Janice Schakowsky: “I am feeling very sad today and bad today because I had meant to write a note to Bruce Vento and did not do it in time.…”

“I am feeling very sad today and bad today because I had meant to write a note to Bruce Vento and did not do it in time. What I wanted to tell him, maybe I can pass on in some way to his family, was to thank him for his incredible generosity to a freshman Member of the United States Congress. I served with him on the Committee on Banking and Financial Services and on the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. At one point last year, early in my very first term, I had a press conference dealing with funding for low-income housing. While I had invited a lot of Members to come, one of the few that showed up was Bruce Vento, who is a very important member on that committee. I was really honored for him to be there. Among the things he said were nice things about me, which was so greatly appreciated, and so unnecessary. When I presented my very first amendment on the floor of the House, rather clumsily, it would have been a whole lot worse if Bruce Vento had not been there, because he stood by my side and told me exactly what I should do.”