Jerry Lewis: “it is a very special moment for me to come to the floor and express both my appreciation for and my disappointment in…”

“it is a very special moment for me to come to the floor and express both my appreciation for and my disappointment in Vic Fazio, for I do not believe we have ever sent from California a finer Member of the House of Representatives: extremely decent, talented guy, who has made a huge difference the policy direction of the House, and in doing so has made a huge difference for our State. I am disappointed because I never thought I would be here in the well having a discussion about the fact that he has chosen to leave. Vic and I share a very special background together. We have interns all over this place these days but in the old days there were not such things as interns around. One of the original fellowship programs, the Coro Foundation, attempts to attract and train young people who may go into public affairs, and Vic was one of those Coro fellows some years ago. I first got to know him in the toughest of political arenas, in Sacramento, where he was on the staff during reapportionment in the early 1970s. I have had occasion to get to know him as a very tough and serious politician. But way beyond that, he is a very tough and serious policymaker. If you will remember, the west steps of the Capitol were held up by 20-by-20 poles for something like 30 or 40 years. Vic Fazio had the good sense and provided the leadership to produce the funding to put our Capitol back together again.”