Date: 1987-02-24
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my good friend from California for yielding and requesting this time tonight to pay tribute to our good friend. SALA BURTON. The passing of SALA. and shortly after the word came that she had passed on. and the gentleman from California sought the opportunity for the Members to come to the floor under special orders to pay the first tribute to SALA BURTON. I came to the floor and I listened to what the others were saying about SALA. and I know each of us was so taken with our own thoughts. One of the things I did. I kept looking up to that area of the gallery and remembering so many times that I would look up there. if there was one of Phils battles on the floor. a major piece of legislation that Phil would be handling. if it was an important moment for this house. SALA BURTON. before she became a Member but as Phils partner. would be sitting right up there. I kept looking up there. missing her. I have to say. Mr. Speaker. that SALA was my very dear personal friend. When I heard so many Members coming from all over that day on such short notice to eulogize SALA and to say how much they loved her and how much they would miss her. I have to say I was surprised. because I thought she was just my special friend. I thought that she was a political acquaintance to the other Members of the House. and she was a colleague to her colleagues from California. but that she was my special friend. I realize today that that was SALAs special gift. that for each one of us she was our special friend. She was a wonderful woman. SALA BURTON was a wonderful wife. too. I was fortunate enought to be a friend of both Phil and SALA. I met Phil in the late sixties here. and he helped me to get legislation through this House that gave the Virgin Islands a seat in this House of Representatives. The relationship between Phil and SALA was such a beautiful relationship. Phil. the stormy Phil Burton. the great legislator. the powerful individual with a heart even bigger than that huge body he had. And SaLA that loved him. that was his true partner and how he loved her. too. At the funeral service in San Francisco. there were those that recalled how SALA would calm the troubled waters that Phil had passed by. and she had that gift. We will all miss SALA. She was a woman of great conviction. As another Member just said today. she was so proud of her Jewishness. She cared so much for the poor and for those that needed help. and that was why I particularly liked both Phil and SALA: They were legislators that cared and never forgot why they had come here. When SALA came into this body as an elected Representative. many thought perhaps that this was just SALA BURTON. the devoted wife and partner of Phil coming here. but she sure showed us. she was a very. very effective Member of this House and legislator in the short period that she was here. Now we will miss her. She was a wonderful woman. she was a wonderful wife. a great legislator. and a great friend. Mr. Speaker. the sorrow of losing SALa BURTON will be slow to pass. But we can take heart knowing the inspiration of SALAS life and convictions also will be slow to pass. Her commitment to peace. social justice. and equality for all knew no compromise. We must keep that commitment before us as we wrestle with the hard decisions that face us in this Hall. But SALAs inspiration goes far beyond the political realm as we usually know it. Her political beliefs crew directly out of her compassionate and caring personality. It was wonderfully typical of SALAwhose political causes spanned continentsthat she found time to lend a hand to the small territory of the Virgin Islands. She and her late husband. Phil. were abiding political allies and personal friends for more than 20 years. Over the yearseven as they worked tirelessly for peace and civil rights and national parklands for allthey extended their concerns to the Virgin Islands and other offshore territories. Thanks to leaders Like SALA and Phil. we in the Islands have won basic rights to elect our Governors and gain representation in Congress. SALA and Phil had nothing to gain from this sort of struggle. But it fit their basic belief of what the United States is all aboutextending political and civil rights to all. regardless of their race. religion. or political and economic clout. In memory of SALA. lets keep alive that kind of commitment vision.