For 12 years
I sat next to John on the W&M committee.
He was not interested in making a name for himself by the legislation he
wrote. Rather he was interested in doing what was best for people. We often talked about the effects that
various pieces of legislation had on ordinary people. This was the guiding
principle of his vote on all legislation.
He came to
the hearings prepared with his remarks and questions and since he followed me
in the order of speaking, he would often say that he liked the direction I had
taken in my five minutes of speech and questioning. He was selfless, in that he
could give credit to others and did not seek to dominate the issue. He simply wanted to stand up for the right
principle, no matter the impact on him.
He had big
companies in his city like Coca Cola and CNN, but he was always interested in
how the law would impact the workers who he represented. He would not pander to anyone. I had plenty of
time at his elbow to watch him deal with people. He was polite to all of them,
whether they were press or lobbyists or constituents. He always took time to
talk to and shake hands with kids. He
drove his staff crazy because it always took so long for him to move.
What you saw
as his image was what he really was. I
can’t remember a single time in my time on the committee with him when he showed
another side to himself. The chairman, Danny Rostenkowski who was the consummate
old-time pol from Chicago wanted him on the committee. Danny was never sure how John might vote but
he trusted him.
John came to
Seattle to help my campaigns on several occasions. Most memorable was his trip
to do a fundraiser for me. In advance I
had given him a book entitled “Not on American Soil” which was a book written
about the one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice to soldiers going
to fight in war for their country. It happened at Fort Lawton in Seattle. There were Italian prisoners of war housed next
to the barracks of a company of Black stevedores headed to Iwo Jima the next
day. Drinking and fight occurred. In the
morning an Italian was found hanged in a tree nearby.
The US
government wanted to sweep this under the rug as quickly as possible. Leon
Jaworski of later Watergate fame and the Nuremburg trials, was sent to do the
investigation and trial. With little
evidence or witnesses and one defense counsel for 20 men, all were convicted of
some part in the “Lynching”. All
received bad conduct discharges that followed them all their lives. Several were sent to Leavenworth.
John helped
me get the Army to reverse, posthumously, the BCD’s. When he came, he wanted to
see the place where all this occurred. I’ll
never forget walking through the area at Fort Lawton. No one was too small or forgotten for John to
stop and remember others who had suffered.
He met with
a nine-year old black boy who came to testify to the Congress about the need
for health care for his caregiver and grandmother. They were from my district.
Humanity and
love for all without respect for politics emanated from him at all times. If he
were here, he would deny it, but he is as close to a saint as I have ever been.
He walked in Christ’s footsteps every step he took.
He always
did!!!
