[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H24]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CELEBRATING JOHN COLLINS'S BIRTHDAY

  (Ms. LOFGREN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, today is a historic day. It is a day that 
for the first time an Italian American, a Californian, a woman, was 
nominated for Speaker; but it is historic for me for another reason. 
Today my son, John Collins, has turned 18 years old, and this is the 
first time I have ever been away from him on his birthday. He insisted 
that I come to Washington today. He said I would be letting the country 
down if I did not come to vote for Nancy Pelosi. And so I took his 
advice.
  I wanted to celebrate my son's birthday because he is well known to 
many Members of Congress. He has spent many hours on this floor 
teaching Members how to use the computers, arguing politics, policy, 
and philosophy. He is a wonderful young man. I am immensely proud of 
him, and I am so glad that he has reached this milestone, his 18th 
birthday and adulthood.

                          ____________________