Timothy Penny: “I rise this evening to join in tribute to our departed friend and former colleague, Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts. I came…”

“I rise this evening to join in tribute to our departed friend and former colleague, Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts. I came to Congress in 1982, as a freshman Member, and remember fondly my first meeting with Speaker O'Neill. I shared with him a story about his visit to Minnesota during the campaign season in 1982. We had a brief encounter at that time, not one that I think made much of an impact on the Speaker. But I told him who I was and that I was campaigning against a Republican incumbent. I mentioned the name of the incumbent and said, ``You know who he is, don't you?'' And the Speaker said, ``Well, yes, I know the name, but frankly, I don't know much about him.'' So on my first day in office in 1983, I wanted to make sure that I got to know the new Speaker so that when asked by reporters or constituents in years hence, he would say, ``Yes, I know your Congressman.'' I cannot say that our political agenda was always in sync. Tip was true to his district; I was true to mine. Dramatic differences between his district in Boston, MA, and my district in rural southern Minnesota. But we did share a common belief that public service is an important calling.”