Newt Gingrich: “I have the sad duty to inform the House that earlier today, Steve Schiff, our colleague, died in Albuquerque. All of my…”

“I have the sad duty to inform the House that earlier today, Steve Schiff, our colleague, died in Albuquerque. All of my colleagues know he fought a very, very long and very courageous struggle against cancer. I had an opportunity to talk just a few minutes ago with his wife, and the family is bearing up very, very well. His staff has been wonderful in a very difficult situation for over a year, and has done really courageous work in representing Steve and representing the district. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the House to join me in a moment of silent prayer for Steve and his family, and then afterwards I will comment further. Amen. Let me just say, that Mrs. Schiff indicated they will decide later on this evening whether the funeral will be on Friday or on Monday. Obviously, the House will suspend for the purposes of the funeral, and we will invite Members who care to go, to go and join the family at that time. It is a very sad time for all of us, and I think that those of us who knew Steve well knew the integrity, the decency, the love for this country that he brought to the job of Representative, the degree to which he gave all of us honor in the way in which he served.”