James A. Leach: “I rise simply to thank my distinguished colleague from Oklahoma and my distinguished friend from New York for this very…”

“I rise simply to thank my distinguished colleague from Oklahoma and my distinguished friend from New York for this very thoughtful presentation. Charles Schulz had a greater impact on the life of America than perhaps all but a very few in literature and the arts. He brought to America something that is unique. He conveyed to the average American real human life and theology of a very deep human nature. We at one time almost had the 'Gospel According to Peanuts.' But the one aspect of the 'Gospel According to Peanuts' that always struck me was that life was happy; that the traumas that we all face were traumas that could be resolved in an uplifting way in which the American circumstance was reflected to ourselves and to the world. Charles Schulz, in many ways, when it comes to the creative arts, was the quintessential American artist, operating in a fashion of bringing art to the public and literature and theology and philosophy to America. And for this he is a treasure of this last century, and we all are deeply saddened at his passing.”