OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER

TRANSCRIPT

A Tribute to the Late Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon
September 16, 2003

MR. HOYER: I THANK THE GENTLEMAN FROM ILLINOIS, AND I THANK THE OTHER GENTLEMAN FROM ILLINOIS FOR BRINGING THIS RESOLUTION SO QUICKLY TO THE FLOOR. I JOIN MY INDIANA COLLEAGUES. I KNEW FRANK O'BANNON PRETTY WELL. I WAS ASKED BY DICK GEPHARDT IN 1995 TO SERVE IN THE CAPACITY OF THE LIAISON TO THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION AND TO THE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION, AND I THEREFORE KNOW FIRSTHAND THE LOSS THAT THE HOOSIER STATE HAS SUSTAINED IN THE LOSS OF THIS EXTRAORDINARILY POPULAR GOVERNOR WHO PRESIDED OVER GREAT CHANGE AND PROGRESS IN HIS STATE. OUR NATION, AS I THINK THE LAST SPEAKER INDICATED SO WELL, HAS LOST A MODEL PUBLIC SERVANT AND CITIZEN. A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN I SERVED AS THE HOUSE LIAISON, I HAD THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH GOVERNOR O'BANNON, BOTH ON ISSUES THAT WERE IN FRONT OF THE CONGRESS AND ON POLITICS, AND I CAN CONFIRM WHAT SO MANY HAVE WRITTEN AND SAID ABOUT HIM. HE WAS A WONDERFUL, INTELLIGENT, KIND, AND HUMBLE GENTLEMAN WHO ALONG WITH JUDY WORKED TIRELESSLY FOR ALL HOOSIERS AND WHO CARED DEEPLY ABOUT HIS COUNTRY AND HIS STATE. IT IS NOTEWORTHY, I THINK, THAT GOVERNOR O'BANNON NEVER LOST A POLITICAL ELECTION. DEMOCRACY IS AN EXTRAORDINARY PROCESS, AND THE PEOPLE'S WISDOM IS WHAT MAKES IT SO GREAT BECAUSE THEY CHOOSE WELL. THEY CHOOSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE, AND WE CONTEND POLITICALLY, BUT I AM ALWAYS IMPRESSED WITH HOW WELL ULTIMATELY THEY DO CHOOSE. BUT IT IS TELLING WHAT HIS LAST OPPONENT SAID ABOUT HIM. THIS IS SOMEBODY WHO RAN AGAINST HIM, RAN A HARD CAMPAIGN, AN EXTRAORDINARILY ABLE YOUNG MAN. HE SAID THIS, EVERYWHERE I WOULD GO, PEOPLE WOULD SAY TO ME, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO RUN AGAINST SOMEONE WHO IS EVERYONE'S GRANDFATHER? AND IT WAS THE TRUTH, DAVID MCINTOSH SAID. HE WAS A CONGENIAL GUY THAT EVERYONE LIKED. AFTER SERVING 18 YEARS IN THE INDIANA SENATE, INCLUDING EIGHT AS DEMOCRATIC FLOOR LEADER AND AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, AND MORE THAN SIX YEARS AS GOVERNOR, FRANK O'BANNON PULLED OFF A RARE FEAT IN POLITICS. HE WAS BOTH EFFECTIVE AND WELL LIKED. HOWEVER, HIS GENTLE NATURE IS NOT HIS ONLY LEGACY. HIS MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS THE COLLEAGUES FROM INDIANA KNOW BETTER THAN I DO OR OTHERS INCLUDE CREATING A COMMUNITY SYSTEM, ADOPTING ACADEMIC STANDARDS THAT ARE AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION, EXTENDING HEALTH INSURANCE TO NEARLY -- CAN I HAVE ONE ADDITIONAL MINUTE? THANK YOU. NEARLY HALF A MILLION CHILDREN AND ENGINEERING AN OVERHAUL OF THE STATE TAX SYSTEM TO ENTICE BUSINESS TO INDIANA AND TO RELIEVE PROPERTY TAX OWNERS. THERE IS NO DOUBT, MR. SPEAKER, THAT FRANK O'BANNON LIVED LIFE TO THE FULLEST, GRADUATING FROM INDIANA U. WHERE HE PLAYED BASKETBALL, SERVED IN THE AIR FORCE, PRACTICING LAW AND WORKING AS A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER IN HIS NATIVE HOMETOWN. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WE ARE FORTUNATE FOR HIS SERVICE. I AM PLEASED TO JOIN MY COLLEAGUES IN LAMENTING FOR OURSELVES, FOR INDIANA AND FOR OUR COUNTRY THE LOSS OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY INDIVIDUAL. AND BEING JOYOUS IN THE FACT THAT AS A MAN OF FAITH, HE IS BETTER OFF AND JOYOUS IN THE FACT THAT WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW HIM AND TO WORK WITH HIM AND TO KNOW THAT HIS STATE AND COUNTRY WERE BETTER FOR HIS LIFE.