Sherwood Boehlert: “Mr. Chairman, I played a little word association game and when I said ``gentleman,'' the first person who came to mind…”

“Mr. Chairman, I played a little word association game and when I said ``gentleman,'' the first person who came to mind in this Chamber was Lou Stokes. When I thought about ``class,'' and how I would define class, I thought about Lou Stokes. When I considered the concern that has been expressed in this Chamber by all of us about civility and the need we had to go to a special retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania, I thought to myself, we did not need to go to Hershey, Pennsylvania, to learn about civility. All we had to do is watch Lou Stokes in action. Then when I think about the humdrum life we all have. Washington, district, back and forth on the plane, traveling so much. So little time to really get involved in getting to know better some of our colleagues, which is a real shortcoming of this institution because it is made up of some of the finest people we will find any place in the world, Republicans, Democrats, liberals or conservatives. But we are all just scrambling to run back home and make that next meeting. I said to myself, we are disadvantaged in many respects, but I have been very fortunate because very early in my career I got to know Lou Stokes and I got to appreciate all that he represents. George Bernard Shaw said, ``Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask why not.'' That reminds me of Lou Stokes.”