Kendra S. Horn: “Mr. Speaker, all of us feel the loss of Bill Emerson because he was a friend to most of us and our condolences go out…”

“Mr. Speaker, all of us feel the loss of Bill Emerson because he was a friend to most of us and our condolences go out not only to his family, for which it is such a loss, but for the members of his constituency who could not have been better represented in this Chamber than he represented them. We all know Bill as a kindly person, a great sense of humor and a fine storyteller. He was a wise person. He was truly a man of the House. I recall when I joined the committee on which he served, besides Agriculture, then called the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, he took me in hand and showed me a lot of the ropes. Bill was a hero as a page. He was a hero to all of us in his legislative craftsmanship, not only in Agriculture, in nutrition, but on our committee, now the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I hope that in his memory during this session or perhaps the coming session that we can bring that legislation to the floor and pass it in his name because that measure meant so much to him.”