Political Quotes

“I rise to tell my colleagues of the death of a good friend and colleague, Congressman Bill Emerson, who, until Saturday night, represented southeast Missouri's Eighth Congressional District. Bill Emerson was, I believe, well known to many in this body, certainly to many around this city, and was loved by the people of southeast Missouri. He had a long and distinguished history of service in the U.S. Congress. Bill Emerson was a 15-year-old congressional page in 1954 when a Puerto Rican nationalist sprayed gunfire on the House floor. Bill helped carry a wounded Member off the House floor on a stretcher. After high school and graduation from Westminster College, he served as administrative assistant to Representative Bob Ellsworth of Kansas, and then to Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias of Maryland. Subsequently, he served in various legislative relations positions with Fairchild Industries, Interstate Natural Gas, Federal Elections Commission, and TRW. In 1980, it was a new day. Bill was elected as a Republican Congressman in the Eighth Congressional District, the first Republican to win that seat in 52 years. Bill Emerson was from that district. He knew the district. He spoke to the hearts and minds and souls of the people of that district. They returned him again and again, very strongly each time he ran. Bill always served his constituents. He was an expert in agriculture affairs.”