A congressional tribute to Jim Wright
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The late House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Fort Worth, was honored on the House floor last week with an hour-long tribute by several Democratic members.
The "special order," as it is known, is time allotted at the end of the legislative day and was organized by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, and came just a week after Wright's wife, Betty, passed away.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth |MAX FAULKNER STAR-TELEGRAM
"Jim Wright was very influential to me," Veasey said. "I can tell you that the city that I am from, Fort Worth, Texas, … is the great city that it is today because of the work and the statesmanship of Jim Wright."
Wright died May 6 in Fort Worth.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she served under Wright's leadership for a short time — and will never forget it.
"His oratory was just so compelling," she said. "People would stop what they were doing to listen to what Jim Wright had to say and how he said it."