Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague for the opportunity to speak this evening on my dear friend. Chairwoman Johnson came to Congress in the regular election cycle of 1992, and I joined her 15 months later in a special election, so for 28.5 years we worked together, most of that on the Science Committee. After I finished my time as chairman of the Ag Committee, I went over to be vice chairman of the Science Committee, and then ultimately ranking member for the 4 years that EBJ, as I lovingly called her, was the chairwoman of the committee. Eddie Bernice Johnson was an exceptional human being. She was, yes, a good Liberal. Yes, she was a good steward of her constituents. Yes, she was a great member of the CBC. Yes, she was an outstanding legislator and a member of Presidential administrations. But the thing that I admired the most was the fact that she was willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. It took me a little while to convince her of our commonality, our common spirit, and our common goals, but then she worked with me hand in glove. She treated me and my side of the Science Committee as decently as any chairperson could. Was she goal-oriented? Absolutely. Was she a great human being? Without a doubt.…”