Christopher Shays: “Stewart McKinney, my predecessor, a member of this House and our friend, died 10 years ago today. On that day 10 years…”

“Stewart McKinney, my predecessor, a member of this House and our friend, died 10 years ago today. On that day 10 years ago, many of his colleagues came to this Chamber to mark the moment and express their grief, their admiration, their condolences, their remembrances. It was a deeply moving, impromptu tribute to a man whose life for me and the people of Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District continues to define the term ``representative.'' So I think it is fitting that the House pause once again, 10 years later, to reflect upon the life, the work, and the spirit of Stewart B. McKinney, a Representative. A generosity of spirit marked all he did. He gave. A man of virtually boundless affability, he gave his warmth and courtesy to clerks, elevator operators, and Capitol police as readily as to his House colleagues, Cabinet Secretaries and Presidents. A man of considerable means, he gave the use of his cars and his houses to staff and friends. A man of keen intellect and insight, he gave his tenure here not to the cause of self-advancement but to the causes of public housing, homelessness, and outcast Amerasian children. A self-avowed urbanist from a strongly suburban district, Stewart McKinney gave life to what others only preach about: urban revitalization.”