Political Quotes

“I think it says everything about Jerry Lewis if you look at who has come to speak on his behalf. We have had the Speaker and the majority leader of the House from the other party. You have a man he squared off against twice for the chairmanship of the full committee. You have colleagues on both sides. It tells you he was a very unusual man with very broad appeal. I first met Jerry Lewis as a staffer. I was the new executive director of the NRCC, and I got a call out of the blue from one of the most important Republicans in Congress who said, ``Hey, have you got time to come over and meet?'' I thought, ``Boy, I am either in trouble or something is serious and big.'' It turns out that his deputy chief of staff, Letitia White, was married to the brother of a good friend of mine. They happened to meet at the wedding, and he said, ``Hey, there is this kid from Oklahoma coming up. You need to get to know him.'' Jerry Lewis was the kind of guy who reached out to you no matter what. We became firm friends from there, long before I was in this institution. I used to bring people by, particularly clients who were running for Congress, to meet him because he always helped them and always gave them good advice. Then, by happenstance, I had the opportunity to come to the Congress of the United States. The first person who helped me was Jerry Lewis, and the first person who gave me good advice said, ``Tom, become an appropriator if you possibly can.'' It was Jerry Lewis.…”