Expressing Condolences of the House of Representatives to Family and Friends of Mattie Stepanek on His Passing
EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF MATTIE STEPANEK ON HIS PASSING -- (House of Representatives - July 22, 2004)
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Government Reform be discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 695) expressing the condolences of the House of Representatives to the family and friends of Mattie Stepanek on his passing, and honoring the life of Mattie Stepanek for his braveness, generosity of spirit, and efforts to raise awareness of muscular dystrophy, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. CARDIN. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.
For those of us who met this extraordinary young man, it was really in many ways a life-enriching experience. It is hard to believe that someone as young as Mattie had such a depth of understanding of life. His mother is a wonderful lady who transferred to Mattie her own courage, and he had that in great abundance.
But it was his wisdom far beyond his years that impressed everyone who met with him.
When you listened to Mattie, he spoke as a child; but when you listened to what he said, he spoke as a very wise man.
Mr. Speaker, Mattie Stepanek was someone who enriched the lives of all with whom he came in contact. I had an opportunity to see him every year for a number of years at the softball tournament that the International Association of Firefighters conducted in Prince George's County on behalf of Jerry Lewis' telethon on muscular dystrophy. Mattie would attend and he would speak, and everyone there came to hear Mattie. The rest of us were simply surplus.
I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) for introducing this resolution and thank everyone who has been involved in making sure that this resolution comes to the floor and that we observe the passing of an extraordinary American, an extraordinary young man, an extraordinary child of God.