José E. Serrano: “Mr. Speaker, I come to join today in celebrating what is a fabulous career and a fabulous human being. Just think of it…”

“Mr. Speaker, I come to join today in celebrating what is a fabulous career and a fabulous human being. Just think of it, over 15,000 people, men have played professional major league baseball and only 19 have hit over 500 home runs. And Rafael Palmeiro has done it, and this is my personal opinion, in a way that is really unique. He is not 6'5". He is not 250. He is not muscular, but he has one of the prettiest swings you will ever want to see on the baseball field. Every time he connects, somebody my size wonders how is that ball going to take off, and it always manages to take off; but I also come for a special reason. Through a dear friend of mine, Juan Gonzalez, the Texas Rangers outfielder, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Palmeiro this summer and sit with him a couple of hours and speak with him about baseball and other things; but I was amazed at how warm and strong he was in dealing with everybody around him, especially when you are sitting somewhere in public and every fan comes over for an autograph, every fan comes over to talk to you; and he took the time to speak to every child, and he took the time to speak to every fan that came over. That meant a lot to me, but a lot of folks just do not want to be bothered when they play ball, and they take the money. So I wanted to come and join this tribute.”