Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, so much has been said about Mark today, I can't repeat it all. But as I have been looking at this picture, I just find it hard to accept that he is gone. You know, we meet each other here in the House. There are 435 people. We don't know each person who is here. We tend to meet each other best when we serve on committees. I actually first met Mark on the airplane, of course, because each Member of the California delegation flies home to California every week. It is to be forgiven if Members from Hawaii or Samoa don't go every week because, by the time you get there, it is time to come back to Washington, but Mark went home every week. And I would get on that plane, and there he would be, because he was so devoted not only to his constituents, but to his wife and to his children. He needed to be with them every week. Much has been said about this trip to Asia. I was on that trip. And on these congressional delegations, spouses are invited to come to keep company with the Members. My husband was not able to come, and Mark's wife was not able to come either, so we sat next to each other for that entire trip. I heard all about his wonderful wife and his wonderful children throughout that trip in Asia. I have such precise memories of Mark, as Doris Matsui has said.…”