Frank Lautenberg: “I rise to pay tribute to a long-time friend from New Jersey. It is a sad day for all of us from New Jersey who knew…”

“I rise to pay tribute to a long-time friend from New Jersey. It is a sad day for all of us from New Jersey who knew Congressman Donald Payne from north New Jersey, and I pay tribute to my colleague who died this morning after a battle with colon cancer. Congressman Payne was the first African American from New Jersey to be elected to Congress. He was a trailblazer and a fine leader, one of the finest our State has ever known. For more than two decades, Congressman Payne served New Jersey with distinction, but the whole world benefited from his leadership. He was a proud son of Newark and became an expert on foreign relations and led efforts to restore democracy and human rights around the world, including places as far away from one another as northern Ireland and Sudan. President Clinton chose Congressman Payne to accompany him on his historic tour of Africa in 1998. The Congressman also worked hard. He secured more than $100 million to treat victims of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, and stopped the spread of these diseases in Africa's poorest nations. Three years ago, against the State Department's advice, Congressman Payne went to Somalia to see the turmoil there for himself, narrowly escaping with his life when insurgents launched a mortar attack near his airplane when he was leaving. The Congressman also helped with passage of a resolution declaring the killings in Darfur as genocide and raising global awareness of these travesties.…”