Louis Stokes: “I want to express my appreciation to our colleague, the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts, Congressman Joseph…”

“I want to express my appreciation to our colleague, the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts, Congressman Joseph Moakley, for reserving this time to honor former House Speaker, Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neill. I join Joe in expressing my deep sense of loss over the passing of this great leader. With his demise, this institution and, indeed, the Nation, has lost a good friend and champion. Madam Speaker, all of us who attended Tip's funeral were pleased with the great tribute paid to him by Chairman Moakley. His tribute captured Tip, his life, his stories, and his philosophy in such a real and humane way that for a few moments we could visually see Tip as he was. The humorous stories injected by Chairman Moakley helped us to remember Tip, not sadly, but as the jovial, convivial politician that he was--a friend to everybody. His son, Thomas P. III, also did a marvelous job under what had to be difficult circumstances in depicting Tip as we all knew him. The combination of the tributes paid to Tip by him and Chairman Moakley made Tip's funeral one that he would have enjoyed because they captured the essence of his greatness by depicting a man totally in touch with the common man. Madam Speaker, for many of us gathered in the Chamber this evening, Tip O'Neill was more than Speaker of the House. He touched many of our lives in a profound way and helped to mold our careers in the Congress. Tip O'Neill was a personal and dear friend to me.”