Henry Bonilla: “first, for a moment, a word about the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), a member of this body who has the unmatched…”

“first, for a moment, a word about the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter), a member of this body who has the unmatched sense of caring, fairness and wisdom that will, when he is gone, be very difficult shoes to fill. He set an example here that I think has been respected for many years; and I think it is difficult for those who are trying to be critical of what this bill is representing this time to be critical of the gentleman from Illinois and his subcommittee. Because we all know, everybody in this body understands, on both the Democrat and Republican side, that he is truly a man who comes to work every day with a sense of caring for the people of this country and tries to do the right thing day in and day out without any political factors included. I say to the gentleman that he is a person who all of us respect tremendously in this body; and he will be sorely missed, and we will work hard to pass this last and final bill that he has put out of the subcommittee of which I have been a part of for my eighth year now and have learned so much under the gentleman's leadership; and I look forward to carrying on its legacies at some time in the future as a continuing member of this subcommittee. It is very difficult, I am sure, for a lot of the critics to step up here and say this is a bad bill and act like Chicken Little as though the sky is falling for supporting such a bill, because this is the People's bill.…”