[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10132]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                MOURNING THE PASSING OF DAVID HALBERSTAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, yesterday this Nation lost one of 
its most gifted journalists and authors in a car accident in 
California, David Halberstam.
  As a reporter for The New York Times, his coverage of the Vietnam War 
earned him a Pulitzer Prize and the enduring respect of his colleagues. 
This man embodied the spirit of a thoughtful, free, and independent 
press.
  President Kennedy was so frustrated by the truth of his reporting on 
Vietnam that he once called The New York Times and demanded David be 
fired. The New York Times did not back down, and neither did David. He 
was labeled unpatriotic because the stories he wrote did not flatter 
the administration. But he reported what he saw, regardless of the 
consequences. Now we see the value of his great insight in the history 
of that conflict.
  I have often said that without the members of the press, the civil 
rights movement would have been like a bird without wings. In David's 
reporting at the Nashville Tennessean and later in his book on the 
Nashville student movement, called ``The Children,'' he delivered the 
message of injustice in the South.
  We trusted David. We knew that he was determined to report the truth. 
We trusted that he would get the story right, and we believed he would 
be fair. He was deeply moved and affected by the dizzy dint, the 
commitment and the dedication of the young people in the Nashville 
student movement because they were prepared to face violence with non-
violence and peace.
  I feel that we have lost one of the greatest minds in America, who 
understood the deepest ramification of violence and war. I only wish 
that he were here today for Members of this body to consult as we try 
to find answers in Iraq.
  David was a sympathetic referee in the cause of civil rights and 
social justice. He helped convince the Nation that the price of 
segregation and racial discrimination was too high. He used his pad and 
his pen to answer the calling of his conscience. He stood up for what 
he believed to be right.
  This Nation will always be indebted to him and people like him, who 
are willing to speak the truth regardless of the consequences.
  I have known David for almost 50 years. In him the Nation has lost 
one of its prolific writers, but I feel like I have lost a very good 
friend. I feel like I have lost a companion in the struggle for civil 
rights and social justice in America.

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