[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REFLECTION OF EIGHT YEARS SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, after serving in the People's House for the 
past eight years, and having the honor of being the voice of Southeast 
Texas in Congress, I now finally have time to reflect on the 
accomplishments I've been able to achieve. These are goals that came 
both from my personal service, and from the work I've been able to do 
to make the communities within Texas's 9th Congressional District a 
better place to live.
  None of the things I have done would have been accomplished without a 
true team effort. The local communities, through their leaders, were 
able to build a communications network that allowed my work here to 
reflect the needs and interests of the people within the 9th 
Congressional District. It's been an honor to do that and we did so 
successfully.
  Some of those successes include my work on transportation issues. As 
southeast Texas's only Member of the House Transportation Committee, 
I'm especially proud of being able to help bring hundreds of millions 
of dollars to the region to create jobs and improve the area 
infrastructure. This includes the work I did to prevent coastal 
erosion, where I was able to help initiate studies by the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers to determine what's causing erosion along upper 
Texas coast, and how we can slow or stop the loss of protected 
wetlands, and the potential adverse impact on sports and commercial 
fishing activities, which impacts the livelihood of many southeast 
Texans.
  We were also able to do a great deal of work to improve highways, 
airports and airways, waterways, and railways, all of which are 
important and have provided a better quality of life and economic 
development opportunities for my constituents. The salt water barrier 
on the Neches River, which allows for the deepening and widening of 
Sabine Neches Ship Channel, will further strengthen our waterways while 
also protecting the Big Thicket National Forest. These activities will 
also further improve and strengthen the area's petrochemical industry, 
an important part of both the southeast Texas and national economies, 
and an industry that provides thousands of good, solid jobs for hard-
working Texas families.
  I am also proud of my work on the House Science Committee, and to 
serve as the ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Space and 
Aeronautics. My primary work was to promote development of space, and I 
also introduced the Space Exploration Act in the beginning of my third 
term. The goals of this initiative were picked up by the President and 
set before this Nation as a national initiative, which gives me great 
deal of pride. NASA needs a larger, important vision to work on, and my 
proposals always had this concern in mind. We need to continue seeing a 
growth in civilian space exploration and research. Such activity has 
the exciting potential of increasing our advances in medicine, 
technology, education, and the overall positive growth of our great 
nation. We must always emphasize research and development of science 
and mathematics, and I can think of no better way to achieve this than 
through our future in space.
  Child safety legislation has also been a top priority from my first 
days in Congress. My biggest success was the creation of the 
Congressional Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, which I founded 
following the tragic death of a young girl, Laura Kate Smither, in the 
Friendswood part of the 9th Congressional District. We passed 
legislation that created the Cybercrime Center, passed many bills like 
the Amber Alert program, and introduced the Bring Our Children Home Act 
in the 106th and 107th Congresses, and this year that bill received a 
hearing by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House International 
Relations Committee. I'm very proud of our efforts to reach out to 
countries around the world for children of parents of dual 
nationalities. I wrote and delivered a resolution regarding the 
development of a best practices guide on the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which was a further 
step in encouraging compliance with international treaties and allies. 
One of the most important accomplishments of the Caucus is raising 
awareness with law enforcement and communities nationwide on the issues 
of child safety and Internet safety. I hope to see this good work 
continue in future Congresses, as the bipartisan cooperation and spirit 
with the Caucus always led me to believe that Members of both parties 
can find common ground on many problems facing our country. With last 
year's creation of the Senate caucus on child safety, I know this issue 
will continue to receive that important attention even after my last 
day here.
  I also want to thank my hard-working staff both in Texas and 
Washington, who fought hard and effectively served the people of 
southeast Texas. These talented and diligent individuals supported me 
on every level, and made it possible for me to have one of the most 
effective constituent services operations of any Member's office. My 
staff assisted numerous constituents with getting issues resolved with 
Social Security and disability, Veterans Affairs benefits, and 
immigration cases. It truly is wonderful to support retired Americans, 
new Americans, and Americans who have proudly served in the armed 
forces to protect our freedoms. I am so proud of all that my staff has 
done for the people of southeast Texas, and know that they will all go 
on to wonderful and bright professional futures.
  I also want to thank my family for their support and, of course and 
most importantly, their willingness to let me take the time to fight 
for our communities. I appreciate their love and support of my efforts 
so much, for without them none of what I did in Congress would have 
been possible. We come from a family of teachers, with my wife teaching 
special education at Vincent Middle School in Beaumont. Both my 
daughters are trained teachers as well; Hillary, who's currently not 
teaching because of her family and children, and Stephanie who's a 6th 
grade math teacher also in Beaumont. Our family understands what 
education means to all of us and our opportunities, and as a family we 
have made a commitment to help other families have easier access to 
educational opportunities.
  In closing, let me say that this is not an ending to my public 
service. I've spent the last 34 years of my life doing things to make 
my communities better--my goal now is to help all citizens of our 
country, particularly those who I represent in southeast Texas, to 
focus on issues that impact us daily, and to see what all of us can do 
to make our communities better places to live. So as I say my final 
words on the House floor, let me echo the words of one of our country's 
greatest leaders, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who said, ``It is 
from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history 
is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve 
the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a 
tiny ripple of hope, and . . . those ripples build a current which can 
sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.'' Thank 
you, and God bless.

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