reunited over that Christmas in 1943. Two weeks later, on 
January 6, 1945, George and Barbara were married.
  Barbara Bush told Time magazine in 1989 that: ``I married the first 
man I ever kissed, and when I tell this to my children, they just about 
throw up.''
  While George was away at war, the two wrote letters to each other as 
their only means of communication. They were deeply and passionately in 
love, and she kept her sense of humor right to the very end.
  In a letter to Barbara, George wrote, during the course of the war, 
he said: ``I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, 
but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband.''
  In another letter dated December 12, 1943, George wrote to his 
darling Bar about his happiness in reading their engagement 
announcement in the newspaper: ``I love you, Precious, with all my 
heart. And to know that you love me means my life. How often I have 
thought about the immeasurable joy that will be ours some day, how 
lucky our children will be to have a mother like you.''
  This letter was released shortly after her passing.
  She was an extraordinary woman, an inspiration to all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson). I 
am honored to be joined tonight by my colleague from the 22nd District 
of Texas.
  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend from Texas Seventh,  
John Culberson, for hosting this Special Order. And that is a special 
word, ``Special Order,'' because this is a very special lady, Barbara 
Bush.
  Her husband, George H.W. Bush, and Barbara Bush were not native 
Texans, but they got there as fast as they could. The President 
embraced Texas right off the bat. He became involved in the oil and gas 
industry, black gold, Texas tea in those days. His wife, Barbara, 
became the epitome of a Texas woman, a straight shooter, what you see 
is what you get; black, white, no gray; family, family, family; love, 
love, love.
  I will share two stories about her and her husband that show how much 
they loved life and what a great sense of humor they both had.
  First of all, in 2000, their oldest son, George W. Bush, was elected 
to become our 43rd President. Only two families in our country's 
history had a woman who had a husband and a son elected to the White 
House: the Adams family and the Bush family.
  Remember all this controversy, hanging chads, Florida, Florida, 
Florida. They persevered, and George Bush was elected our President. 
Naturally, the reporters were excited. They approached our First Lady 
and said:

[[Page H3697]]

``Mrs. Bush, in your heart of hearts, your wildest dreams, did you 
think one of your sons could become our President, hold the same office 
that your husband had for 4 years?''
  Barbara, being straight-talking Barbara, said, and I am paraphrasing: 
Yes, sir. My boys watched their dad achieve the highest office in the 
world. They knew what it took. It took determination, focus, friends, 
faith. My sons saw that in their father. They knew what it would take, 
and so, yes, I thought one of my sons could become our President.''
  Of course, then she gave the coup de grace, the classic Barbara Bush. 
She said: ``I have to be honest with you, though. I thought it would be 
my smart son,'' meaning Jeb Bush, not George W.
  That comment was done out of true love, and that is what Barbara Bush 
was all about.
  One other story about the President and their family. President Bush, 
as he got older, loved to skydive, Bush 41. When he turned 90, he 
skydived in Kennebunkport. He had pretty bad Parkinson's. He couldn't 
walk. When he landed, he kind of fell over and did what is called a 
face-plant.
  Friends up there told me that Barbara was on our President for days 
before the jump saying: ``Do not do this. You are 90 years old. Don't 
jump out of a plane.''
  But President Bush had said, when he turned 85, he would do it when 
he was 90. He kept his word.
  You see the video. Barbara came down there, hugged him, kissed him, 
picked him up, loved him.
  Back at the house, it wasn't quite the same. Apparently, she said 
over and over: ``You old man. I told you not to jump out of a plane. 
Look at your face. Your face is all cut up. Never ever do this again. 
It won't happen.''

  Of course, the President smiled and said, ``I love you,'' and then 
moved on.
  The next story about their love, their true love, came from their 
photographer back home in Houston, Texas. This man has been with the 
family for at least 40 years. The Bushes come in there every year for a 
big camera shoot.
  The photographer said: ``It is getting kind of tough. The President 
has bad Parkinson's. He can no longer stand. That means for these 
shots, I have to have him sit in his wheelchair.'' And he hates that 
chair. If that chair pops up in a picture, he tears the picture apart.
  So how does he deal with that fact of our President's attitude with 
his wheelchair?
  He turns to the First Lady, who is 90 years old, and works her hard. 
They have to have the same height differential. He is about 6 feet 
tall, she is somewhere around 5-7, 5-8. He is above her. So in the 
shots with him in that chair, she has to be below him. It means she is 
squatting down. She is 91 years old and squatting down for a picture, 
in picture after picture.
  The photographer told me, ``I moved her up to the left, had her squat 
down, to the right, back, left, over and over and over,'' a true 
workout for any human being, but especially a woman who is 90 years 
old.
  And then he started laughing and said, ``Our President and his wife 
are still in love.''
  How did he know that? At least 10 times during the course of that 
shoot, as our First Lady walked in front of our President, she would 
stop and say, ``Stop that, George. Stop that. Stop that, George.''
  We all know what President Bush was doing with his beloved wife: He 
was saying ``I love you'' in the way that only Naval aviators can say.
  That love resulted in a marriage for 73 years. And while Barbara left 
us last week, that love is still going strong.
  Barbara Bush, President George H.W. Bush, and the entire Bush family, 
on behalf of the 850,000 Texans I work for in Texas 22, thank you, 
thank you, thank you for your example, your life, your patriotism, your 
love, and your family.
  The world is a better place because of Barbara Bush. God bless her.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.
  Mr. CULBERSON. America is a far better place because Barbara Bush 
lived. She has been an inspiration to all of us.
  George H.W. Bush has been a leader in Texas. He started out his 
career as the Harris County Republican Party chairman and was elected 
to Congress in 1966, and a new district was created on the west side, 
the Seventh District.
  When George Bush came into this House Chamber, he was assigned to the 
Ways and Means Committee. He served on the Ways and Means Committee for 
two terms. Then he ran for the United States Senate in 1970, and he ran 
against Lloyd Benson in that race, and then he moved on to become the 
United Nations Ambassador.
  Then George Bush's successor in Congress, Bill Archer, who was 
elected in 1970, went on to become chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee. Chairman Archer served there from 1970 to 2001, when it was 
my privilege to succeed Bill Archer. And I joined the Appropriations 
Committee. Right now, I chair a subcommittee.
  The United States is very, very fortunate in that another Texan has 
stepped up to serve as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, 
Congressman Kevin Brady, who joins us here tonight. He represents the 
Woodlands and the Eighth Congressional District.
  As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he just successfully 
passed the largest tax cut in American history, which is already doing 
remarkable things to rejuvenate the American economy and to restore 
immense prosperity to this Nation coast to coast, something that I know 
George and Barbara Bush are immensely proud of.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady). We 
are honored to have him join us tonight in celebrating the life of 
Barbara Bush.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Culberson not 
just for his leadership of this special tribute to Barbara Bush, but 
for keeping the legacy of President Bush and the Bush family alive in 
the eastern region in the district that he represented.
  Mr. Culberson has now worked his way up into such a key position for 
our region, our State, and our country, advancing space in such a major 
way for the world, in my view, and then leading the effort for 
Hurricane Harvey relief, a record $146 billion for Hurricanes Harvey, 
Maria, Irma, and some of the wildfires in California, all of which are 
the largest amount of disaster recovery and really the first prevention 
funds to help rebuild the levees and the dams, and all that can prevent 
these floods. I thank the gentleman for his leadership in that.

                              {time}  1915

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of 
Barbara Bush. Our country mourns the loss of a truly incomparable First 
Lady.
  For many of us, Barbara Pierce Bush is the original ``thousand points 
of light'' by her urging, her applauding, and, at times, insisting that 
we should all live up to higher standards when it comes to family, 
honor, and duty.
  Barbara Bush deserves to be honored because of her dedication to 
making our world a better place, specifically, through her work as an 
advocate for adult and child literacy. The Barbara Bush Foundation for 
Family Literacy, the leading advocate for family literacy in America, 
will continue her great work to give children and parents the skills 
they need for a brighter future.
  I had the honor of representing Texas A&M at College Station when the 
George H.W. Bush Presidential Library was dedicated. It is a remarkable 
library in so many ways, as is President Bush and the First Lady.
  But it was, to me, remarkable how much time and access the President 
and Barbara Bush gave to the young people of College Station and the 
region, bringing in leaders from around the country and the world; 
having deep discussions about freedom, about faith, about family, about 
leadership and service, all the things that made the Bush family so 
special.
  One time, early on a Saturday morning, I was driving up to College 
Station to interview our applicants for West Point and the Naval 
Academy and the Air Force and Merchant Marine. We were doing it at the 
Corps of Cadets Center at Texas A&M. It was really early on a Saturday 
morning.
  So we were on 290, and I am not really paying attention. I look up 
and I see this bluish green car just up ahead of me, and I notice the 
license plate says: ``Read 1.'' I thought, Read 1; that is amazing.

[[Page H3698]]

  So as we drive past her--I may have been pushing the speed limit a 
bit--I noticed that famous white hair, and it was Mrs. Bush driving up 
to the library on a Saturday morning for some work or the other, 
probably focused on family literacy.
  The Bush family is simply adored in Texas, and especially in the 
Houston region, for so many reasons.
  I had a chance, as Congressman Culberson talked about, to be able to 
follow on the Ways and Means Committee, the seat that President Bush 
once held, that Chairman Archer once held, and now that I have the 
privilege to hold. So I always feel like I have a duty to uphold his 
standards, his legacy, his commitment to honor and duty on our 
committee as well.
  When I won the seat on the Ways and Means Committee, President Bush 
reached out to say: Congratulations. Come down and visit.
  Then, when I was fortunate enough to succeed now Speaker Paul Ryan to 
chair the committee, his office called again and said: Come down. The 
President wants to visit about Ways and Means issues.
  So I got a chance to visit with Mrs. Bush and the President, my good 
friend Chase Untermeyer, and others. We talked about tax reform and 
trade issues and Social Security and Medicare. Mrs. Bush was in the 
thick of things in those discussions, and that is my last memory of 
being able to visit with her in person.
  Anyone who didn't leave a conversation with her better than when you 
started probably wasn't paying attention to the conversation.
  So we are blessed. It is a remarkable legacy she leaves for her 
family, for Texas, for the United States and, really, for the whole 
world. So, surely, Heaven rejoiced as Mrs. Bush joined her Saviour, 
pearls and all.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for blessing us with such a remarkable woman 
with a remarkable life and a remarkable family.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a resolution honoring the life 
of First Lady Barbara Bush.

                               Resolution

              Honoring the life of First Lady Barbara Bush

       Whereas Barbara Pierce was born on June 8, 1925, in New 
     York City;
       Whereas Barbara Pierce became engaged to George Herbert 
     Walker Bush and, while awaiting his return from combat during 
     World War II, supported the war effort by working at a nuts 
     and bolts factory in Port Chester, New York;
       Whereas Barbara Bush was married to President George H.W. 
     Bush for 73 years, and together they had 2 daughters, 4 sons, 
     17 grandchildren, and 8 great-grand-children;
       Whereas as Second Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush 
     became a passionate champion for family literacy and 
     published ``C. Fred's Story: A Dog's Life'', which raised 
     $100,000 for Literacy Volunteers of America and Laubach 
     Literacy Action;
       Whereas, in January of 1983, Barbara Bush joined the board 
     of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and 
     worked with Dr. Louis Sullivan to help raise $10 million for 
     the school's first capital campaign;
       Whereas First Lady Barbara Bush founded the Barbara Bush 
     Foundation for Family Literacy in 1989, and over the course 
     of 30 years raised more than $110 million to support family 
     literacy programs in every State across America;
       Whereas while serving as First Lady, Barbara Bush visited 
     facilities for AIDS victims and held infected babies and 
     hugged adults, and in so doing, helped erase the stigma of 
     that disease;
       Whereas, in 1991, Barbara Bush and other advocates worked 
     for the passage of the National Literacy Act of 1991, which 
     created the National Institute for Literacy and permitted the 
     use of libraries and other municipal property as evening 
     literacy centers for adults;
       Whereas after leaving the White House, Barbara Bush 
     continued to support a broad range of important organizations 
     and causes, including AmeriCares, the Mayo Clinic Foundation, 
     the Leukemia Society of America, the Ronald McDonald House, 
     and the Boys & Girls Club of America;
       Whereas three primary schools and two middle schools in 
     Texas have been named for Barbara Bush, along with an 
     elementary school in Mesa, Arizona, the Barbara Bush Library 
     in Harris County, Texas, and the Barbara Bush Children's 
     Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine;
       Whereas Barbara Bush shares the rare distinction with 
     Abigail Adams of being both a wife to, and mother of, a 
     President of the United States, and is also the mother of a 
     Governor of Florida and a Governor of Texas; and
       Whereas Barbara Bush was a truly great American, First and 
     Second Lady of the United States, literacy advocate, author, 
     mother, and ``Ganny'': Now, therefore, be it:
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) extends its sympathies to the family of Barbara Bush; 
     and
       (2) honors the life of First Lady Barbara Bush and her 
     contribution to the United States of America.

  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, as George H.W. Bush's successor, 
representing the Seventh District, as I said, I succeeded Bill Archer, 
I am keenly aware as well every day that I have the privilege of 
representing the Seventh District, that I have an especially high 
standard to live up to, the Bush standard of absolutely impeccable 
integrity, honor, and consistency.
  The Proverbs tell us that our greatest possession on Earth is our 
good name, worth more than all the gold and the silver in the world. 
And by that measure, the Bush family--Barbara Bush, George Bush, the 
entire Bush family--are the wealthiest people on Earth.
  In a memoir that Barbara wrote in 1994, looking back on their 50-plus 
years of marriage, she wrote that George and she were ``the two 
luckiest people in the world.''
  She said: ``And when all the dust is settled and all the crowds are 
gone, the things that matter are faith, family, and friends. We have 
been inordinately blessed, and we know that.''
  According to their granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager, Barbara and 
George gave thanks every night for their blessings and for each other 
in their prayers. Each night before bed, George H.W. still said, ``I 
love you, Barbie,'' to his wife, according to Jenna.
  When the Bushes first came to Texas, they settled in west Texas and 
went into the oil business.
  We are privileged tonight to be joined by the chairman of the 
Agriculture Committee, the Congressman representing Midland and Odessa, 
the Bushes first home in Texas, the gentleman from west Texas, Mike 
Conaway. We are delighted to have him with us tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway).
  Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to come down here tonight to 
speak about Barbara Bush and the Bush family. As my colleague said, I 
represent Midland and Odessa, two communities that are linked to the 
Bush legacy through their living in Odessa for a while, then moving to 
Midland.
  George W. Bush and I were business partners in the oil business for 
about 5 years. So while I had limited or no direct contact with his 
mom, I got to see the product of her childrearing by working with him 
on a daily basis for 5 years.
  Mrs. Bush brought to the table that incredibly terrific blend of 
being a woman who was strong but compassionate, loved her family, 
stunningly protective of her family, yet steel-willed when she needed 
to be; didn't suffer fools well when they were doing things that she 
didn't like, but did it with grace and dignity in ways that all of us 
should try to aspire to do it.
  They do leave a legacy in Midland. Midland still considers them their 
First Family. We have a museum in Odessa commemorating their home from 
when they lived in Odessa. We also have the Bush home in Midland that 
has been turned into a museum, and we are working hard to get that 
moved over to the Parks and Recreation Department so that it can be 
properly maintained and as a good example.
  But I don't have a lot to say tonight that has not already been said, 
other than the fact that I am honored to be able to say these things 
and to just say that all of us should aspire to have the kind of legacy 
that Barbara Bush has left. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a 
great-grandmother. All of those things she did with incredible 
excellence and style.
  But she was also her own woman and leaves that legacy as well, of 
what strong women can do; what they mean to the strength of a family; 
what they mean to a community that she lived in. Whether it was Midland 
or Houston or here in Washington, D.C., as First Lady, she did it the 
right way every time. And our Nation is better for having had her.
  I suspect that Abigail Adams has welcomed her with open arms, as 
being the only two women to be the wife of one President and a mother 
of another, and that is a pretty select group that Mrs. Bush and 
Abigail Adams, both of whom have had great impacts on the legacy of 
this country.

[[Page H3699]]

  Again, thank you, Barbara Bush, for all that you did. I know her 
family grieves, but it is a bittersweet grief, knowing that a life 
lived really well for 92 years is something to be very proud of.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Conaway very much for 
his comments.
  When Barbara and George lived in the Midland-Odessa area early in 
their marriage is when they lost their daughter, Robin. It, of course, 
is an unimaginable and unbearable loss to lose a child. But Robin was 
carried away by leukemia, and the Bushes devoted much of their lives to 
raise money for leukemia research, to defeat that terrible disease, to 
raise awareness of the disease, to give hope to others; because when 
they lost Robin in 1953, there wasn't really anything the doctors could 
do.
  It is a great tribute to them both that they were so heavily involved 
in helping to raise money for cancer research to fight leukemia through 
the Texas Medical Center. MD Anderson, one of the greatest cancer 
hospitals in the world, is located in the Texas Medical Center on the 
edge of my district, and it has been my privilege as the chairman of a 
subcommittee on Appropriations to spearhead record increases in funding 
for the National Institutes of Health to help fight childhood cancers 
like leukemia. The Bushes were an integral part of that. They have done 
immeasurable good in so many ways and touched so many lives and 
inspired so many people all over the United States and throughout 
Texas.
  I know that all of us in the Texas delegation, all of us across the 
country, are praying for the Bush family and share in their grief. But 
we also have the sure knowledge that Barbara Bush is in a better place; 
that she has been reunited with her daughter, Robin, and that she was 
at peace.
  Mr. Speaker, we are honored tonight to be joined by my colleague from 
Houston, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who joins us here tonight to 
pay tribute to the life of this remarkable and extraordinary First 
Lady, Barbara Bush.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Houston for 
yielding, and I would like to address all of us on the floor tonight as 
my fellow Texans. That was a favorite of George W. Bush, the son of 
Barbara Bush, when he would greet us during his Presidency, which I had 
the privilege of being here in the United States Congress, and he would 
always greet me as his fellow Texan, and how proud we are to be able to 
call President George H.W. Bush and the extended family, and his 
wonderful First Lady, the matriarch, the first girlfriend, if you will, 
and as has been told over and over during the time of her memorial, the 
first man that she kissed. How proud we are to call both of them our 
fellow Texans.
  Now we are standing here today to mourn Barbara Pierce Bush. And as I 
do that, let me, first of all, acknowledge President George H.W. Bush, 
and wish him a speedy recovery for him to regain his strength; for all 
of us watched as he sat in the viewing of her repose on that Friday, as 
he came and sat and remained for a period of time to greet the many 
people that came to honor her during that viewing. I was one of those 
who had the privilege to go and to pay my respects on that day.
  But again, they are one of America's greatest families, although 
Barbara Pierce Bush would never acknowledge that by her attitude or the 
way she addressed people. She was just Mrs. Barbara Bush, a very humble 
but strong and firm and straightforward First Lady.
  Barbara Bush was a descendant of the 14th President of the United 
States, Franklin Pierce; the wife of the 41st, George Herbert Walker 
Bush; and the mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush.
  Of course, she finds her place in history for many, many reasons; 
but, of course, we take note of the fact there was only one other woman 
who was both the wife and the mother of a President of the United 
States, Abigail Adams. So that is a very high-ranking and honorable 
place to be.
  Barbara Bush, the widely admired and fiercely loyal wife, mother, and 
grandmother, was born in Rye, New York, but she got to Texas as soon as 
she could. She met a dashing young George Herbert Walker Bush in 
Greenwich, Connecticut, at a school dance when she was 16 and he was a 
year older. What an amazing story. In fact, what an amazing love story.
  Three years later, Barbara Bush married her sweetheart, and their 
love lasted for 73 years. I remember, as we mourned her last weekend, 
over and over again, the commentators would say, 73 years of marriage. 
That, alone, is a historic tribute to integrity and the beauty and the 
love of both of them. And, of course, they were married until she 
departed in death.
  George and Barbara raised their family from west Texas to Houston. Of 
course, we know that he was a war hero and a remarkable set of action 
that he saw in World War II, and a miraculous recovery from when his 
plane fell, and, as well, miraculous in the fact that he survived; but, 
more importantly, the actions that took place as he pursued the enemy. 
He truly was a hero as well.

                              {time}  1930

  Barbara Bush was plainspoken, but she had that wonderful white hair, 
pearl necklace and earrings. And so many in Houston, on the day of both 
her funeral and as well the day that we viewed her remains at St. 
Martin's Episcopal, as she lied in repose, she was there, and we were 
wearing pearl necklaces and earrings, just to be able to say she is 
someone that we admired, not for those external things, but for the 
goodness of her heart.
  She was an early supporter of the civil rights movement, the equal 
rights movement, and we repeated over and over again that very famous 
story of her going to an AIDS clinic and picking up a baby and hugging 
and touching those individuals who were HIV infected, to let the world 
know that they needed love and comfort, and that we needed to fight for 
the cure and to recognize the humanity of those who are suffering from 
HIV/AIDS.
  Certainly she loved literacy, and that became one of her major 
efforts, and that is where, during her time in Houston, I would see 
her--often with her son Neil Bush--efforts dealing with literacy.
  Her work and dollars came to places way beyond where she might expect 
them. Certainly a lot of work on literacy was done in my congressional 
district.
  Barbara Bush raised more than $1 billion for literacy and cancer 
charities. And as my colleague has indicated, it was both in tribute 
and in recognition of the devastation of childhood cancer, leukemia, 
which she lost her firstborn to.
  Barbara Bush recognized that education was the key that unlocked the 
door of human potential, and so her foundation, again, as I indicated, 
focused on family literacy.
  I have met people who, through her literacy program, were able to 
restore their lives and to secure employment because they were then 
able to move forward because they learned to read. And, unfortunately, 
they learned to read after they finished all of their education. She 
understood the value of that.
  As they came back to Houston, we were delighted to call them 
Houstonians, and as well we recognize what a valuable couple they were 
to us. And anything you asked them to do, from being with the Texans 
and supporting them and rooting them on and being with the Astros or 
the Rockets or any of our teams or any of our universities or anything 
that was needed, they were there.
  So I am always amazed at the breadth and depth of Barbara Bush; how 
many people she touched, how many people loved her, how many people 
stood in line just to pay their respects.
  We know her book with her dog, Millie, and her puppies, written 
during her White House years, was a best seller, as were her other 
books. And all of it was donated to charity.
  We also realize that as she and her husband ended their service--and, 
by the way, she was by his side for being the representative in China, 
for being the CIA director, for being the Congressperson that 
previously overlapped the 18th Congressional District. Many of my 
constituents were his constituents, and so we have had a full circle of 
their wonderful service to this Nation.
  On a personal note, I want to offer my tribute from my husband, Dr.

[[Page H3700]]

Elwyn C. Lee, because as a young man growing up, it was the Bush family 
who helped him go to Andover and opened his eyes to go to the same 
school that Mr. Bush, H.W. Bush, went to, and his years of finishing 
high school.
  We know that when we got married, we received a gift from the Bushes. 
We just couldn't even imagine it, that they would even remember us. We 
sent them an invitation, they remembered, and they provided us with a 
very special gift.
  They are very, very special people, and I speak in present tense 
because her spirit continues to thrive, and we are reminded of the 
charity, the love, and the standard bearer that she was for what is 
great about America.
  We know that she is survived by her husband, their children--George, 
Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy--and that, as has always been said, she 
will join her firstborn Robin at her final resting place.
  It is important to pay tribute to such a wonderful American, such a 
wonderful woman, and to be able to thank her for teaching us and to 
remind us what is important in life, and it is family, friends, and 
faith.
  Thank you, Mrs. Barbara Pierce Bush. May you rest in peace, but let 
it be known that we will never forget your spirit, your strength, and 
what you did for America, and you gave it to us straight: Family, 
friends, and faith.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in remembrance of Barbara Pierce Bush, the 
matriarch of one of America's great families, and former First Lady of 
the United States.
  Barbara Bush was a descendant of the 14th President of the United 
States, Franklin Pierce; the wife of the 41st, George Herbert Walker 
Bush; and the mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush.
  Barbara Bush, the widely admired and fiercely loyal wife, mother, and 
grandmother, was born June 8, 1925 in Rye, New York.
  Barbara Pierce met the dashing young George Herbert Walker Bush in 
Greenwich, Connecticut at a school dance when she was 16 and he was a 
year older.
  Three years late Barbara Pierce married her sweetheart and their love 
lasted for 73 years, until she was departed from her beloved by death.
  George and Barbara raised their family mainly in West Texas, where 
they settled after the end of World War II and where the future 
President went into the oil business.
  Barbara Bush was a plainspoken woman who was instantly recognizable 
with her signature white hair, pearl necklaces, and earrings.
  Mrs. Bush was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, 
Planned Parenthood, the Equal Rights Amendment, and was a tireless 
champion of many charitable causes, especially literacy.
  Barbara Bush raised more than $1 billion for literacy and cancer 
charities.
  Barbara Bush recognized that education was the key that unlocked the 
door of human potential.
  Literacy was Barbara Bush's special cause, which led her to establish 
the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
  Shortly after the end of her husband's presidential administration, 
the Bush Family returned to Texas, and all Houstonians were lucky to 
call her and her husband, George H. W. Bush, the 41st president, our 
neighbors and dear friends.
  Barbara Bush's books include an autobiography and one about post-
White House life.
  Her children's book about their dog, Millie, and her puppies written 
during her White House years was a best seller, as were her other 
books.
  In 2001, when George W. Bush took office, Barbara Bush became the 
only woman in American history to live to see her husband and son 
elected president.
  Barbara Bush lived a full life and will be remembered in American 
history, alongside only Abigail Adams, for the impact her life had on 
this country.
  Barbara Bush is survived by her husband and their children George, 
Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. She will join her first born, Robin at 
her final resting place.
  I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of Barbara 
Pierce Bush, the Former First Lady of the United States.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Houston for 
joining us tonight to honor the life of this great woman, Barbara 
Pierce Bush, who, as my colleague mentioned, was a national leader in 
literacy, focused her efforts as First Lady on building literacy in the 
United States, and, in fact, in a televised event, an event that 
really, I think, symbolizes who Barbara Bush was and how big her heart 
was and the way she treated everyone that she met.
  It was an event celebrating the bicentennial of the Constitution 
where Barbara Bush met a man named J.T. Pace, who was a 63-year-old son 
of a sharecropper, who had only recently become literate and able to 
read.
  And he was scheduled to read the Constitution's preamble out loud in 
front of a large audience, Barbara Bush instinctively understood that 
he was very, very nervous. She quietly slipped up alongside him and 
asked him if she could help him read it out loud while standing next to 
him.
  Mr. Pace was very grateful and said, yes, of course. And soon they 
went up on stage together and began reading out loud the preamble of 
the Constitution.
  As Barbara Bush detected that Mr. Pace became more comfortable in 
reading in public, she continued to lower her voice until only his 
voice could be heard. And he suddenly realized that he was reading the 
preamble to the Constitution in front of this huge audience on his own.
  Well, it brought tears to his eyes because Barbara Bush had stood 
alongside him, understood his fear and anxiety, had lifted him up, and 
given him the confidence that he needed to complete the task, and 
allowed Mr. Pace to find his own voice.
  She was an extraordinary woman, and I feel humbled every day to 
represent the Bushes, to be their Congressman, to follow in his 
footsteps, to follow in her footsteps, and to do my very best to live 
up to the very high standards that they set for all of us as Americans, 
and especially as public servants.
  Every day that I have this privilege, I remember the standard that 
she set for all of us, the standards that she set for her family.
  Her granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager, explained why her Ganny was 
given the nickname ``The Enforcer.'' Jenna explained that there were a 
few simple rules that her grandmother followed: Treat everyone equally; 
don't look down on anyone; use your voice for good; and read all the 
great books.
  Barbara loved her family more than anything else on Earth. As she 
liked to tell people repeatedly: In the end, when all the dust is 
settled, when all the crowds are gone, the things that matter most are 
faith, family, and friends.
  She was abundantly blessed. In fact, her most prized possession was a 
painted cow, because when her husband, George, saw that Barbara had 
swooned over the painted cow statues installed around Houston in 2001, 
he decided to surprise her with one. But as the former President paced 
a warehouse full of colorful works of cows painted by local artists 
with his longtime chief of staff Gene Becker, President Bush could not 
decide which one his wife would like best.
  So he bought a blank one, and, as he expected, Mrs. Bush turned it 
into a family art project.
  They had the white cow placed on the lawn of the family seaside home 
in Kennebunkport, Maine, and in the years since, she and George had 
each of their 5 children, 17 grandchildren, and 8-and-counting great-
grandchildren decorate the cow with handprints and autographs, and it 
became her most prized possession because it symbolized their entire 
family and their deep bond of love and affection for each other.
  Barbara Bush taught that humor, wit, and grace were the best 
accessories that a woman could wear. Jenna Bush Hager shared that her 
Ganny embodied uniqueness and authenticity, from her mismatched Keds, 
her pearl earrings, to her snow white hair.
  Barbara Bush always stressed the importance of internal beauty 
because, as she said, your looks will fade, but your kind words and the 
way you make people feel will be remembered by people forever, and you 
are measured by the love of those around you and how you have loved 
them.
  Her family members stated that she was the glue that held them all 
together. In a eulogy by her son Jeb, he stated that his mom was his 
first and most important teacher. She taught him to, ``sit up, look 
people in the eye, say please and thank you, quit whining and stop 
complaining, and eat your broccoli.''
  The little things that she taught turned into bigger life lessons. 
``Be

[[Page H3701]]

kind, always tell the truth, never discourage anyone. Serve others, 
treat everyone as you would want to be treated, and love your God with 
all your heart and all your soul.''
  At Barbara's funeral, Jeb Bush told a story of the last time his 
mother was in the hospital. He said that his father, in Jeb's opinion, 
probably got sick on purpose just so he could go visit Barbara.
  When George went into her room, he had a breathing mask over his 
face, a hospital gown. His hair was uncombed--in fact, standing 
straight up--and as he walked into Barbara's hospital room and held her 
hand, Barbara opened her eyes, took one look at him, and said, ``My 
God, George, you are devastatingly handsome.''
  She kept her sense of humor and her perspective and her joy and love 
for her family right to the end.
  When Jeb asked her how she felt about dying, Barbara stated that she 
knew that Jesus was her Lord and savior. She said she did not want to 
leave her husband, but she knew she would be in a beautiful place.
  We know that Barbara is now reunited with her daughter Robin, who 
passed away when she was 3 due to leukemia. And as George W. Bush said 
at the end of his mother's life, although ``Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and 
I are sad, our souls are settled because we know hers was.''
  We are all blessed as Americans, we are certainly blessed as Texans, 
as Houstonians, to be neighbors, to be friends, to have known this 
great good woman and this extraordinary family, the Bush family, that 
has exemplified everything that has made America great: integrity, 
duty, courage, commitment, self-reliance, religious faith, devotion to 
family, the benefits of hard work, and remembering that your good name 
is your most valuable possession worth more than all the gold and 
silver in the world.

  And truly by that measure, the Bushes are the wealthiest people on 
Earth, and we are all so very fortunate to have known them, to have 
learned from them, to be inspired by them, as I continue to be every 
day as the Congressman from the Seventh District of Texas.
  Every day that I represent this extraordinary district and these 
amazing people in Houston, who all stepped up and helped each other 
during Hurricane Harvey--and the Bushes were right there helping their 
neighbors and friends--every day that I have the privilege to represent 
this great city in this wonderful and amazing place, the Congress of 
the United States of America, I will always remember the standard of 
integrity that the Bush family left for me and for all of us. And I 
will work very, very hard to continue to make Barbara and George Bush 
and the Bush family and all Houstonians proud of my work on their 
behalf, because we are all abundantly blessed to have had Barbara Bush 
as First Lady, as a role model and a mentor, but we know that she is in 
a better place and is reunited with her daughter Robin. And as George 
W. said: We are all sad for the loss, but our souls are settled because 
we know hers was.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I am humbled to honor former First Lady 
Barbara Bush--Barbara Bush had unparalleled style and grace. Not only 
was she our First Lady, but a fiercely loyal wife, mother, grandmother, 
and great-grandmother.
  As a fellow Texan, I am proud of her leadership for our country and 
her unparalleled commitment to childhood literacy. Her leadership while 
in the White House was impactful and her work for her foundation has 
helped countless children. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Bush on a 
few occasions and am saddened to hear of her passing.
  While she may no longer be here with us on earth, we can be certain 
she is with our Heavenly Father--her memory will continue to live in 
the hearts and minds of the American people.

                          ____________________