[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 155 (Thursday, October 30, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING JOHN CALVELLI

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 29, 2003

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to announce that my 
former Administrative Assistant, John Calvelli, is turning 40. It is 
hard to believe that the lanky kid I met when 19 is now older than Jack 
Benny always claimed to be. I guess it makes me realize that I am that 
much older too, although I constantly remind John that he has more grey 
hair than me.
  I won my first primary election for Congress on September 15, 1988, 
the day John turned 25. I told him that evening ``John, we're going to 
Washington together'' and indeed we did. During those first months in 
Washington, we would sometimes walk outside, gaze at the Capitol dome 
and say to each other, ``Do you believe we're really here?'' I think 
that at 25, John was the youngest AA on the hill, but he rapidly turned 
into one of the most effective and well-liked staffers in Washington. 
Everybody got to know John. Even as a young person, he had what we in 
New York call the best ``gift of gab'' I ever heard. He always had that 
little extra something. He served as my AA for more than 11 years, and 
our working relationship and friendship during that time could not have 
been better. In fact, I often refer to John as the kid brother I never 
had.
  During the course of my Congressional terms, John and I would often 
develop strategy for legislation, committee assignments, and many other 
things essential to a successful congressional career. We traveled 
cross country and overseas many times. Our first trip was probably one 
of the most memorable. It came that first summer in 1989, when I 
visited the three ``I's'' of New York City politics, Israel, Italy and 
Ireland, as well as Egypt. We came back from that trip with a picture 
of the Pope, stories about Egyptian fruit, grape leaves and the 
``Kinjedom'' down in Luxor. John's complete fluency in Italian made him 
a great person to travel with. In fact, whenever we met Italian-
speaking tour groups, in the many different countries we visited, 
nobody would believe that John was from New York and not from Italy.
  I want to tell John that now that he is 40, one of the age categories 
in my newsletter this year will read, age 40 to 56, and in honor of his 
birthday we will talk about ``Quattro formaggi'' in Italian, 
``Political Party'' in English, and the 40-hour work week being 
sacrosanct. I know that John's family is as proud of him as I am. His 
wife Maria and son John Domenico, as well as his parents Rose and John, 
and brother and sister-in-law Louis and Angela all share in his 
happiness on this special day.
  John continues to remain active with many Italian American 
organizations, including NIAF and FIERI, a group in which he was one of 
the founders. John and Maria were married ten years ago at Fordham 
University, John's alma mater. John is an attorney by trade but since 
leaving my office he has been a Senior Vice President at the Wildlife 
Conservation Society also known as the Bronx Zoo. To this day in 
Washington I get many people asking me, how is John doing?
  It is a pleasure to honor John as he turns 40, and whether his future 
lies in politics or elsewhere I am sure that the phrase ``you ain't 
seen nothing yet'' applies to my ``kid brother'' John Calvelli.

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