SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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47–802 CC
1998
COMMITTEE RESOLUTION OF TRIBUTE TO THE LATE WALTER H. CAPPS
PROCEEDING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
OCTOBER 31, 1997
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman
WILLIAM GOODLING, Pennsylvania
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois
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DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
JAY KIM, California
STEVEN J. CHABOT, Ohio
MARSHALL ''MARK'' SANFORD, South Carolina
MATT SALMON, Arizona
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
TOM CAMPBELL, California
JON FOX, Pennsylvania
JOHN McHUGH, New York
LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
ROY BLUNT, Missouri
KEVIN BRADY, Texas
LEE HAMILTON, Indiana
SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD BERMAN, California
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GARY ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ROBERT ANDREWS, New Jersey
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia
ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida
PAT DANNER, Missouri
EARL HILLIARD, Alabama
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
STEVE ROTHMAN, New Jersey
BOB CLEMENT, Tennessee
BILL LUTHER, Minnesota
JIM DAVIS, Florida
RICHARD J. GARON, Chief of Staff
MICHAEL H. VAN DUSEN, Democratic Chief of Staff
HILLEL WEINBERG, Counsel
ALLISON KIERNAN, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
APPENDIX
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Resolution honoring the late Hon. Walter H. Capps
Tributes to the late Hon. Walter H. Capps:
Hon. Lee Hamilton, a Representative in Congress from Indiana
Hon. Tom Lantos, a Representative in Congress from California
Hon. Matthew Martinez, a Representative in Congress from California
Hon. Howard Berman, a Representative in Congress from California
Hon. Doug Bereuter, a Representative in Congress from Nebraska
Hon. Roy Blunt, a Representative in Congress from Missouri
Hon. Bill Luther, a Representative in Congress from Minnesota
Hon. Donald Payne, a Representative in Congress from New Jersey
Hon. Tom Campbell, a Representative in Congress from California
Hon. Bob Clement, a Representative in Congress from Tennessee
COMMITTEE RESOLUTION OF TRIBUTE TO THE LATE HON. WALTER H. CAPPS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1997
House of Representatives,
Committeee on International Relations,
Washington, DC
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman (chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Chairman GILMAN. May we please have order in our Committee as we consider a formal tribute to our departed colleague, the Honorable Walter Capps?
We would now take up a resolution that will be considered only in this Committee, not on the floor, to express our sorrow and our respect for our former Committee person. On behalf of myself and Mr. Hamilton I lay a resolution before the Committee, and I ask that the clerk read it in full.
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[The resolution appears in the appendix.]
Ms. BLOOMER. Resolution: Whereas, the Committee has heard with great sorrow of the death of the Honorable Walter H. Capps, a Representative in Congress from the 22nd District of California; Whereas the Honorable Walter H. Capps served with great honor and distinction as a Member of the Committee on International Relations and its Subcommittees on Asia and the Pacific and on the Western Hemisphere; Whereas, the Honorable Walter H. Capps personified the highest ideals of American public service as an extraordinary Member of the freshman class and an extraordinary Member of Congress; Whereas, the Honorable Walter H. Capps became during his service on this Committee a valued friend and colleague due to his outstanding personal qualities; Now therefore be it resolved by the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives that the Committee, which was ennobled by his presence, pays tribute to the life and service of the Honorable Walter H. Capps, and the Committee extends to the family of the Honorable Walter H. Capps its most sincere condolences on their loss. October 31, 1997.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you. Briefly, a number of us had an opportunity to speak on this very sad topic in the Committee on Wednesday. It is a terrible shock to all of us to lose our friend, Walter Capps. Walter came to our Committee with a great wealth of experience, a great store of wisdom and a deep well of spirituality, sharing all of them freely with us. More than that, he shared with us an exceedingly pleasant, warm and kind disposition. Walter Capps was a person who made considerable contributions to our work in the very brief time in which we were privileged to have him among us. We are going to miss him greatly.
I will now recognize other Members of the Committee.
Mr. Hamilton.
Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Chairman, let me say how much I appreciate your bringing this resolution before the Committee. I think it is a very fine thing for you to do.
Before I knew Walter Capps he had already had a very distinguished career as a professor and teacher of religious studies, I think for over 30 years, at the University of California. I got to know him quite well during his months here. He had all of the markings of a superb legislator. He had extraordinarily good judgment about people. He had deep compassion for people. He really stood out, I think, among Members of the freshman class, and he has elevated this institution without any doubt by his service here.
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He was fond of quoting a teaching from the Talmud, to this effect, that we do not see the world as it is but rather we see the world as we are. Walter saw the world as a man of very deep moral and religious conviction. He brought that perspective into everything that he did. You could sense it whenever you visited with him and talked with him about an issue, I must say a very refreshing perspective to find in a Member of Congress, and it stood out whether he was fighting for human rights or just trying to improve the civility of this institution.
I asked him to handle a resolution for me on the floor of the House at the time of the death of Princess Diana, and he very graciously agreed to do it and just spoke with extraordinary eloquence at that time, and he quoted the poet Thomas Campbell to the effect that to live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. He spoke of that phrase from the poet, of course, in reference to Princess Diana's death, but it certainly applies in the case of his passing as well.
So, Mr. Chairman, I join you in expressing our deepest sympathy to his wife, Lois, and to his children, Lisa, Todd and Laura, and I understand some Members of his staff are present here. They feel his loss, I know, with very great moment, and we express to them our appreciation for their service with Walter and our sympathy to them upon the passing of their leader. All of us will miss Walter.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Hamilton.
Mr. Bereuter.
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too want to express my sincere condolences to the Capps family. Walter Capps made a remarkable contribution in 10 short months. He was a humane, very civil person who brought a very important additional perspective to the deliberations here in the Committee and in the Congress.
I want my colleagues to know that a number of Members have already spoken of our concern about his loss at the first hearing this Full Committee held and then during the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee where Walter served very ably. I spoke for the Majority, Mr. Hastings spoke for the Minority, and several other Members joined into a tribute to the contributions and life of Walter Capps.
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I also wanted you to know that we recognize that the resolution today regarding Afghanistan is one in which Walter Capps took a special interest, and assuming that the House does act upon it, we were instructed to make certain activities and copies of that legislation in a formal sense and convey them to the family.
I thank you for taking this time to recognize the kind of person that Walter Capps was and the contributions he made to the Committee.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Bereuter.
Mr. Gejdenson.
Mr. GEJDENSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I like to join with my colleagues here, and to add only that I have served in this institution for 17 years now, and I have never seen an individual who in such a short time had attracted the attention and the affection of so many Members. Both he and his wife frankly were people that I think we all love dearly, and I particularly enjoyed my discussions with Walter on a number of issues through the year, and we will all dearly miss him.
But again, I think in 17 years of serving in this institution, I have never seen an individual serving such a short time here have such a tremendous impact on all of us in this institution.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Gejdenson.
Mr. Fox.
Mr. FOX. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Walter Capps, everyone in the room and those who couldn't even be here today but certainly are still feeling the hurt and pain of his passing know that he was a humble hero, a man with great sensitivity who in his governance was bipartisan. He enjoyed his job, he cared about people, he worked hard for his constituents, a great husband, a great father.
Each of us who have known him were lucky to have met him and worked with him. He was a caring and calming influence in a turbulent and topsy-turvy world. I never forget the first day I met him was the day of the Inauguration, and here is a day he could take great pride in his own election, but what brought him the most pride was knowing that the speech that he was listening to from the President was in great measure written by his daughter.
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Thank you.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Fox.
Mr. Menendez.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to commend you for having this time for one of our departed colleagues. You know Walter was an extraordinary individual. In the short time that I got to know him, particularly in the Committee, he was one of the newest, obviously, but one of the most promising Members of the Committee.
When he was handling the resolution that Mr. Hamilton referred to, it reminds me now in retrospect of in fact a lot of Walter's own life, because what he was saying as it related to Princess Diana was that it is not the title that one has but in fact how one has lived their life. In that respect Walter's life is a real testament to his work, his convictions, his belief, and ultimately an inspiration to all of us, having gone through a terrible accident which many believed he would not have survived or had the use of his limbs, and having the resiliency to come back not only from all of that but to be elected to the Congress of the United States.
He was thoughtful and thought-provoking, and I think he was a bright light that was extinguished much too soon, and we will miss him. We certainly extend our condolences to his wife and children and to his staff who were inspired by him.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Menendez.
Mr. Manzullo.
Mr. MANZULLO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this tribute. Walter lived by the proverb, ''When a man's ways are pleasing to God, even his enemies are at peace with him.'' Walter had no enemies because he knew how to please the One who is responsible for all of us.
He took that particular talent of humility, scholarship, and applied it to a very difficult issue that we face even this week, and that is the promotion of human rights while at the same time being a proponent of free trade. That is where I am going to miss him the most because that is a very tough battle, and yet Walter possessed the unique kind of wisdom and ability to see through years and years of suffering by so many people for their faith and at the same time to be able to recognize the whole situation of trade in this world.
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It is a talent, it is a gift from God, and he recognized it. But more importantly, he shared that with each of us.
THE CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Manzullo.
Mr. Hastings.
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman, I shall be very brief. I will commend you for bringing the resolution forward. I have heard countless tributes, and I echo the responses of all of our colleagues in that regard.
The one thing that I have not heard mentioned is the extraordinary sense of humor that Walter Capps had, and I just want that to be on the record as well.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Hastings.
Mr. Faleomavaega.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I apologize for being a little late but just wanted to know the substance of the resolution, if every Member of our Committee is listed as a cosponsor of the resolution. If not, I would like to request by acclamation that it should be done.
Chairman GILMAN. Without objection, we will make certain that every Member is included as a sponsor of the resolution. Thank you for your suggestion.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I have not had the opportunity to really know Mr. Capps well, other than the casual hello and goodbye and being just a very gentleman. But really more to the life of this gentleman, Mr. Chairman, Congressman Capps was not a Democrat, he was a real statesman.
I think lessons that we can take from this gentleman, all of us, that he was above the political storms in the fact that he never wanted to run a dirty or negative campaign. He was above that. He never belittled or personalized in any way the opposition, and he won the election despite the expertise that was given to him that he had to run negative campaigns.
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To me, Mr. Chairman, that is a real test of someone that we could also put there as an idol and exemplifies what politics should be, and at times in the limited years that I have served in this institution, Mr. Chairman, this gentleman has really exemplified the highest standard, in my humble opinion, of what politics should be in this institution. It should be aboveboard, and it should be as nonpartisan as it should be, but always looking at the issues and what is best at stake for our Nation.
I think it is only most fitting, and I want to thank you and the sponsors or the primary sponsor of this resolution, and I sincerely hope that every Member of this Committee should be on that plane when we go to the West Coast and participate in the services of this great man.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Faleomavaega.
If there are no further Members seeking recognition, the question is now on agreeing to the resolution.
Without objection, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection, a copy of the resolution and our comments will be sent to the family of Mr. Capps with our condolences.
I want to inform our Members that our Committee will be coordinating an appropriate remembrance to Walter's family which will be in keeping with his family's wishes as to how that should be honored, and they will be getting a memorandum on that shortly.
We will now proceed with the Committee business.
A P P E N D I X
Insert "The Official Committee record contains additional material here."
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