Steven Holt: “I thank the gentlelady. Mr. Speaker, all of us are saddened by the country's loss of Don Payne, and it is going to be…”

“I thank the gentlelady. Mr. Speaker, all of us are saddened by the country's loss of Don Payne, and it is going to be hard to get used to the absence of Don. Don has been a good friend to me, someone I've looked up to here in Congress. No one in Congress has been a stronger advocate for equality of opportunity in education. No one in Congress has been a greater advocate for children services and youth development. No one has been more knowledgeable about Africa. No one has voted more consistently for peaceful and nonmilitary resolutions to problems. No one has been more consistent in the fight to respect workers' safety and workers' conditions. Throughout all of this, Don Payne was very attentive to the interests of the entire State of New Jersey and especially to the interests of his constituents. He was instrumental in bringing international attention and condemnation to the genocide in Darfur, as we've heard already. As a former educator, he brought an invaluable perspective to our work together on the Education Committee. He was responsible for getting many millions of dollars to the PEPFAR program for dealing with HIV, resistant TB, malaria around the world, and especially in Africa. I might add he did that with President Bush. He was a strong advocate for an adequate minimum wage.…”