[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 104 (Thursday, June 20, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Remembering Willie Mays

  Madam President, on a sad note but, in some ways, happy because he 
was such a great man, on Tuesday, the world of baseball said goodbye to 
one of its greatest athletes and its greatest human beings--he was one 
of the greatest Americans to ever play the game--Willie Mays. He died 
in Palo Alto at the age of 93.
  Many call Willie Mays the great five-tool player in the history of 
baseball, but even that sells it laughably short. What Willie Mays 
meant to the game, what he meant to New York, what he meant to America 
can never be recorded with statistics. He was a living embodiment of 
America itself.
  Born in the segregated South, he served in the Army, captured the 
hearts of millions from New York to San Francisco by dominating 
America's pastime at a time when Black players were just beginning to 
ascend into the major leagues.
  He would play stickball with the kids on the streets of Harlem, get 
swarmed by admirers at the Red Rooster, and he was simply one of the 
nicest and coolest and most magnetic Americans who ever lived. That 
combination--nice, cool, and magnetic--it is a rarity. It is a rarity 
in anyone. There it was in Willie Mays.
  When I was growing up, Mickey Mantle was my guy. I was a Yankees fan. 
So we were on the receiving end of Willie Mays' awesome powers. I was 
too young to remember the 1951 World Series, but I knew it was passed 
down from the older kids on the street as to how Willie Mays was an 
incredible competitor, as well as someone who was kind at the same 
time.
  Of the many things that Willie Mays taught us, one is that you can be 
great and kind at once. So this week, New York and America says thank 
you, thank you, thank you to one of the greatest ever. I doubt we will 
ever see anyone like Willie Mays ever again.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.