On the recordJuly 22, 2020
As we come to the close of this first hour of tribute to our friend and our colleague and our hero, John Robert Lewis, I leave you with the words of Douglas Malloch, who wrote: The tree that never had to fight For Sun and sky and air and light, But stood out in the open plain And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil To gain and farm his patch of soil, Who never had to win his share Of Sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man But lived and died as he began. Good timber does not grow in ease; The stronger wind, the stronger trees; The further sky, the greater length; The more the storm, the more the strength. By Sun and cold, by rain and snow, In trees and men, good timbers grow. Where thickest lies the forest growth, We find the patriarchs of both. And they hold counsel with the stars Whose broken branches show the scars Of many winds and much of strife, This is the common law of life. John Robert Lewis was indeed good timber. God bless his soul. May he rest in peace and in power. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________
