[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 2 (Thursday, January 5, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              CONTRACT WITH AMERICA: THE PEOPLE'S CONTRACT

  (Mr. HEINEMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HEINEMAN. Mr. Speaker, My name is Fred Heineman, from the Fourth 
Congressional District in North Carolina. You will never detect a 
southern dialect in my speech because I was born and bred in the Bronx. 
The people of North Carolina did not concern themselves with where I 
lived or whether I was a Republican or Democrat when they recruited me 
from the NYPD to be their chief of police. Nor did any citizen ever ask 
me if I was a Republican or Democrat when I responded to a 911 call. 
Likewise, I did not ask them if they were a Republican or Democrat when 
I responded to their call for assistance.
  As a freshman Member of Congress I am privileged to serve with my 
colleagues who come here from professional life, to wit: three doctors, 
a dentist, a veterinarian, several lawyers, and others in various 
professions. I am sure that they were not asked what their political 
commitments were when questioned about serving their clients.
  Having conducted a cursory study of the background of my colleagues 
across the aisle, I find I am privileged to be in the company of 
professionals who I am sure are committed to working for the good of 
the people. So I see 435 legislators coming from various backgrounds to 
deal with the business of the people of this country as well as to 
impact profoundly on the rest of the world. Must we change and be other 
than ourselves when we come to Congress? Can we resist our commitments 
when we were first elected to this body and work for the people without 
regard to politics. I look at the Contract With America as the people's 
contract and for them to join us in the fufillment of the people's 
agenda for change.
  I look forward to bipartisanship.

                          ____________________