Moment of Silence in Remembrance of Congressman Donald Payne, Jr.
Floor Speech
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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Smith really laid out all the great accomplishments of Don Payne in terms of what he accomplished here, which was so much as a Member of Congress, but I just want to talk a little bit about the man.
I think that many of us know Don for his trademark bow tie, his big smile, and his friendly demeanor. More than a Member of New Jersey's congressional delegation, he was part of our family, and he affectionately called me ``Uncle Frank.''
He used his time here to improve the lives and health of New Jerseyans and Americans with so many things that Chris Smith mentioned, but Don was always struggling with health issues from the day that he came here. I am not sure that many of you knew that, but it never stopped him from his work, from voting.
So many times in the past year we had very close votes and he would always show up if there was any way possible. I remember him doing Special Orders. He had the record for the most Special Orders for several years.
If you look over there in seat number one where Democrats would sit if they wanted to line up for Special Orders, you see the flowers and the mourning cloak. He was always the first one to come down.
I think a lot of you maybe didn't realize how uncomfortable he was when he was sick, but he always took the time to ask how you were doing. If I would go up to him and say, Donald, how are you feeling today? He would say, fine and just move on. Then he would say, how are you doing, Frank? How do you feel? How is the family?
He just made you feel like he was your friend, and it didn't matter whether you were Democrat or Republican or where you were from.
I will join Mr. Smith in mentioning his wife, Beatrice, and his children. He had triplets. I think many of you know Donald III, Jack, and Yvonne. We want to honor his legacy and his service to our State and our country. I will say in closing to Don, Uncle Frank says good- bye, but he certainly will not be forgotten by any of us.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask everyone to join us in a moment of silent prayer for our deceased colleague.
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