Expressing Sorrow of the House at the Death of the Honorable Charlie Norwood, Member of Congress from the State of Georgia
EXPRESSING SORROW OF THE HOUSE AT THE DEATH OF THE HONORABLE CHARLIE NORWOOD, MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA
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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor CHARLIE NORWOOD, a great servant of the people of Georgia.
By now you have all heard about his life, so I won't spend much time on his extensive biography. But I do want to bring attention to what he would have wanted us to focus on above and beyond his legislative accomplishments, and that is his family.
I did not get an opportunity to get to know CHARLIE, but I do know enough about him to understand what was most important to him. He was a man of high character and values, and so his family was very important. So I would like to mention and send my deepest condolences to CHARLIE's beautiful wife, Gloria, and his two sons, Charles and Carlton, who enabled him and made it possible for him to serve so honorably, particularly at times when clearly he must have not been feeling well. But he still persisted with his duties and responsibilities as a Congressman.
It takes a lot to just walk these Halls from the office to the Capitol and back again, and he walked as long as he could, and then he started taking his wheelchair. So the man had a spirit to prevail over whatever obstacles might have befallen him. That is a spirit that each one of us can learn from and live by and do the best that we can, like he did.
So in addition to just being a great human being, there were a number of legislative accomplishments. I will not go over those either, but I will say as a member of the Armed Services Committee, that I want to bring attention to his military service. He was awarded the Combat Military Badge and two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam. While I did not always or often agree with him on the issues, by all accounts he served his State and his district well.
Georgia and this Nation have lost a great man, and I am honored to have this opportunity to recognize his contributions today.
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