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27 Building Friendships Back in the 1960s, weekend evenings at Fun Bowl in Charleston were often followed by a stop at Brooks Restaurant. Its proprietor, Albert Brooks, and I became good friends and were inducted into the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity together. Omega’s motto is “Friendship is essential to the soul,” and Albert’s favorite saying was, “Friendship is as Friendship does.” I took both that motto and Albert’s adage to heart and put both to full use in my leadership pursuits. CBC Chair During our second term Bennie Thompson the Kappa, Earl Hilliard the Alpha, and I cemented our friendship during early morning walks from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial. On one of those mornings, during our third term, Bennie suggested that I consider running for chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Maxine Waters was CBC chair at the time and had recently appointed me to chair the CBC’s Annual Legislative Conference for the second consecutive year. I was getting pretty high marks in that capacity and was developing significant political and personal relationships inside and outside the Beltway. I told Bennie I was doubtful that the CBC would tolerate a chairman from the Deep South. Several walks later Bennie broached the subject again. He told me he had checked into my regional concern, and it did not seem to be a problem. He said that, if I ran, he doubted I would have any opposition. This made the prospect rather inviting . I subsequently discussed it with family, friends, and several other members. It appeared Bennie was right. So I decided to run. When the elections were called, Bennie nominated me, and the vote was unanimous . I was overwhelmed and unsure how best to express appreciation for the faith and confidence the members had placed in me. So when I stood up to address them, I did as I often do in such situations. I relied on one of my dad’s stories. One day when my dad overheard me boasting about something, he told me the story of a minister who had been called to a church that had great difficulty keeping a pastor. Dad said that after a year the minister was still there and felt compelled to ask one of the parishioners why he had been so successful. “I have been here for a year,” the pastor said to the parishioner, “and everybody knows that before I came here y’all couldn’t keep a pastor. Please tell me why have I been so successful when so many others before me failed?” 242 Mr. Clyburn Goes to Washington According to Dad, the parishioner looked at the pastor and said, “well preacher, you see the members of this church, we really don’t want a pastor and you are the closest thing to nothing we’ve ever had.” So I said to my fellow caucus members that I was hopeful that such was not the case in that instance. I promised them that I would work hard to make them proud of having put their faith and confidence in me. Appropriations Committee Meanwhile I was also seeking a seat on the Appropriations Committee. I knew how difficult it was to get on that committee, so I sought John Spratt’s guidance. John asked whether or not I had the support of Democratic leader Dick Gephardt. I replied that I had not spoken with Dick yet and asked for John’s advice as to how best to approach him. He told me that the leader usually puts up a slate, and whoever is on that slate usually wins. So I should try to get on the leader’s slate. When I subsequently asked Dick Gephardt for his support for one of the six Democratic seats that were open, he said he had commitments to four people and was still thinking about the other two. I requested that, if he could not support me, would he consider leaving at least one of the other two seats open. He did not say yes, but he did not say no. So I informed John Spratt that I was going to take my chances. John asked how I planned to pull it off. I told him that my first move was to have him nominate me. I knew how highly regarded John was by everybody in our House Democratic Caucus, and I felt I had developed friendships with enough members of the Steering and Policy Committee to...

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