William Hughes: “I rise today to pay tribute to one of the true giants in American history, the late Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill.…”

“I rise today to pay tribute to one of the true giants in American history, the late Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill. There is no one who I admired more throughout my political career than I did Tip O'Neill. He embodied everything that was good about politics and public service. Tip had a sense of right and wrong, and an understanding of politics, like no one I have ever known in my life. I was very fortunate to have gotten to know Tip O'Neill during my first term in office, when he was serving as majority leader. It was my privilege to vote for him as Speaker, and I think he was probably one of the greatest, greatest Speakers of this country. His years in Government gave him the perspective and the political instincts which enabled him to see way beyond what most others saw occurring in the political arena. That is what made him so effective as a leader. As a person, he was one of a kind, as some of my colleagues have said. On the outside he was big, and by stature he was gruff, and he was at times intimidating by stature, but on the inside he was a sweetheart of a guy.”