[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 25254-25255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE WILLIAM L. CLAY, SR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, when this body ends this session, and I 
remain hopeful that it will, this august body is going to lose one of 
its most productive and innovative Members, William L. Clay, Sr.
  Bill Clay became a Member of this body in 1969, over 30 years ago. He 
came here as a young man, by his own admission, filled with a bit of 
anger. Bill Clay had grown up in a system that gave very little respect 
to his skills, to his dreams, to his aspirations, and he had fought as 
a young man in order to make sure that opportunities would be open for 
people such as him. So, when he got here, he was filled with all kinds 
of anxieties.
  To get a good feel for who and what Bill Clay is, one should read his 
book, Just Permanent Interests. I have on occasion read various parts 
of that book. In fact, I have a choice of the three or four copies that 
people have made gifts to me of, and I keep one of them in each one of 
my places of abode, one here in Washington and one at home in the 
district. And every now and then as we encounter various things here on 
this floor and in our political interactions, I go to a part of that 
book in order to get a sense of some of the history that Bill Clay has 
been a part of and some of the emotions that he experienced when he 
first arrived here.

                              {time}  1600

  Mr. Speaker, I have been able to learn a lot from his experiences. 
And so when I arrived here, I sat with him, and we exchanged some of 
our great love of history. I am going to miss that when he leaves after 
next month.
  Mr. Speaker, a lot of us will miss his wit and his wisdom. He is full 
of both; but for the wit, sometimes we would not have a good 
appreciation for the wisdom. So I want to say to Bill Clay and others 
who are joining me today how much we appreciate him, not just as a 
Member of the Congress, but his personal friendship and interaction.
  I suspect that I have had dinner with him more often than he would 
like. And, of course, I do not know, but I think he has enjoyed every 
one of them, because I have yet to be successful in getting him to pick 
up a tab for any of those dinners.
  Bill Clay has been a great guy. He has been a mentor to so many of 
us, and I consider it really a high part of my being here to be able to 
say to my children and grandchildren that I served here in this body 
for 8 years with him, and that we became fast friends, and that because 
of that friendship and because of that service together, I am a better 
person today than I was when I got here. I thank him for it.

[[Page 25255]]

  I want to say to you, Bill, thank you for all that you have meant to 
me personally. Thank you for what you meant to my family. Thank you for 
what you have meant to those of us who have had the honor of serving 
with you.
  Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of controlling the remainder of the 
time for this special order, I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin 
Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

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