[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 23, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REMEMBERING THE HONORABLE WILLIAM LACY CLAY, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. WESLEY BELL

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 23, 2025

  Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor and remember the Honorable 
William Lacy Clay, Sr.
  ``We have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent 
interests.''
  Our country lost a trailblazer. Congressman Clay passed away after a 
lifetime of service that reshaped St. Louis and our Nation.
  Already a civil rights icon before he was elected, he didn't come to 
Washington to play politics. He came to fight for working people, Black 
families, union members, and those too often left out and unheard. He 
carried their voices into this chamber and made sure they echoed.
  Bill Clay was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. 
I--and so many others--would not be here without the doors he opened 
and the example he set.
  I'm holding his son, my friend and predecessor Lacy Clay, the entire 
Clay family, and the St. Louis community in my prayers.

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