[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H12167-H12168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THANKS AND APPRECIATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Fields] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise, as a 33-year-
old retiring Member of this distinguished body, filled with thanks and 
appreciation.
  I would first, Mr. Speaker, like to thank each Member of this great 
and prestigious body. I have never served in a body with such great 
Members, Members that care about people, Members that care about each 
other. And I want to thank the Members of this great institution for 
giving me the opportunity to serve with them.
  I also, Mr. Speaker, would like to thank my staff, who have worked so 
hard throughout the 4 years, or 3\1/2\ years, that we have had the 
opportunity to serve the people of Louisiana. The people on my staff 
have had the opportunity to solve over 7,000 cases, and we have had 
over 200 town hall meetings throughout the State of Louisiana. And 
without the staff that I have, we would not have been able to 
accomplish those goals.
  So I tonight, Mr. Speaker, would like to thank the many members of my 
congressional staff, who have worked so hard to serve the people of 
Louisiana.
  I would like to thank the staff throughout this Congress, from the 
security officers, Capitol Police, to the people who work at the desk 
to people who just work and do day-to-day things here in the House of 
Representatives.
  And I want to give special appreciation to Mr. Charlie Johnson, who 
is our Parliamentarian, who has worked so hard to keep the rules and 
regulations, the rules of the House, adhered to.
  I remember, Mr. Speaker, when I was first elected to this body, I was 
29 years of age and I had the opportunity, at the request of Speaker 
Foley, to serve as Speaker of the House, and Charlie received several 
phone calls. The phones

[[Page H12168]]

started to ring off the hook in the Parliamentarian's office, saying 
that a page was presiding over the House of Representatives.
  But I thank Charlie. All too often, people who work in the middle of 
the night, people who are seated in front of me, do not get the 
recognition that is due.
  And I want to thank the people of Louisiana. The people of Louisiana 
have been very good to me and my family. I was elected to office before 
I had the opportunity to serve in this great body. Nine years ago, the 
people of the 14th Senatorial District thought enough of me to elect me 
to the State Senate at the ripe age of 24.

  I thank the people of Louisiana for giving me the opportunity to 
serve not only in this Congress but for giving me the opportunity to 
serve at such a young age in this Congress as well as the State Senate 
of Louisiana. And I am so grateful that they put their trust and 
confidence in me at such a young age. So I am very grateful to the many 
people who have supported me throughout the years.
  And I want to give a special thanks to the Members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus. Before I went out into this Congress, Mr. 
Speaker and Members of the House, that body embraced me and took me 
under their wings and somewhat taught me the ropes of this great body 
and the way this body operates.
  The Congressional Black Caucus has been, and will always be perhaps, 
the conscience of this Congress, and perhaps it is the conscience of 
this country. And I want to thank the Members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus for their leadership.
  I want to thank my wife and my son for giving me the opportunity to 
fly to this great place and do the people's business of Louisiana.
  I want to thank, finally, Judge Leon Higginbotham, who worked so hard 
to keep me and Members like me in this body and in State legislatures 
all across this country.

                              {time}  2315

  I want to thank Leon Higginbotham for taking a case pro bono and 
trying to defend the civil rights of so many people across this country 
and also want to thank the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who have worked so 
hard to preserve civil rights for so many Americans. I want to thank 
the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights. I want to thank attorney Frank 
Garvin and attorney Earnest Johnson from Louisiana who fought so hard 
to keep people like me in elected office and protecting their 
constitutional rights.
  Lastly, I want to thank the Members of the Louisiana legislative 
black caucus who fought so hard for the creation of the district that I 
have had the opportunity to represent. I want to thank them for their 
hard work and for all that they have done.
  This, Mr. Speaker, tonight, is not a permanent retirement. In life, 
people change professions, some two, some three, some even seven times. 
This is a change of profession. I have enjoyed my service here in this 
Congress, and I am ready to move on and do other things. But this 
should not be viewed as a permanent retirement. It should be viewed as 
a temporary retirement with a certain return. I am only 33, and in 6 
years I plan to join this body again and hopefully I will have the 
opportunity to do that.

  Shakespeare once said that life is like a play, we all have an 
opportunity to go on stage and play our part and perform and do our 
very best while we are in the spotlight. Then after our act ends, we 
must exit the stage and let a new act begin.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that I have had an opportunity to do my job 
on this stage. I thank the people of Louisiana and thank you, Mr. 
Speaker, and thank each and every last Member of this great and 
distinguished body. I am not bitter leaving here tonight. This body has 
made me better.

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