[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5329]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        TRIBUTE TO MIKE MARINER

  (Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to a good 
friend, Mike Mariner, who passed away last week, and whose funeral 
service is being held today in Snowflake, Arizona. Each of us will face 
challenges in life, but few of us will be called to face for a moment 
what Mike endured for most of a lifetime.
  Those who grew up with Mike will remember his good humor, his playful 
spirit, and fortunately for those of us who often displayed the 
insensitivity of youth, his boundless ability to forgive and forget.
  Those who have kept in touch with Mike over the past several years 
have been softened, touched, and are inspired by his tireless effort to 
keep his frail body in step with his keen mind. The world is a better 
place because Mike lived in it, and we are a better people for having 
known him.
  Mike is now home, and because of the difficult road he has traveled, 
we can find special meaning in the poet's phrase ``He has slipped the 
surly bonds of Earth and touched the face of God.'' God bless you, 
Mike.

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