[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1430
 
           ANNOUNCEMENT OF RETIREMENT OF HON. PHILIP R. SHARP

  (Mr. SHARP asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SHARP. Mr. Speaker, I want to let my constituents and my 
colleagues know that I will not be running for reelection. Having 
campaigned for Congress every other year since 1970, I am eager to 
spend this year working on health care reform and other vital issues--
for once--without the demands and distractions imposed by a campaign. 
And as much as I have enjoyed serving here for nearly 20 years, I am 
eager to move on to other challenges.
  I would like to seize this moment to say a few words about my family, 
my constituents, and the Congress.
  My family, like many congressional families has borne an unfair share 
of the burdens of public service and has received fewer of the 
satisfactions than I have. My wife and two sons certainly deserve my 
thanks.
  No one has had a more positive impact on my life and certainly on my 
thinking than my wife KK, better known to her readers as Marilyn. She 
passionately believes in the potential of each individual and is quick 
to fight any form of discrimination that curbs that potential. She has 
opened my eyes to the bigotry that many women face as mothers, as 
wives, as careerists.
  My oldest son, Jeremy, now 18, slept through his first State of the 
Union address in the House Gallery when he was 2 months old; but last 
week he was hanging on every word of the President's magnificent 
speech. I am most proud of his willingness to speak up for his 
convictions. I wish I had followed his example more often here in the 
Congress.
  My youngest son, Justin, now 12, was a freedom fighter at the age 
of two. Born on November 4, he has had his birthday disrupted every 2 
years by elections, I am very proud of the courage he so often 
demonstrates, far more than I ever did at his age.

  I hope my constituents already know that I consider it a great honor 
to represent them in Congress; I will certainly try to give them my 
best efforts for the remainder of this term. They are a wonderful group 
of Americans with diverse needs, diverse interests, and diverse ideas 
about how we should govern. Frankly, there are a few whose freedom of 
speech I would always defend--whom I would urge to make their speeches 
in the precincts of the devil where they should feel right at home.
  I want my constituents also to know that it is an honor to serve here 
because there are so many exceptional Representatives in both political 
parties--men and women who work very hard and in the face of intense 
pressures do an honest job for their constituents and our country. 
Frankly, there are a few who deserve only minimum high regard which is 
about all the rules of the House allow me to say.
  In this time of change and challenge to the Congress, there are, of 
course, useful reforms to be made. But there is no reform that can 
substitute for the character and the good will of the people who serve 
here. There are many Members of the House who meet those tests today.
  Congress is not a convent; it is not a tea party. It is the public 
arena where we battle over ideals and scrap over funding; where we 
champion just causes and represent regional interests. It is not always 
pretty or pleasant; but at the end of the day there are many decisions 
made that affect the lives of our people and the future of this 
country. It is this system of representation--so often misunderstood 
and too often denigrated by some of today's commentators--it is this 
system of representation that best assures that the people will control 
our Government.
  It is clear from history that the only real alternatives are anarchy 
where the people turn their guns on each other or dictatorship where 
the Government turns its guns on the people.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be a Member of the U.S. Congress.

                          ____________________