Andy Barr: “We are here tonight to honor the memory of a legendary Kentucky statesman, a baseball Hall of Famer, a man of this…”

“We are here tonight to honor the memory of a legendary Kentucky statesman, a baseball Hall of Famer, a man of this House, and a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great- grandfather, Senator Jim Bunning, who recently passed away at the age of 85. The Members who are joining us tonight, many of them who hail from Senator Bunning's home in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, extend our deepest sympathy to his beloved wife, Mary, who was his best friend for many years; his nine children; his 35 grandchildren; and his 21 great- grandchildren. Those who met Senator Jim Bunning walked away with an impression, and that impression was: That has to be the most competitive person I have ever met. In a recent op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader, providing a great tribute to Senator Jim Bunning, one of his very best friends, sports marketing executive Jim Host, wrote that Jim Bunning was ``full of integrity'' and, ``the straightest arrow I ever met.'' In that op-ed, he recounted a story where a reporter of the Louisville Courier-Journal wrote that former U.S. Senator Jim Bunning was ``one of a kind,'' and Jim Host, in remembering his friend, said, ``I agree, but more than that, he was an original. No one in politics in Kentucky or, for that matter, nationwide has been or ever will be like him.'' Mr. Speaker, I yield to Congressman Hal Rogers, the dean of the Kentucky delegation.”