Political Quotes

“I have known Bill Emerson for nearly 20 years. I worked with Bill closely for the past 12 years. He was one of the most solid people that I know. He was common sense, he was decency. He exemplified the principle of integrity in this body and in his life as much as anyone I have ever known. Some years ago, Bill and I shared a problem between our districts. We needed to keep an old bridge open to Chester, IL, over the troubled waters of the Mississippi River. We worked together. The bridge is still open today, still serving the basic needs of the people of our districts. The old bridge symbolizes for me in many ways the life of Bill Emerson. Bill was always reaching out, always trying to help, always building bridges over troubled waters somewhere in his life. I do not know that Bill ever really demanded a political solution. He was too interested in practical solutions to help his people and to help this country. I will forever be grateful for his true sense of bipartisanship. I offer my condolences to his family on this day. We will miss Bill a great deal in this body.”