Ralph Hall: “I am honored to get to say a word or so about Jake Pickle. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) and others have talked…”

“I am honored to get to say a word or so about Jake Pickle. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) and others have talked about all of his attainments, his acquisitions and his honors. I guess I just want to talk about Jake Pickle, the good guy that I knew. I have probably known him longer than any Member of this Congress. I have known Jake since I was about 20 years old. I am 75 years old, and Jake would say that he is much younger than I am. People are proud of him all the way from Roscoe, Texas, where he was born out in far west Texas, Big Spring, Austin. He knows everybody. Everybody knows Jake. There was no better Member of Congress, no one more persuasive, no one that could get something done because everybody liked Jake and everybody wanted to help Jake, and Jake knew everybody in the world. Allan Shivers, John Connally, of course, LBJ, Joe Kilgore, all the movers and shakers. Jake was a close personal friend of theirs, and they felt a brotherly feeling, and people in this Congress felt like Jake was a brother to them because he loved them and they loved him. I just know of no public servant that has been any better than Jake.”