[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15710]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  IN MEMORY OF CONGRESSMAN JAKE PICKLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I did not just like Jake Pickle; I loved 
Jake Pickle. Congressman Pickle was one of the finest public servants 
to have ever served in this House, and he was a true Texas treasure. He 
was a kind, decent, caring human being who spent his entire life making 
life better for others. Whether it was helping a veteran receive health 
care, bringing research dollars, and he brought many of them, to his 
beloved University of Texas or saving the Social Security system in 
1983, Jake was always dedicated to helping others.
  Jake Pickle's faith was shown time and time again as he lived the 
commandment to love thy neighbor. Jake Pickle lived every day with 
another biblical verse, ``This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us 
rejoice and be glad in it.'' Jake lived every day joyfully. He lit up a 
room when he walked into it because of his joyful, positive approach to 
life. His positive approach has enlightened the lives of all of us 
blessed to have known him.
  Jake Pickle exemplified courage when he voted as a freshman 
Congressman from Texas to pass the Civil Rights Act which brought to 
reality the promise of equal opportunity to millions of African-
Americans. He did it because it was the right thing to do, even though 
it could have ended his political career.
  I want to tell one story about my friend Jake Pickle. In June of 
1994, he and I were part of a U.S. congressional delegation at the 50th 
anniversary of D-Day. After the ceremony on June 4 of 1994, our bus was 
about to leave to go back to a hotel an hour to 2 hours away. I noticed 
Jake getting off the bus by himself. I stopped, walked up to him and 
said, Jake, what are you doing? And he said, Why don't you come with 
me, Chet?
  So I followed Jake Pickle off that bus. We walked several hundred 
yards. We went to Point du Hoc, that monument to American GI courage on 
D-Day when Colonel Earl Rudder led Rudder's Army Rangers up that stiff 
cliff against murderous fire by the Germans above them. It turned out 
that Jake Pickle and Earl Rudder, then the land commissioner of Texas, 
roomed together after the death of Jake's first wife when then General 
Rudder was serving as land commissioner in Austin, Texas.
  So that June day in 1994, Jake Pickle got off the bus, not knowing 
how he would get back to his hotel in France, to go pay his respects to 
his personal friend and fellow Texan and American, Earl Rudder, the 
hero along with America's Rangers at Point du Hoc. That was the 
character of Jake Pickle. Our Nation will miss Jake Pickle, but the 
world is a better place today because of his life of dedicated public 
service.
  Mr. Speaker, Winston Churchill once said that we make a living by 
what we get, we make a life by what we give. By that high standard, 
Jake Pickle led a rich life, a life that enriched every one of us 
blessed to have known him.
  Goodbye, my friend, until we meet another day. Thank you for the 
memories. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for making America 
and the world a better place.

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