Charles Rangel: “Let me first congratulate and thank my colleague, Congressman Fattah, for putting together this moment. I know this is…”

“Let me first congratulate and thank my colleague, Congressman Fattah, for putting together this moment. I know this is going to be one of a series of tributes that we're going to have that reminds me how we all feel as we lose a dear friend, that we could have done more, we should have done more, we could have kept in touch a lot more. My chief of staff, Patrick Swygert, was a good friend of Pastor Bill Gray, and he got me involved in a couple of campaigns for Congress. One was not too successful and very embarrassing, and the other one, of course, brought him to the House. Bill Gray, even though he was known throughout the world, he had a personality that once you started talking with him, his charm, his wit would allow you to believe that you had known him all of his life. He invited me a couple of times to visit Bright Hope, and I listened to one of his sermons. It was the first time that I felt so utterly proud of being a Member of Congress, being a Democrat, and knowing Bill Gray.…”