Devin Nunes: “I thank the gentleman from Arizona for giving some extended time to recognize Jerry Lewis, who was a statesman, a…”

“I thank the gentleman from Arizona for giving some extended time to recognize Jerry Lewis, who was a statesman, a Congressman from the Inland Empire, a good friend to all of us. Jerry really was a one-man institution on Capitol Hill, having served in the House for more than 30 years. Jerry was extremely effective at serving his constituents. He always kept his constituents in the Inland Empire in mind, and he was always popular with them. Jerry never lost and never received less than 61 percent of his vote in any of his congressional races. Jerry was a veteran Congressman, and when I first came to the House in 2003, I actually already knew him, because, as was typical of Jerry, he liked to work with young people. At the time in the eighties and nineties, him and Congressman Bill Thomas from Bakersfield, they would organize conferences for young people to teach them about policy and politics. And I went to many of those events, which I have fond memories of, and when I look back at that, those were really important events in my life that probably inspired me in some way to ultimately serve with Jerry. I will always be thankful for that. When I did come to Washington as a Representative, Jerry became a close friend, a mentor. Jerry taught me the ropes and how to assimilate and deal with sometimes the strange ways of doing things around here. Also, back home in California, there are many times that I had the opportunity to visit both Jerry, his wife Arlene, Mr.…”