Al Franken Eulogizes Writing Partner Tom Davis On Senate Floor

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Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday evening, to deliver a eulogy for his old comedy partner Tom Davis. Franken and Davis became friends and collaborators starting in high school, and were among the original writers of Saturday Night Live. Davis died from cancer last week, age 59.

“People would always ask me and Tom what our favorite moment was on Saturday Night Live. We worked on so many sketches that it was just impossible to single anything out,” said Franken. “Both of us would always say that our favorite memory was rolling on the floor — the 17th floor at 30 Rock — rolling on the floor laughing at 2 in the morning, or 3 in the morning, at something that someone wrote or at a character someone had just invented.”

Franken read from an essay by Davis on his illness, including this excerpt:

Many people in my situation say, “It’s been my worst and best year.” If that sounds like a cliché, you don’t have cancer. On the plus side, I am grateful to have gained real, not just intellectual empathy. I was prepared to go through life without having suffered, and I was doing a good job of it. Now I know what it’s like to starve. And to accept “that over which I have no control,” I had to turn inward. People from all over my life are reconnecting with me, and I’ve tried to take responsibility for my deeds, good and bad…I think I’ve finally grown up.

“Tom faced death, with humor and courage,” an emotional Franken concluded. “Rest in peace.”

Click here to watch the full speech.

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