Jim Inhofe: “after watching my colleagues and the depth of concern and personal passion they have at the loss of Paul Coverdell, I…”

“after watching my colleagues and the depth of concern and personal passion they have at the loss of Paul Coverdell, I want to tell them of an experience I had last night. Something came to me when I was at a dinner and we had just heard the news. It was the seventh Beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God. It occurred to me that this was really Paul Coverdell; he was the ultimate peacemaker. It was impossible for Paul to walk into a roomful of people, whether Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives-- hostility, anxiety, it all subsided when Paul came in. I remember when I was first elected from the House into the Senate in 1994. Paul had just arrived here. He didn't give the first impression as being a dynamic person, even an articulate person. You had to know him and know him well. But after you did, he was unlike anyone else we have been exposed to here in this body. I thought last night about all the things we deal with here in the Senate. It was articulated in Matthew 9, starting with verse 35. It says: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. This is kind of the way we are. We are dealing with the problems of poverty, the problems of crime--a multitude of problems.…”