If the Founding Fathers came back and picked from our 200-year history one member of Congress to show how they intended the Congress to work, they would have selected Silvio Conte.

He still and for always will be thought of as a legislative giant, as someone who motored around on the floor of the House like the Energizer Bunny, moving at the speed of sound from deal to deal to deal to deal as he worked his legislative magic.

He was one of the great leaders in the Congress seeking health insurance for all and he worked hard to enact a decent, humane social policy for the disadvantaged.

For more than a dozen years before 9/11 Jim Saxton was working for better homeland security and a more coordinated defense against terrorism. It’s why he remains so effective on these issues today… . Our beaches are cleaner, our fisheries better managed, and military bases more robust because of the great work of Jim Saxton.

Homeless people tend not to turn out in numbers at the polls. But Mr. Vento applied himself to the issues he cared about, did his homework, made the rounds of his colleagues, carried the water, dug the ditches, fought the good fights, made the compromises, and wrote landmark legislation that became law and that made a real difference in the world.