Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Jim Wright would have been proud of Marc Veasey. He would have said Marc Veasey is in the Jim Wright tradition. I am going to speak a bit about that. Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about a Mr. Speaker, to pay tribute to the life and legacy of a man who served this House and our country with distinction as a Member, as majority leader, and as Speaker. Jim Wright was a man of principle and great political skill, and he relied on both during his 34 years in Congress. I have now served 34 years in Congress, and for part of that 34 years, I had the honor of serving with Jim Wright. Just 2 years after he was first elected to represent Texas' 12th Congressional District, Jim stuck to his principles and refused to sign the Southern Manifesto, opposing desegregation, as so many of his southern colleagues did. It was a risk, of course, Mr. Speaker, politically, but he put his belief in equal opportunity ahead of what was politically popular among his constituents at the time. When he voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1957, it was a further sign of his courage, of his conviction, and of his adherence to the principles that have made our country so great and so respected. In spite of breaking with many of his southern conservative Democratic colleagues on that issue, he forged friendships with them based on mutual respect and good old-fashioned camaraderie, just as he did with Members from other parts of the country and across party lines.…”