To the life of one of the iconic figures of not just the Civil Rights Movement, but of the ways and Means Committee. I sat next to john lewis for 25 years on the ways and Means Committee and i must tell you, he was the bravest, most gentle person i ever met. He nearly lost his life in pursuit of justice and confronted some of the darkest society at the Edmund Pettus bridge as a very young man. But he never lost faith in what america could become. During those many conversations, and he offered a tutorial to me about the life and the legend that he had offered to america, his unyielding optimism and hope lifted the spirits of his fellow members of congress and the American People in our nations most trying moments. With quiet strength, grace and love, he shouldered unthinkable burdens and changed this world for the better. Through it all, he was unfailingly humble, selfless and kind and i must say, and i was commenting a moment ago to some colleagues on the committee, if he was in the room, youd have to get him to ome to the microphone. That was that reluctance that he had. We all had known about the great achievements that he had offered to this nation. But it was never, let me get to the microphone. It was always a much more humble arrangement. E came to my constituency in 19 2015. He was invited by the sisters of st. Joseph. Who staffed a Small Catholic College in massachusetts. And they invited him to commemorate the fact that on bloody sunday, at the Edmund Pettus bridge, they were the only ones with members of the edmund priesthood who would care for them when others closed their doors. When john greeted sister Maxine Snyder upon introduction, for the commencement address, the two of them broke out in tears and 5,000 people in the Springfield Civic Center broke out in tears with them. He remembered that moment and they remembered him. Another great story in the legacy of john lewis. Its rare that a person has an opportunity in this institution to work alongside a real hero. And we had that here and we sometimes forget that in the din of incendiary debate. But for three decades, i along with other members of the ways and Means Committee, we had that honor. To be in his presence, his wisdom and his joyful spirit day in and day out was a blessing beyond words. John served in this congress until his last day, in part because his work was not done. Despite all the advancements he achieved, glaring inequities remain in our nation that demand reform. But lucky for us, john lewis inspired generations of young people to follow in his steps, to stand up to injustice, and to fight for what is right. Now he can clearly rest and our prayers are with him as we carry on his vital and unfinished business. It is up to all of us to pick up where john left off, to be part of his legacy in action. And for those of us who will join his Funeral Service tomorrow in atlanta, what a great journey this has been, to have certained with him served with him in this congress. I yield back my time and i would like to recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. Brady, for which time he might consume. Mr. Brady chairman neal, thank you, for bringing the ways and means family, as you termed it, together for this important evening. Madam speaker, i would like to ask unanimous consent that a tribute to mr. Lewis by my colleague on the ways and Means Committee, and a great admirer of john lewis, mr. Nunes of california, be included in the record as part of this special order. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Brady these past few days our country has taken time to reflect on the life and legacy of john robert lewis. From the Edmund Pettus bridge to auburn avenue, to the streets of the south, to the rotunda of the United States capitol, our nation has come together to celebrate the life of a man who rose to the occasion, to fight for the rights of all human beings. A congressman for the great state of georgia, and an esteemed member of the ways and Means Committee. John lewis was a blessing to our institution. It was an honor of a lifetime to sit next to such giants as he, congressman sam johnson, and others who made their way through the ways and Means Committee in the longworth building. I was lucky to not just sit near john in the committee room, but realized early this session, as i went to look at my old office in the Cannon Office building, and realized that john lewis was serving there today. And i had a big smile on in my face as i greeted john and we reminisced a bit about sharing our offices. You couldnt help but smile if you ever crossed paths with him. He was one of the better angels of our nature. Hes one of our thousand points of light. He was a man who walked in the wind to bring equality to america, and now is walking in the heavens with his creator. We are a better nation and a better people because of him. And this institution and all of our country will miss him dearly. To know john, as every member of this committee will tell you, is a blessing. To know john. His life, his career, his legislative achievements will be studied by future students for generations. It was an honor to have worked on such important issues with him. Including the first reforms to the i. R. S. In over two decades. In making improvements to medicare for our nations seniors. It is Common Knowledge in d. C. And certainly in the ways and Means Committee that our room happens to be one of the coldest rooms in the capitol. But that was not the case when john walked in. His presence alone brought that room warmth, calmness and reassurance that if we worked together, we all can make a difference. When i look down the dais in the weeks ahead, ill be sad to miss our friend. But ill always be proud i had the privilege of working with such a remarkable man. Each day he walked in these halls, we all witnessed firsthand his remarkable integrity. His intelligence toward the complex policy issues we debate. And his willingness to work across the aisle, if it means americans will have greater dignity, opportunity to equal rights. I will tell you, if you were poor, if you were born on the wrong side of the tracks, if you felt powerless, john lewis was your man. John lewis would fight for you. God loved this remarkable servant and i know john is walking hand in hand with god in his beloved and his beloved lillian today. Tomorrow ill be honored to join chairman neal to attend his funeral in atlanta with many of our house colleagues. John, it will be a celebration of your life. A chance for us to honor you and reflect on all the joy, passion and love you brought to this congress, to our lives, and to this country. May you rest in peace, my friend, and may god continue to shower you with faith and hope and love each day. With that, chairman neal, thank you for having me as part of this dedication today. R. Neal i mr. Neal i thank the gentleman. Let me recognize another member of the ways and Means Committee, mr. Thompson, for two minutings. Mr. Thompson in my time in congress, rarely have i participated in special orders. But tonight, this is more than a special order. Lewis was one of the greatest men to have ever served in the congress of the United States of america. He devoted his entire life to helping others and making our country a better place. It was an incredible honor to serve with him in congress and on the ways and Means Committee. My wife, jan, and i walked with him over this Edmund Pettus bridge on the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday. That was 50 years after john was almost killed on that bridge while peacefully protesting discrimination that disenfranchised americans in our country. He visited my district and hundreds of my constituents came out to see him. One man came in a wheelchair pushed by his daughter, and hi daughter saiding, my father was a freedom rider and marched withlewis and he checked himself out of the hospital tonight to be here to see john lewis. After they said their hellos, he got back in the wheelchair and said take me back to the ospital. Im thanked to this day for bringing john to our community. When you would pass john in the halls of congress and he would greet you with, hello, my brother, he made you believe that you were actually his brother. We must all commit to working harder to be a little more like john lewis. Goodbye, john, and thank you. Godspeed, my brother. Mr. Neal madam speaker, id like to recognize now the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Larson, for two minutes. Mr. Larson thank you, chairman neal. What an honor to be here with the ways and means family. They say pictures are worth a thousand words. Im going to try to go through these as rapidly as i can that first picture is my son and daughter who came as mike was just explaining as part of the family to the Edmund Pettus bridge. But they had to be back in school the next day so they couldnt actually march across the bridge that sunday. John said wait a minute, they wont do. He put them in a car, drove them out there and for 20 minutes talked to them about that experience what it was and it was very tense, very graphic, and the violence that he endured and what they went through. I could see both my daughter and my son looking at him, they were taking it all in, and my daughter very innocently, she was 13 at the time, said, mr. Lewis did you ever have any fun . An john lewis put his head back and had the broadest grin and said, well sure, darling, we did. You know at night we used to go back and wed pitch our tents and wed make campfires and we sat around and told stories and we sang and we danced, and he said, i can still see andy young and his in his coveralls doing the jitterbug and he could dance. Andy young in his coveralls doing the jitterbug. Let me just say, ill submit for the record the other items. But this iconic photo says it all about john lewis. On the day we passed the Affordable Care act, the day before he had been spat on. So was mr. Reverend cleaver and so were others who were walking over here to vote on that bill that day butlewis said no. We had a caucus that morning with president obama. He said say nothing of. This remember that during the movement, we cast this aside. That is a distraction. Dont be taken in by this crowd. We learned about it the next day and at that caucus i asked him to get up and address the caucus. He said lets stay calm, lets Stay Together and lets make sure that we keep our eye on the prize. He went to walk away from the microphone and hen and then he stepped back and said, 45 years to the day, we marched from selma to montgomery. He said, let me tell you, we faced far worse crowds than are out here today. So lets lock arms, lets go across that street and lets pass that bill. And we did. I yield back. Mr. Neal i thank the gentleman. Let me recognize the gentleman from oregon, mr. Blumenauer, for two minutes. Mr. Blumenauer thank you, mr. Chairman, for convening our ways and means family. It was bittersweet moment this morning as we gathered outside the capitol saying goodbye to john. His visits to portland touched thousands of people and i heard so much about them. He was not just a civil rights icon. And a tremendous human being. And an inspiration. He was the moral compass of our ways and Means Committee. He was the living, breathing manifestation of policy that impacts every family in america. Not just merely numbers and dry policy but things that matter. Too seldom does the consideration of everyday citizens, especially the poor, the weak, and the disadvantaged, get the same attention as the rich and powerful and well connected. Thats not the fault ofon lewis. And i would hope that all of us would be inspired here who are celebrating his life would be inspired by his deeds. By his lifes work. Ason would say, not just our work, our word, but our deeds. And i hope our moral compass of the ways and Means Committee will guide us as we move forward to give the American People the policies that john would have expected. Thank you. Mr. Neal thank you. Madam speaker, let me recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, our friend, mr. Kelly, who asked me on the floor last week, will the committee be paying a tribute to john lewis . Mr. Kelly is recognized. Mr. Kelly we all have these memories of mr. Lewis, some of you knew him far longer and far better than i did. I can just tell you this. The time i spent with mr. Lewis that i remember the most was not so much in a Committee Hearing or not so much on the floor, but in march of 2015 when i took my 8yearold grandson to selma for the 50th anniversary of crossing the Edmund Pettus bridge. We started off in birmingham and went to the 16th Street Baptist Church and george, my grandson, could not understand. He was looking at men in hoods and saying who are those guys . I said those are the ku klux klan. He said who are they . I said they are people you dont want to be associated with, theyre haters. He said what did they do . He saids the church they bombed, they killed little girls who were practicing for choir. He said why would anybody want to kill little girls . I said because they were filled with hate. Mr. Lewis was there, and i said i just want you to meet my grandson george. He stopped and talked to scrorge and george said to him, mr. Lewis why do they have on hoods . If theyre so tough and theyre so brave and theyre so courageous, why do they have to wear a hood . And he said george, at 8 years old, you get it far better than some adults do. Now we go to the Edmund Pettus bridge. And mr. Lewis stops to take time to talk to a little boy. Not for a minute. Not if you stand off to the side, son, ill get withulater on. He stopped, walk aid way from other people, who are surrounding him and talking to him and he stoops down and talks to an 8yearold boy to tell him how proud he is that that child is going to walk across the Edmund Pettus bridge with him. And as i watched that i thought, any better example could person give to a child than to spend that time with them . And i thought at that point, mr. Lewis and i are both grandfathers. What an example for grandfathers. Not just an example for a fellow american, but what an example of who this man really was. If you look on his tombstone itll say born february 21, 1940, died july 17, 2020, right . 80 years. The time between his birth and the time between his death. Are some of the most significant years in our countrys history of someone who stopped to recognize what was going on and said not on my time. I will do anything i can to change this. I will go through any sacrifice. I will endure any type of pain. Any type of ridicule. Any type of beatings, to prove a point to say it is time. One thing i always thought, i never ever called him john, by the way, i thought it would be disrespectful. Some of you know him much better than i did, so it was always mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis every time id see him, i would say good morning, mr. Lewis, hed say, good morning my brother. I would say, mr. Lewis, it was good being with you. He would say, it was good being with you, my brother. I say tonight as we are here we are not saying goodbye my brother. Were saying until we meet again, my brother. What a phenomenal human being and somebody who is going to be missed forever. 80 years of being the finest example of humankind he could possibly be. Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing us to speak tonight. This is truly a family in ways and means and we really do appreciate each other. Thank you so much. Mr. Neal i thank the gentleman. Let me recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. Doggett, for two minutes. Mr. Doggett thank you so much. For the past three years its been my good fortune to sit next to john lewis on the dais of the ways and Means Committee. His warmth, his humility, his lack of bitterness after all he endured were truly extraordinary. His decades of service touched so many lives. With his multivolume graphic novel march he found a way to reach a younger audience with his enduring message of struggle, hope and love. Reading it to my own grandchildren, they were hooked early when john talked about the fact that as a young boy he preached to his chickens and that is how he became the great orator that we know him as being. He noted that they would never quite say amen. The dedication in march reads, to the past and future children of the movement. Not just this work but his entire lifes work was dedicated to the past and future children of the movement. For all that you have done for all our children, john, we say, amen. John knew that america could not call itself a democracy until everyone could cast a ballot and that the struggle for Voting Rights was a struggle for democracy itself. He dedicated himself to completing the promise of the declaration of independence as he exhorted the crowd down the mall here at the lincoln memorial, at the march on washington, to get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation. Until true freedom comes. Until the revolution of 1776 is complete. And again in 2015, as he annually commemorated that march across the Edmund Pettus bridge, john asked, get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of america. John lewis work sod tirelessly to get in good trouble. When the l. B. J. Foundation from austin awarded him with the liberty and justice for all award i learned he had experienced over 40 arrests, physical attacks, and serious injuries, but then id see him sitting next to him, some of the marks on his balding head of those very attacks. Through it all, he maintained that good trouble was what america really needed. There will never be a time when america can afford to forget the legacy of john lewis. He fought so long so selflessly to advance our democracy, and he called the right