[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 73 (Thursday, June 6, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H3278-H3283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FAREWELL TO DEPARTING 2001-2002 PAGE CLASS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page H3279]]

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to ask the Page 
Class of 2001 and 2002 to come down and take the seats in this first 
and second row, and try to congregate in the middle, if they can, and, 
Mr. Speaker, at the conclusion of this I will include for the Record 
the names of the entire graduating class that will be graduating 
tomorrow.
  Tomorrow is the end of a long year of working together, and it is an 
honor to stand up, as chairman of the Page Board, along with a lot of 
my colleagues, to do that hard part of saying good-bye. For me, this is 
my first time chairing the Page Board, and so you are a very special 
class, one that I will remember forever, and hopefully you all will 
remember this experience.
  As chairman of the House Page Board, it is my privilege to 
acknowledge and thank you, an outstanding group of young people, but it 
is difficult to let this group of pages go. This year's class has faced 
challenges and struggles unlike any other class in history.
  Just several days into your page experience, you experienced 
challenges that tested the strength of every American. Before you even 
had a chance to acclimate yourselves to your new home in Washington, 
your senses of safety and security were threatened. The events of 
September 11 left us all feeling frightened and unsure about our 
future, but you were role models, not only for your peers but for many 
adults as well. You recognized that the work of your country must go on 
despite the attempts of others to halt it.
  I know my colleague, the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson), 
is not here, but I want to personally thank her for spending time with 
you all, as you will remember, on September 11. It was a very important 
time for a Member to take time out to work with you, and she has my 
gratitude for fulfilling that role as a member of the Page Board.
  We owe you a debt of gratitude for persevering with your work and for 
doing so with grace, enthusiasm, and, as I found out, good humor.

                              {time}  1715

  There is no question that you are all destined for very bright 
futures. You have made us proud, and you have shown us that the human 
spirit is inextinguishable in the face of adversity. Surely you have 
made your family, friends and communities back home proud as well, and 
I am certain that they will be glad to get you back.
  As difficult as it is to say good-bye, I trust that you will take 
with you memories, experiences and friends that will last a lifetime. 
Take with you also our sincere thanks for a job well done.
  Your hard work and dedication have proven that you are young people 
with strength, courage, character and love of country. I like all those 
words: strength, courage, character and love of country. You are true 
patriots in the very best sense of the word. You are serving your 
country now, and we are asking you to continue to serve your country as 
good citizens and as good role models.
  We look forward to hearing about all your many successes in the 
future. Please come back and visit us. Best wishes for safe travels 
home, good luck in your senior year in high school. Much happiness 
always. May God bless you all. I am not the only Member here to say 
good-bye to you; and I would like to recognize, and he took great 
lengths to come back to the floor from another meeting, and I 
appreciate the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) coming back and 
sharing his thanks with you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I address the class, I suppose, of 2002 of 
the United States House of Representatives Page School. I want you to 
think of your status, 280 million fellow citizens. I do not know how 
many millions of 10th and 11th graders, 16-year-olds that we have in 
America, but clearly it ranks in the millions. There are but a few of 
you who have been given the opportunity, the honor, the privilege of 
serving in the House of Representatives.
  I know that every one of us who has the opportunity to be selected by 
their neighbors and friends to serve in this House feels the awesome 
honor of that privilege. I hope you share that with them. I hope you 
share the realization of the very special knowledge that each of you 
has received and understand how very unique your experience is relative 
to so many millions of young people in America.
  The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) has pointed out that you 
have served as pages in this House and served your country in that 
capacity in a historic year, in a year in which America was attacked 
here on its very homeland. That has not happened since 1814. Think of 
that. That was even before you were born. It was so long ago, it was 
before I was born. America had felt invulnerable, safe. The trouble and 
violence for the most part at least from an international war status 
was somewhere over the waters and far away, and we found that it was 
not. You, your parents, your relatives, your friends and your neighbors 
felt more vulnerable than they had in the past. As so many have said, 
America was changed and our concerns were heightened.
  Those who attacked us were relatively young people who cared 
passionately about an objective. We think very, very wrongly and indeed 
evilly, but they cared a lot about something. What I hope and what I 
think all of us hope is that you, too, care passionately, care 
passionately for this country, for its principles, for its processes.
  Those of us who have traveled the world know that almost everybody 
looks to America as a very, very special place. Some do not like us; 
but even in that dislike, they are somewhat in awe of this longest-
standing democracy on the face of the Earth. Why has it been so long-
standing? Because its people love it. Its people care for it. Its 
people sustain it. You are the people. We the people. We call this 
House in which you have served the People's House. We are elected every 
2 years. It is kind of a pain in the neck to run every 2 years, but let 
me tell you what it does: it keeps you in touch. That is what the 
Founding Fathers wanted us to do. They wanted those of us who serve on 
this floor to be in touch, to hear the passions and the fears and the 
aspirations and hopes of your parents, and of you.
  I want to congratulate you because you were selected because you are 
some of the most outstanding young people in America, which is to say 
in the world. Who in a short period of time, just as some Members of 
this House who served in the blue coat brigade that you have been a 
member of, serve now in the House of Representatives.
  Some of you will serve in the House and in the Senate and Governors; 
and yes, perhaps even one of you will be President of the United 
States. But the probability is most of you will not be that, but you 
can serve very well. Take with you this experience. Take with you this 
knowledge of how much the Members who serve here care about our 
country, how hard they work. I hope you have been surprised at how hard 
they work. I was when I first went to the Senate at the age of 27 in 
the State of Maryland.

  I hope you take that home to your classmates, your families and 
friends, so they will feel better about this democracy and this 
country. We have asked God to bless America, and God does. God blesses 
America through the service of each and every one of us. And to the 
extent that you become ambassadors of our democracy, to all our people, 
our country will be a stronger and better place. And those who attack 
us will surely fail. Godspeed, and thank you.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, many Members want to speak of that great 
love and concern who have visited with the pages throughout the year, 
and I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) to say good-bye.
  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I have not looked out on this many youthful 
and good-looking people on the floor of the House of Representatives 
since I have been here. It is nice to see this crowd here today. I got 
my start as a page through the times that I have had a chance to talk 
to you. Of course I served in that other body on the other side of the 
Capitol called the Senate, and perhaps I can be forgiven for that. But 
I know what a profound difference it made to me, that experience; and I 
know that this experience is going to have a big effect on you. It is 
going to change your lives.

[[Page H3280]]

  Now, you look and say, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) comes 
back as a Congressman, it means we can all be Congressmen or 
Congresswomen. Yes, you could be; but you will not be. And that is all 
right, because no matter what you do, this experience is going to have 
a real impact on your lives. I can guarantee you that.
  My class of 1960 includes Don Anderson, our former Clerk of the 
House, and Ron Lasch, who was our floor assistant here on the 
Republican side. We get together every 5 years, once every 5 years, and 
I know from the times that we come back together, the impact that this 
experience has had on the lives of those once-young men and women, then 
it was all young men, and how it has changed their lives as they have 
continued with whatever they have done, whether in government or 
business or professions.
  This is an experience that you will be able to take with you to 
wherever you go. Although there is no doubt about it, we could do the 
wonderful work that you do, the important work that you do for the 
House of Representatives, there are many ways that it could be done, 
probably some which would be less expensive and less headaches for the 
Page Board and others, but we would be missing something. We would be 
missing an opportunity to create these ambassadors back to your 
communities about what government is all about.
  You join now a very select group, which numbers in the few thousands 
of people in the entire United States who have ever had this 
experience; and you will go back to your schools and communities, and 
then you will go to your colleges and your businesses and your 
families, and you will be able to share with them what government is 
really like, the kinds of people that serve in government, the kind of 
work that goes on here.
  I think, hopefully, by and large you have learned they are good 
people who care, who really want to make a difference for the American 
people. We hope that will inspire you to want to do the same no matter 
what line of work you go into, that you will want to do the same. That 
is really what this program is all about, that you come here, you learn 
from it and take home with you something that is very important, and 
you become ambassadors for a better government, a better society back 
in your own communities.
  As has been pointed out by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) 
and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), you came and you 
experienced something that no other class has ever experienced, and we 
hope none will ever again, the incredible attack on America that took 
place on September 11. What I shall always remember about this class of 
pages is your constancy, your willingness to stay and stick with this 
job.
  After September 11, school groups canceled their visits here, 
business groups canceled their visits, tourists declined to come; but 
you stayed on. You stayed on in this job because you knew what we were 
doing here was important. You knew the work of the House of 
Representatives was important and that in your own way the job that you 
were doing was important. We are especially thankful to this class for 
what you have done, the role that you have played.
  We just know when you leave here you will go back to your 
communities, and you will be able to tell them a little bit about what 
the government of the United States means, and you will pass this along 
to your children, to the next generation.
  So from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you to each and every one 
of you for the good service that you have given, the friendship that 
you have extended to the Members, and I look forward to seeing you come 
back often and seeing you around the House of Representatives; and 
someday I am sure we will see some of you in the House of 
Representatives. Good luck and Godspeed.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Millender-McDonald).
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, congratulations to all the 
pages. They have been such a source of inspiration to all of us, their 
coming at the most critical time that our country has been faced with. 
And not one time did they deter from doing the duties of a page.
  Of course I have a page here, Taurean Snow, who came from my 
district; and he came for one semester and asked to see if he could 
serve a second semester. I was happy that he chose to do that.
  But I join with the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe) in saying that 
you will now be ambassadors, ambassadors to take what you have learned 
here. This is like a civics class for you, a class that far too few are 
in our schools now, teaching you what government is all about.

                              {time}  1730

  This particular experience will be with you always, because you will 
remember the times that you have had to run the corridors to bring 
flags to our offices, or you have been on the floor and have had to 
bring messages to us. And so those types of experiences, coupled with 
your hearing us argue on the floor about different issues, will be with 
you, and you can go back and tell your friends just what you have 
learned from this House. And, of course, you see us argue quite a bit 
on the floor, but then you also see us come across the aisle, shake 
hands, and be friends. This is what you have come to know and 
recognize, those of you who are here.
  I was fortunate being the Chair of the Women's Caucus to get a note 
from one of the pages, a female page. She said to me, I really admire 
what you have done and you are a role model. I thought that was a great 
thing for a page to send a note to me. When I inquired as to which page 
she was, it was a Republican page. I thought that was very admirable of 
her because she saw no difference really. She just wanted to say how 
much of a role model that I represented in her eyes. I hope we all have 
done that for you because you certainly have for us. You have shown us 
the type of discipline that young folks should have.
  This morning I spoke with a group of Girl Scouts, and I told them, as 
a former Girl Scout, I will never forget on my honor. Well, you will 
never forget on your honor and you will never forget those things that 
you have learned here on this floor. Again, thank you so much for 
sharing your year with us. We hope that this has been an experience for 
you that you will keep throughout your adult life. I join with my other 
colleagues in saying that perhaps one year we might see you here on the 
floor being a Congressperson. I really do think Taurean will be.
  Godspeed to all of you.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. I thank my colleague. Now someone who spends a lot of 
time with you also, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley), would like 
to say a thank you.
  Mr. FOLEY. I warn all of you not to cry in front of me, please, so I 
can get through this very important day with you without shedding tears 
as well.
  First, I want all of you to salute two people that I know at times 
were tough on you. They are taskmasters, they are disciplinarians; but 
they love you in an incredibly personal way. I would like all of the 
pages to clap for Ms. Sampson and Ms. Ivester, your supervisors.
  Ms. Sampson is on the back rail. She does not like to come too close 
here because she may cry, too; and she does not want any of the kids 
before you depart on Saturday to see her being a vulnerable person. It 
is true.
  I hear so much laughter here and I am glad that there is laughter, 
because this is a wonderful time of your life. Every time we celebrate 
the departure of a page class, we remember your first day here and, of 
course, we are here at your last. You came in very shy and meek and 
very polite and for the most part you have remained polite, but no 
longer shy and meek. You have taken on your respective roles as junior 
Members of Congress and oftentimes I get a kick when I walk by the back 
row, Mr. Foley, please mention the pages so our parents will hear us on 
C-SPAN. The nice thing about today is you are on C-SPAN. And this is 
recorded. And you will get to see this replayed. And you will get to 
see your faces now assembling as if you were Members of Congress.
  Some probably cannot wait to leave and get back and see your best 
friends and loved ones and some are anguishing about your departure. 
Mary Kate Leonard was on the back row crying. I asked why. She said, 
``I'm losing my best friend, Rachel.''

[[Page H3281]]

  I said, ``Really? Where's Rachel?"
  ``Oh, Rachel is a Republican page.''
  I said, ``Oh, you are all bipartisan, too, huh?'' Because Mary Kate 
is a Democrat, which shows how friendships can cross an aisle and cross 
ideological divide. So I asked Rachel to come from the cloakroom, and 
she thought I was kidding, to join her friend who was crying and I 
said, ``I can't let her cry alone. You have to be out here to be part 
of this.'' Now I have got you both crying and I am starting to well up.
  I have got a lot of other stories. Of course, Christopher made sure I 
came out of the cloakroom to see that his mother and family were 
sitting up in the gallery this morning as I quietly mentioned to him, 
``Remember, we're not allowed to gesture to the gallery.'' He said, 
``Oh, just wave to her, so she knows I'm important.'' He is important 
and she is above us now.
  Of course we have got several Jasons, a few Laurens. Adam, thank you 
for the graduation announcement. I sent you a handwritten note, and I 
was actually going to put some money in it as a graduation present. 
Then I realized he would tell all of you, and then I would get hundreds 
of graduation announcements. So I chose not to. I hope the handwritten 
note will suffice for your scrapbook.

  Patty Mack, of course, also known as Patrick McDonald, when he said, 
``Mr. Foley, who made you say that?'' I said, ``I made it up myself. 
I'm Irish. I get it.'' Fabulous young man. This is not made to make fun 
of him or anyone else.
  The tag team of Dominic and Hilary. Who will forget their exuberance 
coming in the room? Bubbly, excited, cheerful. Of course Jordan and 
Eddie. Eddie's mother I met today. They are from Florida. He is a 
constituent and hopefully a future voter of mine if I choose to run 
statewide, so Eddie will be my next best friend.
  And, of course, Melanie, and finally John Eunice. John was the 
highest bidder on lunch with Mark Foley. Maybe you all do not know this 
story, but John had paid considerable sums to dine with me. I had 
offered to take the winning bidder to lunch in the Members' dining 
room. Then I heard how much John Eunice paid. And I said, ``John, there 
is no way in the world after you committed so much money to have lunch 
with me that I would dare take you downstairs to eat in the Members' 
dining room.'' I said, ``Where do you want to go?'' He says, without 
reservation, ``Morton's.'' I said, ``Morton's? Like in Morton's 
Steakhouse?'' He said, ``Oh, would that be too much?'' I said, ``Oh, 
no, we'll go.'' I said, ``Call your mother, get permission, make sure 
she notifies the Clerk and we will go to Morton's.'' And so we 
proceeded to cruise down in my BMW to Morton's. And all of this story 
is meant to make you all feel jealous that you were not the high 
bidders. So we went to Morton's, and I do not know where you all went.
  I have a lot of other names here, but I do not want to go through the 
litany of lists, Nickie and Tim sitting in front and others. This has 
been an incredible year. This has been a year you will remember for the 
rest of your lives. When I was in fourth grade, President John Kennedy 
was assassinated. I remember kneeling in prayer for our Nation and for 
our President. I was so scared, because I had never witnessed something 
so traumatic. And on the 11th, and I think the gentleman from Arizona 
(Mr. Kolbe) said this best, we were all scared as Members of Congress. 
We were frightened for our Nation. And what tenacity you showed and 
what leadership you proved by staying here in this Capitol. I am afraid 
if I was your age I may have run home. That speaks volumes about the 
people you are. That speaks volumes of your parents and your 
grandparents. It speaks of the kind of love they have given you, the 
kind of time they spent with you to make you the incredible human 
beings you are.
  God has blessed this Nation more than I can tell you and given us the 
chance to succeed beyond our wildest dreams. I barely graduated from 
high school, and I did not go to college. I am a proud Member of this 
great institution because I kept trying. I never gave up and never gave 
in to the instincts to be lazy or run for cover. You all have proven 
without a doubt that you are not only courageous Americans but 
wonderful young people. Cherish your youth, cherish this experience, 
but above all cherish your families. Let them know how much you 
appreciate them giving you this chance. And let them know how much you 
appreciate their love to make you the people you are. I was not going 
to do this because I am on C-SPAN now.
  To the Page Board, as well, and to all the people that make up this 
fine institution, from the police officer you see in the morning and 
you see at night as you are entering your dorm, to the people that help 
keep the buildings clean and operating, the elevator operators, the 
people that serve you in the cafeteria, the people that stand behind us 
and work countless hours listening to us babble, the people that have 
made up the core of this program, I salute you and I thank you and I 
hope you will join me too in saluting everyone in the page program that 
has made this year a resounding, phenomenal learning experience and 
success for you.
  God bless you all.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Now I would like to ask my colleague and friend, the 
gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), to say a few words.
  Mrs. MORELLA. You can see how we love you. I was thinking that this 
is really like a graduation; it really is, for you. You have had a year 
here. And it is really like a commencement, because now you are 
beginning another stage of your lives. It has just been a wonderful 
opportunity for us to have you, to know that you could tell us who was 
speaking at any one time. I think your identification was superb. You 
could say this is so and so from this district, number such and such, 
Democrat or Republican. So we actually relied on you for that. We 
relied on you to get us the Congressional Record when we wanted it. We 
relied on you to make sure that you delivered whatever messages needed 
to be delivered. We relied on you to prepare the House for joint 
sessions and to prepare the House each day for the work that we did. 
And you have done it all so well.

  I am sure that you have been awestruck every time you entered this 
Chamber on both sides and you looked up at the flag and you looked up 
at the motto, ``In God We Trust,'' and you know that people all over 
the world are watching what happens here in this particular Chamber. It 
is indeed the people's House. You note from the wonderful, moving 
passion that you heard from Mark Foley and what you have heard from 
others, Jim Kolbe and others who have spoken here, too, Juanita 
Millender-McDonald who spoke and others who have spoken here, too, and 
the person who has been in charge, John Shimkus, you know how much we 
appreciate what you have done.
  We are from all different areas. We bring different values and 
different, not necessarily different values, different issues because 
we represent our particular regions. You have had a year where you have 
had to engage in some study, sometimes very late at night. You have 
been with us when we have had our long nights. I have seen you with the 
books where you knew you had to get ready for the next day. You were 
not quite sure how you were going to handle it, but you did it. You 
made a number of sacrifices, not only sacrifices of sleep but 
sacrifices in terms of other issues and other things that you wanted to 
be involved in that you did not do because of your responsibilities. So 
you have learned what democracy is like and you have learned that there 
is a lot of hard work that takes place to make it work. You have also 
learned that with the differences that we may experience, that we do 
come together because we come together as a Nation.
  So as you leave here, having been touched permanently by your 
experiences here, I guess my advice to you would be to continue to 
learn, to know that learning is something that is lifetime, because 
things change and you must be ready to change, to change with it, to 
make sure that you show enthusiasm for what you do. Enthusiasm comes 
from two Greek words, en theos, meaning ``from love.'' I think when you 
show enthusiasm, as all of you have when I have seen you on both sides 
of the aisle, it shows a kind of joy and appreciation for what you do 
and it radiates with your friends.
  Continue to have a sense of humor. I think it is important that you 
do not take yourself seriously. Certainly the

[[Page H3282]]

press do not take us seriously when we send press releases. I think it 
is important to laugh at things, because then you can stand back and 
learn how to deal with them when you return to them. I would also 
suggest you take chances.

                              {time}  1745

  Sometimes your successes will occur only after you have had some 
disappointments and some failures. If you do not take chances, you will 
never know. I say no guts, no glory. So I hope you will know that 
taking chances is also part of progressing. It is part of life. It is 
what will add that extra dimension to it in terms of knowing what it is 
you can do.
  I also want to point out that you have had some great leaders who 
have been here: Jeff Trandahl, and Martha, and, of course, in the 
little cloakroom back there I have seen little notes that say ``I love 
you, Ms. Sampson,'' and I know it is meant by all of you. I am sure the 
same thing is over by Ms. Ivester on the other side, too, because you 
have become part of their family as you have become part of our family, 
and they have watched out for you ever so closely.
  So I do want to thank you for the work that you have done here as 
pages. I know it will be a permanent part of your life, and it will be 
something you will look back on and you will remember all the little 
incidents. You may even remember a few of the issues, maybe not too 
many, but a few of the issues.
  Pages have been around for 150 years. It was Senator Daniel Webster 
who appointed the first page. Women were allowed to become pages not 
until 1971, but you are making up for it. You are making up for it, and 
I think that is great.
  So I wish you all well. I know you are going to be nostalgic about 
this and you are going to have memories that are going to fortify you. 
But the first woman admiral, her name was Grace Hopper, and she was 
also someone who got involved in computer programming, once said, ``A 
ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail on.''
  So sail on. We will always remember you. Thank you very much for what 
you have done for us.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Last, but not least, someone who has invested some time 
with you all and who is full of energy and a good friend, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio, Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, the other day I had the opportunity 
to deliver a commencement speech for John F. Kennedy High School, and 
that was Norville Arnold's graduation. He was my first page, my only 
page appointment, and it was a wonderful opportunity. I like poetry, so 
I am going to read a piece of poetry that I read at this commencement 
to his class.

     Look what I have learned.
     I have learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you 
           can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up 
           to them.
     Look what I have learned. That no matter how much I care, 
           some people just don't care back.
     I have learned that it is not what you have in your life, but 
           who you have in your life that counts.
     I have learned that you can do something in an instant that 
           will give you heartache for life.
     I have learned that you can keep on going long after you 
           think you can't.
     I have learned that either you control your attitude, or it 
           controls you.
     I have learned that heroes are the people who do what has to 
           be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the 
           consequences.
     I have learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick 
           you when you are down will be the ones who help you get 
           back up.
     I have learned that just because someone doesn't love you the 
           way you want them to love you, doesn't mean they don't 
           love you with all they have.
     I have learned that maturity has more to do with what types 
           of experiences you have had and what you have learned 
           from them and less to do with how many birthdays you 
           have celebrated.
     I have learned that your family won't always be there for 
           you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related 
           to can take care of you and love you and teach you to 
           trust people again. Families aren't biological.
     I have learned that no matter how good a friend is, they are 
           going to hurt you every once in a while, and you must 
           forgive them for that.
     I have learned that no matter how you try to protect your 
           children, they will eventually get hurt, and you will 
           get hurt in the process.
     Finally, I have learned that people you care most about in 
           life are often taken from you too soon.

  I want to say to you that I have had great fun with this class. I 
have had a great time. We have had some wonderful experiences. I have 
learned that I do not take myself too serious, and I hope that you will 
learn that, over time, that is the best thing that you can do.
  Then I want you to remember particularly how much fun those of you 
who had the chance to attend the Hill's Angels and the Georgetown 
faculty game, and that wonderful cheer that I taught you which was 
``Give me an A; give me an N; give me a G; give me an E; give me an L; 
give me an S. What does it spell? Angels.'' And you were that for me.

  I have been working with this basketball team, and every year I go to 
Georgetown and all the law students are there and the law students are 
cheering and having a great time, and I am saying where is my team? So 
I thank you for allowing me to incorporate you into the game. If ever 
you want to come back for a reunion game, just call me up. I will send 
a bus for you.
  Have a great time, have a great year and come back and visit with us. 
Thank you.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. I thank my colleague. I have already mentioned Heather 
Wilson. I would be remiss not to mention Dale Kildee, who was on the 
Page Board and spent time, and just thank him for serving with me.
  Make sure you remember in the last couple hours that you are here in 
Washington to thank the school staff, the dorm staff. We mentioned the 
floor staff. We have our chaplain here, and I know he has been a 
support for many of you, as he has been for Members. The Capitol 
Police, the attending physicians. Yes, we did need the attending 
physicians in this class once or twice.
  So, we appreciate having you. There is a lot of people that invested 
in this, and make sure in the last day you get a chance to thank them.
  Only in Washington can you ask for 5 minutes and get 60 minutes. What 
you have to notice is the House, we have very structured rules, but, 
for some reason, we are somehow allowed to break this one rule to take 
5 minutes and spend as much time as we need to thank you for the work 
you have done with us.
  Members will not miss flights, as you know, for very much, and you 
almost get trampled sometimes at the end of the last vote. I just 
missed mine, but I do it for a good reason, and I do it for a good 
cause, because you have been a great, great joy for me; a trial, a 
learning experience, but, again, a historical footnote in the history 
of a great country that now you are part of. May God bless you all and 
may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much for 
your service.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a list of the page graduating 
class.

       Katherine Alesse, Lauren Arango, Matthew Arthur, Adam 
     Bacot, Jane Becker, Matthew Benson, Nicholas Bruckner, Laura 
     Burlingame, Allison Bybee, Amber Childress, Rachel Dick, Saul 
     Dingfelder, Jason Dykstra-Carlson, and Jessica Eanes.
       Robert Edmonson, Jordan Edmund, Nicole Eickhoff, John 
     Eunice, Michelle Fuentes, Dulce Gonzalez, Timothy Gorman, 
     Jason Green, Megan Grimland, Christopher Harrington, Gretchen 
     Hartje, Paula Hodges, Mallory Kunz, and Mary Kate Leonard.
       Matthew Loraditch, Alicia Luschei, Christopher Marquart, 
     Patrick McDonald, A. Edward Mehnert, Elizabeth Mooers, Lauren 
     Oswalt, Joseph Overton, Julia Owen, Timothy Read, Elizabeth 
     Rilley, Allison Robinson, Katherine Roehrick, and Tyler 
     Rogers.
       Amanda Rudd, Dominic Rupprecht, Taurean Snow, Mark Spong, 
     Hilary Styer, Diane Sutherland, Melanie Tate, Alissa 
     Turnipseed, Xavier Vanegas, Marisa Vasels, Charlotte Vasquez, 
     Amelia Williams, Krystle Williams, and Gregory Wright.

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I want to join other colleagues of mine in 
thanking the fine young men and women who have served as pages for the 
U.S. House of Representatives this past session. I was particularly 
pleased to have Ms. Lauren Oswalt of Fayette County, Alabama here in 
Washington, D.C. She is a fine young woman and has represented her home 
area well. The pages not only provide valuable services to Members and 
their staffs, but they are able to learn a great deal about how their 
Federal government works. As they return to their communities and 
continue their

[[Page H3283]]

studies, this knowledge can help them be effective citizens and 
leaders. To that end, I also want to thank the directors of the 
Congressional Page program. It is a fine combination of public service 
and education. Again, I congratulate the pages and thank them for their 
service.

                          ____________________