Political Quotes

“I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, in the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 2, these words are recorded: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose, and to everything under the sun, a time to be mourned and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Madam Speaker, today a giant oak tree has fallen. There's a gaping hole in the forest. Don Payne has moved from an earthly life into an eternal heavenly life. A time, a purpose, a season. Don Payne did not take his time, his season, nor his purpose for granted. Every moment, every season, the purpose for which he was created meant something to him and he gave his life. He spent his life working on his time, his season, and his purpose. Last Thursday, Don, through his chief of staff, asked me to come to the hospital; and we talked for awhile and he whispered some words to me, some directions for me, some orders from his hospital bed. But what stands out to me on that occasion last Thursday was his last words spoken to me. We were in the middle of votes, and he said: Make those votes. Don't miss those votes. Here, a man who knew he was spending his last hours on this Earth, he knew that his life was coming to an end. He had told me some weeks before that he had pancreatic cancer and he didn't know what was going to happen, but his last words to me were not ``Woe is me,'' but he was thinking about public service. He was thinking about this House.…”