[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1315
              PARTING REMARKS BY THE HONORABLE SAM GIBBONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weller). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Gibbons] is 
recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this every much. First I want 
to thank my colleague, Ms. Brown, for arranging this and her staff for 
doing all of this. I realize that many Members could not be here today 
and have submitted their remarks for the Record, for which I am most 
grateful. I am very grateful, too, for those who were able to show up 
today and pay me this honor. I am very proud that my wife, Martha, is 
here in the gallery to my left hearing all of this. I an overwhelmed by 
it. I do not deserve it all, but I darn sure appreciate every bit of 
it.
  This is not my last speech, and for that many of you can take a deep 
breath, because I am sure there are going to be many more battles in 
which we will agree and disagree, and I intend to participate in them.
  I retire now because I think it is time to do so. I have enjoyed 
every minute of the service I have been privileged to have for my 
constituents and for the American people.

  I am proud of the Congress. Oftentimes the Congress is misunderstood. 
We do not deal with the easy issues, and Americans really do not like 
conflict and they do not like us to express differences of opinion. 
They are very uncomfortable when they do that. Therefore, the Congress 
is often misjudged.
  This is a group of very dedicated people and vary skillful people, 
and people who have deep convictions about what they are doing. It 
takes a lot of patience to understand them and to tolerate the 
differences in views, but we must do that. That is democracy in action. 
That is what America is all about.
  I have become acquainted with most of the other parliamentary bodies 
on Earth, and none has the responsibility or the power that is 
possessed by the Congress, and particularly by the House of 
Representatives of the Congress. That is a form of government that most 
other nations have looked at and have decided not to adopt, for one 
reason or another, but I think it has served our country well for all 
these years. It will always be a tremendous privilege to me to look 
back and say I was able to participate in all that deliberation and all 
that work.
  Martha and I will go to a new career. I am not exactly sure what it 
is going to be. I hope to teach a little. I hope to practice law with 
my sons a little. I hope to come back up here and work with some of my 
colleagues and all of my colleagues on two particular issues that I am 
interested in. One is keeping the markets of the world open, because I 
believe that nations that trade with each other do not end up fighting 
each other, and I think it is good for America and good for the world 
that we keep the markets of the world open. I am proud of the small 
contributions I have made in that.
  The other is to do something about our revenue system. America cannot 
afford the terrible revenue system that we now have. It is not that the 
tax burden is so high on Americans; it is the clumsy way in which we 
collect the taxes that really irritates the Americans.
  Frankly, our misunderstood tax system extracts less on a per capita 
basis from our people than the tax systems of 25 other industrialized 
nations who inhabit this globe. But our very clumsy system of 
collecting taxes makes it a heavy burden for all of us to carry. That 
needs to be changed, because we cannot remain competitive, we cannot 
maintain our standard of living, unless we change our tax system, 
unless we keep our markets open, unless we educate our people, because 
from the brains and the bodies of our people comes the strength of our 
country and the standard of living which we all love to have and which 
is going to be more and more difficult to maintain.
  So I get ready to leave here at the end of this term in a happy frame 
of mind and, fortunately, in good health, and very, very grateful for 
the friendships, for the experience, and for what I was allowed to do 
while here.
  Martha and I love this place. We love the people. We love the staff 
and all those who work around here. Particularly we are grateful to 
those people who elected us year after year after year and allowed us 
to serve here.
  Thank you, and God bless America.

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