[House Prints, 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
                         A  Ceremony

                     Unveiling the Portrait

                               of


                          THE HONORABLE

                           JOE BARTON


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 


                             April 21, 2008

                     U.S. House of Representatives
                             Washington, DC


                            COMMITTEE PRINT

                            A  Ceremony

                         Unveiling the Portrait

                                  of

                             THE HONORABLE

                               JOE BARTON

          A Representative in Congress from the State of Texas

                  Elected to the Ninety-ninth Congress
            Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
          One Hundred Eighth and One Hundred Ninth Congresses

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]


                              PROCEEDINGS

                               before the

                    COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

                     U.S. House of Representatives

                             April 21, 2008

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                           WASHINGTON : 2008



                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
41-940 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Washington, DC 20402-0001

_______________________________________________________________________

                               A Ceremony

                         Unveiling the Portrait

                                  of

                             THE HONORABLE

                               JOE BARTON

                    COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

                     U.S. House of Representatives

                             April 21, 2008

_______________________________________________________________________

                                [ iii ]


                        The Honorable Joe Barton

    Congressman Joe Barton was first elected to serve the Sixth 
Congressional District of Texas in 1984. In 2004, he was 
selected by his colleagues to be the chairman of the House 
Committee on Energy and Commerce--the oldest standing 
legislative House committee. Congressman Barton was the first 
Texan since former House Speaker Sam Rayburn to chair this 
important committee. The Energy & Commerce Committee has 
arguably the broadest non tax-oriented jurisdiction of any 
congressional committee, with principal House responsibility 
over matters relating to commerce, public health and 
marketplace interests. Congressman Barton currently serves as 
the ranking Republican of the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
in the 110th Congress.
    The ``House GOP's leading expert on energy policy'' (Wall 
Street Journal, October 2002), Congressman Barton has led the 
House charge to pass comprehensive national energy policy 
legislation. In the past two congresses, he has shared 
authorship of the two most comprehensive energy policy packages 
to pass in the House since the 1930s. Congressman Barton has 
committed himself to passing legislation promoting an 
environment of high supply, low demand, consumer-friendly 
prices and environmental protection. A proponent of 
competition, Congressman Barton is additionally responsible for 
both the first electricity deregulation legislation to pass a 
House subcommittee, and for legislation which deregulated the 
natural gas industry.
    Congressman Barton's diligent work to promote a 
conservative agenda and protect individual rights earned him 
notice from the National Journal as one of the ``Republicans to 
Watch'' (November 2003). In his first legislative victory as 
chairman, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation to limit 
indecency on the public airwaves. As a founding co-chairman of 
the Congressional Privacy Caucus, he continues in his new role 
to preserve the financial and medical privacy of Americans, and 
has used his jurisdiction to protect safety and privacy in the 
ever-expanding Internet universe. As founding co-chairman of 
Asthma Awareness Day on Capitol Hill, Congressman Barton has 
consistently supported common sense, environmentally-sound 
clean air policy at the local, state and national level. He 
remains committed to supporting advanced research and increased 
funding for diabetes, cancer and the issues of home, rural and 
mental health, and was responsible for the passage of landmark 
Food and Drug Administration reform legislation designed to 
improve the way the agency approves medical devices.
    Congressman Barton remains among the steadfast House 
leaders on tax reform through the promotion of lower taxes and 
financial freedom. He has supported eliminating the marriage 
penalty and the estate taxes, reducing capital gains taxes, 
retirement of the current Tax Code and sweeping bankruptcy 
reforms. Congressman Barton will continue to fight for the 
basic traditional rights put forth by the Founding Fathers.
    Joe Barton was born on September 15, 1949, in Waco, Texas. 
An avid baseball player growing up, he earned a 4-year Gifford-
Hill Opportunity Award scholarship to Texas A&M University, 
where he was the outstanding industrial engineering student for 
the Class of 1972. After earning a Master of Science degree in 
Industrial Administration from Purdue University, he joined 
Ennis Business Forms, where he rose to the position of 
Assistant to the Vice President. In 1981, he was selected for 
the prestigious White House Fellows Program, and served as an 
aide to then-Energy Secretary James B. Edwards. He returned to 
Texas in 1982 as a natural gas decontrol consultant for 
Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Company before being elected to 
Congress.
    Congressman Barton and his wife Terri have homes in Ennis 
and Arlington, Texas. He has four children, two stepchildren, 
and four grandchildren.

    (Reprinted from the program. Prepared for the portrait 
unveiling ceremony.)
                              ----------                              


                            About the Artist

    Laurel Stern Boeck, born in 1959 in New York City, is a 
highly accomplished portraitist, who started her career quite 
successfully in advertising.
    She studied portrait painting at the School of Visual Arts 
in New York and the Art Students League of New York, with noted 
artist and teacher, John F. Murray.
    Ms. Boeck's likenesses are perfectly accurate. They capture 
the warmth and essence of her subject. A pleasure and 
professional to work with, Ms. Boeck's clients all sing her 
praises.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 41940.001

                             P R O G R A M

Master of Ceremonies
                The Honorable W.J. ``Billy'' Tauzin
Invocation
                Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
                 Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives

Remarks
                The Honorable Fred Upton
                 Member of Congress, Sixth District, Michigan
                The Honorable Roy Blunt
                 Minority Whip, U.S. House of Representatives
                The Honorable John D. Dingell
                 Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce
Address
                The Honorable Joe Barton
                 Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce
Portrait Unveiling
                Mrs. Terri Barton
Benediction
                Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
                 Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives
       The Unveiling and Presentation of the Official Portrait of

                        THE HONORABLE JOE BARTON

                             April 21, 2008
                     U.S. House of Representatives,
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce,
                                                        Washington, DC.
The ceremony was held at 5:00 p.m., in room 2123 of the Rayburn House 
    Office Building, Hon. W.J. ``Billy'' Tauzin (master of ceremonies) 
    presiding.

                 REMARKS OF HON. W.J. ``BILLY'' TAUZIN

           Former Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce
Mr. Tauzin. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I am Billy Tauzin. I 
    am subbing for the famous Ralph Hall, who called in from Texas 
    indicating he couldn't be in time to be here on this auspicious 
    occasion. I want to first welcome you all to this unveiling of the 
    portrait of former chairman Joe Barton of the illustrious Energy 
    and Commerce Committee.
Let me first welcome all of you on behalf of Ralph and Joe, and to 
    acknowledge the presence of some very special guests this evening 
    for this very important occasion.
First of all, let's welcome former chairman Tom Bliley. Tom, where are 
    you?
And the reason I wanted to welcome Tom so soon is because, of course, 
    the picture on the left will be coming down. It will be moving over 
    to this side of the room, and Tom is out of here. He is gone. I am 
    not sure where the picture goes from now on, Tom.
Mr. Bliley. I guess the Ford Building.
Mr. Tauzin. Cecile, as you know, Joe, was the chairwoman of the project 
    to get my portrait painted, and she said that she couldn't be here 
    today for the coming-down ceremony. This is a big day and is long 
    overdue when we honor Joe for his contributions as chairman of 
    this, the most important and most historic of all the committees of 
    the United States Congress. It is such a great pleasure to be with 
    you again in this room and to be not only with Tom, but with John 
    Dingell, who I will introduce shortly, and with Chairman Barton and 
    so many of the other members of the committee and those of you who 
    have worked in this committee room for so many years.
Joe has also welcomed, and I hope you will welcome with me, many 
    members of his family who are here for this occasion. First of all, 
    his sister Jan is here, and her husband Mike, and their two kids, 
    Parker and Whitney.
Would you please welcome the Gerros.
And his stepkids are also here, Lindsay and Cullen. Lindsay and Cullen, 
    where are you? In the back.
And then he has his own children. Brad is here, who is married to Amy, 
    and their children Blake, Brant and Bailey, three of his grandkids 
    here. I welcome all of you. His daughter Alison is here with her 
    husband Larry Day and their daughter Vivian. And his daughter 
    Kristin is here also. Please welcome Kristin.
And, of course, I saved the most important member of his family, 
    outside of his beautiful wife Terri, his lovely little son, 2\1/2\ 
    year-old Jack. Please welcome Jack.
Mr. Tauzin. This has been an auspicious week in Washington, DC. We have 
    just had a wonderful visit from His Holiness, Pope Benedict, and 
    the Pope couldn't stay for the ceremonies today, so he sent Father 
    Dan Coughlin.
Father Coughlin. There are a lot of things that I don't have that the 
    Pope does, including a German accent.

                               INVOCATION

                      Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
Father Coughlin. Let us pray.
Oh, mighty God and Father of us all, this evening we gather and we 
    offer you praise and thanksgiving for giving Texas and the House of 
    Representatives of the United States the Honorable Joe Barton.
We thank you for his years of dedicated service as chairman and now the 
    Republican ranking member on the House Committee on Energy and 
    Commerce.
In this man, Lord God, you fashioned deep principles that provide inner 
    strength and character and clear direction as a leader.
He is recognized by his colleagues and his constituents alike for his 
    deep commitments, unafraid of questioners or critics because he 
    stands in the light of integrity and remains informed on complex 
    issues.
By promoting an environment of high supply, low demand, consumer-
    friendly prices and environmental protection, Joe Barton has always 
    sought to bring to this Nation a comprehensive national energy 
    policy. Lord, that is a mighty job.
Lord, this portrait in the halls of Congress will mark his place in 
    history, but the living respect and gratitude of those gathered 
    here who have worked with him on this committee will remain a life-
    giving tribute to him, for they see him as one who continues to 
    give of himself, to his family, his beloved State of Texas and to 
    this Nation.
Lord, You also see him as a dedicated public servant and a servant of 
    Yours in building Your kingdom here on Earth. Amen.
Mr. Tauzin. Thank you, Father.
You know, in 2004, when I received an awful call that I had been 
    diagnosed with a potential killer cancer, and I had to leave this 
    committee and go do battle for my life, I faced that awful moment 
    when you are leaving behind something you loved and something you 
    cherished and something you enjoyed so much in your life and 
    passing it on to someone you hope would carry on that tradition in 
    this great committee. And it was in that moment that I realized 
    that I had nothing to worry about because Joe Barton was there not 
    only ready to pick up the reins of the leadership of this 
    committee, but to lead the committee to even greater heights during 
    the time in which he had a chance to serve it.
So, Joe, I want to personally thank you for that because it was a very 
    comforting thought for me when I knew the committee I loved, and 
    Tom Bliley and John Dingell and so many other chairmen before you, 
    going back to Harley Staggers and Sam Rayburn, the committee we 
    love so much would be in such good hands.
Father said it best: Joe brought principle, he brought incredible work 
    ethic, he brought an incredible Texas style, he brought a 
    willingness to work with anybody and anyone to get something good 
    done for this country out of the committee that had delivered so 
    much good for so many decades.
And so, Joe, I wanted to take a minute on a very personal level to 
    thank you for taking up the challenge on that awful month back in 
    2004 and for delivering so mightily on behalf of this Congress and 
    the people of this country and this amazing opportunity to serve as 
    chairman of this great committee.
I want to introduce a few of his colleagues today who will pay tribute 
    to him. One of his colleagues, one of my dearest friends here on 
    the committee who is now sitting in my old office place back where 
    I spent so many years, is here with us today. And I want you to 
    please welcome with me, from the great State of Michigan, the 
    Honorable Fred Upton.

                       REMARKS OF HON. FRED UPTON

              Member of Congress, Sixth District, Michigan
Mr. Upton. Thank you. I was surprised Billy didn't come by because I 
    said there is always a cold one in the refrigerator.
It really is a delight to be here. Joe has been a special friend for a 
    long, long time now. Some of you may not know, but he and I were 
    actually the two deputy whips when Newt was the whip of the House. 
    And I am sorry to those who wished that Newt had never moved from 
    the back bench to the front center because it wouldn't have 
    happened without Joe Barton and the two of us.
Joe and Terri are both very close friends. Now, Joe, of course, is an 
    Aggie, and I am a Wolverine. Neither team is known to be 
    particularly flashy, we don't have a west coast offense, neither 
    one of us, we don't have any trick plays. Basically we rely on a 
    strong defense and a strong ground campaign. In other words, what 
    you see is what you get. And particularly important in this place 
    is your word and your bond, because that gets you where you need to 
    go.
Tonight we stand in this marvelous committee room where true giants 
    have steered the helm of our storied committee, whether it be 
    Harley Staggers or Tom Bliley, obviously a great John Dingell, 
    Billy Tauzin. You look at the pictures, they are larger than life. 
    Joe, you stand shoulder to shoulder now with these folks who have 
    gone before us, and every one of us in this room, Republicans and 
    Democrats, are certainly grateful for your continued service.
Joe's reign as chairman is no different than any other in terms of 
    pushing through major landmark legislation. Look at the energy 
    legislation! When we passed the landmark legislation back in 2005, 
    you take up legislation that people said no one could get done: 
    reauthorizing the NIH, something that I don't think had been done 
    in my lifetime, maybe not even in John Dingell's lifetime, but we 
    got it done; oversight investigations, even though somewhat of a 
    friendly administration, they knew that they had to be on their 
    toes when we sent requests down; and obviously telecommunications, 
    an issue where Joe and I worked very closely together with all of 
    the members on this committee, and again we passed landmark 
    legislation.
Now, Joe is known as a staunch conservative. A lot of us didn't know 
    how conservative he was until we got to look at his life a little 
    bit. Terri, I think, would acknowledge such. Here is a guy, we are 
    working on telco legislation, he doesn't have cable or satellite. 
    In fact, he goes out to buy a new TV, and he buys the biggest one 
    he can find. And guess what? It is analog, not digital.
He assembled a topnotch staff. Look at the folks that surround him, 
    whether it was Andy or Bud, David today, Ryan, his personal staff 
    as well, loyal as the day is long, talented, doing wonderful 
    things.
Now, they gave us a preview of this portrait, and I don't know if my 
    eyesight is getting a little bad. Someone said that this was a 
    gavel that is between his hands. I guess we will be able to see 
    here when they unveil it. From this far, I thought it might be a 
    pair of aces that he has in his hand. He is known to be quite a 
    card player. And for that I don't know how either, because he is--
    you know, again, you can read Joe like a book. His word is his 
    bond. He will tell you right off where he stands on literally every 
    issue. He doesn't play any tricks. But he is probably, I am sure, 
    the best poker player on Capitol Hill bar none, and I don't know 
    how he got to be that. So this has got to be two aces here that he 
    is holding, at least from afar.
The bottom line is this: All of us on the committee, Republicans and 
    Democrats, cherished the time that Joe was chairman. He had a great 
    relationship with his good friend John Dingell and all the Members 
    on the Democratic side. Whether they be left or right, didn't 
    matter, because Joe was known to be as fair as could be. He is 
    hard-working, wants to get the job done right, and that was very 
    important.
And so I know that, in closing, John Dingell has established what I 
    think is a pretty good precedent. You lose the chairmanship, and 
    then you come back. A lot of us Republicans are anxious to have Joe 
    come back with this gavel sitting in the front. Let's have just a 
    quick toast to a great chairman and a good friend of all of us, the 
    Honorable Joe Barton.
Audience. Here, here.
Mr. Tauzin. John Dingell was heard to comment from the back of the 
    room, ``I ain't done yet.''
Now it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the Republican whip of 
    the United States House of Representatives from the great Show-Me 
    State of Missouri, the Honorable Roy Blunt.

                       REMARKS OF HON. ROY BLUNT

              Minority Whip, U.S. House of Representatives
Mr. Blunt. Thank you, Billy.
Ralph Hall told me to come over here, that we were going to hang Joe 
    Barton. I had no idea what we really--no, at least I am not here to 
    try to substitute for Ralph Hall. But as Billy has shown in so many 
    ways, and all the chairmen that have been mentioned today, this is 
    a committee that has had great leadership, and Joe Barton was part 
    of that great leadership. John Dingell is in his 16th year as 
    chairman of the committee, happily interrupted by some of us for 12 
    years when he was the great ranking member. But when I came on this 
    committee in my second term of the Congress, I always had a hard 
    time not referring to both Chairman Bliley and Chairman Dingell. 
    Chairman Dingell was right there in every fight for whatever was 
    the jurisdiction of the committee and whatever we needed to do to 
    protect the rights of our committee, whether it was with Tom or 
    with now Joe Barton serving as the chairman, and Billy in between 
    while I was here.
Joe's family is here. I think that is a significant thing, for so much 
    of Joe's family to be here. Joe is a guy who cares about his 
    family. Joe and Terri came to a little event I hosted not too long 
    ago, and I was telling people who was going to be here, and I told 
    one lady who was going to come. And her only question was, is Jack 
    coming? So Jack is very popular. There he is. Jack is right over 
    there. He is a popular guy around here.
Probably the only thing that would make Joe happier would be if this 
    many members of his family were at the congressional baseball game. 
    He is our coach, the coach of our Republican team. You know, 
    whether it is Coach Barton or Chairman Barton, or Ranking Member 
    Barton, or just our good friend Joe Barton, Joe Barton is just a 
    guy that we respect and appreciate.
As the whip of the House, I probably spend more time than anybody else 
    trying to figure out Members, just trying to figure out where they 
    are going to be at any given time on any given issue. Not 
    particularly hard to figure out with Joe, to tell you the truth. 
    Whatever is the most conservative position is usually the one Joe 
    is going to have. But I also see--I am thoughtful about how I say 
    this because I don't mean it to be in any way negative because it 
    is not--there are--you know, Joe brings a lot of different and sort 
    of contradictory strengths to what he does. First of all, he is an 
    engineer and a politician. Now, I will tell you, engineer and 
    politician don't work very well together. Engineer is very much, 
    this is the way it is. The politician is, well, let's see how we 
    get things done. And Joe knows the facts. So he always sort of 
    starts from the premise of what has to be done and then figures out 
    with the rest of us how you get to what can be done. And that is an 
    important part of who he is.
He is a strong guy, a stubborn guy, in some ways very open. And I don't 
    know many people in the Congress who kind of have that ability to 
    start out with all of the facts and then figure out how you bring 
    all the other facts you discover into making things happen.
He is determined, and he is one of the softest-hearted, kindest, 
    gentlest men in Congress. If there is anything that affects his 
    family or his friends, you know that that response is immediate, 
    you know what it is going to be, you know it is going to be 
    heartfelt. It is who he truly is. He knows how to build a 
    consensus.
When Joe became the chairman of this committee, we had the opportunity 
    to pass what was for the third time, and in the three Congresses, 
    an energy bill, but one that we thought this time was going to get 
    signed into law. And Joe literally knew more about energy than 
    anybody else in the room. He knew about it from his professional 
    life, he knew about it from his State, he knew about it from his 
    24-year congressional career. And one of the things I was most 
    interested in is how could you take all of those facts and all of 
    that information and know the moment that you have to step back and 
    say, here is what I know is absolutely the way to do this, but here 
    is how I know to get it done. And I watched that, and I appreciate 
    that. And I think I told Joe after we passed that Energy Act in 
    2005 that it would have never happened without him, and nobody 
    would have had the same sense of where to accommodate the pressure 
    points to make it happen.
And as Fred Upton mentioned, first time in 13 years we were able to 
    reauthorize the National Institutes of Health, the NIH. And there 
    was a reason it hadn't been done for 13 years. And when Joe Barton 
    said we were going to do it in the last Congress, nobody else 
    thought it was going to get done in that Congress as well. And it 
    almost didn't. But Joe just persevered right up until the last 
    minute, the last days of that Congress, and that NIH authorization 
    happened. There is a plaque in Joe's office, and I think it is not 
    exactly the 12 commandments; he has kind of got it down to three 
    commandments. The plaque in Joe's office says, ``Fear God, tell the 
    truth, make a profit.'' That is a Republican if I ever heard of 
    one.
He is a good leader. He is a good legislator. He is a good friend, and 
    I am pleased to be here with my other colleagues and tonight to be 
    here for this important moment for our committee and for this 
    Congress. Thank you all.
Mr. Tauzin. I am sure most of you are aware that this committee has 
    produced some extraordinary leadership for the House, not, of 
    course, to forget the retired Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, 
    who came from this committee; Roy Blunt, who has been in the 
    leadership of the House, providing great leadership on so many 
    issues for so many years now.
Roy, thank you for your service to this Congress and your great 
    leadership from this committee again.
Speaking of leadership, the gentleman for whom, I guess against whom, 
    we are all humbly measured in our roles as chairmen of 
    subcommittees and chairman of this full committee has always been 
    John Dingell. I told the story to you before, but it is worth 
    repeating.
I joined the committee against his wishes. He didn't want another 
    southern oil and gas guy from Louisiana on this committee at the 
    time we were doing southern gas fights, but I got on anyway. I 
    figured I had better go make up with him real quick, so I went to 
    visit him in his office.
I remember that first meeting with the incredible John Dingell, the guy 
    who has been literally on the lips of everyone in oil and gas 
    country for years, the greatest and biggest, most powerful voice on 
    energy you can imagine, and the guy is making the policy that we 
    all had to follow. And I am going to go and finally meet him.
It was an amazing moment to come and sit down with him and get to know 
    him. We hit it off beautifully. We were fast friends. I mean, 
    immediately we found connection and rapport, and we were having a 
    great time together. We got so loose, we started exchanging jokes, 
    and I started telling this wonderful Polish joke. And I got about 
    halfway into it, and John stopped me and he said, Billy, you do 
    know that I am Polish. I said, oh, my God. I didn't know, John. He 
    said, yeah, we were ``Dingellaviches'' when we first arrived in 
    Michigan, and our name got changed to Dingell. But he says, my 
    family is Polish. I said, look, John, I swear I didn't know it. I 
    said, I promise you I didn't do this on purpose. So I will tell you 
    what I will do, I will start the joke all over, and I will go a lot 
    slower this time.
Well, John looked at me like he wanted to eat me, first of all. He gave 
    me that hard look he always gives to someone in hot water. And then 
    he had a great wonderful belly laugh. If you ever hear John 
    Dingell's belly laugh, it is a wonderful, Earth-shaking moment, and 
    he had a great belly laugh. We have been and remain the closest of 
    friends ever since.
That is the hallmark of John Dingell, not just great leadership, but 
    incredible friendship, enduring, lasting, always there, always 
    extraordinarily present in your life. And he and Debbie have made 
    such a mark on this committee over the years.
I have got to tell you, John, I had enormously mixed feelings when the 
    House leadership changed and you had the tough job of handing over 
    the chairmanship, because I knew how hard it was for you. I know 
    how much you loved being chairman of this committee as much as I 
    did. At the same time, I had this enormous warm feeling about John 
    Dingell having the chance to do it again. He loves this committee 
    perhaps more than anyone I know. He literally lives and breathes 
    the work of this great committee. It is part of his being, part of 
    his soul. Joe, I hope when John Dingell is finished with it, that 
    you will have a chance to come back and serve again.
For the time being, ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the Energy 
    and Commerce Committee, the Honorable John Dingell.

                    REMARKS OF HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

               Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce
Chairman Dingell. Thank you, Billy, and welcome back. We are always 
    happy to see our old friends and our former chairmen, like you and 
    Tom Bliley, come back to share fellowship with your old friends in 
    a room where we have done so much good for the public interest, and 
    which is so much a part of our personal history and the wonderful 
    committee of which we are all so proud.
First of all, like all of you, I am honored and delighted to attend 
    today's public hanging of Joe Barton. And I want to say that the 
    lovely Debra and I, like the other wives and Members, are 
    particularly proud of this committee, and, Joe, also of you and 
    your leadership.
Joe, I have been able to enjoy working with you now for the better part 
    of 25 years. That is a long time. And you are a talented and a 
    dedicated legislator who has led the committee well and fairly. And 
    we are proud of you and the work that you have done here in this 
    room.
Joe, you bear the distinction of following in the footsteps of one of 
    my great mentors and friends, Sam Rayburn. As history tells us, Sam 
    was the first Texan to serve as the chairman of the Committee on 
    Energy and Commerce, and he set the standards for the way in which 
    the committee should be run. And he would have been proud of what 
    you have done as the second chairman from Texas of this committee.
This committee is the oldest and, it is my belief, as it is that of our 
    colleagues who serve here, the greatest and the most important in 
    the Congress of the United States. And, Joe, you have helped to 
    extend the great history of this wonderful committee. Now, we sat 
    on opposite sides of the aisle, but there is a tradition in this 
    committee that we are, first of all, proud of the committee; second 
    of all, we want it to work; and third of all, it is our belief that 
    we serve the public interest best by working together. And you have 
    always been an important partner and friend, and we have 
    accomplished a great deal, both as chairman and as the ranking 
    member, regardless of who it was that enjoyed the support of the 
    majority.
Like everyone else here, I am very anxious to see this masterpiece, and 
    I am especially curious to find out whether Joe wore his armadillo 
    tie or his Lone Star State tie when he posed.
Mr. Barton. I wanted to.
Chairman Dingell. I suspect there are many here who share this 
    curiosity.
In any event, in this room in which so much has happened, and in which 
    you and all of our colleagues have made so many great 
    contributions, not just to the committee, but to the public 
    interest, it is a great pleasure to see you join with our other 
    colleagues, Mr. Bliley and Mr. Tauzin, and the others who are up on 
    the wall, and I want you to know that it is a real pleasure to 
    share a wall in this room in which you have done so much to serve 
    the public. And we are going to see that you have a doggone good 
    place to hang in this room.
Thank you, all my friends, for honoring my friend Joe Barton.
Mr. Tauzin. Well, now we come to that moment, the moment of unveiling. 
    Joe, you know, I have always been a respecter of your frankness, 
    and what Roy said about you, what you see is what you get, and Fred 
    mentioned it, too. But I have to tell you, I am reading on the back 
    of this program, the artist Laurel Boeck, who did the portrait we 
    are going to unveil today, apparently Ms. Boeck's likenesses are 
    perfectly accurate. I will tell you, John, I have never seen you 
    look this good. It is a good picture of you, kiddo.
But more importantly, Joe has never looked as good since Terri came 
    into his life. And Terri has in so many ways made the Joe that most 
    of us came to love and admire so much during his chairmanship. She 
    has made such a difference in his life, not to mention the presence 
    of Jack in his life. But Terri is going to do the unveiling. And 
    she is going to show us exactly just how perfect Laurel Boeck has 
    come to capturing the warmth and incredible personality of Joe 
    Barton.
Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Barton.
[Portrait unveiled.]
Mr. Tauzin. That is well done.
And, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to get a benediction as we 
    close out the program, but we are going to hear from Joe first. And 
    Joe is going to literally give us a chance to find out what he 
    thinks about this beautiful portrait.
Joe Barton.

                       ADDRESS OF HON. JOE BARTON

            Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce
Mr. Barton. Well, I think everybody knows that Ralph Hall was supposed 
    to be the master of ceremonies, but something came up that was 
    unavoidable. So I called Billy to ask if he would substitute, and 
    he was gracious to say so. Then I had to tell Chairman Dingell. The 
    reason Chairman Dingell was a little bit late, he was having the 
    Oversight staff prepare subpoenas for Mr. Tauzin. We have been 
    trying to reach him for a month, and he couldn't track him down. He 
    is here.
I am so appreciative of everybody that is here this evening. There are 
    a few people that were not introduced that I want to before I give 
    my very brief remarks. I have my mother-in-law and father-in-law, 
    Steve and Betty Hodges from Lockhart, Texas. The guy that looks 
    like the Texan, that is the Texan. And I don't know where Betty is.
We have several Members of Congress that are here. We have Cliff 
    Stearns, who is a good friend from Florida. We have Mac Thornberry, 
    a good Member from Texas. We did have Henry Waxman. I am not sure 
    if Henry is still here or not. We have got Henry. We have got 
    former Congressman Greg Laughlin and former chairman of the 
    Telecommunications Subcommittee Jack Fields is here. So we are 
    appreciative of you.
I want to thank the chaplain for his gracious invocation. I hope he 
    doesn't have to go to confession for saying those nice things about 
    me. I really do appreciate that.
And I also want to introduce this young man here, Tommy Driskell. The 
    reason Tommy is here is he is the guy who got me into politics. He 
    was mayor of Crockett, Texas, when I was living in Crockett, and he 
    decided to run for State representative in the Democratic primary. 
    Now, you may think, well, that is a rational decision. The problem 
    was, he was running against an incumbent and against a young man 
    named James Turner, who later became Congressman Turner.
So Tommy Driskell got into a three-way primary for State rep against an 
    incumbent and somebody who had been groomed his entire life to be 
    Governor of Texas, and he asked me to be his campaign manager. Now, 
    you talk about mistakes. I knew nothing about campaigns. Here is 
    how smart he was, and I am going to not tell the whole truth here 
    because I don't know if these are still indictable offenses or not. 
    But we had one group that wanted to give us a lot of cash money, a 
    lot of cash money when we had no money. And being the campaign 
    manager, Tommy asked me to talk to this group, and I told him no. 
    Now, what campaign manager in their right mind would turn down cash 
    money? But I did.
And so then it came to getting time for the election, and Tommy had 
    just worked his tail off going around the district. And he showed 
    up; if there were two people talking politics, Tommy would show up. 
    And so it came like the week before the election, and I had a 
    precinct chairman call from a specific city that we really needed 
    to carry. And, again, Tommy had him call me. And he said, are you 
    the campaign manager? And I said, sure. He said, well, I need some 
    walking around money. And I said, what is walking around money? I 
    didn't know what the term meant. And he told me. And I said, no, we 
    don't do that. We don't do walking around money.
And so I told Tommy that somebody had called for walking around money 
    in this precinct, and Tommy seemed a little bit upset. I said, 
    Tommy, you will do fine, you will do fine. You have been over 
    there; you have been to the suppers and the Chamber of Commerce. 
    You will do fine. He got four votes in that precinct.
So anyway, this is Tommy Driskell and his wife Jeanie. And they were on 
    a trip in South America and found about this and came all the way 
    back from South America to come to this.
Mr. Driskell. Joe, I am not sure that I would have come if I knew you 
    were going to tell that story. Thank you.
Mr. Barton. Anyway, it is a real privilege to be elected to the House 
    of Representatives. It is the only Federal office that you can't 
    get appointed to. You have to be elected. So that right there makes 
    it special.
In the entire history of Congress, there have been about 20,000, give 
    or take a few, that have been elected to the House. And if you are 
    really lucky, you are a member of the majority party, and if you 
    are really, really lucky, eventually you get to be a chairman.
I am the 50th chairman, as far as I can tell, of this committee, the 
    Energy and Commerce Committee, which was established in December of 
    1795 as the Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers. It has been in 
    continuous existence since 1795. It was the first standing 
    committee, and it has historically had the longest and broadest 
    jurisdiction of any of the authorizing committees. And I know that 
    there are other committees that have proud histories, the 
    Appropriations Committee, the Ways and Means Committee, the Armed 
    Services Committee; but if you look back at the history of 
    Congress, the committee that has passed almost all the major 
    domestic laws, it is this committee. The original Navigation Acts 
    in the early 1800s came out of this committee, the Railroad Act, 
    the Telegraph Act. In the early 20th century, the Pure Food and 
    Drug Safety Act, all of the major legislation in the New Deal when 
    Sam Rayburn was the chairman, the Communications Act came out of 
    this committee; and then if you move forward into the 1950s and the 
    1960s and the 1970s, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water 
    Act, the Clean Air Act, the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978. Under 
    Chairman Bliley's jurisdiction, the Communications Act. You know, 
    you can go on and on and on.
So to become the chairman of this committee, when Billy told me that he 
    was stepping down, I might have a chance, I was just very--I won't 
    say intimidated. That is not quite true. But I was very awed to 
    have the chance. The chairmanship of this committee, as Tom Bliley 
    and Billy Tauzin and John Dingell will tell you, is a public trust 
    in the truest sense of the word.
If you get to be chairman--and you have heard the stories about how 
    stubborn I am and how hard-headed, and they are all true, but when 
    you get to be chairman, you check that at the door. And you have to 
    work with the leadership. In this case, it was Speaker Hastert, Mr. 
    Blunt, Mr. Armey, Mr. DeLay and Mr. Boehner. You have to work with 
    the interest groups, and that is not an easy thing to do. It starts 
    with the members of the committee, and currently there are 57; 31 
    Democrat and 26 Republican. And you have to be a psychologist 
    because there are certain Members that have to be handled a little 
    bit differently. You have to be a negotiator. You have to be a 
    conciliator.
I can't tell you, to put together the votes--it is easier knowing that 
    you have got the votes if it is a party-line vote, but even then, 
    given the wiley nature of my ranking member, John Dingell, who 
    never knew that he wasn't chairman even when he was ranking member, 
    he just didn't have that attitude. He was just chairman, but he was 
    five votes short. It is just kind of the way he operated.
And so you first have to decide what you want to do. You have to have a 
    vision. And if you are going to have a vision, you have to have a 
    philosophy. And, you know, I am a conservative, and I believe in 
    markets, and I believe in personal freedom, and I believe in 
    individual opportunity. And so that was my vision. And then you 
    have to come up with a game plan based on the issues to try to put 
    that into effect.
And I was only chairman for 3 years, as Chairman Tauzin was. Chairman 
    Bliley was the chairman for 6 years. Chairman Dingell first time 
    around was chairman for 14, and now he is in his second year of the 
    chairmanship in this term.
But that was my vision. So the Energy Policy Act which I have alluded 
    to, Tom Bliley started that, Billy Tauzin continued it, and then I 
    was just the cleanup hitter.
We did mention the National Institutes of Health. I felt public health 
    is one of the original charters of this committee. Some of the 
    earliest petitions to the Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers 
    were for hospitals. Communities around America wanted hospitals. 
    This was the committee that had that jurisdiction. So NIH was 
    simply, let's bring the National Institutes of Health into the 21st 
    century. So I tried to do that. The Ryan White AIDS Reauthorization 
    Act, the autism bill, I could go on and on.
So I built from Mr. Bliley, and I built from Mr. Tauzin, and I built 
    from John Dingell, because you talk about an asset, to have John 
    Dingell in the room when you are putting a bill together, unless 
    you go back to the 1870s, he drafted the bill or the amendments to 
    the bill. And even when he is against you, he is a great 
    institutional member, because understanding the trust of the 
    committee, it makes him look bad if I screwed up on process and 
    things like that. So even as he was arguing against me, he was 
    telling me how to do it so I could win the argument at least with 
    votes, which he considered a temporary setback. So in any event, I 
    was honored to be the chairman and to have this trust.
And this committee I really think is the greatest committee. And, you 
    know, as my wife Terri would tell you, it sometimes really, really 
    frustrated her, as it should, how much I wanted the committee to 
    succeed. Now, as the ranking member, I still want it to succeed, 
    just not as much as when I was the chairman. It is a different 
    mindset. This is what I admire so much about John Dingell is when 
    he was chairman for 14 years, he was a can-do guy. And when he was 
    ranking member for 12 years, he was a can-do guy. And now that he 
    is chairman again, he is a can-do guy. And I was a can-do guy as a 
    rank-and-file member of the minority, and obviously a can-do guy as 
    a member of the majority, but now as the ranking member, I can't 
    always be a can-do guy. My job is to make sure everything is 
    properly vetted and that we do regular order, regular process. You 
    know, so I am using all the tricks that he taught me.
But I can't think of a better man and a better Member of Congress to be 
    involved with than Chairman Dingell. It is such a privilege to come 
    into this committee. And I, again, Mr. Bliley and Mr. Tauzin and 
    Mr. Dingell, would tell you, when you are debating in this 
    committee, first you are debating a major issue, unless it is a 
    hearing that Ed Markey is chairing on the Avatar. Notwithstanding 
    that--and second, you have got the A-team on the field; whether it 
    is Mr. Markey or Mr. Boucher, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Pallone, or Mr. 
    Stearns, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Upton, Mr. Hall, you have got 
    the A-team. Both parties put their more aggressive and intelligent 
    Members on this committee. And it is just fun. It is just fun. Even 
    when I know we are probably going to get beat, it is fun to come in 
    and have the debate that we have in the Energy and Commerce 
    Committee.
So I am very proud to have you all here. Again, special thanks to Bud 
    Albright, my former chief of staff, who is now a muckety-muck at 
    the Energy Department. My current chief of staff David Cavicke is 
    here. And you can't do it if you don't have good staff members, and 
    I appreciate their leadership.
I am going to end with this: I researched all the Members that have 
    been chairmen of this committee, and there are 50 of them. I am the 
    50th. Thomas Newton was the longest-serving chairman. He served for 
    20 years, and he was from New York. There are several, and John 
    Dingell is one of them, that served 14. Actually Chairman Dingell 
    would now be the second-longest serving since he is in his 16th 
    year. Sam Rayburn was chairman before he became Speaker. There was 
    another Texan named John Reagan who served two times in the 1880s, 
    and he later became a Senator from Texas. But my favorite, my 
    favorite of all the chairmen, is Charles Wolverton from New Jersey. 
    Now, you may say, who the heck is Charles Wolverton? Well, he was a 
    Republican who was chairman for 2 years, 1947-48, and he got to be 
    chairman again 4 years later.
Mr. Tauzin. Let me thank you all for coming. I will thank all of them 
    for you, Joe. Let me also, Joe, tell you a quick story.
I have a television show that I do watch. One of them was on the the 
    other day was Joe Pantoliano, Joey Pants, who played as Ralphie on 
    the Sopranos. You remember him? Joe suffers with a mental illness. 
    And on the show he told me the reason he got into acting was 
    because at least when he died, people will always know he existed. 
    You know, he goes to the movies today, look at that guy, he is 
    dead, he is dead, she is dead. Humphrey Bogart, he is gone. But the 
    films remain, and the stories remain, and the memories remain.
Most people don't know what goes on inside this room in America. They 
    have no idea what contributions this room has made to the history 
    of our country. Joe has gone through and done some research on all 
    the chairmen, all the people who have passed through it. Most 
    people wouldn't do that. Most people have no idea about the 
    enormous contributions that are made by people like Joe Barton. But 
    today his picture goes up on the wall, and long after he is gone, 
    kids who come and see this incredible place will say, that guy is 
    dead, but I read about him. He served our country, and he served 
    our country well, and he deserves to be remembered.
And that essentially is what a portrait does. A portrait is just our 
    way here in this Capitol of remembering someone like Joey Pants, 
    who just wanted someone to know that he was here, that he served, 
    that he did his job for his country when he was called upon. And, 
    Joe, we all thank you for what you have given this committee and 
    this country. We know there are going to be great days ahead for 
    you, a great deal more. And we wish you bon voyage as you continue 
    your enormous career in Congress.
Joe asked me to thank the audience and Lauree Boeck, who did such a 
    fabulous job--Joe, the picture is much, much lovelier than the 
    program. It is really a great portrait. It is really well done; Ann 
    Fader, who reports to consultants for managing the portrait and the 
    framing process. I went through this. This is a long process; Ron 
    Sarasin, president of the United States Capitol Historical Society. 
    As you know, this is a gift for the country. Joe and the team and 
    all of your work together to finance this effort has made this gift 
    now to the United States Capitol Historical Society. And obviously 
    Joe wanted me to thank all the sponsors who made contributions to 
    the United States Capitol Historical Society for the Barton 
    Portrait Fund, and to thank all of you collectively for making this 
    day possible.
He asked me, obviously, to thank Fred and Roy and Chairman Dingell, and 
    to thank Father Dan Coughlin for their contributions today, and to 
    remember Ralph in our thoughts. He is a little sick today. He will 
    be fine. We got word that he is on his way back to Washington 
    pretty soon. He is having a bad time with the flu or something. We 
    checked to make sure he is all right and will be coming back soon, 
    but to thank Ralph for offering to emcee the program.
The photographer will be on hand to take candid and posed pictures, 
    obviously.
Terri, we didn't get a chance to introduce you formally. Where are you? 
    I just wanted to--Terri, thank you for all the work you do.
Now, on his way out of town, the Pope reminded us that this was a time 
    of healing and reconciliation for his Church, the Catholic Church 
    in America. And he called upon us to be forgiving and loving. And 
    in that spirit, we bring back Father Dan Coughlin, who will ask for 
    us all to forgive us for all our weaknesses and our faults, and to 
    build the kind of unity and peace that the Pope brought to this 
    wonderful country this week.
Father Coughlin.

                              BENEDICTION

                      Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin
Father Coughlin. Lord, bless the Honorable Joe Barton, his wife Terri 
    and their family with long life, health and happiness. Answer all 
    their prayers and fulfill their dreams for the future.
Lord, bless the continued work of the oldest legislative standing 
    committee of the United States House of Representatives. May the 
    Committee on Energy and Commerce, through its members and staff, 
    assure the prosperity of the Nation by its broad-based 
    responsibility of oversight and its critical protection of health, 
    safety and welfare of the American people.
Lord, bless the 110th Congress of the United States of America. Bind us 
    together in ever greater unity that we may be that symbol of hope 
    and freedom around the world. It is for this that we place all our 
    trust in You now and forever. Amen.
Mr. Tauzin. We are dismissed. Thank you.
[Whereupon at 6:48 p.m., the presentation was concluded.]
?

                    COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

                             109th Congress

                      JOE BARTON, Texas, Chairman

MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida           JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan
RALPH M. HALL, Texas                     Ranking Member
FRED UPTON, Michigan                 EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
CLIFF STEARNS, Florida               RICK BOUCHER, Virginia
PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio                EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York
NATHAN DEAL, Georgia                 FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky               SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
CHARLIE NORWOOD, Georgia             BART GORDON, Tennessee
BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming               BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois
JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois               ANNA G. ESHOO, California
HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico           BART STUPAK, Michigan
JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona             ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
CHARLES W. ``CHIP'' PICKERING,       ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland
Mississippi                          GENE GREEN, Texas
    Vice Chairman,                   TED STRICKLAND, Ohio
VITO FOSSELLA, New York              DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  LOIS CAPPS, California
STEVE BUYER, Indiana                 MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania
GEORGE RADANOVICH, California        THOMAS A. ALLEN, Maine
CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire       JIM DAVIS, Florida
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania        JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
MARY BONO, California                HILDA L. SOLIS, California
GREG WALDEN, Oregon                  CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas
LEE TERRY, Nebraska                  JAY INSLEE, Washington
MIKE FERGUSON, New Jersey            TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
MIKE ROGERS, Michigan                MIKE ROSS, Arkansas
C.L. ``BUTCH'' OTTER, Idaho          HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
SUE WILKINS MYRICK, North Carolina
JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma
TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee

                                 ______

                           Professional Staff

                 C.H. ``Bud'' Albright, Staff Director

                    David L. Cavicke, General Counsel

       Reid P.F. Stuntz, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel

                                 ,
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