[House Prints, 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
A Ceremony
Unveiling the Portrait
of
THE HONORABLE
BOB GOODLATTE
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
1300 Longworth Building
Washington, DC
COMMITTEE PRINT
A Ceremony
Unveiling the Portrait
of
THE HONORABLE
BOB GOODLATTE
A Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia
January 5, 1993-Present
Elected to the 103rd Congress
Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture
One Hundred Eighth and One Hundred Ninth Congresses
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
PROCEEDINGS
before the
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
U.S. House of Representatives
September 25, 2007
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2008
41-293 PDF
_______________________________________________________________________
A Ceremony
Unveiling the Portrait
of
THE HONORABLE
BOB GOODLATTE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
U.S. House of Representatives
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
_______________________________________________________________________
[ iii ]
The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
Representative Bob Goodlatte served as Chairman of the
House Committee on Agriculture throughout the 108th and 109th
Congresses from 2003-2006, convening 132 full and subcommittee
hearings and guiding 38 bills under the Committee's
jurisdiction to the President's desk to be signed into law.
Since the start of the 110th Congress, Rep. Goodlatte has
served as Ranking Republican of the Committee.
Rep. Goodlatte has served on the House Agriculture
Committee since first being elected to Congress in November
1992. Before becoming Chairman of the full Committee, Rep.
Goodlatte served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Department,
Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry. An active
subcommittee chairman, he held 14 hearings in the 107th
Congress alone. The hearings covered a wide range of issues
including implementation of the national fire plan, domestic
nutrition programs, invasive species, and civil rights programs
at the USDA.
Rep. Goodlatte served as a conferee on the 2002 Farm Bill,
working to provide programs to rural Americans who are in need
of a stable farm economy, while providing suburban and urban
Americans with the safest, most abundant and affordable food
supply in the world. Rep. Goodlatte played a pivotal role in
the creation of the rural broadband initiatives, including
loans and grants, included in the 2002 Farm Bill. Programs such
as the Broadband Access Loan program which provides loans for
funding the costs of construction, improvement, and acquisition
of facilities to provide broadband service to eligible rural
communities help ensure that rural communities can participate
in the incredible learning, business and communication
opportunities the Internet provides. Rep. Goodlatte has also
taken on leadership roles on issues such as welfare reform and
forestry policy, working with his colleagues on the Agriculture
and Resources Committees to introduce the President's Healthy
Forest Initiative.
Rep. Goodlatte represents the agriculturally diverse Sixth
District of Virginia, which includes the beautiful Shenandoah
Valley. Virginia's Sixth District, with its majestic mountain
ranges, rolling hills, hearty forests, and green valleys, is as
picturesque as it is agriculturally diverse. The district's
7,600 farms produce a wide variety of agricultural products
including livestock and poultry, fruits and vegetables, corn,
wheat, barley, milk and dairy products, Christmas trees,
nursery and greenhouse products, and forestry products. With
2.4 million forested acres in the Sixth District, the forestry
industry plays an important role in the district's economy.
Rep. Goodlatte also serves on the Judiciary Committee and
is co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus where he has
worked to ensure that rural areas and smaller cities and
counties can take full advantage of the advancements in
Internet technology. He also serves as co-chair of the House
Biotechnology Caucus.
Before being elected to Congress, Rep. Goodlatte served as
former Congressman Caldwell Butler's District Director from
1977 to 1979, where he was responsible for helping constituents
in the Sixth Congressional District. In 1979, he founded his
own private law practice in Roanoke. He was a partner in the
law firm of Bird, Kinder and Huffman from 1981 until taking
office in 1992.
Rep. Goodlatte is a graduate of Washington and Lee
University School of Law and he earned an undergraduate degree
in Government from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He and
Maryellen, his wife of 32 years, live in Roanoke. They have two
children, Jen and Rob.
----------
About the Artist
Dean Paules was trained in electronics, not art, but he
pursued an interest in painting from his early years. While
following a career in business, he also created award-winning
landscapes of his native Pennsylvania and the eastern U.S.
It was not until the mid-1980s that Paules turned to
portraiture full time, after selling his successful plastics
firm. Largely self-taught, Paules emerges a standout in a room
of contemporary painters. Whether a Paules portrait emphasizes
emotion or restraint, it is always a minutely detailed
painting, unerringly true to life.
His subjects include Nobel laureate Dr. George Hitchings;
General Richard Ellis, Commander of SAC and NATO; Ralph Larsen,
CEO, Johnson & Johnson; Peter R. Dolan, CEO & Chairman,
Bristol-Meyers-Squibb; William W. Boechenstein of Owens Corning
Fiberglass Corporation; David Johnson, CEO, Campbell Soup;
Chuck Williams, Williams Sonoma, San Francisco, California; The
Honorable Tom Ridge, Governor of Pennsylvania; The Honorable
John Cornyn, Texas Supreme Court; The Honorable Tom Davis,
Chairman, Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, U. S.
House of Representatives; and The Honorable Dick Armey,
Majority Leader, U. S. House of Representatives.
P R O G R A M
Master of Ceremonies
The Honorable Roy Blunt
Invocation
Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives
Presentation of Portrait
The Honorable Collin C. Peterson
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture
Remarks
The Honorable John Boehner
The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
The Honorable Dick Armey
Address
The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
Acceptance of Portrait
The Honorable Steny H. Hoyer
Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
Introdcution of the Artist
Mr. Dean Paules
Benediction
Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives
The Unveiling and Presentation of the Official Portrait of
THE HONORABLE BOB GOODLATTE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
House of Representatives,
Committee on Agriculture
Washington, DC.
REMARKS OF HON. ROY BLUNT
Master of Ceremonies
Mr. Blunt. Well, thank you for your attention and thank you for being
here. There is--I was asked if I wanted to participate in the
hanging of Bob Goodlatte and I said well, I can think of a number
of people first, but I am free, so I would be glad to do it. Like
everybody else here, I am so delighted to be here with Bob. He is
such a great guy, a great friend, a great member of this committee.
When I was a member of this committee, a great chairman of this
committee and I am pleased to be here. Before I ask Father Coughlin
to come up with the invocation, I would like to recognize a couple
of people, Randy Russell and Bill Lesher chaired the committee.
There you are, Bill. Randy, Bill, right over there at the door. They
chaired the committee, the fundraising committee for the portrait
and I know Bob and all of his friends, including me, are
appreciative of that. Also, Bob's wife, Maryellen, is here.
Maryellen is right here and she is the one that has put with the 5-
day a week schedule this year. She is the one that has put up with
the 5-day a week schedule, not that I just didn't want to go very
long without somebody mentioning it. And Mr. Hoyer's got--we are on
blue screen on the floor out of his appreciation for the importance
of this event and we appreciate him managing it in that way, and
Bob's sister--Dorie Walmsley and her husband, David, are here,
right over here. And we are all pleased you are here. And Father
Coughlin, if you would come and let us get started with an
invocation.
INVOCATION
Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
Reverend Coughlin. Thank you. Let us pray. The beauty of your creation,
Oh, Lord, is also the source of sustenance for us in food and
drink. The House Agriculture Committee maintains national policies
which assure your people here in the United States of the safest,
most abundant and affordable food supply in the world. For this
constant custodial and creative care by farmer and government, we
praise and thank you, Lord. Tonight we gather with members and
staff of the Agriculture Committee, past and present, to honor and
celebrate the contributions of the Honorable Bob Goodlatte as
chairman throughout the 108th-109th Congresses.
His efforts to protect our food supply, support the family farmer, help
feed the poor and promote healthy stewardship of our land, was
clearly focused, much appreciated and now part of the illustrious
history of this important work of government. Confident, Lord, that
Bob's ready smile is sustained by the loving relationship of his
wife, Maryellen, their children and friends. We suspect that such a
delightful continence really comes from the broad and sweeping
beauty of the Shenandoah Valley and so we are all anxious to see
your smile unveiled upon this committee room. Lord, smile on all of
us and this Nation, but especially upon those who love and care for
the natural gifts of this blessed land and your creative hand.
Amen.
Mr. Blunt. People in agriculture have had a good friend in Collin
Peterson for a long time, as has Bob Goodlatte, and I am pleased to
welcome Collin as he makes some official and important remarks.
PRESENTATION OF THE PORTRAIT BY HON. COLLIN C. PETERSON
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture
Mr. Peterson. Thank you very much, Roy, and I am more than pleased to
be here with my good friend, Bob Goodlatte. Those of you who have
gotten to know me know that I quite often say what I think, so they
wrote down what I was supposed to say here. You don't know what
might come out of this mouth, so--and this is quite a turnout,
which I think attests to Bob's leadership and the friendship that
he has developed here in the House across the aisle, so I am not
surprised that there are so many people here today because Bob
Goodlatte, as I said, has been an outstanding leader for
agriculture and has earned the respect and admiration of his
colleagues on both sides of the political aisle.
I want to recognize Bob's wife, Maryellen, who is here with us today.
She has been recognized before. They have been married for almost
33 years. And in addition to being a great source of support for
Bob, she is also a very successful professional in her own right.
Their two children, Jennifer and Rob, are away at school, so they
couldn't join us here tonight, but I know that they are very proud
of their father's leadership and service and wish that they could
be here.
Bob and I have served on this committee together for more than 14 years
now. His district and mine don't have much in common, as far as
agriculture, although we both have a lot of hogs and turkeys at
home. And some people might say that that is not too different from
life here in Washington. This committee has a long tradition of
bipartisanship and some of the past leaders who have helped create
that legacy are here with us today and I know that Larry Combest is
here; former chairman, Charlie Stenholm, my predecessor. I don't
know if Charlie got in the room, yet or not. Who else is here that
I am missing? We have many of our committee members here.
As I said, most of the issues our committee considers aren't
politically charged, but this bipartisan tradition would not exist
without remarkable leaders who have dedicated themselves to rising
above politics to govern in the best interest of our Nation's
farmers and ranchers and Bob is one of those great leaders. I have
learned a lot from the great example that he set. Last year, Bob
set an active schedule of field hearings across the country to
prepare the committee to write the Farm Bill. We heard from people
representing many different regions and viewpoints and those
hearings gave us a strong start on writing a new Farm Bill and
without the work that Bob did, providing that leadership, we
wouldn't have been positioned as well as we were.
Working together over the past year and a half, we have, in my opinion,
put together a good bill that meets the needs of farmers and
ranchers nationwide and we are hoping that our friends across the
Capitol will see the wisdom and get moving over there. This is a
great time to recognize Bob's contributions to agriculture as he
continues the work that he has been doing on the committee for the
past 14 years. His portrait will remind us of the great things that
he has accomplished and all that he continues to contribute as a
leader on this committee.
And these are the official words, apparently. And so it is my great
honor to present this portrait of my friend, Bob Goodlatte, to the
House of Representatives on behalf of the House Committee on
Agriculture.
Mr. Blunt. The presenting and the unveiling are obviously two different
things and so we are going to get to that in a minute, but before
we do that, Bob has asked two of the Republican leaders, the
Majority leaders of our Majority, and the longest serving
Republican Speaker in the history of the Congress to come and speak
today and be with us today, and so John Boehner followed by Denny
Hastert followed by Dick Armey will come.
REMARKS OF HON. JOHN BOEHNER
Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
Mr. Boehner. I don't think I will get into a conversation about turkeys
or hogs. About four and a half years ago, maybe 5 years ago, Bob
came to me and he and I served on the committee together for 14
years and I was the chairman of the Education and Workforce
Committee and there was this rumor going around that I had an
interest in being chairman of the House Ag Committee. Before all
you gag out there, relax. So Bob came to me concerned about this
rumor. I said Bob, I have no intention of ever being the chairman
of the House Ag Committee, much to everyone's delight, most of you
in this room.
Bob Goodlatte has been a great member of the committee. He has done a
great job as the chairman of the committee and all of you in this
room are here because Bob works with everybody. And at the end of
the day, being chairman of a committee, working in this
institution, we are all privileged to work in, Bob has one of those
skills that you can't practice; you either have it or you don't. He
is a hell of a good guy, a nice guy and people like him.
Congratulations, Bob.
REMARKS OF HON. J. DENNIS HASTERT
Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
A Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois
Mr. Hastert. Thank you, John. You know, I feel very honored to be asked
to say a few words at this official hanging, that is the way Bob
put it. But anyway, I am really honored that I can get up here and
speak before Dick Armey. As everybody knows, Dick Armey was always
a huge advocate for U.S. farm policy all the time that he was in
the leadership and you know, sometimes I just had to--hold him back
at the table a little bit, but it is a great honor to be here,
although, you know, if you are the former Speaker, you have no
official words, so there are no official words coming from this
dais at this time.
I just want to say it is an honor to be here to say a few words about
Bob and when Bob came and talked to me about the possibility of
becoming the chairman of the Ag committee, you know, I was one of
his greatest supporters. He is a person, in my book, that gives you
things that are a very, very straight shot. He understands, he
tackles things with an integrity and an intellectual honesty and a
fairness. And every time that I pulled him into my office,
sometimes at the 11th hour of passing a piece of legislation, when
somebody wanted to hold something, you know, hostage like a dairy
bill or something like that--and that will come, Steny. Don't think
it won't.
But anyway, Bob was willing to sit down, look at the facts, work out
ways, how we could work things out and then follow through. And it
happened time and time again. He is an honorable man, he is a good
man. He is a person that this institution can be very proud of and
I am honored to be here today to take part in the unveiling of this
portrait and may it hang here for many years in great solemnity and
Bob's ever present wisdom. So thank you very much and Bob,
congratulations.
REMARKS OF HON. DICK ARMEY
Former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
Mr. Armey. Well, of course you can imagine my surprise and delight when
Bob called and asked me if I would speak here. Bob, I think, is one
of the few people who knew that I always had a secret hope that
someday my portrait would hang in here as opposed to me being hung
in here. But it was a delight for me, Bob, to say yes. For several
years of my life, I had the privilege of working in concert with
virtually every man or woman in Congress, the House or Senate,
Republican or Democrat, that wanted to move a bill and it gave me
an opportunity to really have a chance to see and appreciate my
colleagues on what I think is the essential task that we undertake
here, which is to try to make something happen for America.
During that period of time, I read a book by a professor at Cornell
University. I don't know what got over me. But I went ahead with
the book, anyway. The name of the book was Legislative
Entrepreneurship and it was a fascinating book. As an economist, I
have thought about entrepreneurship a lot, but generally, as it
applied to the business sector of the economy. But as a legislative
entrepreneur, I was described by this scholar as an entrepreneur,
as a person who is able, imaginative, creative, courageous, hard
working, and you will appreciate this, unrelenting and a general
all around creative pain in the backside who won't give up. And of
course, I admire such a person and as I finished the book , I sat
down and I made a little list from among my colleagues that I have
the privilege to work with who were, in my estimation, the greatest
entrepreneurial legislators in the body that I had the privilege of
working with and Bob Goodlatte was the first name on the list. I
have never forgotten that. The first guy I thought of.
If you think about the privilege, the great honor of having your
portrait hung in the Capitol and all the attributes that would
warrant such an honor and being a good person, a good person in
your heart, being a general well-liked colleague, certainly would
be part of it. Being a creative entrepreneur or legislator who
serves your district well would be part of it. But some place in
the category of a list of characteristics that we would look for in
a person to have that honor, in addition to all these other things,
is just good workmanship, a commitment to a task that sees it
through.
And as you know, seeing it through this Byzantine process requires a
person who will never give up and Bob, you are that kind of person.
I was so proud of you. Many times you came to me and apologized for
being a pain in the rear and I could only say I just wish everybody
were, because you were a legislator and you legislated well and I
was proud to be your colleague. Thank you.
Mr. Blunt. Only Dick Armey would find a way that pain in the rear would
be a positive attribute. Things change more quickly in Washington
than you think sometimes, which is one of the reasons we are
hanging this portrait right now, a couple of years earlier than I
would have chosen, Chairman, to hang it, but we are here for that
reason. We hoped, we expected that Secretary Johanns would be here
and he is not here right now, but the Acting Secretary, Chuck
Conner is. Chuck, are you back there somewhere? Right here. He
worked his way up to the front. Chuck, we are glad you are here.
And my four colleagues have all said the things that need to be said
about Bob Goodlatte. I will tell you that the first time I really
noticed who Bob Goodlatte was, I was the beginning of my second
term in the Congress. For some reason, even though we had been on
this committee together in my first term and I had a lot of respect
for him, I had never really seen him in action before until, as we
began our second term in the Congress, we brought a class action
reform bill to the floor.
And I remember it so well because Denny had just become the Speaker. I
had just taken his job as the Chief Deputy Whip and it was the
first time members had ever come to me, as they have often since,
said, why are we doing this? Nothing will happen over on the other
side of the building, this is just going to make people mad. And I
particularly watched Bob Goodlatte manage that bill on the floor
all day and I guarantee you, by the end of the day, our members who
didn't think this is something anybody could talk about, were all
eager to go home and talk about it because Bob Goodlatte knew how
to explain things in a way that people understood them.
And then he became chairman of this committee, his district and mine,
and we had both been in each other's districts a couple of times.
His district and mine are a lot alike and not only was I glad to
see him become the chairman of the committee, but I was also glad
to see that he also, he always put the work of the committee in the
context of the work we needed to do in the Congress. A great
chairman, a great member, a dependable friend and we are all
honored to be here with him, Bob Goodlatte.
ADDRESS OF HON. BOB GOODLATTE
Former Chairman, Committee on Agriculture
Mr. Goodlatte. Wow. Well, this is truly a great honor. I thank all of
you for coming. You know, as we have been leading up to this, I
have been thinking, you know, this is pretty neat, the last few
days. Everybody is coming and the response is just so great. And
then I started to see people on the floor today and they all told
me they were coming to the public hanging and I started to get a
little nervous and then I remembered that the last time we did
this, for Larry Combest, who I am very honored is here, I talked
about hanging a Texan and Dick, we will do that for you any time
you want.
And I see a number of Texans who are here to enjoy this public hanging,
but I want to thank all of these leaders of the Congress, but
first, I want to say, to Father Coughlin, I don't know that I have
heard in a long time, anybody articulate so well what this
committee does and what we stand for and what we try to accomplish
here as what you just did and so thank you very much. That was a
wonderful blessing.
All of the people who have agreed to come and speak are people that I
hold in the highest regard. They have all proven themselves as
outstanding leaders here in the Congress and that includes, I've
got to say something nice about Steny, because he is going to speak
after me, but let me just say that our current Majority leader
reflects all of the values that Dick Armey articulated--he is the
same kind of legislative entrepreneur that Dick described and he is
a very determined and accomplished leader and I have a great deal
of respect for him. I have had the opportunity to work with him for
many, many years and I thank him very much for not only
participating today, but for working with me across the aisle on
many, many things.
I also very much appreciate the leadership that we receive on our side
of the aisle from John Boehner. He was preceded by Tom DeLay. And
then before him, by Dick Armey. And Dick also reflects those same
work ethics that we worked so hard on with the Contract With
America and so many other things. And Denny Hastert is the longest
serving Republican Speaker of the House in the history of the
Congress and did so with great distinction and led us through many,
many legislative accomplishments and many, many challenges, as
well. Roy Blunt, with whom I have had the opportunity to work, as a
member of his Whip team for many years is a dear friend and I thank
him for agreeing to run this program.
And finally, Collin Peterson. Collin and I serve on, what I think, is
the most bipartisan committee in the Congress and that isn't
because we don't ever fight, it is just that we don't know always
who is going to be on which team when we start the fight. But it
was a great pleasure to have him as my ranking member and we worked
very hard in leading up to the writing of the farm bill and I agree
with him that the product that this committee produced was a very
fine farm bill and I hope that we will see it through to fruition
when we are through with figuring out some of the issues related to
it and see what the United States Senate does, but it has been a
pleasure to work with him as his ranking member, as well. And that
bipartisanship will continue under his chairmanship though I am
very much in favor of rotating back again as quickly as possible.
But I really think that, rather than me try to articulate what this
committee stands for other than to say that we work very, very hard
every day to make sure that America's farmers and ranchers and
agri-businesses and America's consumers can expect to have the
safest, most affordable, most abundant food supply in the world and
that our job is to make sure that the playing field is fair and let
the free enterprise system work and those farmers and ranchers and
everybody else will get the job done. That is the mission of this
committee. And I think that over the years, with the leadership of
my predecessors on the committee, since I have been here--Kika de
la Garza, who, by the way, is going to have a portrait hanging
again here in just a few weeks, and Pat Roberts and Bob Smith and
Larry Combest--we have worked hard to accomplish those goals. So, I
thank all of them. My other ranking member was Charlie Stenholm and
I very much valued his contribution to the committee for many, many
years.
Now, I need to thank some people, not just because of the hard work
that they have done, but because they are dear friends that I have
had the privilege of working with for many years. First of all, as
Roy noted, this doesn't happen without the support of a lot of
people and if you look on the back page of the program, you will
find those individuals and organizations who helped make this
possible, but it also is not possible unless somebody takes the
lead on that. And Randy Russell and Bill Lesher have done just
that. Randy and Bill should actually conduct this program, but they
wanted to hear from these folks, so I thank them very, very much
for, really, a year and a half of hard work to accomplish this
goal.
And there were other members of the portrait committee, the informal
group, if you will, that worked so hard on this. Rachel Goldberg,
who is with Lesher and Russell; Randy Hinaman and Laura Bell, who
have worked with me for almost 16 years now in the political
trenches; Shelley Husband, my Chief of Staff in my Congressional
office; Kevin Kramp, who is the Deputy Chief of Staff on the
Republican staff here on the committee; Bill O'Connor, the Chief of
Staff, is here, as well, and I thank him for leadership over all of
those years. He has served many Republican leaders of this
committee and has done so with great distinction. And then, the
last two people that I want to mention, in that regard, are the two
most important of all.
First, Debbie Smith. That is right. Debbie was hired, originally, I
think, by Chairman de la Garza, and worked for the Majority. She is
very smart, too, by the way. When the Republicans got the majority,
she worked for us for 12 years and then when Collin took the
chairmanship, she went back to working for Collin. But with one
condition and that condition was that she would continue to work on
this committee and she has put in, literally, hundreds of hours of
time to make sure that everything went smoothly throughout the
entire process, even traveling to Pennsylvania with Maryellen and I
to visit our wonderful artist and his wife, who you will hear from
in just a moment, to meet them and they are a wonderful couple, but
Debbie has seen this through from start to finish and so I thank
you very, very much for doing that.
And then, of course, finally--and you will see in a moment my best way
of expressing my appreciation--but my wonderful wife, Maryellen,
who has, without a doubt, made it possible for me to be able to do
this job. When she married me 33 years ago, I don't think she had
any idea. And I was very smart not to tell her. But she has been my
partner throughout all of this and we want to make sure that she is
properly recognized, so give her another round of applause.
Now, for those of you, who for some reason or other I haven't
recognized, I apologize, but everybody in this room is very
important to me and we want to include you all in the official
record of this, so there is a guest book outside and if you haven't
had the opportunity to sign that, I hope you will take the
opportunity to do that because you will find your signature will
appear in the official report o fthis event.
And then lastly, let me just say, although you haven't seen his work or
heard from him yet, I will tell you that I have tremendous respect
for our artist, Dean Paules, and his wife, JoAnn, who has helped to
shepherd this whole process through, as well. He is, in my opinion,
a remarkable artist. I have told people the good news is that he is
so lifelike and accurate in his work, that it looks just exactly
like me. The bad news--well, actually, there is no bad news. So I
thank him, both of them, as a matter of fact, as well.
So Mr. Whip, I think with that, I hope I haven't forgotten anybody, but
I thank everybody. Let me just say that the committee staff, both
the Majority and the Minority, and whoever is in the Majority or
the Minority, are the best staff that anybody could expect to find
on any committee in this Congress and my Congressional staff is the
best staff that you will find in any Congressional office. So I
thank all of them. There are many of them here and many former
staff members, as well, many of whom have gone on to do great
things. I thank you all for coming back today. This is truly a
great honor and I am very much humbled by your presence here today
and may God bless each and every one of you.
Mr. Blunt. Maryellen gets to do the official unveiling here.
[Portrait unveiled]
Mr. Blunt. The next thing on the program, it says my very good friend,
the Majority leader, gets to accept the portrait. I don't know what
would happen if he rejected the portrait, but I am betting he
accepts and he is going to come and do that. Steny Hoyer.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE PORTRAIT
Hon. Steny H. Hoyer
Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
Mr. Hoyer. Roy really stole my line. I didn't know what would happen if
I said, I looked at it and of course, Dean, I would not do this,
you understand, because JoAnn would be very upset with me, but if I
looked at it and say no, I don't think we will accept this, there
would be, of course, a revolution in the room. Mr. Speaker, I am
glad to be with you, sir. Mr. Majority Leader, Mr. Chairman.
I am pleased to be here and participate in this program with my very
good friend, Bob Goodlatte. Maryellen, you have been married 33
years and you know him better than any of the rest of us in this
room. But I will tell you, those of us who do know him from a
different perspective and not as well, have great respect and
affection for him. Serving in the Congress of the United States is
a great honor. There is only one way to get to the House of
Representatives, of course, and that is to be elected by your
neighbors and friends. You cannot be appointed to the House of
Representatives. The only way you get to be the chairman of the
committee is to be reelected on a relatively regular basis.
Actually, a regular basis, because if it is relatively regular, you
get out of line.
And it is a testament to, I think, our system, that those who become
chairmen, notwithstanding the fact that many times they get there
because they are a senior member, not always, but they are members
who have earned their stripes through the years, not only on the
committee. Roy Blunt spoke to it, Denny Hastert spoke to it, Dick
Armey spoke to it. You get to know people as they move through the
chairs. You get to know their judgment, their wisdom, their
willingness to work, because in order to become a chair, you have
to have worked hard. You have to know your subject.
And Bob Goodlatte has the reputation on both sides of the aisle as
being somebody who is a hard worker, an honest person who knows his
subject. And he works across the aisle. As I said, Bob Goodlatte
and I are good friends. He works across the aisle on issues that
are not necessarily agricultural issues. For instance, he and Rick
Boucher do a lot of work on technology issues, on which he is
extraordinarily knowledgeable, and he understands the relationship
between technology and farming. And Dick, as Roy was talking about
your enthusiasm for farming, I thought to myself of your FRAC Act.
All of you have heard of the FRAC Act. It is the Farm Relocation
and Closure Act. I have to explain that to some who don't
understand. I won't go into it, but I am very pleased to be here.
On behalf of Speaker Pelosi and myself, and the Speaker, as Speaker
Hastert well knows, of the whole House. Dick and I have been the
leaders of our parties' partisan offices, but I accept this on
behalf of Speaker Pelosi and the House of Representatives, not as a
partisan, but as an admirer, as someone who knows that the House of
Representatives is well-served on both sides of the aisle but
conscientious and yes, courageous, people who are prepared to
ignore their parties sometime and perhaps, even from time to time,
displease their constituents if they believe it is in the best
interest of their country and of the interests that they serve.
And so on behalf of the House of Representatives, it is a great honor
for me to accept this portrait. Dean, it is a beautiful portrait.
It is a portrait, I know, of Maryellen, and you included Bob in the
picture. A tip of the hat to the people paying, I suppose, but in
any event, it is a great honor, because Bob Goodlatte represents
the best that is in the Congress. Not a partisan warrior, although
at times we are all that, but a person who sees his duty as making
this country better, serving not just the farm community, but the
millions of us that the farm community feeds.
Bob, we are honored to accept this portrait and we are honored by your
leadership in the Congress of the United States. Congratulations.
INTRODUCTION OF THE ARTIST
Mr. Dean Paules
Mr. Blunt. There is an important introduction of the artist, Dean
Paules, on the program. You will want to read that later, but Bob
wants him to come up, and I do, too, and talk a little bit about
the portrait. I will also mention that Senator Harkin, the chairman
of the Senate Ag Committee, just came in. Senator Harkin is right
over here. And I can assure you, Senator, that both Chairman
Peterson and Mr. Goodlatte had optimistic thoughts about the good
work you were doing on the Senate side on the farm bill. Dean.
REMARKS OF DEAN PAULES
Mr. Paules. When Congressman Goodlatte mentioned that his wife 33 years
ago would never have expected to be in this position, he and his
wife, 33 years ago, I am happy to say that I wouldn't believe that
I would be here, in my life, 55 years ago, and I thought that would
be greatly appreciated by my wife, since I got it right. Anyway,
one of the nice things about the portrait business is the folks you
meet and the folks who are being honored for their achievements.
And this is the aside that really is the important part of this
business and I am glad that I am having a part in the program that
Congressman Goodlatte is involved with and I thank you for the
privilege of being able to be a part of this program and my
congratulations to Mr. Goodlatte for all of these accolades that I
have heard given to him, but I hope that it represents the best of
he and his wife. I was wondering whether, when they came to the
portrait, which one they looked at first. Who looked at what first.
Which one of the portraits. Thank you very much.
Mr. Blunt. Thank you, Mr. Paules, thank all of you for being here.
Father Coughlin, you want to come and see if you can rival that
first prayer and thanks for being here to honor Bob. Bob, thanks
again for your great work and your great leadership and for all of
us, your great friendship.
BENEDICTION
Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
Reverend Coughlin. A concluding blessing. Lord God, we acknowledge you
as the source of growth and abundance. Pour out your blessing upon
this Nation. Make our land truly productive that we may always
enjoy a rich harvest with grateful hearts. The farmers, ranchers,
herdsman, agricultural teachers and scientists truly respect the
good earth and the work of others. May the agricultural committee
of this Congress build on its success of the past and learn from
setbacks in the efforts to serve others and create laws that will
increase production and protection. May you hear the prayers of
hardworking people and enhance their labor with human dignity,
lasting justice and true effects on America's economy and high
moral standards. Finally, bless the honorable Bob Goodlatte, his
wife, Maryellen, their children, family and friends. May this
celebration provide a sense of accomplishment and inspire even
greater work in the future as you nurture them with health and
happiness and increase their faith and love. God bless us with a
rich abundance, Lord God. Amen.
[Whereupon, at 6:45 p.m., the ceremony was adjourned.]
Guests
Guests
Guests
Guests
Guests
Guests
Guests
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
109th Congress
BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia, Chairman
RICHARD W. POMBO, California, COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota,
Vice Chairman Ranking Minority Member
TERRY EVERETT, Alabama TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina
JERRY MORAN, Kansas BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina
WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee JOE BACA, California
GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota ED CASE, Hawaii
ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois DAVID SCOTT, Georgia
TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska JIM MARSHALL, Georgia
MIKE PENCE, Indiana STEPHANIE HERSETH, South Dakota
SAM GRAVES, Missouri G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina
JO BONNER, Alabama HENRY CUELLAR, Texas
MIKE ROGERS, Alabama CHARLIE MELANCON, Louisiana
STEVE KING, Iowa JIM COSTA, California
MARILYN N. MUSGRAVE, Colorado JOHN T. SALAZAR, Colorado
RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas JOHN BARROW, Georgia
CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, Jr., Louisiana EARL POMEROY, North Dakota
JOHN J.H. ``JOE'' SCHWARZ, Michigan LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa
JOHN R. ``RANDY'' KUHL, Jr., New RICK LARSEN, Washington
York LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee
VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio
MICHAEL E. SODREL, Indiana
______
Professional Staff
William E. O'Conner, Jr., Staff Director
Kevin J. Kramp, Chief Counsel
John Haugen, Communications Director
Robert L. Larew, Minority Staff Director