[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16484]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 16484]]

EXPRESSING SORROW OF THE HOUSE AT THE DEATH OF THE HONORABLE GEORGE E. 
      BROWN, JR., MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution 
(H. Res. 252) and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 252

       Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
     the death of the Honorable George E. Brown, Jr., a 
     Representative from the State of California.
       Resolved, That a committee of such Members of the House as 
     the Speaker may designate, together with such Members of the 
     Senate as may be joined, be appointed to attend the funeral.
       Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be 
     authorized and directed to take such steps as may be 
     necessary for carrying out the provisions of these 
     resolutions and that the necessary expenses in connection 
     therewith be paid out of the contingent fund of the House.
       Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to 
     the Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the 
     deceased.
       Resolved, That when the House adjourns today, it adjourn as 
     a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, maybe other Members of the California delegation would 
like to speak, but we will set a special time for that. I just want to 
thank the leadership, the Speaker of the House, and the President of 
the Senate for already lowering the flags on the Hill on all of our 
Federal buildings out of respect for the memory of George Brown. We 
will dearly miss him.
  We will appoint at the appropriate time a memorial service here on 
the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member of this House now 
for 11 years, and I have to say that I have never met a man more 
principled and more honest and more open than George Brown.
  I loved George Brown dearly, and I think I am talking for the rest of 
us, certainly on our side of the aisle, and I know many others will 
come up, but George Brown was such a principled human being. And 
sometimes people who feel so strongly about their principles get caught 
up in bitterness and partisanship, but George Brown had such a 
wonderful spirit and a happiness about him that he diffused tension 
with his principles and his spirit rather than creating tensions.
  I just would like to add my words and to say that working under his 
leadership in the Committee on Science was a joy. And here we are at 
the 30th anniversary of our landing on the moon, and George Brown 
certainly deserves such a great deal of credit for the leadership he 
provided over the years in this great achievement of our country.
  George Brown was an honest liberal, an honest man, a man with a dear 
heart, and we will miss him.
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis).
  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague indicated, we 
are going to schedule another time for a memorial service on the floor, 
rather than do that at this moment. I know Members want to think 
through all of their feelings about our colleague and I, frankly, want 
to make sure that Marta has an opportunity to share these moments with 
us. So we will work with the Speaker and the leadership to make sure an 
appropriate time is selected and go forward from there.
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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