you shared him with us and with the world. he was a busy legislator in d.c., in his district, and around the world. but nobody meant more to donald payne than his family. he was so proud of all of you. some have said that donald payne was greeted in heaven by martin luther king jr., but i believe he was greeted by his sweet mother and his beautiful wife, two women who left him far too early in his life. now i believe donald payne is in a better place. when i came to congress, i couldn't have asked for a better mentor. a public school teacher, someone kind and smart. we served on committees together where i benefitted from his

wisdom and experience because he was a man who knew what public service is. he described himself as a mild mannered man, but we know he was also tenacious and dedicated. no one, and i mean no one worked harder to bring peace and democracy around the world. he knew, however, that he could not have been successful without the great support he got from his staff and his family. and he knew his staff was the best. nor could he have achieved the reputation of a true statesman and a humanitarian without the constant energizing bunny drive and determination that stayed with him through the diagnosis of his illness and until the very end. nobody has fought harder with an iron will and physical strength

not to give in, because he had he believed so much more to do. in his absence, it's up to us to do it for him, to follow his lead, to continue the work that mattered so much to him. that is our promise to you, donald, because we love you, we miss you, and we thank you for making this world a better place just by being in it. thank you. [ applause ] >> in the ensuing weeks since don payne's untimely passing, i alone with all who knew and deeply respected him keep expecting to hear his gentle voice admonishing us to care more and 20 do more for those trapped in poverty or suffering from devastating disease. donald payne was an extraordinary man who dedicated

his entire life to public service, a man who made a significant difference in the world, in his constituency in new jersey. all many people that he touched know and remember his legacy with great, great treasure, as a treasure. don payne work across-party lines to combat the hiv/aids n pandemic and to malaria on the subcontinent of africa. he co-sponsored the sudan peace act and worked tirelessly to end the genocides in both south sudan and darfur. i know firsthand how much he truly cared and how hard he worked for peace and reconciliation in war-ravaged nations. i served as ranking member of the africa subcommittee when he chaired it, and more recently until his passing, he served as mine. in our subcommittee, he never

shied away from asking the tough questions, but always did so in a way that demonstrated his ernest desire to find durable solutions to vexing and seemingly insurmountable problems. he was a joy to work with. at his funeral, dozens of family member, friends, and political leaders ex-tolled don payne's innate goodness and accomplishments. the outpouring was, in a word, overwhelming. president clinton was there and talked about donald payne as a peacemaker and said better to reconcile than to resent. governor chris christie said as we celebrate his life today, and as we say goodbye, we thank him for his gentle grace. his niece lauren said, "i can go to any part of the world and he would be known there. i think it's wonderful, just amazing." and his son, don jr., reminded

everyone, and i quote, just think of all the things he did for us without ever asking for anything back. donald payne's ability to care and to do for others while expecting nothing whatsoever in return is indeed rare, and it's a precious virtue. his example of life-long selfless generosity inspires us all to be doers of good deeds without any thought of recognition or reward. the house has lost a distinguished friend and a distinguished colleague, the gentleman from new jersey. on behalf of our delegation, we say to the family, we deeply miss him. on behalf of ileana ross layton and howard berman, we deeply miss him. and on behalf of the entire congress, he is missed. [ applause ]

>> for our musical presentation, we have the soloist anthony ross harrington. he will be performing the wind beneath my wings. ♪ ♪ it must have been cold there in my shadow, to never have sunlight on your face ♪ ♪ you were content to let me

shine, that's your way ♪ ♪ you always walked a step behind ♪ ♪ now i was the one with all the glory, and you were the one with all the strength ♪ ♪ a beautiful face without a name, for so long i never once heard you complain ♪ ♪ oh did you ever know that you're my hero ♪

♪ you're everything i'd like to be ♪ ♪ i can fly higher than an eagle, you are the wind beneath my wings ♪ ♪ it might have appeared to go unnoticed, but i've got it all right here in my heart ♪ ♪ i want you to know i know the

truth, yes i know it, i would be nothing without you ♪ ♪ did you ever know that you're my hero, you're everything i'd like to be ♪ ♪ i can fly higher than an eagle you the wind beneath my wings ♪ ♪ did you ever know that you're my hero, you're everything that

i'd like to be ♪ ♪ i can fly higher than an eagle, you are the wind beneath my wings ♪ ♪ you are the wind beneath my win wings, you are the wind beneath my wings ♪ >> congressman payne, today the world salutes you.

[ applause ] >> members of representative payne's family will now share some of their reflections. starting with his son, councilman don payne jr., followed by his grandson jack payne, and his brother, william payne. >> thank you, and good morning. >> good morning. >> to the assembled guests, the vice president and speaker,

senator lautenberg, ms. pelosi, mr. smith, to mr. cleaver, ms. christensen, there is joy and pain today. the joy is in the assembled number of people in this hall to pay their respects for my father for his work around the world. the pain is that he is not here for us to tell him how much we appreciated him. it's been a -- just an overwhelming month or so. at his passing, i was in a very good place and reflecting on

what he had done for me and my family over the course of my life, but as time has gone on and i've had time to stop and think, it's become very hard not to be emotional any time i think of even calling his name, whether it be congressman, donald payne, daddy, whatever. it has been a very emotional time. but as it was stated and i stated, he never asked for anything. he did things. he told me and he used to refer to me. and i have a family nickname. he would say, "chop, i do the things i do because i can." people need help around the world. and wherever there is injustice, he felt it was important to step in.

yes, africa was his passion, but people finding theirselves in situations where their civil and human rights were being violated became his fight. and the were thing i want to leave you with is that he never asked for anything, but he would really, really appreciate what you have done here to honor his memory today. thank you very much. >>. [ applause ] >> new testament reading, john chapter 14, versuses 1-3. let not your heart be troubled. you believe in god. believe also in me. in my father's house, there are many mansions. and if it were not so, i would have told you.

i go to prepare a place for you. and if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again and receive you to myself that where i am you may be also. to many of you here today, you knew my grandfather as congressman donald payne. some of you knew him as mr. payne. some of you knew him as donald or don. my brother donald and my sister and myself, we knew him. on behalf of donald and myself, i just want to say we love you and we miss you. you rest in peace. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. he walked with kings and he never lost the common touch. i don't say that just to be

poetic. i say it because it was true. i was blessed to be with him when he met with royalty in bahrain, where we went to discuss the arab spring. i was with him when we traveled the dusty roads in the congo and visited with people in their huts. and he talked about their health care. i was with him as he touched and lifted children in the refugee camps we visited, where his heart was. my brother obviously was one who cared about the world. there are those who knew that we were very close. there is a story about the corsican brothers. some of you may know it. twins who were very, very close to each other, no matter where they were, yet they were separate. they felt the feelings of the other one no matter where he was. of course those two brothers, there was a nice guy and then there was the other one. you can guess who was the other one.

he was a -- he was great. he gave his all. as a matter of fact, he was concerned about his fellows. in fact, when he went to egypt and he checked on secretary lahood's son, my brother was sick. he was ill. and before he went, i told donald, you know, he said when i get there, i'll rest, but i have to go. and he went. he -- he passed on march 6th, which was the same day that my father passed. the same day and the same age. they were the same age when he passed. he passed on and there is a great reunion, no question about it, great union up there where my brother and father and his mother and his wife are all those together. but someone wrote me a letter not too long ago. it talked about greatness. you don't recognize greatness when you're walking wit.

you recognize that he was a great man, and it's too difficult sometimes when you're close to it. but donald was a great man. i think everyone would agree with that. his passing hurts. and they say time heals. but the time has not yet come. it still hurts. thank you. [ applause ] >> our next set of tributes will be delivered by the democratic leader in the u.s. house, ms. nancy pelosi, and the senior senator from the state of new jersey, frank lautenberger. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. thank you for arranging for this beautiful ceremony today in honor of donald payne. thank you so much for bringing us together in such a beautiful way. to donald's family, i hope it is

a comfort to you that so many people share your grief and are praying for you at this sad time. and that donald is being honored in so many different ways. he was in life, and now with his passing. the fact that the president of the united states, bill clinton, and members of president obama's cabinet were present with their assistant leader mr. clyburn at his funeral, the fact that we are under the dome of the capitol of the united states and the vice president of the united states is here to sing the praises of donald payne as well as an outpouring from his colleagues in the house and in the senate. i hope that is a comfort to you. i just want to share with you a couple other tributes that may not be well-known to many of you here. on march 19th, when we observed st. patrick's day because it was on a saturday, so we observed it on monday, there was a big

dinner of, the american ireland fund dinner. huge dinner, hundreds of people turned out. the prime minister, of ireland was there. and our representative, richie neil spoke, as did also peter king, he devoted his entire comments to donald payne. in this big irish festival, there was a big, huge as the wall picture of donald payne. and the crowd cheered wildly as both mr. king, but especially richie spoke about what he did to help the people of northern ireland. wasn't it a beautiful tribute, joe? it was beautiful. that was a couple of weeks as we know after his passing. i want to tell you about one incident that happened a few years ago. we were on a delegation that donald helped arrange and lead

to darfur and to africa. it was -- it was very emotional for all of us. but as with anything you did with donald, you were better prepared when you went, better received when you got there, and better able to help when you left, whether it was the elimination of poverty, the eradication of disease, promotion of peace, ending violence, protecting human rights, you name it. but this trip we were going to darfur and other -- sudan and other countries in africa. and donald helped arrange everything. but when we were going to khartoum, he said i'm not going. you remember this, max? he said i'm not going. and i said well why? you're our leader. he said they're not going to tell you the truth. i already know that. i'm not going to give them that opportunity. but you have to find out for yourselves. which we did, didn't we, max, on that trip. it wasn't just about visiting heads of states and

parliamentarians. it was about visiting people in hiv/aids clinics to see the care they were receiving. it was about visiting women working in soweto. it was about learning about the country. but i want to tell you about this one incident, because i'm reminded of it today when so many people are singing the praises of donald payne, and i'm referencing people singing the praises of donald payne who aren't even here today. we were in liberia. mr. clyburn, you remember this very well. we're in liberia, and there was a big celebration of dedicating a library to congressman donald payne for his leadership. and we were there. and i am telling you, it was very hot. they gave us dashikis to wear, so it was even hotter. and every person who spoke, and believe me, the leadership of the world turned -- that was after presidents johnson had already honored donald and the rest of us at an event.

but all the focus is always on donald. but anyway, we go to this library dedication at the ame college in monrovia, boiling hot. everybody turned out to honor donald. a long list of speakers. and every person who spoke, mr. vice president, you'll recognize this, mr. speaker, every person who spoke said what an honor it was to be on the program with everybody who spoke before. you've been to those events? they're like 19, 20 speaker. we get to halfway through, and one gentleman, distinguished gentleman gets up and he says, "to all of the speakers who spoke before me and who will come next, honors granted." and it brought out the biggest smile on donald payne's face. a picture that you see on the program. those twinkly eyes, the beautiful smile that is obviously a family trait. it's obviously a family trait. but they wanted to outdo each

other in praising, but acknowledging everyone there too. he was so wonderful, and there is so much to be said about him. it's really a personal loss to so many of us. and so when a colleague passes away, it's sad, and a loss and that. this is very, very personal with many members. and i just want to recall since mr. cleaver introduced the idea that we can speak religiously here today of a prayer that is posted on the wall by a presbyterian african bishop in africa. and i think it applies to donald very well. in the prayer, the bishop says "when at long last i will happily go to meet my maker, he will say to me show me your wounds, and if i have no wounds,

i will say to him i have no wounds. and he will say to me was there nothing worth fighting for?" that was donald. he fought for poor people. he fought for people all over the world. we mention africa. we mentioned northern ireland. but all over the world. this whole hemisphere. this is hard to make that fight. he was challenging the status quo, especially to end violence and promote peace. that's why it was my honor to name him to be a representative to the united nations general assembly. one time is the way it goes. but for donald it was two times. because his contribution was so valuable. we say it from time to time, but it's never truer than today, god truly blessed america with the life, leadership, and service of our precious donald payne.

thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, everybody, for joining together in extended example of hand-holding at a time when there is so much turbulence here, washington, and across our country. the equilibrium that donald payne always had is yet another fitting memory of his good will, his good nature, and his honesty. and it's an honor for me to represent the senate in paying tribute to our friend donald payne. don payne was a humble man of conscience and conviction.

and i was always struck by donald's spoken, soft demeanor. and i think many here will agree, this made him a rarity in politics. don payne didn't need to raise his voice. his ideals were powerful enough. for more than two decades, congressman payne served new jersey in congress with distinction. but his leadership impacted lives far beyond new jersey's borders. donald was an expert on foreign relations. he led efforts to restore democracy and human rights in countries from northern ireland to sudan. don payne worked around the globe to end famine, disease, and genocide. at home he was a trailblazer.

don payne and i had our offices in newark, our premiere city in new jersey. and i would see almost a reverence that people would hold in their view and in their hands when they were able to shake hands with don payne. there was love and affection and respect. in 1988, don, during his first campaign for the house, he told a reporter, and i quote, i want to be a role model for the kids i talk to on the street corners. i want to see -- i want them to see that there are no barriers to achievement. and without doubt, donald payne achieved his goal. he inspired young people to enter public service. and if you look at his proud family members who are here today, many of whom followed him

into careers in public service, and it's a wonderful example for all of you to follow. and we're very proud of you, young man, for standing up here and talking about your grandfather. we miss donald payne, congressman donald payne, and we mourn his absence from our lives. he's gone, but his legacy will not be forgotten, pride, gentlemanship, decency, honor and courage. thank you. [ applause ] . >> ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming the vice president of the united states, the honorable joe biden. [ applause ] . >> mr. speaker, thank you very much. thank you so very much.