Date: 2016-06-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding. and I thank all of my friends. We are friends when we come to celebrate someone as potent and powerful and. certainly. symbolic. But we should really recognize that The Greatest. Muhammad Ali. who had many homesmany of us can claim having had the privilege of him walking through many of our streetswas a husband. father. grandfather. and son to all of his family members that loved him. Today I offer my deepest sympathy to his beautiful wife who worked so hard to create the Muhammad Ali Center. all of his children who gained his magnificent talents in many different forms and capacities. to be able to now not only suffer this loss. but mourn someone who probably in their life created such a space for so many years. I rise today to join in celebratingfor that is what I would like to doThe Peoples Champion. He was truly the voice of a generation. advocating for the ending of inequality regarding African Americans. but as well. I believe he stood for opposing injustices all around the world. The threetime world heavyweight boxing champion helped define the turbulent times in which he reigned as the most charismatic and controversial sports figure of the 20th century. We all know that he was born Cassius Marcellus Clay. Jr. Over the past 30 years. he had his own boxing battle. I believe that time after time he knocked out Parkinsons disease because he lived with it. he let others know that they could live with it. and he worked every day to support the advocacy groups who were trying to battle Parkinsons. I am reminded of a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and being crowned the World Heavyweight Champion so many times. As I had watched him over these past years. the admiration and affection and respect grew much more looking at him as the iconic figure. the real spirit of cando. the best of America. a man whose faith was very special to him. so much so that he was a conscience objective which was not understood. That Selective Service committee was right in Houston. Texas. He walked those streets. his case was tried there. and victory came because he refused to yield on his principles. As one of his noteworthy opponents. Floyd Patterson. told author David Remnick some years ago: "I came to see that I was a fighter and he was history." Ali traded banter with United States presidents and world leaders alike. verbally sparring with musical greatsThe Beatlesand shaking hands with Mother Teresa. His greatest triumph lies in his legacy as a champion. leader. social activist. and humanitarian. but also a mentor by distance of so many boys and girls. particularly our young men. In my own hometown. a young boxer by the name of Eric Carr. first met him with one of our great sports figures. Lloyd Wells. down at the Hyatt Regency. He said that when the champ met him. the champ treated him like a longtime friend. He played around with him. maybe boxed with him. I may be adding something to it. But Eric Carr. as the day went onit was in the boxing beginnings of his lifetold him he wanted to be a champ just like him. Eric Carr went on to win boxing championships. but he will always remember how real Muhammad Ali was. Let me say that as he fought for the future. he envisioned that we all would enjoy. I love to hear the bantering because it was wisdom of a philosopher. His greatest triumph. as I indicated. was a humanitarian. At the apex of his career. lauded for his unparalleled physique and mesmerizing movesI wish I could do a few of those right nowbut he is more than a sum total of his athletic gifts. His agile mind. buoyant personality. brash selfconfidence. wouldnt you love him? I often remember some of those words that he said: Float like a butterfly. sting like a bee. His hands cant hit what his eyes cant see. Now you see. now you dont. George thinks he will. but I know he wont. Dont count the days. make the days count. Im young. Im handsome. Im fast. I cant possibly be beat. But then he said: Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth. And so his inspiration continues. I would often say that as he lived his life. we took joy. As I close. Mr. Speaker. let me offer you these words. and let me thank him for the life that he has lived. Let me borrow from Shakespeare and say of Muhammad Ali: He was a man. Take him for all in all. We shall not look upon his like again. May The Greatest rest in peace. Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague for yielding to me. I still see that "float like a butterfly. sting like a bee." Muhammad Ali. again. rest in peace. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to commemorate the life of boxing legend and social activist Mr. Muhammad Ali. whose words floated like a butterfly and punches stung like a bee. who died Friday at the age of 74. The peoples champion. was truly the voice of a generation. advocating for the African Americans battling racial inequality. The threetime world heavyweight boxing champion helped define the turbulent times in which he reigned as the most charismatic and controversial sports figure of the 20th century. The man who would come to be known as the "Greatest of All Time." was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on Jan. 17. 1942 in Louisville. Kentucky. Despite baffling Parkinsons disease for 30 years Muhammad Ali would live a full and consequential life. winning the Gold Medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and being crowned the world Heavyweight champion an unsurpassed three times. As one of his noteworthy opponents. Floyd Patterson. told author David Remnick some years ago. "I came to see that I was a fighter. while he was history." Ali traded banter with United States presidents and world leaders alike. verbally sparring with musical greats the Beatles. shaking hands with Mother Teresa. His greatest triumph lies in his legacy as a champion. leader. social activist and humanitarian. At the apex of his career. lauded for his unparalleled physique and mesmerizing moves. He carried into the ring a physically lyrical. unorthodox boxing style fusing speed. agility and power more seamlessly than any boxer before him or since. But. he was more than the sum total of his athletic gifts. he was a man of uncompromising principles. His agile mind. buoyant personality. brash selfconfidence and evolving set of personal convictions fostered a magnetism that the ring alone could not contain. A masterful entertainer. Ali captivated audiences as much with his mouth as with his fists. narrating his life with a patter of inventive doggerel. He was targeted by his country when. in 1966. he exercised his First Amendment right voicing political dissension and concern for humanitarian observation. Ali was a purposeful fighter. and even more so. a principled human being. once reminding us all that he would. "Fight for the prestige. not for [himself]. but to uplift [his] little brothers who are sleeping on concrete floors today in America . . . living on welfare. . . . who cant eat. . . . who dont [have] knowledge of themselves. . . . [and cannot see a] future." Ali fought for the future he envisioned and that we all enjoy today. As a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. he refused to be inducted into drafting leading him to be banned from the sport he loved at the height of his career. His inspiring courage and antiwar stance helped spearhead the growing antiwar movement of the 1960s. The press called him the Louisville Lip. He called himself the Greatest. Ali was the most important politicalcultural figure to survive the deadly tumult of the 1960s and flourish during the 1970s. Ali reawakened the American consciousness stating. "Champions are made from something they have deep inside thema desire. a dream. a vision." He eventually retired for good in 1981 and after being diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in 1984 as the only fighter to be heavyweight champion three times. In 2005 Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. Ali received the Presidents Award from the NAACP soon after Obamas inauguration in In 1996. he was trembling and nearly mute as he lit the Olympic caldron in Atlanta. but his smile induced a thunderous roar in what was one of the most celebrated Olympics moments eve r. His postboxing humanitarian endeavors include putting his name to many initiatives for peace and humanitarian aid as well as anonymous donations of millions of dollars to a variety of individuals and organizations surpassing race and class barriers. Despite battling with Parkinsons disease for three decades. he has inspired millions of people. His work as a humanitarian has been immortalized in the Muhammad Ali Centre. Explaining his resolve later in life. Ali said that. "All my life. growing up as a little boy. I always said that if I got famous Id do things for my people that other people wouldnt do." "I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given." he said. He was truly a legenda statesman of the people. Muhammad Ali was a product of America but a citizen of the world. at first hated and misunderstood but eventually beloved for the way he carried himself in dignified decline. He will remain one of the most wellknown and respected sports figures of all timemay his legacy be revered. In closing. Mr. Speaker. let me borrow from Shakespeare and say of the Muhammad Ali: "He was a man. Take him for all in all. We shall not look upon his like again." May the "The Greatest" rest in peace.