Timothy Roemer: “I rise to extend my prayers and my sympathies to the Capps family, to Lois and Lisa and Todd and Laura. And I want to…”

“I rise to extend my prayers and my sympathies to the Capps family, to Lois and Lisa and Todd and Laura. And I want to just reflect for just a minute about Walter Capps, who was a man of contrasts but certainly not conflicts. He was gentle in his personality, but strong and towering in his views. He was a professor of theology, and he was very, very strong in his faith, yet he did not preach to others. He was an academician, but not in the ivory tower sense. He had a wonderful and very witty sense of humor. He was humble. When my colleague just mentioned that he had written 14 books, with his great sense of humor and his humbleness he might have turned to me as a member of the Committee on Science and said, ``Roemer, have you even read 14 books?" He was somebody who always sought out other people's opinions and listened to those opinions to form his own view. Yet that was not a view that was a weak view; it was a resolute view and an informed view. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would say as I come from the Committee on Science, where I shared that committee with Professor and Congressman Capps, he worked and was dedicated to issues such as science and education. Well, now where he rests he can work on issues that he cares maybe even more deeply about. That is personal faith and world peace. May God bless you, Walter Capps.”