[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 19909-19910]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO GOLF LEGEND BYRON NELSON

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order and address the House for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, today north Texas and indeed the country 
lost a great, great man, the legendary golfer and humanitarian Byron 
Nelson. He passed away at the age of 94 at his home in Roanoke, Texas, 
where he lived with his wife Peggy on 11 Straight Lane, a road that was 
named for his year of 1945 when he won 11 straight golf tournaments.
  Like all Americans, I am saddened by the news of the death of Byron 
Nelson. He was indeed the best of men and he was a gentleman to all. 
His strength of character and generosity to others set him apart.
  Mr. Nelson's accomplishment as a professional golfer are as 
impressive as his golf swing. There is a reason why he is the only PGA 
professional golfer that has a PGA tour named in his honor, the EDS 
Byron Nelson Championship.
  Mr. Nelson won 54 career victories, including winning two Masters, 
two PGA championships and the U.S. Open in 1939. He is one of only two 
golfers to be named Male Athlete of the Year twice by the Associated 
Press, and the World Golf Hall of Fame honored Mr. Byron Nelson in 2004 
by featuring an exhibit entitled, ``Byron Nelson: A Champion . . . A 
Gentleman.''
  While Lord Byron has obtained the status as a world class athlete, it 
is his humanitarian efforts that are truly first class, Mr. Speaker. He 
is a champion for the underprivileged and has given his time, his 
talents and his funds to make this a better world for those who are not 
as well off.
  Byron Nelson and the EDS Byron Nelson Championship have raised well 
over $100 million for the Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers, a 
nonprofit agency that provides education and mental health services for 
more than 2,700 children and their families in the greater Dallas area.
  Additionally, the Byron and Louise Nelson Golf Endowment Fund has 
provided over $1.5 million in endowment funds to Abilene Christian 
University in Abilene, Texas.
  Another example of his service is his dedication to the Metroport 
Meals on Wheels which provides daily, home-delivered, hot lunches for 
the frail, elderly and chronically ill residents in his area around 
Roanoke, Texas, where he lived with his wife Peggy. Byron Nelson has 
been an active honorary chairman of that group since 1992.
  Some of our local papers in the north Texas area talked about Byron 
Nelson in their on-line editions for tomorrow. The Fort Worth Star-
Telegram quoted Byron Nelson, ``I have not ever said that I want to 
live to this age or that age,'' he said. ``I don't believe in doing 
that. I'm going to try and maintain myself in a way that I'm up and 
able to move about and participate in things going on in my life. My 
heart is good. My cholesterol's good.''
  Earlier this year, many Members of this House will remember that we 
carried a bill to honor Byron Nelson with a Congressional Gold Medal. 
It is ironic that today I learned that the medal bill which passed the 
House last May had indeed received the requisite 67 cosponsors on the 
Senate side and may well be acted upon soon. I am very fortunate to 
have spoke with Mr. Nelson as recently as late last week and informed 
him of the fact that we did indeed seem to have the Senate 
cosponsorships necessary to get the Congressional Gold Medal bill done 
for him. He was very humbled by that, and in fact, he asked, ``Well, 
Congressman, what can I do to help you?'' And I said, ``Mr. Nelson, you 
just stay strong for me.''
  Well, unfortunately, it did not occur that Mr. Nelson was still alive 
when he got that gold medal, but I do believe in his heart he knew that 
this Congress was indeed going to honor him.
  Dallas Morning News, in their lead editorial for tomorrow morning, 
``Lord Byron: He was a rare golfer and humanitarian,'' leads off with 
the comment: ``What was remarkable about Byron Nelson's life was that 
the late golfer remains a household name, especially in north Texas, 
six decades after retiring from an active career on the PGA tour.''
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Nelson retired in the early 1950s. Indeed, Mr. 
Nelson was not my sports hero; he was my mother's sports hero. He truly 
transcended generation after generation of north Texans, and he and his 
wife, Peggy, have given back so much to the citizens in our area.

[[Page 19910]]



                              {time}  2330

  The Channel 8 news this evening, in their evening broadcast, had a 
small clip of Byron Nelson in his famous chair there at his home and 
ranch in Roanoke, Texas, saying, ``I just wanted to live my life good 
enough that one day I could get into heaven.'' Dale Hansen, the 
sportscaster who was monitoring the broadcast, finished up with, ``Mr. 
Nelson, you did and you will.''
  I believe him to be correct. Mr. Nelson, we honor your life and your 
service. Godspeed. We will see you at the top.

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