[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 31 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H931-H932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                BIPARTISAN RETREAT IN HERSHEY A SUCCESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Kind] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my colleagues 
in the House, both Republican and Democrat alike, who attended the 
bipartisan retreat in Hershey, PA, last weekend, but especially to 
commend the gentleman from Illinois, Republican Representative Ray 
LaHood, and the gentleman from Colorado, Democratic Representative 
David Skaggs, for their vision and all the hard work they put into 
making the retreat last weekend, I think, an unqualified success.
  I would also like to commend the political leadership of both 
parties, the gentleman from Georgia, Speaker Gingrich, and the 
gentleman from Missouri, Dick Gephardt, for their presence, without 
whom this whole attempt to try to find greater civility in the House of 
Representatives will not go anywhere.
  I also want to thank the Pew Charitable Trust and the Aspen Institute 
for investing in this retreat and making sure not one taxpayer dollar 
went for this retreat, and to give the Members a chance to explore 
civility.
  The premise for this historic gathering, unprecedented in our 
Nation's history, was very simple, and that is for any legislature to 
function, its members must have a level of trust and understanding of 
one another. That trust can only develop when the members have an 
opportunity to get to know one another a little bit better, as people, 
and outside the partisan political arena.
  When people know each other and their spouses and their children, 
they are less likely to let policy differences turn into personal 
animosity or hostility or to question one another's motives. In short, 
it is a lot harder to demonize someone when you know them on an 
individual and personal level.
  Over 200 Members came together in an attempt to explore ways in which 
to bring greater civility to the House of Representatives. No 
legislative business was conducted, no political games, just Members 
and their families taking time to get together, to get to know one 
another a little better, and to examine the environment in the House of 
Representatives and figure out how we can do the Nation's work at a 
level of decorum that this great democracy deserves.
  This was not a hug-fest. We continue to recognize that there will be 
deep, passionate policy differences between the parties. I think 
today's debate on the House resolution was a classic example, and we 
have no desire to blur those distinctions. Conflict in Congress is 
unavoidable, and the Nation is well served by healthy and vigorous 
debate. In fact, it is crucial to the functioning of this democracy.
  The retreat, rather, was about handling those disagreements 
constructively and honoring our democracy with debates that are more 
civil, more respectful and, ultimately, more productive; in short, to 
explore ways where we can disagree without being disagreeable.
  To build upon the future, we have to have knowledge of the past. 
History teaches us that when we unite as a country for a grand purpose 
there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. It was altogether fitting 
that during the course of the retreat some of us Members took time to 
tour the Gettysburg National Battlefield. That is the site

[[Page H932]]

where the northern and southern armies met by chance during 3 days in 
July 1863 and engaged in the largest military battle in the Western 
Hemisphere. When the armies marched away, they left behind more than 
51,000 dead, wounded, or missing soldiers in a battle that many 
historians believed determined the fate of the Nation. These were men 
who in President Lincoln's words gave their last full measure of 
devotion so this Nation might endure.
  I wanted to especially thank National Park Service employee Eric 
Campbell for his terrific guided tour of the battlefield. In fact, he 
described in vivid detail the battle over Little Round Top, which many 
military historians felt was the crucial ingredient to the outcome of 
the battle. During that battle there was a lieutenant by the name of 
Joshua Campbell, who was trying to hold the high ground for the 
Northern army, the strategic high ground. And when his men ran out of 
ammunition, they had two options that they faced: Either retreat and 
give up the high ground, and perhaps forfeit the strategic battleground 
and possibly the entire military conflict; or to charge ahead. And they 
opted to lead a bayonet charge down the hill, which swept off the 
Confederate forces and saved the day for the Union Army there.
  When we think about the sacrifices that the men gave on that 
battlefield, what they gave for their country, and then to ask the 
House to, in a more civil way, conduct this Nation's business, I do not 
think that is a lot to ask from us as representatives of the country.
  Perhaps that is why the institution has become more uncivil recently. 
We forget this is not about us as Members or as individuals. It is 
really about the country, about all of us in this Nation, those who 
came before us, those who will come after us, our children and our 
children's children.
  It is perhaps when we start thinking of it in personal terms that we 
begin acting aggressive, defensive and rude, all those things that 
everybody does when we feel threatened. This is not about us as 
individual Members, it is rather about this great country, everybody, 
who have come together to fight for the principles this country was 
founded on.
  All of us, I think, crave to be part of something larger than 
ourselves, which is probably why most of us ran for the House of 
Representatives to begin with. That is why we have families, why we 
participate in church, join organizations, just to be a part of 
something significant, noble, decent, and right.
  There is no simple cure for the incivility we see too often in 
American society, just as there is no simple cure for the rancor and 
mistrust in the House at times.

                              {time}  1745

  Last weekend's retreat is no panacea but it is a start. As Members of 
Congress, we have an enormous responsibility to the Nation. Our country 
deserves better from all of us, but we look upon our leaders to set the 
standard, as we should, and with some luck and good will, what has 
begun last weekend will help us better meet that great responsibility 
to the Nation.

                          ____________________