[House Prints, 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




                            COMMITTEE PRINT

                          111th Congress No. 2

                            A    Ceremony


                       Unveiling the Portrait

                                 of


                           THE HONORABLE

                         DUNCAN L. HUNTER

    A Representative in Congress from the Fifty-Second District of 
                               California
                   January 3, 1981 - January 3, 2009

      Elected to Ninety-Seventh Congress and Succeeding Congresses
                Chair of the Committee on Armed Services

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



                              PROCEEDINGS

                               before the

                      COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

                     U.S. House of Representatives
                           September 15, 2009

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                           WASHINGTON : 2009
52-668
_______________________________________________________________________
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                               A Ceremony

                         Unveiling the Portrait

                                   of

                             THE HONORABLE

                            DUNCAN L. HUNTER

                      COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

                     U.S. House of Representatives

                      Tuesday, September 15, 2009

_______________________________________________________________________



                                [ iii ]


[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                              THE PORTRAIT

The portrait of Mr. Hunter was rendered by artist Mark Martensen in oil 
on a stretched canvas. It measures 48 inches high by 36 inches wide and 
            is framed in a 6-inch bronze/gold painted frame.
                          BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Congressman Duncan Hunter represented San Diego County in the House of 
    Representatives for 28 years. He was first elected in 1980. A 
    Vietnam veteran, he served in the 173rd Airborne and 75th Army 
    Rangers. Hunter utilized the G.I. Bill to attend Western State 
    University Law School in San Diego and, while completing his 
    degree, he supplemented his income by working in farming and 
    construction. After graduating, he opened a storefront legal office 
    where he served many in the Hispanic community, often without 
    compensation. In 1980, he was asked to mount a challenge for the 
    Congressional seat held by an 18-year incumbent, Lionel Van 
    Deerlin. Despite the district having a 2-to-1 Democrat 
    registration, Hunter won the seat in an upset.
Coming to Washington, the new Congressman immediately sought a seat on 
    the House Armed Services Committee where he could work on America's 
    national security needs. Hunter became Chairman of the full 
    committee in 2002. As Chairman, Hunter oversaw a $500 billion 
    defense budget and focused his efforts on providing America's men 
    and women in uniform the necessary resources to win our Nation's 
    military conflicts and developing modernization initiatives that 
    will move new and more effective technologies into the field of 
    battle.
Hunter also has made securing the California-Mexico border a top 
    priority. Congressman Hunter worked tirelessly to ensure that the 
    region is safe for communities on both sides of the border and to 
    put a stop to illegal immigration and drug trafficking. His 
    provision to extend the San Diego Fence for 700 miles across 
    Arizona, New Mexico and Texas was signed into law in 2006.
Congressman Hunter's other legislative priorities included retaining 
    and increasing jobs in the 52nd District and across this Nation, 
    providing tax relief to hard-working families and keeping our 
    promises to America's veterans.
                    REPRESENTATIVE DUNCAN L. HUNTER

                           Member of Congress

                              1981 - 2008

             On America's Manufacturing Base, January 2007:

America's Arsenal of Democracy is reflected in the thousands of 
    factories, plants and businesses that make domestic products in 
    peacetime, but can be called on to make military equipment in a 
    time of war. Three times in the last century we saved the world for 
    freedom: WWI, WWII and the Cold War. In World War II, our 
    manufacturing base made more than: 100,000 tanks; 2.4. million 
    vehicles; 36 billion yards of cloth; 3 million rifles; 41 billion 
    rounds of ammunition; and 41,000 artillery pieces. The Arsenal of 
    Democracy carried Eisenhower's forces to Berlin and paved the way 
    for the Marines in the Pacific as they pushed the Japanese back to 
    their mainland. This great arsenal, our industrial base, was 
    important to collapsing the Soviet Empire and the Berlin Wall 
    because it provided the strength in Ronald Reagan's stand against 
    the forces of evil.

               On the Goodness of America, January 2007:

Millions of Americans help across our nation and across our globe. To 
    our international critics I say: When you had floods the Americans 
    were there. Asking for nothing, taking nothing, only helping. When 
    you had fires and earthquakes and tsunamis, the Americans were 
    there. When you had disease Americans brought medicine, when you 
    were hungry, the Americans brought food. When you were attacked, 
    Americans left the safety of their homes to defend you. Sometimes 
    the Americans came under their government, but many times they just 
    came because of the goodness of their hearts. America is great 
    because America is good.
                               THE ARTIST

                             Mark Martensen

An admiration for the simple life, old-fashioned values and the spirit 
    of adventure are what ignited Mark Martensen's interest in painting 
    his vision of the Wild West. Born and raised in San Diego, 
    California, Mark's appreciation of the old west's traditions 
    developed artistically at an early age. ``I gave my grandmother 
    everything I painted as a child,'' he said, ``recently she gave it 
    all back, and I was amazed that even then all I seemed to paint 
    were cowboys and horses.'' Self-taught as an artist, Mark's 
    California roots led him first to producing a variety of artwork. 
    Painting professionally since 1986, his highly acclaimed works have 
    progressed from a photo real style to a looser, more painterly 
    style that has captured the attention of many collectors in both 
    the United States and abroad. At his first juried show, as a 
    virtual unknown, he took both first place and honorable mention. 
    Since that time, Mark has had many one-man shows, participated in 
    many group shows and received numerous awards. His paintings are 
    exhibited all through the southwest and he is currently expanding 
    his territory to include other regions. Mark feels his art speaks 
    for itself, and his passion for this period in American history is 
    exemplified in his work. With imagination, brushstrokes and the 
    molding of clay, he is able to reincarnate the spirit of another 
    time. Mark enjoys spending time with his wife and best friend 
    Kerry, daughter Shannon and son Ian. With their support and belief 
    in him, he realizes anything is possible.

                          SPECIAL APPRECIATION

                American Maritime Officers
                AT&T
                BAE Systems, San Diego
                Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Barnhart
                Mr. Bruce Bartlett
                Mr. Charles Blum
                Mr. & Mrs. Ron Bonaguidi
                Colt Defense
                Cubic Corporation
                Mr. John Dressendorfer
                DRS
                Mr. & Mrs. Anthony DuPont
                General Atomics
                General Dynamics
                Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Hodge
                Mr. Samuel Kahn
                Metals Service Center Institute
                Mr. Roger Millikin
                Mr. Chris Norch
                Pacific Ship
                General Terry Paul
                Port of San Diego Ship Repair Association
                Seafarers International Union
                Trex Enterprises
                             P R O G R A M

                  2118 Rayburn House Office Building,

                     6:30 P.M., September 15, 2009

Master of Ceremonies:
                General Terry Paul

Invocation:
                General Randy West

Remarks:
                The Honorable Trent Franks
                Member, Committee on Armed Services

                The Honorable Ike Skelton
                Chairman, Committee on Armed Services

                The Honorable John A. Boehner
                House Republican Leader

                The Honorable Duncan D. Hunter
                Member, Committee on Armed Services

Introduction of the Artist:
                Mark Martensen by General Terry Paul

Unveiling of the Portrait:
                Mrs. Lynne Hunter and the Honorable Duncan D. Hunter

Remarks:
                The Honorable Duncan L. Hunter
 
                   Unveiling Ceremony of Portrait of

                             THE HONORABLE

                            DUNCAN L. HUNTER

                      Tuesday, September 15, 2009
                     U.S. House of Representatives,
                         Committee on Armed Services,
                                                        Washington, DC.
General Paul. Ladies and gentlemen, can we have your attention, please?
First of all, on behalf of the Hunter family, I want to recognize all 
    those friends who traveled long distances to come here for this 
    cherished event, and certainly for the senior officials, fellow 
    Members of Congress, that are here--Mr. Hunter's friends over the 
    years, some of them. And we have senior officer military and senior 
    civilian officials represented on the Armed Forces and dignitaries, 
    et al.
I would like to start by introducing my good friend, General Randy 
    West. He will offer the invocation. He is a fellow Marine, retired 
    at 35 years of service. And he thought about doing a career of it, 
    but he is also a pastor of a Baptist church out in Loudoun County. 
    As you would expect, Marines can do more than one thing.
So, Randy, would you offer the invocation to us, please?

                    INVOCATION BY GENERAL RANDY WEST
General West. Let us pray.
Our most gracious and loving Lord, we thank you this evening for this 
    special event honoring the service of one of your sons to his 
    family, his Nation and his God.
We thank you for such a man as Duncan L. Hunter. We thank you for his 
    28-plus years of service in the U.S. Congress. We thank you for the 
    wisdom that you granted him to make wise decisions as one of the 
    highest leaders in our great Nation, as a Congressman and as 
    chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. We thank you that 
    he had the resolve, the determination and the resolution to stand 
    firm on those decisions and on the values and principles that we 
    all hold dear.
We thank you that because of his service, America is stronger and 
    safer; our troops are better prepared, trained and equipped to meet 
    the challenges of the future; our families have a better quality of 
    life; our wounded and disabled are better able to enjoy our parks 
    and national forests like everyone else; our factories and 
    businesses make and sell more things that have the stamp Made in 
    America; and all of us have better places to live, work and play.
We also thank you for the strong and supportive wife and children that 
    stood with him, and for his son that will help carry on the values 
    and beliefs that were espoused by his father and grandfather before 
    him. We ask your blessings on them and on their friends, colleagues 
    and family that fill this room this evening. Give us a joyful time 
    together and a safe trip to our homes.
And last, Father, we ask your blessings on America's sons and daughters 
    tonight, that serve the cause of liberty across the face of the 
    globe, many of them in harm's way. Watch over them, keep them safe. 
    Bring them home to families that love them and eagerly await their 
    return.
It is in your holy name that we pray. Amen.
General Paul. Thank you, Randy.
I would like to introduce the Congressman from Arizona who wanted to 
    offer a few remarks, Congressman Trent Franks. Trent's recognition 
    was that he was the first Member of Congress that endorsed Mr. 
    Hunter's candidacy for President.
I want to go on record of saying 3 weeks later, I was number two.
Mr. Franks.

                      REMARKS OF HON. TRENT FRANKS

                  Member, Committee on Armed Services
Mr. Franks. I cannot tell you what a sweet privilege it is for me to be 
    here on behalf of Duncan Hunter tonight. I know there is very 
    little I am going to be able to tell any of you that you don't 
    already know about him. And he has heard a lot of things I have 
    said about him, and I apologize in advance for repeating some of 
    the things.
But the first time I saw Duncan Hunter was in the House Caucus. And he 
    got up and was talking about maintaining the strength of America, 
    and he did it in such a way I thought, Wow, that guy reminds me of 
    John Wayne. And I truly, ever since then, have called him the John 
    Wayne of the Congress because he kind of reminded me of that old 
    movie, The Green Berets.
Do you remember there at the very end, there was John Wayne there with 
    the little Vietnamese boy and everything had gone wrong for this 
    little boy. He lost everything he loved. But John Wayne says, We 
    are going to take care of you. He said, I don't know what I am 
    going to do. He said, Don't worry about it, we are going to take 
    care of you; after all, you are what this war is all about.
And I think sometimes our veterans and our heroes, we characterize them 
    because they are so courageous in battle, and there is certainly 
    everything right about that. But let me suggest to you tonight that 
    true soldiers, like Duncan Hunter, don't fight because they hate 
    what is in front of them or because they hate the enemy.
They fight because they love what is behind them. They fight because 
    they love America and their families and the way of life that all 
    of us are so thankful for. They are willing to give up all of their 
    tomorrows and all of their todays so that we can have whatever 
    opportunities that freedom presents us to have.
And I will have to say to you--and Pete Geren said to me tonight--he is 
    the Secretary of the Army. He said, Duncan Hunter is a soldier's 
    soldier. He said, there are a lot of reasons I put it that way. But 
    most importantly, Duncan Hunter every day he was in this place, 
    sometimes at night, was staying up figuring out ways to do what he 
    could to make sure that our soldiers in the battlefield were more 
    protected, were more capable, were better armed, better trained. He 
    did everything he could to make sure that they had success in the 
    battlefield.
And I know that we will never really realize the ripple effect that a 
    life like Duncan Hunter has. But I am reminded sometimes that we go 
    through life--he went through life, 26 years on the Armed Services 
    Committee, and he runs for President. That is a pretty big deal; 
    there are not too many people who run for President. And he won all 
    the debates, didn't he? He won every last one of them.
He always says, You are losing them, Trent, you are losing them. But I 
    know that I am not.
I know you know that this man is a substantive man and he has given his 
    entire life to the cause of human freedom. And, yes, I had the 
    privilege of being the first one to endorse him for President, and 
    I would do it again today.
And I am reminded that Winston Churchill, he worked very hard and 
    essentially was the one who led us through this dark shadow of the 
    Nazi swastika that was trying to fall across the planet; and he 
    absolutely was used of God to save humanity in a significant way.
And at the end of all that, the voters threw him out of office. And the 
    media said, Well, now what do you think Mr. Churchill? And he said, 
    Well, you know--and this is a rough quote--he said, You know, the 
    only real guide a man has in this life is his conscience. The only 
    shield to his memory is the rectitude and the sincerity of his own 
    actions.
And it is very imprudent to walk through this life without that shield 
    because we are all so often mocked by the failures of our hopes and 
    the upsetting of our calculations. But with this shield, knowing we 
    did what we believed was right, no matter how the fates may play, 
    we march always in the ranks of honor.
And I will tell you that this man has left a path of honor everywhere 
    he has gone. And he has a son now that is faithfully following that 
    path, and only eternity will discover the impact of this family.
I know that the real backbone of it is his sweet wife; and she never 
    gets the credit, but I know that she is the one that makes it all 
    work. Yes.
And finally now I will just say that there are a lot of great things 
    that we talk about. We kind of get used to this life, and we forget 
    the sacrifices that were paid sometimes so that we can gather in 
    this place. And Duncan Hunter, along with a tremendous chorus of 
    voices behind him, have put their lives on the line for the cause 
    of human freedom.
He never talks about being an Army Ranger. He says I never did anything 
    too significant. But everyone that puts on that uniform, places 
    themselves between the malevolent and the innocent. I will tell you 
    I truly believe there is nothing more noble on this planet than 
    putting your life on the line for the sake of the innocent; and 
    that more than anything else characterizes Duncan Hunter. And he is 
    a precious friend to all of us.
I salute him with all of my heart. And I remind you all that he will 
    always march in the ranks of honor.
God bless you all.
General Paul. Ladies and gentlemen, those who currently wear the 
    uniform and serve the day and those that served before, we are 
    blessed that when our Nation changes hands periodically, and 
    leadership, that we are not abandoned, that the welfare and the 
    concern of our Nation and our Armed Forces are still in good hands.
And with that in mind, I would say, I am pleased to see that the 
    relationship and the friendship that Chairman Hunter had and the 
    transition and the respect that he had for his relief and now it is 
    still maintained. I would like to introduce the man from Missouri, 
    the current chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, 
    Chairman Ike Skelton.

                      REMARKS OF HON. IKE SKELTON

                 Chairman, Committee on Armed Services
The Chairman. I was wondering what happened to my notes for my 
    comments, and Trent Franks took them.
Portraits are wonderful tokens of memory, but you kind of have to be 
    careful sometimes. About 20 years ago, Duncan, I had a lady in 
    Kansas City, near my hometown of Lexington, call who wanted to do 
    my portrait so she could put it on her brochure. And I was 
    relatively new in Congress, and she thought it would be a good 
    thing to have a Congressman's portrait on her brochure. And being a 
    bit on the egotistical side, I said, Yeah, that is a good idea.
So I went up to Kansas City. I sat for her. She took pictures, and 
    weeks later, my staff and I go by to look at the finished portrait; 
    and the best thing I could say when I looked at it in her presence 
    was, It is interesting. She gave it to me, and I gave to the 
    Lexington Historical Society with the understanding they may not 
    show it publicly until I am dead.
I trust the artist that you had did not go to the same school of 
    painting that this lady did.
What a thrill tonight. What a thrill. Duncan Hunter: lawyer, soldier, 
    Congressman, chairman, but most important, a friend.
A few minutes ago when I saw Duncan, he said, We have had a lot of good 
    times together, haven't we? And we have. What a thrill to work with 
    this gentleman. And, Lynne, he is a gentleman's gentleman. And I 
    know what a wonderful home that you have; and your sons, he of 
    course speaks of them so fondly.
Duncan Hunter is one of a kind. One of the thrills of my life is that 
    he and I walked together in Congress, in the committee, and in 
    friendship. Historians don't really, most of the time, write about 
    the real things that happen in a legislative body such as ours. 
    They talk about the issues and the great debates of the day. But so 
    often it is the associations, friendship and trust that a Member of 
    Congress brings. Ladies and gentlemen, the young men and young 
    women in our military today and in yesteryear are all the better 
    prepared, trained and safe, no kidding, because of Duncan Hunter.
I salute you, Duncan Hunter, for all that you have done. Not just for 
    them, but for our country. You have been an honorable Member of 
    Congress that we can all look up to, and I hope that this portrait 
    will speak for not just decades, but for centuries about your 
    service, your decency, your intelligence, your care for those that 
    defend us. And most of all, I hope it speaks about your honor 
    because, ladies and gentlemen, this is one honorable, wonderful 
    gentleman and this tribute is certainly well deserved.
God bless.
General Paul. Ladies and gentlemen, our next speaker, who was born in 
    Cincinnati, a place that I share the same birth with, Mr. Boehner, 
    John Boehner, the House Republican leader.
Your remarks, sir.

                    REMARKS OF HON. JOHN A. BOEHNER

                        House Republican Leader
Mr. Boehner. On behalf of all of you and Duncan's friends here in the 
    Congress, let me welcome all of our military personnel, both active 
    and retired, generals to the soldiers that are here. We really do 
    welcome you.
And Chairman Skelton and all of my colleagues, thank you for being 
    here.
You know, I had the opportunity to work with Duncan for 18 years; and 
    there is nobody in the Congress, nobody in the Congress more 
    concerned about the welfare of our soldiers than Duncan Hunter, no 
    one who paid more attention to making sure that they had what they 
    needed to win the battle they were in and to win the war.
And he and Chairman Skelton, I know, were close friends and really did, 
    in fact, work hand in glove together over a very long period of 
    time--something that we don't see as much of in the Congress today 
    as much as we used to.
This ceremony is getting a little serious. Over 18 years there are a 
    lot of stories that come about, and some of you know, I am pretty--
    I am a neatnik, and I am always working on Members to dress better 
    and get a better tie. And Duncan, you never made it to the Esquire 
    list nor will you ever. But I was very complimentary of Duncan, 
    though, during his Presidential race because he had better suits 
    and he had lost about 40 pounds.
But one day--you know, about the first 15 years I was here, I didn't 
    have a car. So I was always bumming a ride here and bumming a ride 
    there. So we were at some charity golf event, and I needed a ride 
    back to the Capitol, and Duncan offered me a ride.
So I got in this jalopy--and I am overstating it.
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. I paid $600 for that.
Mr. Boehner. As we are flying down the road, all I saw was the highway 
    underneath my feet. It is one thing to have an old car and it is 
    another thing to be cheap.
Or I could tell you about the time we had the Republican retreat up at 
    Hershey, Pennsylvania, and so Duncan dragged Lynne out to some 
    woodmaker or cabinetmaker, somewhere nearby in Lancaster. Someone 
    in the Amish was making cabinets, and Duncan found this great deal 
    on these cabinets that were made for somebody else, but they 
    cancelled the order; and he thought these--he could make these 
    cabinets work for his cabin over in West Virginia. The next thing I 
    know, Duncan is renting a truck and a trailer to haul these cheap 
    cabinets that he got, this great deal that he got, off to his 
    cabin.
Listen, one of the great things about serving in the Congress is that 
    while we have a great opportunity to kind of put our fingerprints 
    on the direction of our country, it really is a great honor to 
    serve. But probably the most important thing that we ought to take 
    away from here are the opportunities we have to work with other 
    people and to meet people we would never have met otherwise.
I can tell you what: Duncan Hunter is one of those people that every 
    Member respects--you may disagree with him, but every Member 
    respects. Because at the end of the day, Duncan always said it the 
    way it was, and he did it his way.
And, Duncan, we are all the better off for it. Thanks for being here.
Lynne, keep up the good work.

                       INTRODUCTION OF THE ARTIST
General Paul. Mark Martensen, where is Mark? Mark, come up here just a 
    minute. I want to introduce the prize artist of the event, Mark 
    Martensen. Mark's wife is here and his two children. Let's see, we 
    have Kerry, Shannon and Ian. Thank you for coming.
You have been painting since 1984, 1986----
Mr. Martensen. Professionally, yes.
General Paul [continuing]. And never were taught anything, self-taught?
That is how he got into Congress. He kind of picked it up along the 
    way, yeah.
So how long did it take you to paint this portrait, a couple of days?
Mr. Martensen. Well, he thinks it took a couple of days.
General Paul. The final one. I mean, after you did the three that he 
    didn't like?
Mr. Martensen. The one with the headdress, yeah. You know what? I 
    couldn't pinpoint it.
I have to tell you what, though. I have to thank my wife and my kids, 
    honestly, for putting up with me. I was painting until the 
    strangest hours of the night--early morning, waking up grumpy, 
    getting right back in, making my coffee, growing a beard. It was a 
    journey.
But I appreciate them putting up with me. And I thank you for that.
General Paul. I have a Mark Martensen in my home, too. And I asked 
    somebody one time, I said, What is an artist's proof? They said, 
    That is one that they had left over that they couldn't sell. No.
Thank you so much for what you have done. Thank you.
Mr. Martensen. Thank you.
General Paul. Ms. Lynne.
Mrs. Hunter. Well----
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. Remember, we have to go home together.

   UNVEILING OF THE PORTRAIT BY MRS. LYNNE HUNTER AND HON. DUNCAN D. 
                                 HUNTER
Mrs. Hunter. I know that.
No, I don't have to remember that. You do.
Okay, anyway, as you all--there are a lot of people here that we have 
    known for years. I don't think Duncan has known a stranger, both 
    sides of the aisle; he works with everybody on all the issues.
And I have to say that he truly is a humble and a very noble person. 
    And his humility almost did not let me make him do this. But as I 
    said, I made him do this portrait because he has children and 
    grandchildren; and I felt that it was something that we could give 
    them as parents and grandparents.
And everybody that has talked about Duncan has pretty much put him in a 
    wrapper, what they have said about him, because it is true. We have 
    been married 30--I don't know, 36 years, I think. I don't know. I 
    always have to stop and think.
But he had just gotten back from Vietnam, and the first thing I made 
    him do was grow his hair out.
But it is true, you can't clean up Mr. Hunter. He did clean up pretty 
    good for the Presidential race. But Duncan is Duncan all the way 
    through and through, and he is never going to change. And he is 
    what he says he is, and he stands for the goodness of this country. 
    God, family and country is where he stands.
And I am really very proud to have my son in Congress now. You know, as 
    a mother and a father, what you--what your children become is 
    pretty much what you are because you make them what they are, you 
    try to teach them, you try to guide them. And I think we have done 
    a pretty good job.
Sam left last night for Iraq. He is in the Army. He decided to follow 
    his dad's steps.
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. A good man.
Mrs. Hunter. Duncan, of course, was in the Marine Corps and he did a 
    great job in the Marine Corps. I always thought a forward observer 
    was somebody that looked way back there forward and observed what 
    was going on. When he got home from the Marines, I learned what a 
    forward observer really did.
But you can tell what kind of a person you are by what you do in this 
    life. And I have to say I am--I don't say it much, but I am going 
    to say it today, I am very proud of Duncan and what he has done for 
    this country, for the military, to keep this country safe and for 
    standing for God and his true belief and what this Lord is going to 
    bestow on this Nation.
And so I would like for my son, Duncan, to come up here, because I want 
    him to help me unveil the portrait.
And, you know, Hunters do a little--things a little different. I don't 
    know if you know that or not. If you know Duncan, you know they do. 
    But I want Duncan to help me unveil his dad's portrait.
And I have to hand it to Mark Martensen. He really did capture Duncan 
    in his entirety. So you can take that any way you want. So we will 
    go from there, Mark.
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. Duncan, aren't you going to make a speech about 
    me?
Mr. Duncan D. Hunter. After we unveil.
[Whereupon, the portrait was unveiled.]
General Paul. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we will do the best part of 
    the story now. We will let you hear from our future, the new Duncan 
    Hunter.
I want to tell you a quick story about Duncan, Sr. During the 
    Presidential campaign, he called me one day; and he says, I would 
    like you to do me a favor, a little favor.
Okay, I will do a little favor. What is it?
He said, Would you be willing to go down to South Carolina for me and 
    give some speeches, because I am being pulled into Nevada and I 
    cannot be at both places.
You want me to represent you in a Presidential debate?
Yes.
Okay. When are we going to do this?
Tomorrow.
Okay, tomorrow. Do you have any script or speech that I could probably 
    look over on the drive down?
No, I don't really have anything. You are pretty familiar with my 
    position on things; just go with that.
So if you look, you can kind of see a little dip in his numbers about 
    then.
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. It was tough to go much lower.
General Paul. And I struggled a little bit with the value added tax.
But you had a very good race.
His son came to me one day many years ago, right after 9/11 and he 
    said, General Paul, I want to join the Marine Corps, be a Marine 
    officer.
I said, Well, that is a fine undertaking. How old are you?
Twenty-one, 22. Something like that. College graduate.
Does your dad know about this?
Yeah. He is okay with it.
Does your mom know about it? She will be okay with it.
This wasn't too hard. He had a fine background, experience, et cetera, 
    not like his father that struggled with an Army career. But the 
    young Duncan Duane was a fine officer that when our country needed 
    his service, he was there for it without any prodding, without 
    anything--it was the right thing to do. And it shows the 
    leadership, I think--as Ms. Lynne had mentioned--of the family of 
    their other beloved son, Sam, who just marched off to the sound of 
    the guns this last weekend.
We know those sacrifices. I know Duncan has comforted me in life. We 
    have had some great times, some good times. But in serious times, 
    when I lost my brother on 9/11, it was Duncan that was there, that 
    was holding my hand and saying the right things in that. And so 
    they have been close to me.
But, Duncan Duane, we expect great things out of you.

                    REMARKS OF HON. DUNCAN D. HUNTER

                  Member, Committee on Armed Services
Mr. Duncan D. Hunter. Good luck with that, Terry.
And thanks to the great General Paul, a great mentor, a great Marine 
    and a pretty good lobbyist now, I think. And I want to say, Mom 
    told me to tell you guys one thing. There are a lot of folks here 
    that have different business backgrounds. Dad is looking for a job. 
    His resume is outside. But you have to promise to take him every 
    month for at least 2 weeks back out here to D.C., so she has some 
    time on her own.
You are welcome, Mom.
Somebody was asking how long dad sat for this portrait. If you look at 
    it, he looks about 20 years younger. It was actually me sitting for 
    this. They just put some wrinkles on, and that is why he looks so 
    good.
That was probably the best joke I ever heard my mom tell, got all of 
    him ``in his entirety.'' How many canvasses did Mark have to use 
    for that?
Did you have to use two, Mark?
There were so many nice things said about Dad--it was during--I was on 
    Fox News about a month and a half ago. And it was the big Fox News, 
    and I am on with somebody talking. And I come on and he goes, Well, 
    you don't look like Duncan Hunter.
I said, I am Duncan Hunter; try a little Botox and exercise, and you 
    can do this too.
So about a half an hour after that was on, I get a phone call from my 
    consultant back in San Diego. They say, Someone just filed papers 
    against you. I think it is your father.
And I just want to thank all the great servicemen and -women who are 
    here tonight. I think there are more Marines here than there are 
    soldiers, sailors or airmen, which is pretty telling. We like to 
    say, My dad's dad, Bob, was a Marine in World War II. Dad joined 
    the Army, I went Marine Corps. So the standing joke is, Talent 
    skips a generation.
But now that my little brother just joined the Army--he is a grunt in a 
    Stryker brigade, and he is over there, so we are going to be 
    praying for him.
Let me just tell you in all seriousness--I will keep this really 
    short--there is no greater man in my life, no better leader who 
    truly holds the principles of what we stand for as a country. And 
    as was said earlier, God, family, country, honor, duty, commitment, 
    however you want to say it, dad's priorities were always in the 
    right place. And those of us that are Members here--I am still a 
    brand-new freshman. Those of you who have been here for a while, 
    you are always gone from your families, you are out here working 
    hard. It is very difficult sometimes.
And that was hard for us kids growing up, to understand why Dad was 
    gone all the time. But we understand now because we live in a more 
    dangerous world in some ways after 9/11, but also in safer ways 
    because we have people like Chairman Skelton and Chairman Hunter 
    here that came back from 9/11 and tried to recover. And we have--
    and we are stronger because of it.
And it is just great--and difficult in some ways--to have somebody as 
    great and steadfast and as principled as my dad. And I come back 
    from here and there are folks saying, This is probably, from what I 
    have heard, the most partisan Congress in people's recent memory. 
    And there is some bitterness here that has not been here in 
    previous Congresses. And I come home and I say, Everybody--and I 
    mean everybody; people from the exact opposite political spectrum 
    as me--will walk up to me and say, Your father was a great man; I 
    truly respected him. And that really means something to me, because 
    you don't see a whole lot of that anymore.
And I came home and asked Dad who he was cavorting with out here, 
    because he has all of these folks paying him great compliments. He 
    was truly kind of the old gentleman here in Congress, with friends 
    all over, very principled; and there was no other man that I would 
    rather follow into battle than my father.
Dad, thank you for everything. Great Congressman, great father, great 
    husband and a great chairman. And a wonderful wife, Mom.

                    REMARKS OF HON. DUNCAN L. HUNTER
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. You know, I talked to my other son--favorite--
    just a couple of hours ago. Sam is leaving--Lynne and I came back 
    from Fort Lewis, Washington. We went up to drive the family goods 
    down while Sam deployed to Iraq. And Teresa, his wonderful wife, 
    flew back with the two granddaughters.
So I am the driver. I was going to drive everything down and then fly 
    out from San Diego. But he kept--his delayed time kept getting 
    pushed back. So we ended up flying from Seattle.
So I have a U-Haul truck and a Suburban car that Lynne thinks was not a 
    good deal, but I think it was a great deal. But I pulled into the 
    gas station to gas it up for the trip down, and it wouldn't start. 
    It was another one of my great deals. But we have that thing 
    waiting for us. It is a wonderful life.
And, in fact, my daughter-in-law, Teresa, called me up the other day. 
    And they just bought a little ranch in San Diego. And she said, You 
    have to go out and meet the trashman because he is bringing this 
    huge dumpster to clean the new ranch up, and you have to be there 
    at 7:00.
And I said--I was looking at the invite and the time to come down here 
    for the unveiling. I said, Teresa, I was the chairman of the Armed 
    Services Committee. She said, You can't be a minute late, you have 
    to be there at 7:00; the trashman does not like to wait.
So I am comfortable in my new role, and most of my role has been air 
    conditioned. It has been a lot of fun. It has been a great 
    privilege.
I have got to thank you, Trent, for doing that wonderful job.
And, Ike, thank you, my friend.
Thank you to Terry Paul. Where is Terry at? You did make a resounding 
    speech. Did Terry leave for another talk already? Oh, he is still 
    here. You did make a wonderful speech for me. What a great friend. 
    And you did teach Duncan how to navigate.
I have got to tell you one story about Duncan. He came in from the 
    officer's basic course. And his first time out, trying to find his 
    objective at night in the forest in Quantico with a compass, he 
    couldn't find it.
I said, Duncan, you just keep it right in front of you and just keep 
    your eyes right on that baby, and you will find your objective.
He said, Dad, it is tough to read the compass when you are under water.
And Terry taught him how to read a compass at night. And, Terry, thank 
    you for guiding him and taking him along the straight and narrow.
I want to thank my wife, a wonderful lady who did the most important 
    thing that you can do in this world, which is to give character to 
    your children. And she gave that character to Duncan and to Sam. 
    And for that, I am always grateful. And this has been a great 
    occasion because she has been forced to say a lot of really neat 
    things about me, and it is fun.
I have got to tell you, this is a lady who can drive a tractor or meet 
    the queen. She would rather drive the tractor. And many times--
    taking Frank Wolf's old advice, my great old friend who said, You 
    have got to spend time with your family. Many times she said, We 
    are not going to the White House, we are not going to the Hill; we 
    are going to the soccer game, we are going to go out and do stuff 
    with the kids. And she has imbued that ethic with Duncan and Sam, 
    and that is important.
To all my great friends who are here, my great colleagues, thank you 
    for being good friends, good supporters; and for letting me work 
    with you, all my colleagues who have done such remarkable things.
And we have won the war in Iraq. To all my colleagues on the Armed 
    Services Committee, Democrat and Republican, we won that war. And I 
    tell that to every man and woman who wears the uniform, who served 
    there, because they deserve to be credited with their 
    accomplishment. The violence is down 90 percent; the government is 
    going to hold. The government is going to hold. We didn't promise 
    we would replicate Iowa. We have done a marvelous thing under 
    incredibly difficult circumstances. And that shows young people--it 
    is due to those young people that wear that uniform and follow that 
    great flag.
I was with Sam in the early morning. He was scheduled to depart about 
    15 times from Fort Lewis, usually at 4:00 in the morning in the 
    last couple of days. And I was out there with him in the early 
    morning at the 4th Stryker brigade, and as I walked out, I could 
    just make out some words on the steps that they were walking down 
    as they were moving out to deploy. And the first words said 
    ``selfless service.'' Selfless service. The second word was 
    ``honor,'' and the last words were ``personal courage.'' And those 
    young people have given--have shown us the personal courage that 
    amazed our enemies and, I think, left our allies in awe, because a 
    lot of the allies don't have those great attributes that the men 
    and women who wear the uniform of the United States have.
And, my colleagues, you have done wonderful things, all of you, to make 
    sure that those great American heroes who wear that uniform have 
    all the right equipment, who have got different challenges in 
    Afghanistan. We have got to solve that problem of the Pakistan 
    strip, the emerging threat with IEDs and the difficulty of 
    splitting that population away from the Taliban. We are going to do 
    it.
We are going to do it with a lot of old hands, those great guys who are 
    battalion commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 5, 6, 7 
    years, who go back, try something; if it doesn't work, they adapt. 
    And they are persistent and they win and they prevail. So this 
    country is going to be a great country as long as we have wonderful 
    people like that, and there are a lot of them in this room. I want 
    to thank all of them.
I just want to thank all the great friends who are here, all the folks 
    that helped me in the campaign. My Aunt Charlene is here from 
    Texas. I will never forget when the Dallas Morning News said, when 
    we were going to the State convention in Texas--the only one which 
    I won in the straw poll--and they said, Hunter's campaign is so 
    underfunded he has to stay with relatives while he is in Dallas.
That is--I won that straw poll, 2 to 1; the closest guy was Fred 
    Thompson. And they had a big press conference afterwards, and I 
    looked right at that reporter and I said, That was outrageous that 
    you said, I am so poor I have to live with relatives and tell Aunt 
    Charlene I will be home late for dinner. And I was. We had a 
    wonderful time.
But you have got a lot of challenges ahead of you, and I know I have 
    kept all of you too long. I look forward to saying hello to 
    everybody.
I just finish by saying this: When Lynne and I first arrived----
Mrs. Hunter. I don't think it sunk into him yet that he is not a 
    Congressman anymore. He keeps on going.
Mr. Duncan L. Hunter. I have got to finish, Lynne. I have to finish, 
    Lynne.
This is--when we came here in 1980, that was 28 years ago. Ronald 
    Reagan was being sworn in on the front steps of the Capitol, and I 
    walked up. Ike, you were there; I think you came in 2 years 
    earlier. Lots of my great colleagues here were there.
And the President talked about renewing this country. And as he closed 
    that speech, the Inaugural Address--and that is why we have the 
    Reagan there, home-ported in good old San Diego. I know Ike is 
    going to make sure it stays there. Right, Ike?
He was on the west steps, and he pointed straight out to the west. And 
    he said, There is the Washington Monument, dedicated to the Father 
    of Our Country; and beyond that, the Lincoln Memorial, dedicated to 
    the man who saved the Union; and to the Southeast, the Jefferson 
    Memorial, dedicated to the man who put those great words in our 
    founding documents.
But, Ronald Reagan said, beyond all of those monuments are thousands of 
    monuments dedicated to Americans who gave that same full measure of 
    devotion. And that is Arlington Cemetery. And he said, Under one of 
    those monuments lies a man named Martin Treptow, who left his 
    little barbershop in 1917; and he went to France to fight with the 
    Rainbow Division, and he was killed after he had been in country 
    about 3 weeks. And when his friends found his body, they found that 
    he had kept a diary. And the last thing that he wrote in this diary 
    was, I have to fight this war as if the success or failure of 
    America depends on me alone.
And that is a challenge that Ronald Reagan gave us in 1980. And for 
    every one of us who was involved and all my colleagues who are 
    still here, fighting this fight and working hard to make sure that 
    our troops are prepared, that is the challenge that we have, to 
    keep our security in this increasingly dangerous world.
Thank you so much for what you are doing. Thanks to my son, Duncan, for 
    the great words and all my colleagues who have spoken. And thanks 
    for this wonderful honor. It is better than I deserve.
Most of my career has been air conditioned. But it is kind of nice. 
    And, you know, it is just good to be here with Lynne one last time 
    in Washington, D.C.
Thanks so much. God bless you.
[Whereupon, at 7:17 p.m., the presentation was concluded.]
  

                   HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
                     One Hundred Eleventh Congress

                    IKE SKELTON, Missouri, Chairman
JOHN SPRATT, South Carolina          HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON, 
SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas                  California
GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi             ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland
NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii             MAC THORNBERRY, Texas
SILVESTRE REYES, Texas               WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina
VIC SNYDER, Arkansas                 W. TODD AKIN, Missouri
ADAM SMITH, Washington               J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia
LORETTA SANCHEZ, California          JEFF MILLER, Florida
MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina        JOE WILSON, South Carolina
ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania        FRANK A. LoBIONDO, New Jersey
ROBERT ANDREWS, New Jersey           ROB BISHOP, Utah
SUSAN A. DAVIS, California           MICHAEL TURNER, Ohio
JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island      JOHN KLINE, Minnesota
RICK LARSEN, Washington              MIKE ROGERS, Alabama
JIM COOPER, Tennessee                TRENT FRANKS, Arizona
JIM MARSHALL, Georgia                BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania
MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam          CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana              K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas
PATRICK J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania      DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado
HANK JOHNSON, Georgia                ROB WITTMAN, Virginia
CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire     MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut            DUNCAN HUNTER, California
DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa                 JOHN C. FLEMING, Louisiana
JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania             MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona          THOMAS J. ROONEY, Florida
NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts          TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania
GLENN NYE, Virginia
CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine
LARRY KISSELL, North Carolina
MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
FRANK M. KRATOVIL, Jr., Maryland
ERIC J.J. MASSA, New York
BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama
SCOTT MURPHY, New York
DAN BOREN, Oklahoma

                    Erin C. Conaton, Staff Director


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