Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. If a test of a career is whether you made a difference, Big John's career has been a big success. In so many ways, John was tall in stature physically and in every other way. There has been much note about his particular accomplishments. I would like to spend just a few minutes today talking not about those accomplishments that are so vivid and so clear, but to talk about John Dingell and his character. He remembered his roots, never forgot them. There was always, I think, a sense of the underdog. I think his family came to this country and felt, in a sense, like the underdog, but were thankful that they had an opportunity in this country to rise. And it is so clear that John succeeded. You might sum it up this way: John Dingell was a legislator's legislator. He combined courage and civility, dedication and decency, strong views with strong friendships. I don't remember exactly when it was that, down the hall here, when John was being honored, he decided to talk about this institution and what he had seen happen to it. And it was a very frank talk. And he really bemoaned recent events here, where it was much more difficult to have strong views but to have strong camaraderie, to have strong views but have the ability to compromise on them, to have strong views but find a way to seek and find common ground.…”