Date: 2010-02-24
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. to whom God has given much. much is expected. We are truly blessed that we have had the opportunity to work and serve with Mr. Murtha. Now. I have my Mr. Murtha story. I was able to get Mr. Murtha to come to my district. Jacksonville. Florida. the Third Congressional District. which is a military district. but I knew that when he came that I would only have one shot. So I wanted to make sure I covered everything he needed to see in my district. We started out at the marine base. we went to the port. we went to Cecil Field. we went to Shands Hospital where we had the proton beam. Well. they had tried to get a proton beam in his area. I took the doctor in my area. so he was very shocked when he came to Jacksonville and found out that not only did I have the proton beam in Jacksonville. I had his doctor from his area. Then I had a reception scheduled for him. and. of course. he said. I dont work this hard. You have shown me everything that you want to develop in your district. Of course. the point is. he came. he saw. and we were able to get the services that the military people needed in my area. I will never forget. when I went to Normandy. and we had a visitors center. and they had just opened the visitors center there. It was a tribute to all of the people that had served and died in Normandy. And they had no place to go. it was all the crosses. but it was a center that Mr. Murtha and the chairman of Appropriations had gotten funded. Yes. it was an earmark. it was an earmark and a tribute to the people that had served this country. I will never forget how proud I was to go to that visitors center. That should be Mr. Murthas name on that visitors center in Normandy because he did so much. In closing. I want to say we always sing the song "God Bless America." and. yes. God blessed America because of Mr. Murtha. In closing. the scripture. Paul. he has fought a good fight and he has finished the course. but it is left up to us now to continue to work. to continue to work for our veterans. to continue to work for the military. This is the kind of tribute that we should pay to Mr. Murtha. The work is not finished. God did bless America with giving us the example of Mr. Murtha. I was extremely saddened to hear about the passing of my close colleague and dear friend. Congressman John Murtha. Chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1974. Rep. Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country. both in the military and in Congress. A former Marine. he was the first Vietnam combat Veteran elected to Congress. Ever since I came to Washington. Congressman Murtha and I had always had a very close relationship. in part. because my district. Floridas third. has a strong military presence. and because of our joint efforts in the arena of veterans affairs. Considered by most to be one of the most influential Democrats in the House. he was an expert and a leader on issues concerning Defense. the military. and our nations veterans. Deeply respected by Republicans and Democrats alike. Congressman Murthas leadership and institutional knowledge of all aspects of our nations security policy will be greatly missed. as will his charm and leadership within the Democratic party. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Congressmans wife. Joyce. and the entire Murtha family.