Rob Woodall: “I didn't have the 52-year relationship with Mr. Lewis that Sanford Bishop talked about earlier. I wasn't even born when…”

“I didn't have the 52-year relationship with Mr. Lewis that Sanford Bishop talked about earlier. I wasn't even born when that relationship started. This very powerful and imposing face beside me, I have very little association with. If Mike Collins goes back and looks in the files, I believe he will find that they turned down a young man named Rob Woodall for a job back in 1994. It wasn't that I didn't try to get a good mentorship from John Lewis, I just didn't meet the John Lewis bar at that time. But my experience with him has been Biblically based, as so many have. But mine has been: Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. If I could arrange it, I would walk down the steps behind John as he was going down the Capitol steps after a vote, because children from all over the country would come running up, ``Mr. Lewis, Mr. Lewis,'' just wanting to say hello. Whether it was the steps of the Capitol, the busiest airport in the world at Hartsfield International, or anywhere in between, I never once saw John in too much of a hurry with too much on his mind to take the time to make sure the next generation understood what happened in the last generation and the difference they could make for yet another generation. The story has already been told that staff members would say the only thing they want to do on Capitol Hill is meet Mr. Lewis before they leave.…”