[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 52 (Tuesday, May 2, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H2387-H2393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO THE COLORADO STATE LEGISLATURE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 1999, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. McINNIS. Madam Speaker, as the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Cummings) knows, I have an hour and I would be happy to yield to the
gentleman up to 5 minutes so he could conclude his statement. I think
the issue that he is speaking about is very important. I yield up to 5
minutes to the gentleman.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
McInnis) for yielding.
Second, we must come to an understanding that all sectors and all
spheres of society have to be involved as equal persons in combatting
this crisis. The health sector cannot meet this challenge on its own,
nor can one government or one nation.
So it is imperative that we have a collective global effort to
increase international AIDS spending in Africa. This collective effort
must also make vaccine research and development a priority and secure
access to treatment for infected individuals. We must encourage
pharmaceutical companies to reduce the percentage of spending on
marketing and advertising and instead reduce drug prices and increase
expenditures on patient assistance programs.
Passage of H.R. 3519, the World Bank AIDS Marshall Trust Act, would
be an important step towards these goals. This legislation calls for
the governments of key nations, the private sector, and nongovernmental
entities to partner in the creation of a Marshall Fund to eliminate
AIDS. The fund would provide $1 billion over 5 years for research,
prevention, and treatment.
I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and the gentleman
from Iowa (Mr. Leach) for having the foresight to introduce this
measure. When the history of our time is written, it will record the
collective efforts of societies responding to a threat that has put in
the balance the future of whole nations. Future generations will judge
us on the adequacy of our response.
One of my mentors, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago, has
stated many times, ``In my time and in my space, I will make a
difference with God's grace.''
And so, Madam Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 3519 for this is our
space, and this is our time; and we must make a difference with God's
grace. With that, I yield back; and I thank the gentleman from Colorado
for yielding.
Mr. McINNIS. Madam Speaker, I can tell my colleagues as many have
experienced themselves personally, the great time in my life that I
served in the State legislature, the State of which I represent here in
the United States Congress.
Being able to serve in the State House of Representatives for the
State of Colorado meant a great deal to me. I was honored to be elected
by the people of the 57th district of the State of Colorado to serve
five terms. I had the opportunity to go and serve as the chairman of a
committee and ended my career in the State House of Representatives as
majority leader.
During that period of time, I established lifetime friendships with
fellow legislators on both sides of the aisle. By political design, the
activity that we have in Congress in Washington is dramatically
different than the type of system that we operate at least in the State
of Colorado. In Colorado, for example, we have what we call ``instant
voting.'' Now, why do I bring up the facts to my colleagues of instant
voting? Because I want to explain what that leads to.
It leads to strong friendships. Why? Because instant voting such as
we have in the State of Colorado requires that all of the State
legislators, and I speak generically, the State senators as well, have
to be on the House floor at the time that the voting machine is opened,
as compared to the United States Congress here in the House of
Representatives where we have a minimum of 15 minutes on most votes, 5
if it is a subsequent vote, to come to the House floor and cast our
vote.
{time} 2015
As a result of that here, we do not mill as a group for a very long
period of time.
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Under the rules of the Colorado House of Representatives, the
Colorado State Senate, they in fact work with each other and stand
around, sit by each other throughout the entire voting process. As a
result of that, they have moments where they get to know the person
sitting to their right or the person sitting to their left. They have
an opportunity to stand in the back of the chambers and have a cup of
coffee with a Democrat or a Republican or somebody from the city or
somebody from the rural areas of the State of Colorado.
It is very easy to really bring together strong friendships that last
throughout a person's political career and throughout a person's
personal career. I was privileged to be fortunate enough to be able to
do that.
I also want to point out, as many of my colleagues obviously know,
here in the United States Congress, we have to travel great distances,
and our travel is very, very extensive. The district that I represent
in the State of Colorado is actually geographically larger than the
State of Florida. My travel is extensive.
But in the State legislature, one does not have those kinds of
traveling requirements. In the Colorado State legislature, one has more
opportunity to get to know each other. In the Colorado State
legislature, they have 65 members. In the United States Congress, we
have 435 in the House, and we have 100 in the Senate. In the Senate in
the State of Colorado, they have 35 members.
So simply by the fact that they have a smaller number of people, it
is easier to make lasting and strong friendships. That is what I did.
Tonight, I stand here in front of my colleagues talking about a few
of those good friends that I made. I am also going to talk about a few
fine legislators whom I did not know as well but who are concluding
their service for the State of Colorado.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the last day that the Colorado State
legislature has in session. In Colorado, we have a 120-day limitation.
So the legislature can only meet for 120 days. We also have in Colorado
term limitations. We have a number of people who are subject to term
limitations who will be leaving office or serving their last
legislative day tomorrow.
So with the patience of my colleagues, I am going to go through some
of the names of some of these people, talk just a little bit about
them, because it is kind of special for me to be back here talking to
my colleagues, Madam Speaker, as U.S. Congressmen about some people
that are very exceptional people in the State of Colorado.
Let me begin with a long-time friend of mine, the speaker of the
House in the State of Colorado. His name is Russell George. His wife's
name is Neal. They have a fine, fine family.
Russ has impressed me over the years because, number one, no matter
whether one agrees with him or disagrees with him, no matter what one
thinks of his political leanings on one day or his political leanings
on another day, there has never been a question about Russell George's
integrity. His integrity is second to none in the State of Colorado.
Now, in the State of Colorado, we have waited for over 20 years on
the western side of the State to get a speaker of the House. Russ
George became our speaker from western Colorado. Unfortunately, under
the term limitations, he could only be the speaker for 240 legislative
days. So despite his qualifications, despite his remarkable career, he
is out, automatically shoveled out of the Colorado State capitol.
Now Russ has served 8 years in the 57th district. Russ is an attorney
at law. He is recognized in the legal community for his capabilities
and his exceptional knowledge of the law. He is also recognized in the
legal community for his ability to sway in the courtroom. See, he is
well known. He is soft spoken, but he is well spoken.
In the Colorado State House of Representatives, he has earned
compliments from both sides of the aisle for his fairness and for his
leadership. I am confident that after Russ leaves the State House of
Representatives in Colorado, that there will be a number of golden
opportunities for the people, for him, but for the people who might be
lucky enough to retain his services in some way or another.
Russ dealt with a number of tough issues. His latest issue was the
Gas and Oil Commission. Now, whether one agrees or not in the State of
Colorado with what the speaker of the House attempted to do with the
Oil and Gas Commission, the fact is the intensity of his work was
reflected even up to the last few days that he served as a legislator.
He is to be commended.
I stand in front of all my colleagues tonight, almost all of whom
have never met Russell George and would say to each and every one of
them, I hope that they some time have the opportunity to at least meet
him. I have had the absolute privilege of considering him one of my
best friends for many, many, many years.
We have others who are leaving the Colorado House and the Colorado
Senate. Debbie Allen. Debbie Allen is a friend of mine. Debbie was
elected in 1992. She has worked hard. Some of her key issues have been
crime, law enforcement obviously falls into that category, and
education issues.
Debbie's husband Bob has been very faithful and good; faithful,
meaning that he has been a good supporter. As my colleagues know, to be
a State legislator, one has got to have a spouse that is pretty
understanding. One has got to have a spouse that is ready to stand by
one for those late night hours and the intensity that that job has for
that 120-day period. Bob did that.
Debbie served as the chairman of the Education Committee. Madam
Speaker, in the State of Colorado this year, education has been an
especially tough issue. Now, education has always been a priority of
the Republican Party and of the Democratic Party in Colorado. But this
year the Republicans really led the fight on more funding for
education. Debbie was the chairman of that committee.
She is the owner and the manager of a company called Custom Data
Services. She served as a secretary, vice chairman, and chairman of the
Arapahoe County Republican Party. She has been a Republican activist.
But I can tell my colleagues, as a Republican activist, she still
crosses the aisle. She considers many Democrats her friends.
She was the President of Aurora Republican forum, and she was awarded
the Junior League Champion for Small Children Award.
Now, Debbie is not totally leaving the legislature. She is going to
make a run for the Colorado State Senate, but her years in the State
House of Representative are much appreciated.
I want to talk just for a moment here about another friend of mine,
and that is representative Bob Hagedorn. Bob was elected in 1992. He
was named as the CACI business legislator of the year, and his key
issues have been education, reform, and health care.
Bob has faced a pretty tough challenge in the last few years, and he
overcame that challenge. While I may not necessarily agree with my
friend Bob on a number of different issues in the political arena, I
can tell my colleagues I consider him my friend, and I admire him for
his courage to overcome the challenges that faced him.
Representative Dorothy Gotlieb. Dorothy is a great person. She is an
aggressive, aggressive legislator. She works very hard on the issues of
the budget. She served as a member of the Denver Board of Education for
6 years, and she was the President for the Denver Board of Education
for 2 years. She served as a member of the State Board of Education for
6 years and 2 years as chairman.
As a member of the Denver Public Schools Athletic League Hall of
Fame, she won many different education awards. Dorothy is well known
for her expertise in education. She is also known for how hard she
pushes to make children the highest priority of State legislative
issues.
She obviously was on the Education Committee. She served on the
Transportation and the Energy Committee in the State legislature. She
served on Criminal Justice. She worked hard on Small Business and
efficient in Accountable Government issues.
She, too, is running for the State Senate, but she wraps up her days
tomorrow in the State House. I can tell my colleagues something,
Dorothy has done a great job. I want my colleagues to know that I hope
they someday have the privilege of getting to meet all of these people
of which I am trying to
[[Page H2389]]
give them some reference to this evening.
Representative Ken Gordon. Ken has done a good job as the House
minority leader. Minority leader. I am a Republican. But I can tell my
colleagues I respect Ken for his efforts as a minority leader. He has
been strong for the Democrats. He stood up on a number of different
issues. Ken is also known for his straightforwardness. He had success
in his plain language law, which he passed. He was elected in 1992. Ken
has done a good job.
I will talk about my good friend Bill Kaufman. Bill is a special guy
to me. Bill was appointed to a vacancy in 1993, and he was elected time
after time after time since then. He served as chairman of the
Judiciary Committee and was a member of the Legal Services Committee.
Currently my friend Bill is the Speaker Pro-Temp.
Bill served as an attorney in the Loveland area. He has a good
reputation, a strong reputation in the Loveland area for his
capabilities in the field of law and for his honesty in that field.
He is very active in the Republican party. He was chairman of the
Dole-Kemp campaign in 1996. He coordinated the campaigns of people like
Senator Armstrong, Senator Hank Brown, Senator Wayne Allard.
He was named in 1996 as the Legislator of the Year. That is a great
honor. CACI and the American Planning Association gave him awards in
that regard. He got awards from the Social Legislation Committee and
the Colorado Sheriff's Association. He has been very active in
education, transportation, and prisons.
Now, the reason Bill is such a good friend is, over the years, I have
had a number of tough issues, even as late as last week where I took
issues that we work with on this House floor. As my colleagues know,
real government is at the local level. That is where the best
government is is at the local level. We really should serve more of a
perfunctory role. We have duties in regards to defense and in regards
to commerce and international trade, but the real government is at the
local level.
One can always go to Bill and sit down with Bill and discuss issues
or even conflicts between the Federal government and the State
government. He would listen, and if he felt that one's position had
good merit, not necessarily popular merit, but good merit, he would
get behind one.
I am going to miss Bill in the Colorado State House of
Representatives. He has got a lot of good years ahead of him. He is a
young man, and his career has just gotten off to a start. Tomorrow will
be his last day as well, and he is to be congratulated.
I also want to talk about his wife Diana. I will tell my colleagues
she is quite a lady, and obviously Bill could not have done this
without her.
I will talk about Representative Ron May. Ron May is a good friend of
mine. He was out in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I wish my colleagues
could meet Ron. Ron is very good on transportation issues. He was
elected to the House in 1992. He also has worked very hard on the
technological capabilities.
As my colleagues know, I think, as I have spoken before, I think we
are in the second industrial revolution in this country when it comes
to the Internet. Here is an individual, Ron May, who helps take elected
officials like my colleagues and I, and try and bring us up to speed on
some of these technological issues.
He served on the city council before he went to the State
legislature; and as we all know, that is pretty good training ground.
He sponsored a number of bills on workers' compensation, unemployment
insurance, highway speed limits, right-to-work law and information
systems.
He and his wife Onilla are good people. I will tell my colleagues
something, Ron has done a great job for the people of the State of
Colorado, and I hope my colleagues have an opportunity to meet him at
some point.
Representative Maryanne Keller. Maryanne I do not know well, but I
know about her. She was elected in 1992. She cosponsored standards in
education legislation, and she is a special education teacher. I have
heard more about the representative of her teaching capabilities. They
have been very positive. They have been very strong.
As I understand it, she is exactly the kind of person that we want
teaching. But she is an excellent teacher, and I also understand, of
course, that she did an excellent job or did a good job on education
issues. She did an excellent job as a State representative. She, too,
will be leaving us.
Same with Representative Ben Clarke. Ben was appointed in 1994. His
key issues have been health care. Why are they health care issues?
Because Representative Clarke is a retired doctor. He is one of the few
doctors we have in the State legislature. Instead of leaving and living
a cushy life of retirement, he decided that he would become active in
the State legislature, especially in regards to health care issues.
As many of my colleagues on the House floor know this evening, these
health care issues are predominant, predominant on our agenda. I can go
on and on. I would like to get into another subject and talk about the
Republican health plan for prescription services and talk about what we
are trying to do to get good health care delivery out in our country.
We already have good health care delivery, but better health care
delivery.
But I want to come back to Ben. He is also a veteran. He served in
the war in Korea. Ben was a good legislator. Tomorrow is his last day.
Again, I hope my colleagues have an opportunity to shake his hand
someday.
{time} 2030
Representative Andy McElhany. Andy is from Colorado Springs. Andy is
probably one of the most energetic, dedicated, focused guys I have met.
Andy was chairman of the State, Veterans and Military Affairs
Committee. He served on the Colorado Springs Park and Recreational
Advisory Board. In fact, he was the board chairman. He was a real
estate broker. Has a strong reputation for integrity and
professionalism in the real estate field in Colorado. He is the
Colorado Library Association Legislator of the Year, the Colorado Union
of Taxpayers' Friend of Taxpayer, and the Associated Press' Outstanding
Legislator.
He was the sponsor of the ``Deadbeat Parent'' bill, denying driver's
licenses to parents not paying child support. And talk about something
that gets people to pay child support, as Andy told his colleagues and
as Andy told me, tell them they are not going to get their driver's
license. Most people gasp at that. They say, well, how do they get to
work. But the fact is very few people will ever let their license go
like that if they have the option of paying off that child support. It
works. Andy convinced me of it, and he has proven it.
He worked, obviously, on other areas regarding health care reform,
transportation, government efficiency, and tax reform. Andy has done an
excellent job as a representative in the Colorado House of
Representatives.
Representative Gloria Lebya, appointed in 1995 and elected in 1996.
She was active with the Bobby Kennedy campaign in 1968.
She has been a champion and worked very hard with healthy
communities. Communities and the centrifuge of how communities come
together in regards to community activities has been where she has
devoted a lot of her energy.
Again, one of the people who, obviously, I know. I have met with her.
I do not know her that well, but I speak about her based on her
reputation, and it is a good reputation. So it is easy to speak of her,
and I wish her the very best in her future.
Representative Gary McPherson. Gary is a dedicated guy. I have known
Gary for some time. He was appointed in 1994 to the Colorado State
House. He was a member of the Appropriations and Judiciary Committees.
He is an attorney at law, practiced for a number of years with
Kissinger and Fellman, a professional corporation.
He was the vice chairman and the board member of the Arapahoe County
Recreation District. He was a CACI Legislator of the Year and the
recipient of the Aurora Public Schools' Superintendents' award.
He has dealt with legislation regarding minors and smoking. Gary has
really focused on the problems that we have with smoking and minors.
Later on, if I have the opportunity to finish what I am doing here, I
would like to talk a little about how smoking impacts our minor
children in this country.
[[Page H2390]]
Here is a guy right here, Gary, that that was a big issue for him;
and he was really recognized as a leader in the Colorado Legislature as
somebody who had good capable facts on what we do with that problem of
our young people smoking, of our young people becoming addicted to
tobacco, which every one of us in this Chamber knows is a killer. So I
hand it to him. He deserves a big star for that one.
He also worked quite aggressively on education, crime, and welfare
reform. Gary's done an excellent job in the Colorado House.
Representative Marcy Morrison. Now, Marcy is a character. People like
Marcy. She has been very active. Her husband, Howard, is, in my
opinion, an excellent guy, a good supporter. She used to be an El Paso
County commissioner, and she enjoyed a strong reputation down there in
El Paso County for the job she did. She is tough. She is tough, but she
has some humor about her. And it is good to see somebody who is tough
and holds the line but can smile and sit down and have a cup of coffee
with you after the debate.
She served on the Committees of Health, Environment, Welfare and
Institutions and Judiciary. She also served on the State of Colorado
Board of Health. She sponsored the Post Delivery Care for Stays in
Hospitals and immunization for more Colorado children, a pilot program
to evaluate health care costs concerning children. She has done an
excellent job. She cares and has been very active on the health care
issues for seniors, the disabled, and child care.
Marcy has done an excellent job, and she is also one of the people,
if any of my colleagues ever go to Colorado and are down in El Paso
County, they will hear about Marcy Morrison and they will want to meet
her after they hear about her. She is that kind of person.
Representative Penn Pfiffner. Penn was elected in 1992. His wife,
Karen, is obviously a spouse who is supportive of the issues she has
taken on.
Penn is aggressive. He is tough. I would say that he is probably one
of the more conservative members of the House. He is conservative
especially when it comes to these economic issues and on social issues
as well. But he is particularly astute on economic issues.
He served as an officer in the United States Navy. He served on the
Utility Consumer Advisory Board. He has proposed legislation on
everything from prison reform to education alternatives to
privatization and transportation deregulation.
He currently serves as a consulting economist to construction and
real estate industries. He served, obviously, on the Finance Committee.
He served on the Legislative Audit and the State, and the Veterans and
Military Affairs Committees.
Penn has given good service to the State of Colorado.
I want to visit about another good friend of mine, Senator Dorothy
Rupert. Dorothy and I go back a long, long ways. I want to tell a
special story about Dorothy and I.
Years ago, she and I came back to Washington, DC, with a group of
individuals, other State legislators; and it was the first time that I
had ever seen the Vietnam Memorial wall. Obviously, for my generation,
the generation of most of us in this room, that Vietnam Memorial wall
has a very special feeling; a sad feeling, a warm feeling, a feeling of
pleasure that these people have been recognized. All of those feelings
were brought out by Dorothy Rupert.
And I will never forget, as long as I have the mental capability to
remember, I will never forget that evening. It was a cold evening, but
the sun had been shining that day. And as Dorothy and I went up to the
Vietnam Memorial wall, and as my colleagues know it is black granite,
it had absorbed that sunlight. And even though there was a cold wind,
the sun had just gone down; and that wall emitted warmth because it had
stored it up from the sunshine during the day. It was as if the
soldiers being recognized by that wall once again stood up to help
protect us, keep us warm from that cold wind going down through there.
Dorothy was appointed to the State senate in 1995. She obviously
served honorably in the State House of Representatives before that. She
has worked very extensively on hate crime issues. She is a high school
teacher. She is a counselor. And I can tell my colleagues that there
were a number of issues that Dorothy and I voted on the opposite side
of, but never once did I consider myself really adversarial to Dorothy
Rupert. She is the kind of person who has the type of personality that
does not disarm someone to a disadvantage. The feeling, I guess, is one
of professionalism, the debates that she gets into.
She is recognized by her colleagues as a person who is very caring.
She has a heart many, many times the size of her body. Dorothy has
served the State of Colorado very well, and her friendship is something
that is very special to me.
Now, let me talk about one of my western people, representative Jack
Taylor. Jack's done a great job for western Colorado. Jack comes from
Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He was elected in 1992. His wife, Geneva,
and I go back a long ways as well. She has been very active, and Jack's
been very active in the party.
But Jack understands agricultural issues. Jack knows about Colorado
water. As I have said many times from this podium, Colorado's water is
very unique compared to most States in the Nation. In Colorado, our
State is the only State where all of our water goes out. We have no
free-flowing water that comes into the State of Colorado for our use.
So as a result of that, those water resources are very precious.
We do not get much rain in Colorado. It is an arid State. We depend
on our snow fall and spring runoff. Spring runoff does not last all
year long. It lasts about 65 to 90 days. We just started it in
Colorado. This means if we do not have the capability to store water,
we are in a lot of trouble in Colorado. And there are a lot of
organizations that want to make sure there are no storage projects on
our rivers; that want to make sure there are no diversions from the
streams. Well, that is the only way we can survive out in the West. It
does not rain in the West like it rains in the East.
Jack Taylor knows that. And Jack Taylor has understood that for a
long time. And Jack Taylor has been a good part of the team, lead,
frankly, by Rus George, on the water issues back there in the State
legislature in Colorado.
He was chairman of the Business Affairs and Labor Committee; served
on the Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee and the
Legislative Audit Committee. He was a businessman for 30 years in
Steamboat. He was named Business Legislator of the Year. He earned the
Guardian of Small Business Awards and the NFIB, which is the National
Federation of Independent Businesses, Colorado Legislator of the Year.
Jack worked very hard to get equal access to telecommunications
state-of-the-art technology throughout Colorado. As many of my
colleagues know that represent rural districts throughout the United
States, we are concerned. We do not want to get behind the eight ball
in this second industrial revolution on the Internet. We need
technological advancements that are going to the cities. We need those
fiberoptics out in the rural areas. It hurts if we in the rural areas
do not have access to fiberoptics; if we do not have the technological
capability to do business with our colleagues in the cities.
Jack understood this and he pushed it and pursued it very hard. Jack
has a strong sense. It is kind of like a sixth sense for him, for
common sense. He exercises it well. And, obviously, with his business
experience that he brings to the legislative process, it has been of
some assistance.
I think he has worked very hard to try to create more efficiencies
for government, and I think above probably next to water his strong
stances on the right to private property and the respect for private
property in Colorado is probably second to none currently in the State
legislature. Jack's done a good job. We will miss him in the State
House of Representatives.
Senator Bob Martinez. Bob and I go back a long ways. Bob was elected
in 1984, same year actually I went into office in the Colorado State
House of Representatives. Bob and I had an opportunity to serve many,
many years in the State House of Representatives, then he went on the
State senate. He was a higher education administrator.
He has always been very strong on adoption and the ability for people
to
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adopt. He has been very caring for the homeless people. But I will tell
my colleagues something else about Bob. Bob has always served in the
minority, in the State senate and in the State house. The Republicans
have controlled the State house and the State senate since Bob went
into office. But Bob had that knack to be able to go across the aisle,
and he built up relationships that enabled him to be a very effective
legislator despite his political minority status.
Bob is a wonderful guy. He is a good guy to work with. He is a good
guy to have as a friend. And he is a neat guy out of the city that
understands some of the rural issues that we in rural Colorado faced. I
miss Bob. Bob has done good service for the State of Colorado, and he
should be recognized for that.
My next friend, Representative Steve Tool, whose father, Gene Tool,
is a long-time friend of mine, former chairman of our State party.
Steve is a guy, who also like Russell George, has an impeccable
reputation. He serves on the Finance Committee, the Judiciary
Committee, and the Health Environment and Welfare and Institutions
Committee.
He is a strong family man. Has a wonderful family. He is a real
estate broker, an appraiser in Fort Collins. He served in the United
States Air Force as a navigator on B-52s in Vietnam. He is a Vietnam
veteran. He flew 160 missions, 160 missions over Southeast Asia.
He has been very active in and has sponsored legislation for the
changing of child abuse resulting in death from a felony to a homicide.
He has also been very aggressive in regards to school finance and
trying to balance school finance in the State of Colorado so the poorer
communities are not left, and to reorganize our educational system to
guarantee the maximum amount of dollars into the classroom and the
maximum amount of accountability from our teachers who teach our young
people. He has done a good job on that.
We are going to miss Steve. He did a good job and I hope my
colleagues here on the floor also sometime have an opportunity to meet
Steve Tool. He is a young man, and his career has just begun.
Senator Frank Weddig. He was appointed in 1994 and was elected in
1996. He is an electrician. Children's welfare and children's issues.
Again, Frank I do not know well, but you feel like you know him
because you have heard about him. As I have said with some of my other
colleagues who I have not had an opportunity to meet and know, like a
Bob Martinez, or like a Rus George, or like a Jack Taylor or Bill
Kaufman, some of those people I did not get to know that well. I kind
of looked at their reputations and listened to what their colleagues
had to say about them.
{time} 2045
Frank has enjoyed a strong reputation amongst his colleagues, and
that speaks well for him.
My friend Senator Gloria Tanner. Gloria was appointed in 1994 in the
State Senate. She served in the State House of Representatives prior to
that. I got to serve with her.
Gloria represented the issues of the minority community very well.
She spoke up and helped educate those of us who did not live in the
urban areas in the cities. She was very patient with us and very
educational with us I guess you would say in walking us through the
issues that are unique to minority communities in big cities. She
worked hard on the pension fund protection issues. She is a real estate
agent. I can tell my colleagues, my service with Gloria Tanner was
enjoyable. She is a professional, a real pro.
Well, the State House of Representatives is going to lose their
Speaker of the House this year. And the State Senate in Colorado, again
because of term limits, loses the Senate president.
Ray Powers. His wife's name is Dorothy, a wonderful, wonderful lady.
I have known her for years. Ray has done a tremendous job as the
President of the Colorado State Senate. He has had a lot of tough
issues. He has been there for many years. He has worked with a lot of
people. The people that have worked with Ray walk away from Ray
thinking, gosh, that guy is on the ball. He knows what is going on.
To be the leader of the State Senate in Colorado, you have got to
have some finesse, you have got to have some capabilities to have a
strong personality to deal with people. That happens, too, with the
Speaker of the House. But Ray had those.
Ray could deal with people without making them angry. Ray could be
firm but he did not have to be mean. He could be firm without being
mean. Ray Powers had a lot of capability in convincing people and
helping educate his colleagues on the issues of the day.
Now he is a former rancher. He has a ranch down in Colorado Springs.
He is active in the local bank down there. He sponsored any number of
bills, including bills on the death penalty, highway funding, more
judicial requirements or appropriate judicial requirements for judges.
He dealt with the major regional presidential primary that we wanted to
have there in Colorado. He has been recognized by the United Veterans
Committee Distinguished Service Award, the Colorado Springs Chamber of
Commerce named his as Legislator of the Year. The Colorado Public
Affairs Council named him Business Legislator of the Year.
Dorothy and Ray will do well in their retirement. We are going to
miss his service in the Colorado State Senate.
Senator Mike Feeley. Mike is the minority leader elected in 1992. He
is smart. He is aggressive. He and I did not agree on a lot of issues
but I can tell you, as with some of his colleagues, the disagreements
were professional disagreements.
He was recognized by his colleagues as, let us just say, a person of
persistence, a person who when he decided to support an issue he stuck
with it. He was recognized as the minority leader. He enjoyed a strong
reputation for the job that he did as the minority leader.
Mike Feeley is spoken of by the Democrats in the State of Colorado as
one who holds future promise for a political office. Frankly, I would
like to convert him to a Republican. But the fact is he is a Democrat.
They consider him a good Democrat. I consider him a good man, and we
are going to miss him.
Dorothy ``Dottie'' Wham. Dorothy is her former name. I called her
``Dottie'' for all those years. I served with Dottie for the 10 years I
was in the State legislature.
Let me tell my colleagues something. I am not sure I have had the
opportunity to serve with a woman who I think has been more dedicated
to the process, more dedicated to being sure that the government in
Colorado served the people of the State of Colorado.
She comes from a community from Denver. Her husband Bob is a lawyer
well recognized in the community in his own regard. But I will tell you
something, Dottie took on tough issue after tough issue. Dottie never
was too busy to sit down with those of us outside the Denver
metropolitan city limits and talk to us about different issues.
She worked hard on the juvenile justice, on the children's code in
Colorado, on the Denver Health Authority, on AIDS legislation, proposed
adoption, State recodification, salaries of elected county officials.
If there was a tough issue and you wanted somebody who could take the
arrows, it was Dottie Wham.
I have deep, deep respect for Dottie. My years with Dottie were
nothing but satisfying. My professional career with her and my
professional relationship with her was excellent. Dottie will be missed
not only by me. She will be missed by the State of Colorado. She will
be particularly missed by the City of Denver and by her colleagues.
Ron Tupa. Ron is a representative minority whip. I have actually not
gotten to talk with Ron very long, but I saw him on TV the other day. I
can tell you about Ron. I watched him and I did not agree with him at
all on the issue. I think Ron was talking about campaign reform. And
while everybody, of course, wants campaign reform, the issue is how do
you go about it. I mean, who gets the short end of the stick? That is
what the issue is about.
But as I watched him, I was just flipping through with my remote
control. I was in a hotel, as I often am, and sitting there and
flipping through with my remote control, I come across this local
station coverage and there is Ron.
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He is an impressive guy. He speaks well. He was well received by the
audience to whom he spoke. I thought his points were frankly to the
point. I think Ron is respected outside, not just in the legislature,
but outside the legislature. He is a young man. He is a social studies
teacher.
I can tell just by listening to him that he probably has a knack for
being able to communicate very well with his students. His issues, of
course, have been e-mail privacy and some of the education issues. And,
as I mentioned, he was the minority whip.
Senator Elsie Lacy. She was elected in the Senate in 1992. I will
tell you, Elsie is quite a lady. She is a heck of a State senator. She
is a solid, strong State senator. And she is a good friend. Elsie has
done a tremendous job for the State of Colorado.
Her husband Duane, in his own regard, is well-respected. But I can
tell you, Elsie has the respect of her colleagues. She was chairwoman
of the appropriations committee and chairman of the joint budget
committee. She served on the Aurora City Council. She worked primarily
in transportation, health, education, and local government issues.
Although, as chairman of the joint budget committee, her
responsibilities obviously were dealing with the budget.
In Colorado, just like here, colleagues in Congress, we deal with
some tough issues on the budget.
Elsie was there during the time that Colorado was just beginning to
get out of the tough times, so she had to make tough decisions then.
And as chairwoman she had to make tough decisions when Colorado got a
surplus. Because then everybody thought Colorado had plenty of money.
So people would go up to Elsie and say, Elsie, I want more money for
this program. You got a surplus in Colorado. We want to start this new
government program. We want to start this new government program.
Elsie had a way of being very polite in saying no if it would not
give us a balanced budget.
Now, as Elsie told me one time, her choices were never choices on
that joint budget committee between bad programs and good programs, as
Elsie puts it. And as all of my colleagues here on the floor know,
many, many times our choices are between good programs and good
programs. The bad programs get eliminated very early on in the process.
The tougher choices is as we begin to filter it out and we get to the
good programs versus the good programs.
I thought Senator Lacy did an excellent job in shifting through that.
And I think her service to the State of Colorado, especially in her
focus in regards to the State's budget, will serve the State well for
many, many years to come. Because the State of Colorado, I am proud to
say, in large part to her and in part to our goner, Governor Bill
Owens, its fiscal ship is in order and is strong.
Representative Sue Windells elected in 1998. Her big issues were
education and tax reform. She is a teacher. Again, I did not know Sue
that well. But I can tell you that, once again, these people that I did
not know well, I went and asked because I knew I was going to give
these comments tonight, I went to some of my colleagues that do know
them and I asked them about them. What about Sue? What are some of her
attributes?
She is well-received. She is honorable. She is knowledgeable. And she
is respected by her colleagues. What more do you need said about a
person?
In politics, if somebody acknowledges that you have got the technical
capability, that you understand and care about people and that you are
honest, that says a lot. Sue meets every one of those standards, and
she is going to be missed.
Senator Dave Wattenberg. I can tell you a lot about Dave Wattenberg.
He and I got elected at the same time back in 1982. He and I are from
rural Colorado, the same area. Well, we actually bordered each other.
He later went to the State Senate because he served in the State House
of Representatives.
Dave and I, when we first ran for office, no one either gave Dave or
me a chance of winning office. I was running against a very popular and
very capable incumbent, and Dave was not given much of a chance of
winning the seat.
I will never forget. The day before the election, he and I were
sitting in a bar having a drink and Dave asked me, Wattenberg says,
Scott, have you ever given any thought as to what is going to happen if
by some chance we win this thing? I mean, we spent all this time
campaigning, we spent all this time talking as candidates, but you and
I have never been able to work as elected officials. I mean, we really
are going to have to do what we said we are going to do. We are going
to have to get aggressive. We really have got to stand up for issues
like water and so on and so forth.
I would say in the State legislature there is probably no one right
now as popular as David Wattenberg.
David is a cowboy. He is an old cowboy. I do not mean old in age. I
mean old in respect. He is on a ranch up there in the northern part of
the State.
For a number of years, Dave did not have opposition. In fact, I will
tell my colleagues, he was so popular in one of his elections that his
Democrat opponent who was very aggressive against Dave and ran a very
aggressive race until about halfway through the race and, after
debating Dave on a number of different occasions, liked him so well and
felt he was so capable and so deserving as serving that district as
State senator, pulled out of the race, and endorsed him.
Have you ever heard of somebody in a partisan race pulling out midway
through the race and endorsing the other person?
That speaks very well, by the way, for the Democrat that did that, in
my opinion. I am sorry, her name slipped me this evening. But I can
tell you, it speaks well for David Wattenberg.
David, as I said, was elected to the House in 1982 and to the Senate
in 1992. He is chairman of the agriculture natural resource energy
committee. He also served on the business affairs and labor committees.
His ranch is called the Wattenberg Ranch in Walden, Colorado.
He sponsored bills on all kinds of things, everything from horse
racing to water issues to mining and transportation to tort reform. He
specifically focused in on agriculture, water, ranching issues, and
banking issues.
He has received any number of awards. He has been named Legislator of
the Year, honored by Colorado Ski Country and Consulting Engineers
Council and Guardian of Small Business.
As I was on the airplane this morning, I open up the Denver Post or
the Rocky Mountain News, I am not sure which one of those two major
papers, and there is David Wattenberg dancing on the Senate floor. He
was serious but he had good humor.
As I said earlier in my comments about Dave, he is probably the most
popular legislator in Colorado today. Dave Wattenberg is going to be
sorely missed.
Representative Penfield Tate. I know Penfield by his work. I know him
as a person. I have respect for him. I have dealt with him not
extensively, but I have dealt with him.
Penfield is one solid guy, and he is known by his work. His work
product is excellent. He works aggressively on it. He works hard. He
has a strong reputation. His focuses have been primarily education and
health issues. He is a member of the Denver Metropolitan Chamber of
Commerce. I will tell you, Penfield is a fellow that anybody would like
to have work as a partner with him. He has done a good job. We are
going to miss him.
Senator Maryanne Tebedo. Maryanne and I went in and she actually was
appointed shortly after I was elected. But, in essence, we have served
together for 10 years in the State House. She went on to the State
Senate.
Her husband Don is a retired air traffic controller. She was chairman
of the State Veterans Military Affairs Committee, and she served on the
Finance Committee.
She is also our parliamentarian. She is actually a certified
professional parliamentarian. She served on the National Task Force on
Labor, and she has worked hard on uniform stated permits for concealed
weapons, regulations of the funeral board, State boards, highways. I
mean, Maryanne has worked on a lot of legislation.
Senator Tebedo, when she took on an issue, she did several things
with that issue. Number one, she learned about the issue. Number two,
she figured out what the ramifications of her bill would be with that
issue. She was aggressive in her pursuit of passing her
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legislation. I think she was professional at every step of the way.
Now, not everyone agreed with her. But I will tell you, if you wanted
to disagree with Senator Tebedo, you better have your facts in order.
Because I never saw her without having her facts in order.
We are going to miss her.
Senator Tom Blickensderfer. Tom is a long-time friend of mine. Tom is
a fine man. His wife is Kristen. He just got married 4 or 5 years ago.
She is a beautiful woman. And I mean that in a very broad way. She has
got all kinds of things about her that just make her a beautiful
person.
But back to Tom. Tom is a great guy. He has been an excellent State
senator. He was in the State House. He was a Senate majority leader. He
was an attorney at law. I knew him well before he came into the State
legislature.
His issues ranged from everything from water in the rural areas of
the State. We could always go to Tom because Tom would always sit down
with us and talk about the rural issues even though he represented a
metropolitan area.
His family had a long running reputation in the ski industry in the
State of Colorado. Tom's leadership as the majority leader in the
Senate has been second to none.
{time} 2100
He is a strong leader. He is recognized throughout the political
community for his contributions to his party. He is Republican. I am
not talking about financial. I am talking about his volunteer time, his
help with other candidates.
I will say, in my opinion, Tom has a wonderful future ahead of him.
He has a great family. He has a great background. He has served the
State of Colorado very well, and Tom is going to do very well in his
future.
Representative Stephanie Takis, she was elected in 1996 and her big
issue was affordable health care. She is a financial specialist. Again,
I did not know Stephanie very well but as with the others I sat down
and visited with my colleagues about Stephanie. I did not find anybody
who said anything critical, although they had the opportunity to
because my conversations with some of my colleagues were in private,
and these were the colleagues that I could have that kind of
conversation with. Not one bad word said about her.
She has done well in her service to the State of Colorado; and she,
too, it appears, has a very promising future ahead of her.
Madam Speaker, I know that my colleagues may be saying, gosh, we sat
here this evening; and we have had Scott McInnis talk about State
legislators from the State of Colorado who are concluding their service
tomorrow. What has that got to do with us? What has that got to do with
the U.S. House of Representatives? After all, these are State
legislators. This is the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C.
It has a lot to do with us because those individuals that I just
talked about can set an example for us back here, one that local
government really truly is the best government. The Federal people in
Washington, D.C., do not always know best. There are certain roles that
we have to play, leadership in military, leadership in international
trade, leadership in interstate commerce. But the fact is these State
legislators are on the line. They are at the front of the battle.
The people that I spoke about this evening, most of my colleagues
probably will never even meet one of them, but I can say what I hope
was gotten out of my recognitions of these special people was the fact
of their integrity, the impeccability of their hard work, the focus on
the issues that they really cared about, the ability to cross party
aisles. We all know politics is partisan. It is designed to be that
way. It has to be that way. Somebody has to be boss. We cannot all be
equal bosses. Somebody has to be the leader. So there is always
partisan politics, but a real leader has the capability to step aside.
The minority may not have a right to rule; but the minority has a right
to be heard, and the individuals that I talked about this evening
recognize that. They worked on both sides of the aisle.
I consider it a real honor to stand here in front of my colleagues in
the House on the House floor of the United States Congress and
recognize that tomorrow will be the last day for those colleagues of
mine and their service in the State senate or State house respectively,
and I want them to know from the highest level of the Federal
Government here in the House of Representatives, that we acknowledge
the work that they do; that we appreciate their honesty and their
integrity and the respect that people who work with them understand
that public officials, elected public officials, almost all of them
really are good people. They work intensely for the people that they
represent. They work intensely on the issues they care about. They work
intensely and are proud of the States that they represent or the
districts that they represent.
My colleagues in the State of Colorado are an excellent example of
this.
Madam Speaker, in my concluding remark, let me just say truly it was
my privilege to get to know and work with these people as they served
the State of Colorado in the State legislature, and I hope to have a
continued professional and profound good friendship with all of my
friends in the State of Colorado.
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