[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H4125-H4126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SERVICE WORTHY TO BE REMEMBERED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica] is recognized during 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor to join my colleagues from 
Florida and also from across the United States to honor my colleague 
and my friend, Sam Gibbons. I came here, too, just 3 short years ago 
from a different party, from a different philosophy, but I have known 
Sam Gibbons for a number of years even before I was elected to this 
Congress, and I have always held him in the highest respect. So it is 
indeed a great honor for me to come before the House today to pay 
tribute to Sam Gibbons.
  Most people do not realize the difficulty of this job. As I said, I 
have only been here 3 years, and I served in the minority and I served 
in the majority, and you realize the burdens of responsibility coming 
and representing

[[Page H4126]]

the people of this great Nation and our great State and the tremendous 
personal sacrifice. Unless you have been there and done that, you just 
have no idea what it entails, the sacrifices for Sam personally, for 
Martha, his lovely wife, and for his family.
  But I have been here for 3 years and I have seen that he has been 
here for three decades and he has done that. So he deserves our praise 
and the credit, the thanks of a State, the thanks of his colleagues and 
the thanks of his Nation in this short tribute to him.
  Many people also see the conflict, and heaven knows we have had the 
conflict. Sam and I have gone at it on the floor here, and we both 
express our opinions and our viewpoints. But what is interesting, most 
people do not see, is that we come together. We come together for the 
State of Florida and for the country. That is the greatness of this 
institution, and certainly Sam does typify all those great traits and 
that coming together and that leadership.
  So we have, my colleagues, today an opportunity to honor a 
distinguished leader for many years of service, not just here, in our 
State House in Florida and, as I said, three decades of dedication in 
this great body.
  We have a distinguished veteran. He is a model for what made this 
country great in his service to his Nation, and we certainly owe him 
our debt of gratitude for his tremendous service as a veteran.
  Then, the part I said that is so important about Sam is his 
distinguished character as a family person. I know his family and his 
wife, and he is indeed a distinguished family man, which is so 
important. When all the other trappings of office leave us, you still 
have your family. He has certainly been a great family man, a 
distinguished family man, which I think is so important.
  So I join my other colleagues today in thanking him for his years of 
service, for caring about people. He is so sincere in his caring, not 
only for the people of Florida but for the entire country, and no 
matter where they came from or their persuasion or their standing in 
our society.
  I often look up here behind me at the top of the podium, the very top 
of the House Chamber, and remember the words of Daniel Webster. I first 
looked at them when I came here. Dan Webster actually asked the 
question when he served here, and his comment was whether we also in 
our day and generation may not perform something to be worthy to be 
remembered.
  Certainly, Sam, you have performed something worthy to be remembered, 
and you have served your generation and generations well. So I join my 
colleagues from the Florida delegation, from around the country, in 
saluting you today and thanking you for a job well done.

                          ____________________