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Speech

	FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007
	EULOGY FOR JOHN F. BASS
Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay
	JILL, JOHNNY, TRACIE, KACIE, AND MISS MARIETTA;OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT IVIE AND I, AND OUR ENTIRE FAMILY, SHARES YOUR PAIN AT THE LOSS OF THIS GOOD MAN.WE LOVED HIM. AND WE WERE BLESSED TO HAVE HIM IN OUR LIVES FOR SO MANY YEARS. ====== THE FIRST TIME I MET JOHN BASS, I WAS A VERY YOUNG MAN. MY FATHER INTRODUCED ME TO HIS FRIEND, MR. BASS, WHO WAS HELPING HIM ON ONE OF HIS CAMPAIGNS. AND I CAN REMEMBER HAVING TWO LASTING IMPRESSIONS OF HIM:FIRST, I KNEW THAT I HAD TO BEHAVE WHEN I WAS AROUND HIM.BECAUSE MR. BASS WAS A PRINCIPAL.AND EVEN THOUGH I WASN’T AT SCHOOL, HE COULD STILL GIVE ME DETENTION. AND THEN,  I REMEMBER THOSE BIG STRONG, HONEST HANDS.JOHN BASS HAD THE BIGGEST PAIR OF FISTS I HAVE EVER SEEN. AND HE KNEW HOW TO USE THEM.FIRST, IN THE RING.AND THEN, IN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS AND ACROSS THIS STATE. AS I GREW UP, I CAME TO UNDERSTAND THAT MY DAD, MR. BASS AND I WERE ALL PART OF THE SAME POLITICAL FAMILY.WE WERE ALL PARTNERS IN ADVANCING THE STRUGGLE FOR PROGRESS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY. JOHN WAS A MAN OF GREAT INTEGRITY WHO TRULY LOVED SERVING HIS COMMUNITY.HIS ENTIRE LIFETIME WAS DEVOTED TO MAKING ST. LOUIS A BETTER PLACE. AND WHETHER HE WAS SERVING AS THE PRINCIPAL OF BEAUMONT HIGH SCHOOL,OR AS THE ALDERMAN FROM THE 20TH WARD;OR AS ST. LOUIS’ FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN COMPTROLLER;OR AS STATE SENATOR;OR AS THE MAN WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR OVERSEEING THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, AND ALL NATIONAL MONUMENTS; JOHN BASS NEVER STOPPED FIGHTING FOR WHAT REALLY MATTERED TO THE PEOPLE HE REPRESENTED. NOW IN THE INTERESTS OF FULL AND HONEST DISCLOSURE,   I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I WAS ONE OF MR. BASS’ MOST CHALLENGING STUDENTS. YOU SEE, WHEN I WAS FIRST ELECTED TO SERVE IN THE MISSOURI HOUSE IN 1983,  JOHN WAS ALREADY SERVING AS THE STATE SENATOR FROM THE 4TH DISTRICT. AND MY DAD THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA IF JOHN AND OUR GOOD FRIEND, STATE REPRESENTATIVE LOUIS FORD, LOOKED AFTER ME WHEN I WENT TO JEFFERSON CITY. SO THE THREE OF US BECAME ROOMMATES.NOW, THE TRUTH IS THAT JOHN AND LOUIS HAD A VERY TOUGH JOB. FIRST, THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR TEACHING ME THE INS AND OUTS OF HOW THE STATE LEGISLATURE REALLY WORKED. AND SECOND, THEY WERE ALSO SUPPOSED TO KEEP ME OUT OF TROUBLE. HISTORY WILL RECORD THAT THEY WERE ONLY 50% SUCCESSFUL. I WILL LEAVE IT TO YOU TO JUDGE WHICH HALF WORKED! === BUT JOHN WAS TRULY AN AMAZING TEACHER. AND AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, HE HAD A VERY RARE QUALITY THAT HE USED TO HIS GREAT ADVANTAGE. JOHN UNDERSTOOD THE POWER OF LISTENING.HE WAS ONE OF THOSE RARE LEADERS WHO COULD WALK INTO A RAGING DEBATE ABOUT A DIVISIVE ISSUE; AND IMMEDIATELY COMMAND THE RESPECT OF EVERYONE IN THE ROOM, REGARDLESS OF THEIR POLITICS OR PERSONALITIES. AND I THINK THE REASON FOR THAT CREDIBILITY WAS THE DEPTH OF HIS DECENCY. JOHN BASS WAS SIMPLY THE MOST DECENT MAN I HAVE EVER MET IN PUBLIC LIFE. AND THAT REMARKABLE HUMAN QUALITY IS SORELY LACKING IN TODAY’S POLITICS. JOHN NEVER STRAYED FROM HIS CORE VALUES OR HIS COMMITMENT TO HIS COMMUNITY. BUT HE RESPECTED THOSE WHO HAD OPPOSING VIEWS, AND THEY RETURNED THAT RESPECT.NO ONE, NOT EVEN HIS OPPONENTS, EVER HAD A BAD WORD TO SAY ABOUT HIM. AND THAT TELLS YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THE KIND OF MAN HE WAS.AS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING SAID SO ELOQUENTLY BACK IN 1963: “THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF A MAN IS NOT WHERE HE STANDS IN MOMENTS OF COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE, BUT WHERE HE STANDS IN TIMES OF CHALLENGE AND CONTROVERSY.” BY THAT STANDARD, JOHN F. BASS WAS A GIANT, A CHAMPION, A ONE OF A KIND LEADER. === I WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH SOMETHING THAT JOHN WROTE BACK IN 1991, WHEN HE RESIGNED HIS SEAT IN THE MISSOURI STATE SENATE, IN ORDER TO ACCEPT A FEDERAL APPOINTMENT. IN A FAREWELL LETTER TO HIS CONSTITUENTS, SENATOR BASS SAID THIS:“I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU FOR HAVING GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE AS YOUR STATE SENATOR. THERE IS NO HIGHER HONOR THAT LIFE CAN BESTOW ON A MAN, THAN TO BE ENTRUSTED BY HIS FELLOW CITIZENS TO REPRESENT THEM IN THE CORRIDORS OF POWER. IT IS A SACRED TRUST THAT I HAVE ALWAYS TRIED TO UPHOLD WITH HONOR.I HOPE THAT MY TENURE IN OFFICE HAS ADVANCED THE CITIZENS AGENDA THAT WE ALL BELIEVE IN… TO BUILD A STRONGER ST. LOUIS AND TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE THAT EVERYONE CAN SHARE IN.THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES.” LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SENATOR BASS WAS A SYMBOL OF EVERYTHING THAT IS GOOD IN PUBLIC SERVICE. HIS LIFE AND HIS LEGACY BEAR WITNESS TO THAT.OUR COMMUNITY AND THIS STATE HAVE LOST A CHAMPION.AND I HAVE LOST A DEAR FRIEND. MAY HIS MEMORY ALWAYS BE A BLESSING.AND MAY GOD GRANT HIM SHELTER AND ETERNAL PEACE. # #