William Tauzin: “I wanted to rise, too, to let the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) know that, from this side of the aisle, the…”

“I wanted to rise, too, to let the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) know that, from this side of the aisle, the feelings that have been already expressed about her personally are shared broadly across this body. I say to the gentlewoman from Florida, we have shared a lot of time together, I have shared time on both sides of the aisle, and we have come through a lot together. We came through Hurricane Andrew. When it got through messing with the gentlewoman's folks, it came down to Louisiana and messed with mine, and we share the horrors of those tragic days with our constituents together, and helped rebuild together. More importantly, I say to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek), she has been a dear friend, a dear friend to so many of us. We have come to love and admire her in so many ways. I have often said that this House is filled with real people who represent real people. In a real sense, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) has literally represented the best of what the House of Representatives is all about. It is about people coming from the bottoms, the small places of America, and representing them with dignity and honor and respect; and she has done that in a magnificent fashion. She has honored this body by her presence. She will be remembered a long time by more than those grandchildren who love her so much. She will be remembered with honor and love by all of us in this House for the time we have been privileged to share with her here.”