Remembering Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding.

Jim Wright would have been proud of Marc Veasey. He would have said Marc Veasey is in the Jim Wright tradition. I am going to speak a bit about that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about a Mr. Speaker, to pay tribute to the life and legacy of a man who served this House and our country with distinction as a Member, as majority leader, and as Speaker.

Jim Wright was a man of principle and great political skill, and he relied on both during his 34 years in Congress. I have now served 34 years in Congress, and for part of that 34 years, I had the honor of serving with Jim Wright.

Just 2 years after he was first elected to represent Texas' 12th Congressional District, Jim stuck to his principles and refused to sign the Southern Manifesto, opposing desegregation, as so many of his southern colleagues did.

It was a risk, of course, Mr. Speaker, politically, but he put his belief in equal opportunity ahead of what was politically popular among his constituents at the time.

When he voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957, it was a further sign of his courage, of his conviction, and of his adherence to the principles that have made our country so great and so respected.

In spite of breaking with many of his southern conservative Democratic colleagues on that issue, he forged friendships with them based on mutual respect and good old-fashioned camaraderie, just as he did with Members from other parts of the country and across party lines.

Jim was elected majority leader in 1976, and he was serving in that capacity when I came to Congress in 1981. Today, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to sit in the same office, H-148 in the Capitol Building, just a few feet from this floor, where Jim Wright sat as the majority leader.

If you look up toward the ceiling in one corner of our office suite, you can still see the great seal of the State of Texas painted on the wall. Emblazoned in the center of that seal is the proud lone star of Texas.

Sam Rayburn may have been one of those stars, Lyndon Johnson may have been one of those stars, and many other Texans may have been one of those stars. But in our office, that lone star stands for Speaker Jim Wright.

In many ways, Jim was that lone star who stood out at the center of our party in this House, a leader who knew how to bring Members together by inspiring them to follow his example.

He never wavered in his mission to bring Democrats and Republicans together and replace partisan divisions with cooperation, comity, and--yes--compromise, which is in such little supply on this floor right now.

Jim was an extraordinary person. He was someone who refused to take ``no'' for an answer and seemed destined to serve his community and his country.

Mr. Speaker, at age 10, he tried hard to join the Boy Scouts, even though he was 2 years shy of the minimum age to participate.

At 13, Jim lied and said he was 16 in order to enter a boxing tournament. Now, there are some 13-year-olds who can empathize with that. And, Mr. Speaker, he almost won that competition.

In high school, his classmates wrote in his class of 1939 yearbook that Jim would likely be serving in Congress by 1955. How prescient his classmates were, for he won his first congressional election in 1954.

While in college at the University of Texas, Jim learned that the attack on Pearl Harbor had occurred. Without hesitation, he decided to drop out the next day and join the Army Air Corps.

Jim flew more than 300 combat hours over the South Pacific. He flew, as my stepfather did, in the battles that were fought in the Pacific to combat those who had attacked Pearl Harbor. He was decorated for his distinguished service.

Those of us who served with Jim in the House saw the same determined spirit he demonstrated in the Army as he applied himself to serving the people of Texas' 12th District.

I had the opportunity to be at Jim Wright's funeral on May 11 of this year.

On the day of his assassination, in the last speech of his life, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited what he called ``Jim Wright's city'' and praised the Congressman by saying, ``I don't know of any city that is better represented in the Congress of the United States than Fort Worth,'' Texas.

I can remember the year after Jim Wright was elected Speaker of the House that I had the opportunity of chairing and emceeing a dinner that was held in Fort Worth, one of the biggest ever held there.

I will echo, therefore, that sentiment. I can think of few who served in the Congress who will be remembered as fondly by those they served with than Jim Wright, by his constituents, by his colleagues, and by his family. He loved this institution dearly.

His family and those who served with him, like me, will miss him. A grateful Nation thanks him for a lifetime of service to us all.

And I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.

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