Dan Burton: “Mr. Speaker, this is a sad thing to do right off the bat, in a new session of the Congress, to have to eulogize and…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is a sad thing to do right off the bat, in a new session of the Congress, to have to eulogize and remember a fellow like Frank Tejeda. He did a great service to this country. He was an outstanding Congressman. One of the things that strikes me, Mr. Speaker, is that at times like this, even though this Congress is vilified from time to time, people can see that there is a closeness between both Democrats and Republicans. We have our differences on philosophical issues and so forth, but we all respect and honor one another, and at times like this, it shows the American people that we are one body and we are concerned about our fellow men and our fellow legislators. The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Tejeda, did great things for this country in Vietnam. He served this country well. He accomplished great things. A high school dropout that went to Vietnam after getting his education, part of it, he got the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star serving his country. I do not think this has been mentioned yet, but at Officer Candidate School he had the highest academic average that any marine has ever had in the history of the Marine Corps. That is extraordinary. It shows that people who are ruled out early on in their life can achieve great things.”