[House Prints, 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                     


             

                                     
                                     

 
                              A Ceremony
                       Unveiling the Portrait

                                  of 

                             THE HONORABLE

                            RICHARD W. POMBO





[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
















                         Tuesday, July 28, 2015
                     Committee on Natural Resources
                  1324 Longworth House Office Building
                            Washington, D.C.
                                     
  

                                     













                                     

                            COMMITTEE PRINT




                              A Ceremony
                        Unveiling the Portrait

                                   of

                             THE HONORABLE

                            RICHARD W. POMBO

       A Representative in Congress from the State of California
                    January 3, 1993-January 3, 2007
                                     

             Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources

                                for the

                           One Hundred Eighth

                                  and

                      One Hundred Ninth Congresses


[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]






                              PROCEEDINGS

                               before the

                     COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

                     U.S. House of Representatives

                             July 28, 2015

                                 
                                  ______

                         U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 

21-310                         WASHINGTON : 2016 















                                 

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

                           A Ceremony
                     Unveiling the Portrait
                               of

                         THE HONORABLE

                        RICHARD W. POMBO

                 COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

                 U.S. House of Representatives

                     Tuesday, July 28, 2015

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
                                     


[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



                           Artist: Jeffrey Martin

                     THE HONORABLE RICHARD W. POMBO

                        Republican of California

                  House Committee on Natural Resources

                           Chairman 2003-2007
                                 








                                 

                 THE HONORABLE RICHARD W. POMBO

    Richard Pombo, former Chairman of the Resources Committee 
and Vice-Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, was first 
elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 and 
represented California's 11th district until January of 2007. 
During his time as Chairman, he was the key author of several 
pieces of legislation, including reforms to our nation's 
environmental laws, energy policy, Native American and Tribal 
issues, farm bill legislation, healthy forests reform, private 
property rights, and international species protection policies.

    During his time serving in the House, he also served on the 
Transportation Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries 
Committee, the Agriculture Committee, and the Resources 
Committee. Pombo also served as the Co-Chair of the Speakers 
Task Force on Affordable Natural Gas, is a past Chairman of the 
Western Caucus, and was a Co-Founder of the Portuguese-American 
Caucus. Pombo's work on the protection of private property 
rights led him to author the widely reviewed book, ``This Land 
is Our Land,'' and to be a staunch defender of property rights 
on Capitol Hill. As a rancher from the Central Valley of 
California, he currently splits time between his ranch, where 
he and his wife, Annette, have raised their three children, and 
Washington, D.C.

                     JEFFREY MARTIN, ARTIST

    Award winning portrait and pastel landscape artist Jeffrey 
Martin strives to make every portrait flattering, reflective of 
individual personality, and stunningly accurate in likeness. 
Mr. Martin attended Susquehanna University, graduating with a 
BA in English Education. He then attended art school in New 
York City at the Art Students League of New York and continued 
his education at Penn State University where he earned an MFA 
in Painting and Drawing. Mr. Martin taught art classes at 
Susquehanna University from 1989-1992 and again from 2001-2006.
















      

                             P R O G R A M

Welcome

    The Honorable Frank Lucas
    Former Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture

Remarks

    The Honorable Rob Bishop
    Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources

    The Honorable Devin Nunes
    Chairman, House Select Committee on Intelligence

Acceptance of the Portrait and Remarks

    The Honorable John A. Boehner
    Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

Unveiling of the Portrait

    Richie Pombo, Rena Pombo, and Rachel Pombo

Remarks

    The Honorable Richard W. Pombo
    Former Chairman of the House Resources Committee
    Member of Congress (Ret.)

Acknowledgements

    Richard Pombo Portrait Committee--Darrell Henry, Kristin 
        Schrader Marcell, Lisa Wallace, Seth Voyles

    Curator, U.S. House of Representatives--Farar Elliott

    Portrait Artist--Jeffrey Martin

    Gavel Resources--Jacquelyn Sommer, Suzanne Youngblood

    Photographer--Dana Renee

    U.S. Capitol Historical Society--Peter McGuire

    Richard would like to especially thank his family, friends, 
        supporters, colleagues and former staff for being a 
        part of today's ceremony.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
       The Unveiling and Presentation of the Official Portrait of

                     THE HONORABLE RICHARD W. POMBO

                           CHAIRMAN 2003-2007

                         TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015

                          House of Representatives,
                            Committee on Natural Resources,
                                                   Washington, D.C.

    The ceremony began at 4:55 p.m., in room 1334, Longworth 
House Office Building.
    Mr. Lucas. My good friends, thank you for being here today. 
As a Member who has been hung, but in a different room----
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Lucas [continuing]. This is the most pleasant way that 
this can occur.
    For those of you perhaps who have not been a part of this 
process before, this is a tradition that goes back about a 
century in the U.S. House. It acknowledges the men and women 
who have served as Committee Chairmen, who have toiled in the 
trenches, dug in the ditches, so to speak, and moved Democracy 
forward.
    After you retire, and again, for all of my fiscally-
conservative friends in the room, and I am sure a good many of 
you are part of helping make this possible, this effort, not a 
penny of taxpayers' money was involved in producing a portrait 
to commemorate the Chairman's past experiences, which will hang 
in the Committee hearing room forever or at least as long as 
they don't remember Pombo and I.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Lucas. But I would be remiss if I didn't take this 
opportunity to offer a personal thought or two.
    I was sworn in in May of 1994 in a special election. Pombo 
and I, at that time Pombo was a freshman, were members of what 
was the last of the old 40-year Democratic majority. I took the 
oath of office down in the well. Speaker Foley was not very 
happy about it because I replaced a Member of his side of the 
room, took a seat. And I proceeded to the back, having picked 
out a zone that looked fairly safe to have a seat.
    Lo and behold, I encountered for the first time in my life 
a Portuguese Californian.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Lucas. He looked up, and he said, ``Well, at least you 
were brief with that speech. Have a seat, Lucas.'' And that is 
when I first met the Chairman.
    And over the course of our serving together for 14\1/2\ 
years, something like that, on the Ag Committee together and 
working with him in his involvement on Resources, we developed 
a relationship that will endure forever.
    Richard is one of these folks who, from day one, came 
committed to make a difference. Yeah. Farmer/rancher in 
California, that is a tough challenge these days, but it has 
always been a tough challenge. A fellow who came by way of the 
Tracy City Council because he idealistically believed local 
government could do better for the citizens.
    And then, amazingly, he discovered when he was on the city 
of Tracy Council, he used to tell me, that the real problem 
wasn't the city council; it was those yahoos east of the 
Mississippi River. So when an opportunity came to run for 
Congress, a competitive race--you were what, 31 when you were 
sworn in?
    Mr. Pombo. Yes.
    Mr. Lucas. Pombo came charging to where the problem was. He 
focused on property rights, focused on agriculture, focused on 
preserving our natural resources, focused on making a real 
difference from a real person's perspective.
    And the thing about Pombo is that he never forgot that 
perspective of being a Portuguese in California, being a 
rancher, even if he is the knight of something or other in the 
Portuguese empire.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Lucas. I don't understand all this nobility stuff.
    But he never forgot that, in all the bills and all the 
legislation and all the things he worked on ever so 
consistently.
    I have the greatest respect for him. You do, too, or you 
wouldn't be here.
    Now, I have vented my spleen. I feel better for having told 
the truth.
    [Applause.]
    Mr. Lucas. I would now like to turn the floor to Chairman 
Bishop for whatever comments he might offer.

                   REMARKS OF HON. ROB BISHOP

         Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources

    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    I thank you all for being here. This is a wonderful 
occasion to honor the former Chairman of the Resources 
Committee, the best Committee in Congress. I understand some of 
you think of it as a B Committee, but for those of us in the 
West, this is the most important Committee that happens to be 
here.
    My first session was also the first time that Chairman 
Pombo was Chairman of this Committee. So, for me, I judged the 
Chairman by the standards that he set. And it is going to be a 
very difficult road for me to try and live up to the standards 
Chairman Pombo set for this particular Committee.
    I am, though, happy to see that we are about the same 
height.

    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. You have to realize, when I was here, I was 
always sitting down at the bottom looking up at him. For my 
entire first 6 years here, I always looked up at Pombo. I 
always thought he was a lot bigger than that.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. But I am appreciative of you all being here. 
This is a great honor for Richard, and it is an honor for me; 
you have to be nice to me because I still get to decide where 
this is actually hung.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. And we all know that is a lie, because the 
staff will tell me where to put it.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. So thank you for being here. Thank you for 
your service to the country. Thank you for the standards you 
set for this Committee. I am looking forward to trying to do as 
well as you did. And we are happy to have you here forever in 
these rooms.
    [Applause.]
    Mr. Lucas. The Speaker of this greatest House of 
Representatives, who we all served with on the Ag Committee for 
a long time, will bestow a few words upon us and hopefully 
accept this fine work of art.
    Mr. Speaker.

                REMARKS OF HON. JOHN A. BOEHNER

             Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

    Speaker Boehner. Well, let me just say I thank all of you 
for being here.
    Richard, it is amazing to see you.
    [Laughter.]
    Speaker Boehner. You know, these portrait unveilings tend 
to become a reunion of sorts. And I know a lot of people that 
are here, some of you we haven't seen since 2006.
    But I remember, in 1992, there was a candidate running from 
Stockton, California. Remember that? And we did an event at a 
little house out on the front yard. And all I can remember is 
this guy was tenacious. He won the seat and got here and was 
just as tenacious.
    You know, I will never forget, as he was going out the 
door, and here he was, on the Floor of the House, pushing for 
drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Packing the office, 
moving out--no, no, not possible. He was still pushing till the 
last moment.
    If you looked at his work on the Endangered Species Act, I 
don't know how many bills, how many times he worked this thing, 
but he worked it and worked it and worked it. It never really 
got anywhere, but----
    [Laughter.]
    Speaker Boehner. Listen, a great Member, a tenacious 
Member, somebody who did a great job leading this Committee. On 
behalf of the House, it is my honor to accept this portrait 
into the House gallery.
    Richard, God bless you.
    [Applause.]
    Mr. Lucas. I would now like to call up the Chair of the 
House Intelligence Committee, a Representative from the 
California delegation.

                  REMARKS OF HON. DEVIN NUNES

        Chairman, House Select Committee on Intelligence

    Mr. Nunes. Thank you, Mr. Lucas.
    So, Richard, this really is a pleasure and an honor to be 
here for you today.
    And it was so nice for Richard to shut off the air 
conditioning in the Longworth House Office Building.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Nunes. I am quite sure that was a message that was sent 
by you to the environmental groups, that this is what happens 
if you never reform the Endangered Species Act.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Nunes. If Richard would have had his way back in the 
day, he was really ahead of his time, California wouldn't be 
having the problems that it is having today with the 
implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, 
Richard could never get it across the line, although we came 
close in the Senate, but I think now California is paying the 
repercussions for not listening to a real statesman and friend 
like this that we have had only a few times in our lifetime, in 
a guy like Richard.
    And the Speaker said it very well, that Richard was fierce 
and he was loyal. There was never a time that I would come to 
Richard and he couldn't do something for me. He would help me 
to get to the place that I needed to get to.
    And you had a very loyal staff and friends. I haven't seen 
a lot of them for a long time. Some of them are still on the 
Committee. But the staff was very loyal to you and loyal to 
your friends. And a lot of my best friends that I met were 
through you in our time when Bishop and I were sitting on the 
bottom of the Resources Committee.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Nunes. And I will tell you one of my favorite freshman 
stories, and then I will be quiet.
    I was only in Congress for a couple months, and I get this 
call from Richard on the weekend at my house. He says, ``Very 
important. I've got to talk to you. I need you to go with me on 
this trip to Alaska.'' And so I said, ``OK, all right.'' So I 
dropped everything, changed my schedule, because I figured, if 
the Chairman calls, I have to go.
    So then we came back to Washington. We flew from here to 
Alaska. Well, I realized when I got on the plane I was part of 
the problem because it was, like, me, the gentlelady from 
Guam----
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Nunes [continuing]. Denny Rehberg, and, like, nobody 
else, right? So, clearly, he had to have me to at least fill 
the plane.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Nunes. And then we landed, outside of Anchorage there, 
Valdez, and then we went up to a place called Deadhorse. And it 
was, like, 20 below, and I said, ``Well, this isn't too bad.'' 
You know, I don't think I had ever been in weather below 10.
    And you know the rest of the story. We fly to the North 
Slope, and it was, like, negative 45 with the windchill. And I 
said, ``Oh, my God.'' And then we get out, and the tires on the 
plane had frozen--frozen and locked. So you had me, Ms. 
Bordallo, and Rehberg out there rocking the plane because the 
tires were locked.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Nunes. But I think that is a testament to you, Richard, 
because nobody wanted to go up there, but you were willing to 
go up there. And you conducted real hearings, made your point. 
And, like Rob said, you are a tough act to follow because you 
did such a good job.
    So congratulations to you and to all your family.
    [Applause.]
    Mr. Lucas. Chairman Pombo will make comments in just a 
moment and, at that point, he will introduce his lovely bride. 
That is more appropriate for him to do.
    So I think, at this point, could we have the heir and 
heiresses to the empire come up?
    I have to comment that Rachel wasn't even a threat to 
anybody's life when Pombo came to Congress.
    And whether you want to admit it or not, you used to 
entertain us on the back row when you would come visit us as a 
4-year-old.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Lucas. So let's all take a deep breath.
    I sent Pombo several copies of various cartoons from 10 
years ago, and I asked if any of those were going to be the 
face in the portrait. He denies that. Therefore, let's unveil 
him.
    [Applause.]
    Mr. Lucas. Former Chairman of the House Resources 
Committee, former Vice Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, 
The Right Honorable Richard W. Pombo.
    [Applause.]

                REMARKS OF HON. RICHARD W. POMBO

    Mr. Pombo. I want to just start off by thanking everybody 
for being here and everything that went into this event here 
today.
    You know, this is something, after I left, I wasn't coming 
back. I didn't want to do a portrait, I didn't want to do 
anything. And because of the encouragement of former staff and 
my kids, my family, I finally agreed that I would do the 
portrait. And I am glad I did, because I am having a lot of fun 
with it.
    And I want to thank, of course, the Speaker for taking time 
to come over here.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for doing this for me.
    And thank Frank and Devin, who are two of my closest 
friends, two of the guys that I know we will always be friends 
no matter what. And those of you that are in this political 
world know that there are not very many people here you can 
call your friend till the end, but those are two of the guys 
that always will be my friends.
    The other one that I commuted back and forth from northern 
Virginia for 14 years with, John Doolittle, who is here, he 
came in for this.
    [Applause.]
    Mr. Pombo. And Jim Costa is here. Tom McClintock is here. I 
don't know who else I am missing that walked in, but----
    Mr. Lucas. Congressman Weller is here.
    Mr. Pombo. Oh, yeah, Jerry is here, and Congressman Burton.
    But thank you, everybody, for coming over and, again, 
making this.
    You know, first of all, this whole thing was just a team 
effort from the beginning to the end. It started back in 1992 
when I called my wife, I was thinking about running for 
Congress, so I called her, and I said, ``What do you think 
about moving to Washington? '' She said, ``Yeah, that would be 
fine. Did you guys find a ranch up there? ''
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Pombo. Not thinking that I was dumb enough to want to 
run for Congress. But, after I explained it to her, she went 
along with it, happily, I guess.
    But she has been there from the beginning and always 
supported me and helped me get through everything. My kids, 
Richie, Rena, and Rachel, who, when most of you saw them last, 
they were a little bit smaller.
    But, you know, I say this was a team effort from the 
beginning. I see guys here that were with me in my very first 
office when I first opened up in the Longworth building, a 
couple floors up. Guys like Tom Pyle and Chris D'Arcy, Jack 
Victory, those guys were in the first office when I first got 
here, and we had a great staff.
    And I was one of those who had always believed that I 
didn't have to be the smartest person in the room, I just had 
to have them working for me. And I was lucky that I always had 
such great staff through the whole time I was here. Steve Ding, 
my former chief of staff, deserves a lot of credit for that 
because he put together a heck of a team, both in the personal 
office and then on the Committee.
    And, you know, all of you got together and joined me in 
this battle, and we went to war over this. We knew going in we 
were outmanned and we were outgunned, but we were going to 
fight, and we were going to do what was right.
    It gives me a great deal of pleasure to see so many of you 
here today that worked for me, that worked with me over the 
years, because you guys are still fighting. You haven't given 
up. And that is what it is all about. You have to keep 
fighting.
    There are a few things in the painting that I started 
thinking about what I was going to do and how I was going to 
make it. Of course, I had to do it casual because that is me. 
But, when it comes right down to it, I looked at what the 
jurisdiction of the Committee was. And, at the top, we have the 
longhorns for the cattle grazers out West. In the background is 
Shasta Dam, and it is the development of the greatest water 
project in the world. We have a logging truck and an oil rig at 
the bottom. And hanging over the chair is a Native American 
blanket that was given to me when I was Chairman by a Tribal 
Chairman.
    And, to me, that embodies what the Committee was, and it 
embodies all the work that we did over the years. So I wanted 
to make that part of the official portrait.
    So, all of you, thanks for being here. I appreciate it. You 
know, I had so much help: the guys over at Gavel with me, my 
former staff, Sophia here on the Committee. Everybody pitched 
in to make this all work.
    So, thank you. Enjoy yourselves. Have fun. To my 
colleagues, thanks again for coming over.
    [Applause.]

    [Whereupon, at 5:15 p.m., the ceremony was concluded.]

                                 [all]