Roy Blunt: “I am honored to join my colleagues here to talk about President Bush. The outpouring of appreciation from the country…”

“I am honored to join my colleagues here to talk about President Bush. The outpouring of appreciation from the country has been significant. His son, the 43rd President, said that it takes a long time for the determinations of history to come in. I think the 41st President had almost 25 years for people to begin to put his Presidency in the right kind of historical reference, the right context of looking back and seeing not only what happened then but what has happened since then because of what happened then. I am pleased that he and Barbara were able to live long enough after that significant Presidency to see what happened. Certainly in Missouri, we claim part of the Bush family. His mother grew up in Missouri. The Walkers were from Missouri. He treated Missouri like it was one of the States that he was connected to by relationship. His grandfather and later his Uncle Herbert and the rest of the family would go in the summer to Walker's Point, named after that Missouri part of his family, just like the Walker Cup is named after that part of his family. The impact of his mother is pretty great. I heard the President talking the other day, in an interview with Jenna Bush, about whom he would look for when he got to Heaven. That was a couple of years ago, I think. He said: Well, if Barbara has gone there first, I think the right answer would be that I am going to look for her first.…”