Gilbert Gutknecht: “I am so honored to be here tonight to pay tribute to our friend, Larry Combest. A lot has already been said, and I do…”

“I am so honored to be here tonight to pay tribute to our friend, Larry Combest. A lot has already been said, and I do not want to be redundant and repeat some of the things that have been said, but I would like to mention a couple of things. One is that he is probably one of the best dressers in the U.S. Congress. I have been with him at meetings with farmers, and he is always appropriately but the best dressed person there. And I think anybody who knows Larry knows that I am saying exactly the truth. The other thing I should mention about Larry is the first time I ever met him was for a retreat for Republicans at some god-awful Xerox center about 50 miles west of here. It was my first chance to spend any time with Larry, and the one thing that was very obvious to me in our first real meeting and discussion, he is an incredibly good listener. Now, in this town that is a quality that is not developed in many of us, not the way it should be. But Larry is an amazing listener. He listens to what people have to say, and it is reflected in the success that he has had in his congressional career.”