Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, so we can finish up some things, and for many of us who were very fond of Mr. Lewis, I am going to yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my friend. {time} 1415 Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank Congressman Calvert for organizing the tribute to Jerry Lewis today. I knew of Jerry Lewis many years before I had the honor to know him personally. He was elected to Congress the year that I graduated from college in southern California, and he was a well-known name then because of his activism for air quality, which at the time was a very serious concern in that region. I then had the opportunity and honor to actually be able to work with Jerry in Congress. And I have to say I was a bit leery about him at first. Jerry was a bit of the Republican old guard and I had spent an entire career fighting that affectation, but what I found was a man who was willing to listen as well as to be heard, a man who was so interested in the process and the give and take and the sharing of ideas, that he really demonstrated what this institution is all about, how it did work, and how it could work in the future if we could learn from his example and his life. I am very honored to join in the tribute to him today on the floor.”