Hank Johnson: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of a great…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of a great patriot, Representative Ron Dellums. My sincere condolences for their loss. It is my great honor to be here tonight to pay my respects to a man who was a true giant of this body, the United States House of Representatives, as well as in American life, a man who, I think we can all say with assurance, was one upon whose shoulders we all stand. Before we had the incomparable John Lewis and the inimitable Maxine Waters in Congress, there was Ron Dellums, who left us his distinct mark, not just on this august body, but the San Francisco Bay Area, the Nation, and the world. He left an indelible impression upon me as a Congressman. The greatest legacy that he left us, however, was his successor, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who carries on his legacy. For 10 years, I was honored and privileged to serve as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Ron Dellums' portrait hanging in the committee room was a constant reminder of the type of committee member who I aspired to be. ``If being an advocate of peace, justice, and humanity toward all human beings is radical, then I am glad to be called radical,'' he once said. I will repeat that: ``If being an advocate of peace, justice, and humanity toward all human beings is radical, then I am glad to be called radical.'' That is what Ron Dellums said.…”