Emanuel Cleaver: “2 days ago, what one newspaper called perhaps one of the gentlemen of Congress, Ike Skelton, died here in Washington.…”

“2 days ago, what one newspaper called perhaps one of the gentlemen of Congress, Ike Skelton, died here in Washington. For those of us here in the Missouri delegation, as well as those who were involved with Congressman Skelton on the Armed Services Committee, we are here to convey to the body that our colleague, our friend, has, indeed, died, and we who had the opportunity to know and serve with him are, of course, very saddened by his unexpected death. Ike Skelton was 81 years old. He served here for 34 years and served all of that time on the Armed Services Committee and, of course, becoming the chair of Armed Services. He was a man of great humility, a man of great distinction, and was to be honored in 2 weeks at the Truman Library in Kansas City. We think that he has been such a significant player in Washington that we, indeed, had to stand up and express our pain over his passing. Senator Claire McCaskill is here from the other side, and we are asking, at this time, for the Members to stand in silence in memory of Isaac Newton Skelton. ____________________”