John Spratt: “I proudly sponsor this resolution because Ron Brown was a friend and a rare American. He was African-American, but he…”

“I proudly sponsor this resolution because Ron Brown was a friend and a rare American. He was African-American, but he transcended race and color. He was a party leader, and one of the best because he resurrected our party, but there was nothing ever small or petty or partisan about him. He had this enormous affinity for people, and he led by bringing people together, not by splitting us apart. When he came before our committee to defend his embattled Commerce Department, he was a forceful advocate with the facts at his command, but he made his case without a trace of rancor or resentment. He could do that because he sat there as the single best argument for that embattled department. Ron Brown was a bridge-builder at a time when so many of our differences seem unbridgeable. His goodness and his decency and his energy and charm are assets we sorely need in the public life of this country. We can ill afford to lose leaders like him, before his time, still in his prime. But in the broadest sense, we have not lost Ron Brown, for he remains a lasting symbol of what America at its best can be. I extend to his family, and to the families of all those who perished in this tragic accident, my sympathy and our gratitude for the selfless service rendered our country in the cause of peace in a forlorn place.”