[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H12178-H12179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          A SPECIAL THANK YOU

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weldon] is recognized 
for 10 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening for a 
brief period of time to say thank you. Today is my first day back in 
the session after approximately 3 weeks of recovering, becoming a 
member of what is known as the zipper club. Never would I have thought 
that at the age of 48 I would have to undergo open heart surgery, but I 
did. And I am here to say thank you to a lot of people who made my past 
3 weeks very worthwhile and profitable and who certainly helped me in a 
period of need.

                              {time}  2145

  Let me first of all say, Mr. Speaker, that it was 3 weeks ago last 
Friday, after I had gone to the House Physician, Dr. John Eisold, who I 
have the highest respect for, and told him that I thought I had a 
fullness in my chest and sought some advice from him, that he suggested 
I go to the Bethesda Naval Hospital even though I reside in 
Pennsylvania. I took his advice that night after taking a stress test 
under his supervision and the supervision of Dr. David Ferguson, a Navy 
officer and physician at the Bethesda, and they realized a very 
abnormal EKG, and therefore the next day should undergo a 
catheterization process. I did that, Mr. Speaker, on that Friday 
morning and by 12 noon was under the surgeon's knife because of the 
need to conduct a surgery immediately. It turned out that I had 95-
percent blockage of my main artery. Doctor Edward Zeck actually 
performed the surgery, and he also was a Navy physician and someone who 
I also hold with the highest respect.
  Mr. Speaker, here I am 3\1/2\ weeks later, able to come to the House 
floor and carry on the business of representing my constituents, and 
here I am in full health again, on the road to recovery, in fact 15 
pounds lighter, although I would not suggest to any of my colleagues 
that this be a way that you lose weight.
  But the reason I take the floor tonight, Mr. Speaker, is to thank 
some people; first of all to thank the Navy personnel who day in and 
day out provide health care for our enlisted personnel. I, as a Member 
of Congress stuck in Washington, had no place to go, and because of the 
recommendation of Dr. Eisold, I was referred to Bethesda. I received 
outstanding treatment, the same type of treatment that the people in 
the rooms next to me received, all of whom were enlisted personnel. 
There is nothing that I can say or do to make the case for the support 
for the medical services of our military personnel because they were 
just phenomenal.
  I also want to thank God, Mr. Speaker, because without his counsel 
and guidance and without the prayer of many of my constituents and 
colleagues in this body perhaps I would not have been able to avoid 
what the surgeons referred to as the widowmaker, the widowmaker being a 
95-percent blockage that I had in my main descending artery. I want to 
thank my colleagues from this body who called, sent letters and cards, 
and who made their wishes known from both sides of the aisle. It 
certainly helped in my recovery. I want to thank my staff, my friends.

  I want to thank my family, my wife and five children, who put up with 
my past 3 weeks at home while watching C-SPAN, day and night, wishing I 
could be here getting involved in the issues of the day. I also want to 
thank my constituents who I think understand that I had to take some 
time off to recover to be able to be back here today to vote on the 
very important things that are coming before us in this session of 
Congress.
  But, Mr. Speaker, I also rise today, besides thanking many people 
including the good Navy folks at Bethesda, I rise to encourage my 
colleagues who sometimes, oftentimes, get caught up in the business of 
representing their constituents, to make sure they take time to look 
out for their own health. I did not. I never thought at 48 years old 
that I would be a prime candidate for open heart surgery. But because 
of all that fast food, all of those 18-hour days, all of those 7-day-a-
week efforts, I did not take time to watch out for myself.
  So I come to the floor today to ask my colleagues from both sides of 
the aisle to take time out to check their own medical condition, to 
make sure that they take advantage of the medical technology that is 
out there today to have the kinds of success that I had in avoiding 
what would have been a catastrophic heart attack if I had not taken 
preventive efforts 3\1/2\ weeks ago.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I rise with a heart filled with thanks and a heart 
that is filled with energy, ready to go and take on the battles, and I 
take time out from this heavy debate here on the 

[[Page H 12179]]
floor to say thank you to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for 
their thoughts, their cards, their prayers, and for being my friends.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. KINGSTON. Please, would you? If the gentleman would yield to me, 
I would request that our colleagues speak under unanimous-consent 
agreement. I would greatly appreciate that because this is our hour, 
and we would like to make a few discussions. But I would certainly 
yield for unanimous-consent agreement.
  Mr. HOYER. Can I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman's hour be 
extended by whatever period of time I take? I do not know whether that 
is an appropriate unanimous-consent request, but that is the unanimous-
consent request I make.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Barr of Georgia). I am not sure that 
would be in order, but certainly the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
continues to have the floor.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 4 minutes remaining.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I certainly will accommodate our friend from 
Georgia, but let me say, as someone who has worked very, very closely 
with the gentleman from Pennsylvania for many, many years, he has been 
the leader in this Congress on the formation, and the growth, and 
flourishing of the Fire Service Caucus. He has been a leader in foreign 
affairs, a leader on the Committee on Armed Services, and a leader in 
so many other efforts on behalf of his constituents and on behalf of 
this country.
  I want him to, however, in this period of time when we are--because 
he is such an able Member--when we are contending so heartily here, Mr. 
Speaker, I want him to rest, and I want him to take care of himself, 
not work those 7 days a week, 20-hour days that he has been working, 
and I want to say we welcome you back on this side of the aisle.
  I have often said that it is unfortunate that people see us on this 
floor usually contending about the 20 percent of the issues that are 
contentious and we have disagreements on, and they sometimes, I think, 
believe that we do not interact with one another as human beings, as 
colleagues, and as people who care about this country and work together 
on an overwhelming majority of issues to make our country a better 
place for our children, our constituents, and all Americans, and so I 
join with, I know, my other colleagues in welcoming Curt Weldon from 
Pennsylvania back to the House. We share his joy and the joy of his 
family that the genius of medical technology has enabled him to come 
back whole and indeed from those with whom I have talked to have had 
this operating feeling much better than he did before, and I am 
confident that he is going to continue to be one of the most able, 
involved, effective Members in this body.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. I thank my colleague.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

  Mr. ROEMER. I just want to welcome you back. I think around here we 
are not bipartisan enough, and certainly the bipartisanship on the 
Democratic side extends to this Republican Member, Mr. Weldon from 
Pennsylvania.
  I know a lot of firefighters in the Third District of Indiana were 
praying for you, for your good health, and we are delighted to see you 
back, and we miss some of that fiery speech making that you give on the 
floor as well, too.
  So, welcome back.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin 
[Mr. Obey].
  Mr. OBEY. I simply would like to welcome the gentleman back also, and 
I say that his comments remind me of the late Claude Pepper when Claude 
came back after open heart surgery. I heard him at a senior citizen 
convention. They gave him a big round of applause, and he said, ``I 
want to thank you from the bottom of a very repaired heart.''
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues.

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