James Davis: “tonight is an evening for us to give thanks for the remarkable life of Walter Capps. It is also an opportunity for us to…”

“tonight is an evening for us to give thanks for the remarkable life of Walter Capps. It is also an opportunity for us to express appreciation to Walter's constituents in Santa Barbara and the communities he represented, to thank them for sending Walter to Congress to serve with us. It is further an opportunity to reflect on the unique attributes of Walter Capps. Walter stood out in a body of very, very strong-willed people as being an extremely strong-willed person himself. How else can you explain the fact that Walter succeeded in getting elected to Congress while spending a few months in a hospital bed with very serious injuries? Yet what made Walter stand out was the fact that while he was a very strong-willed person, he was also a very selfless person. I was struck on the several times that I talked with Walter by the fact that there was absolutely no sense of ego in this man, simply a determination to do his job. Walter invested himself in learning the issues. Walter invested himself in trying to understand how to make this a better place within which to do the people's business. This is because Walter, above all, believed in the power of knowledge. He believed in the power of ideas, and his weapon here on the floor of the House of Representatives was his knowledge of the issues and his ability to use his intellect to convince others on the merits of issues. One of the other things I will always remember about Walter Capps is his remarkable peace of mind.”