Joseph T. Burns: “this has not been a good week--losing a friend and colleague; Payne Stewart, and, yes, another friend here in this town…”

“this has not been a good week--losing a friend and colleague; Payne Stewart, and, yes, another friend here in this town who had a government relations job. We often hear the word ``lobbyist'' put in a negative tone, but this was a man who built a reputation of integrity and honesty in government relations. This week, cancer claimed R. Duffy Wall. He died at his home on the Eastern Shore. He was friend and mentor. You know what we would be without the folks who work in different areas of American life who represent that way of life to the Congress of the United States. We are not all wise. We do not know everything about everything. We need help. Duffy Wall was such a person--honest, straight shooter, a friend, dead at age 57, far too young. We will not get to use his services and wisdom anymore either. I could talk longer about these friends. This has been a bad week, especially losing our Senator and losing a person very close to us.”