On the recordJuly 25, 2024
I rise today to discuss the life and legacy of Jim Morris. Jim Morris is one of the most influential civic leaders in Indiana's history, and he passed away earlier this month. I first met Jim Morris about 20 years ago. It was when I returned home to Indiana, after spending time in the military and after a brief stint as a staffer here on Capitol Hill. The only thing I remember about that initial meeting was that it wasn't particularly memorable. Jim Morris wasn't the kind of man who would bowl you over with his charisma or his magnetism. This wasn't his style. It was never about him. But, over time, the weight of continuous heartfelt interactions with Jim could change a person. Indeed, you might say they changed an entire city. Jim Morris died July 12. He was 81. He had a 60-year career of service, all told, to the city of Indianapolis, the State of Indiana, and even to the world. Though Jim would bark at the title ``model,'' in my mind he was, in many ways, a model American citizen. Jim grew up in Terre Haute. He attended Indiana University. It was there that he fell in love twice, once with the school itself and once with his beloved wife Jackie. And that endured. In 1967, not long after graduation, he became chief of staff to a young mayor of Indianapolis named Richard Lugar. Since that moment, almost nothing great in our capital city happened without Jim's involvement. He helped launch a university in downtown Indianapolis, until recently known as IUPUI.…
