Ladies and gentlemen, the House has lost a real advocate, a person who respected this institution and who understood what it was. So I know I speak for all of us when I say our condolences to the family and our condolences to his…
Ladies and gentlemen, the House has lost a real advocate, a person who respected this institution and who understood what it was.
So I know I speak for all of us when I say our condolences to the family and our condolences to his constituents. He served most distinctly.
Rather than tell you some things I was going to prepare myself about my relationship with Donald, I got a letter this afternoon, and I think it's appropriate if I read this letter on the floor of the House because it tells us that Donald Payne was not just interested in Africa. His interests as a humanitarian went beyond that.
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has spoken of the deep sadness at the death of United States Congressman Donald Payne. On behalf of Sinn Fein, and all of those in Ireland who met Congressman Payne on his many visits here, the Sinn Fein leader extended his deepest sympathy to Congressman Payne's children and his family circle and many friends. And this is what Gerry's own words are:
Donald Payne was a champion for the disadvantaged and the
downtrodden in the United States and around the world. He
devoted his life to promoting civil rights, equality and
democracy.
My friends, just think who is saying this. A man of valor, a very courageous person, Gerry Adams. This is how close we are in the tribe of humanity and how many times we fail to recognize it.
I met Donald many times both in Washington and in Ireland.
He was always very interested in Ireland and had visited the
north before the cessations in the mid-1990s. Donald was very
supportive of the Irish peace process from the beginning and
was a regular participant in briefings which I and other Sinn
Fein visitors gave to political leaders on Capitol Hill.
Many of us were there, many of us in this room.
He was also a frequent member of congressional delegations
that visited Ireland. Donald will also be fondly remembered
by citizens on Garvaghy Road, in north Belfast, and the Short
Strand, which he visited at a time when efforts were being
made to force controversial Orange marches through those
districts.
His experience as a civil rights campaigner resonated with
his audience in west Belfast when he spoke there during the
west Belfast Feile on the issue of equality and anti-
discrimination legislation.
During a debate in Washington on the McBride principles he
remarked that: ``I and other members of the Congressional
Black Caucus can easily identify with the Catholic
minorities. I recognize many similarities in how they are
treated with how people here were treated.''
Donald was a thoughtful, generous and well-informed
politician who was personally dedicated to improving
conditions for others and who worked diligently on behalf of
his constituents and of his party.
He will be remembered with gratitude and real affection for
his support at difficult and dangerous times in Ireland--in
difficult and dangerous times all over the world. He will be
sadly missed by his constituents, by people the world over. I
want to extend regrets and deepest sympathy to his family and
his friends.
Go ndeanfaidh dia trocaire ar a n'anam dilis--may he rest
in peace, and may all of his friends gather in this
institution that he loved so well.