[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 164 (Sunday, December 18, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H12192-H12195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING HELEN SEWELL ON THE OCCASION OF HER RETIREMENT FROM THE HOUSE 
                           OF REPRESENTATIVES

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 633) honoring Helen Sewell on the occasion of her 
retirement from the House of Representatives and expressing the 
gratitude of the House for her many years of service.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 633

       Whereas Helen Sewell, the proprietor of the concession 
     stand in the Republican Cloak Room of the House of 
     Representatives, through her long and devoted service to the 
     House and its Members, has become a House institution in the 
     minds and hearts of House Members;
       Whereas Helen Sewell has worked at the counter in the Cloak 
     Room since she was a teenager in the 1930's;
       Whereas Helen Sewell's service to the House of 
     Representatives is a continuation of a family tradition, as 
     her father began working in the Cloak Room 87 years ago;
       Whereas Helen Sewell, as a result of her almost seven 
     decades of service, has been present for some of the defining 
     events in the Nation's history and the House's history, 
     including the attack by Puerto Rican nationalists on March 1, 
     1954;
       Whereas Helen Sewell has established personal relationships 
     with many of the 20th century's most important Americans, 
     including Presidents Ford, Nixon, and George H.W. Bush;
       Whereas Helen Sewell's dedication to her work, and her 
     careful attention to Members of the House, has provided both 
     nourishment and friendship to Members of the House since the 
     days of the Great Depression;
       Whereas Helen Sewell has demonstrated extraordinary 
     strength and endurance by working long and difficult hours 
     past her 80th year;
       Whereas Helen Sewell received the 1983 John W. McCormick 
     Award of Excellence for her service to the Congress;
       Whereas all who have served as Members in the United States 
     House of Representatives, and who have had occasion to meet 
     Helen Sewell, believe that her service to the House is a 
     matter of historical importance and should be commemorated; 
     and
       Whereas Helen Sewell will retire officially from the House 
     of Representatives on December 31, 2005: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors Helen 
     Sewell on the occasion of her retirement and expresses its 
     gratitude for her many years of service.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ney) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-
McDonald) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am not going to be lengthy in my comments because I know our 
ranking member is going to say something, and then I am going to yield 
a lot of time to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), who has 
asked for this resolution, and rightfully so to ask for it.
  When I came to the House around 11 years ago, I guess, one of the 
first persons I ever met was Helen Sewell. And I soon found out she is 
probably one of the most important people, in fact, in the U.S. House 
of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, a lot of the public would not be aware unless they had 
the chance to be here on the floor, but in back of the Chamber on one 
side is the Democrat Cloakroom and on the other side is the Republican 
Cloakroom. And of course I have been over in the Democrat Cloakroom. 
They have got good sandwiches over there, too, which you can buy. And 
in our Cloakroom on the Republican side, Helen runs a little counter 
and we call it Helen's Cafe. She makes sandwiches and of course the 
Members buy those sandwiches or soup, and she has been doing that for 
such a long time. She is just a fine woman who always has a pleasant 
smile, always has a good word constantly to say when she was here.
  And as many people in the country know, if they watch C-SPAN of 
course,

[[Page H12193]]

that we will be voting sometimes till 2 and 3, in fact probably this 
morning we will be voting until 4 a.m. And if in fact we are here 
voting at 4 a.m. and if Helen were here working, she would be back 
there still providing people, you know, with pop and water and 
sandwiches and different things, because you cannot get out of the 
building at that time to go find something to eat and you are sitting 
here long hours. So she did that. She provided that nutrition for 
everybody.
  But, again, she always did it with such a pleasant smile. Helen is a 
lovely woman who really gave, frankly, great service to her country by 
doing what she did; and for that, Helen, on behalf of the House, we 
think the world of you. We wish you the best in your retirement. And we 
send all our love to Helen.

                              {time}  1545

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I thank my chairman for his words for this delightful woman who has 
served so admirably in this House.
  I am very pleased to first acknowledge Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes 
Norton, whom Ms. Sewell is her constituent, and she has sent a note to 
say that because of a scheduled event here in the District, she is 
trying to arrive here in time to offer remarks honoring Ms. Helen 
Sewell, a longtime Washington, D.C. resident.
  Mr. Speaker, this long-serving and dedicated staff of the House 
deserves recognition of the Members of this House and the public alike.
  I would like to express my appreciation to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, my dear friend Mr. Curt Weldon, for providing the 
opportunity today to praise Helen Sewell for her long, loyal, and 
dutiful service. She deserves being singled out for recognition, and 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania has captured that in this resolution, 
and I am sure his words will also be reflective in that as we speak of 
her service to the House, not only her but her father. So certainly she 
and her father were and are House institutions.
  Having served since she was 15 years old, she has served admirably 
following those 87 years of her father. We look at the woman when she 
was young and is still young in spirit to see that she has served 
almost 7 decades, has been here, has been here as it was said by the 
reader, during the attack of Puerto Rican nationalists on March 1 of 
1957 and has had personal relationships with many persons and including 
Presidents Ford, Nixon, and George H. Walker Bush. She has provided 
much friendship and nourishment to the Members of this House and has 
had an extraordinary endurance and strength in her long-working years. 
I would like to say that she deserves this recognition. It is a fitting 
tribute, and it speaks volumes of the type of institutional dedication 
that is all too hard to find in our world today.
  However, she is a representative of others who labor in this House 
during the people's business by supporting us policymakers as we carry 
out our constitutional roles. So Ms. Sewell will be retiring on 
December 31 after many long-serving years. But there are other staffers 
who are retiring and who have served admirably as well. While we honor 
Ms. Sewell on the occasion of her retirement, let us also take this 
opportunity to thank and to honor the other House officers and staff 
who will follow her into retirement after serving this House for more 
than 30 years. Kudos to all of those great folks.
  Mr. Speaker, all Members wish her good health and good fortune, and 
we want her to start a new chapter of her life.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), and I want to 
thank him for bringing this resolution to the floor. This was his idea 
on behalf of the House to do it, and we certainly appreciate it.
  (Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I, first of all, want to 
thank the distinguished chairman and the ranking member for their 
outstanding support of this legislation, and this legislation is 
extremely important because it sends a signal not just to our 
colleagues but to the country that this is an institution where we all 
work together in a very compatible way.
  Oftentimes people who watch C-SPAN and people who read about the 
Congress think that we are filled with adversity, that we do not get 
along, and nothing could be further from the truth.
  This is a great institution. I have had the pleasure of serving here 
now 19 years. I am in my tenth term, and I have met some wonderful 
people, people on both sides of the aisle, people who may disagree on 
the issues but are strong and close friends when we get together when 
we are not in session or when we have events that are important for 
this country.
  But what makes this institution work are the staff, the people who 
work behind the scenes, the people who take down the minutes of what is 
said, the clerks, the people who record, the people who run the C-SPAN 
camera system, the people who run this institution of the building 
itself, the Architect of the Capitol and the employees. And while many 
members of the public do not get to see behind the scenes, there are in 
fact two Cloakrooms, one for each side of the aisle. Yet we are 
certainly welcome to go into either Cloakroom anytime. There is no 
prohibition, and I am sure Helen has served perhaps as many meals to 
Democrats as she has to Republicans.
  And it is appropriate that we honor someone who has been with this 
institution for one-third of the history of this institution. Can we 
imagine that, Mr. Speaker? This woman served this country and this 
institution for a period of time that is equal to one-third of the 
history of this Nation and this institution. A woman who started 
following in her father's footsteps when she was a teenager, he would 
bring here down here to the Republican Cloakroom. Her father ran the 
Cloakroom where, during the hours that we were in session, Members can 
go back and take telephone calls. They can purchase a sandwich or a cup 
of soup. They can sit and chat. And Helen was always there for the past 
71 years to provide an atmosphere of friendship, an atmosphere of 
positive reinforcement after Members of Congress from time to time 
would leave the well after having given lengthy speeches.
  And she served during unbelievable times, starting with the Great 
Depression and serving in this institution when some of the great 
moments in our country's history were declared, when some of the 
greatest State of the Union speeches were made.
  So she is a part and a legacy of what makes this institution great, 
and it is only appropriate that we honor her in this way because, in 
fact, Mr. Speaker, she served 71 years. There is no employee in the 
history of the Congress, including Members of the House or Senate, who 
has served more than Helen Sewell.
  Helen could not be with us today, Mr. Speaker, but she is watching 
this proceeding from her bed at her retirement home. We have talked to 
Helen's family. We talked to her daughter, and they are watching with 
her.
  And, Helen, we are not allowed to speak to you directly because that 
violates the rules of the House, but through the Speaker, I will say to 
you, Helen, that we wish you well. We are all thinking about you. Many 
of your friends are signing a card for you, and if you look behind me, 
these beautiful roses will be delivered to you later on today as a 
symbol of the love that all 1,500 Members of Congress that you have 
come in contact feel about your service.
  Every Member of Congress has had a chance to interact with Helen 
Sewell. Think of that. Fifteen hundred Members of Congress that have 
come and gone over the past 71 years have interfaced with this lady.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, we keep these photographs in the back of the 
Cloakroom that I thought it might be appropriate to let our 
constituents see. Here is Helen Sewell, and it shows the love by 
Presidents of the United States who also served as former Members of 
Congress. We can see by the admiration that these Presidents have for 
Helen that they enjoyed her company, and we can see the high degree of 
respect that

[[Page H12194]]

they would pay to her when they frequently visited the House Chambers.
  Now, because she worked for us I do not have any photographs of 
Democrat Presidents, but I know President Clinton was just as fond of 
Helen Sewell as were Republican Presidents, but it is just that she 
worked for our side.
  This is another photograph of Helen with one of our dear Presidents.
  So, Mr. Speaker, this resolution is a celebration of this 
institution. It is a celebration 1 week before Christmas, where we in 
fact are wrapping up the business of the people. But we take the time 
to honor those people who allow this institution to work, the people 
whom you do not see, the people who do not make the speeches, the 
people who do not go out and get their pictures on national TV and in 
the media, but the people whom really we rely on to allow us to be 
successful.
  Helen, we thank you for your great support and the commitment you 
have made to America in support of our Congress.
  Helen has three children: Jameille Thomas, Anthony Sewell, and Ava 
Fuller.
  Ava, thank you for talking to me today and telling me about your 
mother.
  Helen's father brought her to this institution, and we want to also 
recognize Helen's father. And, boy, did he have an appropriate name: 
Benjamin Franklin Jones. It was Helen's father who brought her to this 
institution 71 years ago to allow her to begin to work and love this 
institution that was such a critical part of her life.
  Helen was also involved with her church. She was active with the 
Petworth United Methodist Church here in D.C. She was a trustee. She 
was a church historian. She was an active member of the Northwest Civic 
Association. Helen has nine grandkids, and I have been told she has too 
many great grandkids to number, that it is probably in the dozens and 
dozens.
  And we also, Helen, have to tell a few secrets about you, because as 
these Members of Congress would go into the back Cloakroom to get 
sandwiches we would sometimes have to get Helen's attention.
  Helen had a small TV set, one of these small 10-inch TV sets. And 
Helen's favorite preoccupation, when she was not waiting on Members of 
Congress, was watching the soaps. Helen was a national expert and 
historian on the soap operas. She could tell us any day of the week who 
was dating whom and which person was, in fact, in trouble with which 
other person.
  Helen, we will preserve those memories of your activities in the 
Cloakroom and the fact that your famous word of hollering to us 
``next'' will be remembered by all the Members of Congress that miss 
you today. But when they enter the Cloakroom and see that sign above it 
that says ``Chez Helen,'' the House of Helen, that was in fact provided 
by our former colleague Amo Houghton, we want you all to know, Helen, 
that we love you, that we miss you, that your retirement is a symbol of 
work that you have put forward and it is a symbol of how we in this 
institution have to from time to time stop and say ``thank you,'' 
``thank you'' to those people behind the scenes who make this Congress 
and this institution such an important part of America's history and 
legacy.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman very 
much for yielding me this time, and as usual we pay great respect and 
appreciation for her leadership on so many of these legislative 
initiatives that bring tribute and honor and respect to Americans 
throughout the Nation.
  Let me thank the chairman of the House Administration Committee. We 
are always noting that this is a committee that serves the House, and 
we thank Mr. Ney for his able leadership on providing that outstanding 
service.
  I thank Mr. Weldon for acknowledging that we may be out front but our 
existence is based upon the hardworking men and women that serve 
America by serving the United States Congress, both the House and the 
Senate.
  And that is why I rise, because I had the pleasure in my tenure here 
to stick my head into the Republican Cloakroom. As my colleagues well 
know, Members meet and talk on many issues in our respective 
Cloakrooms, and we travel back and forth between the Cloakrooms. And I 
had the opportunity to meet Ms. Sewell and to watch her hold court, if 
you will, and preside.
  We may be presiding here, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker may be in the 
Speaker's chair, but I can tell my colleagues, as I watched Helen 
Sewell work she was presiding. She knew all the Members. She knew what 
they liked and disliked. And I would say from her actions, she showed 
us that she truly loved and respected this institution.
  Many of us are here because we love and respect the values of America 
and this institution. And Helen, through her family's legacy, Benjamin 
Franklin Jones, her father, showed that. Is it not amazing that this 
family has owned this institution, this business that has served in the 
Cloakroom on the Republican side, for 87 years and to note that she has 
been here during such challenging times as thousands of State of the 
Union addresses and, of course, the tragedy of the Puerto Rican 
nationalists attack on March 1, 1954. She is renown and known to 
Presidents Presidents Ford, Nixon, and certainly President George H. W. 
Bush.

                              {time}  1600

  Also, I would say that being such a young person and coming to this 
institution, she is knowledgeable about American history, certainly by 
listening to bits and pieces from Members. She has seen the war in 
World War II, the Vietnam War, certainly the Persian Gulf war, and 
certainly other incidences of history.
  Helen Sewell received the 1983 John W. McCormick Award of Service for 
service to the Congress. As I indicated, this legislation indicates she 
will retire on December 31, 2005. So I think it is appropriate today 
that we stand here, among the other responsibilities we have, and be 
able to salute Helen Sewell on the occasion of her retirement and 
express our deepest gratitude.
  It is important to thank those who serve this institution for their 
service and to also acknowledge that they love this institution. This 
resolution is an appropriate tribute to Helen Sewell and to her family, 
her grandchildren, and her children; and I thank you, Mr. Weldon and 
Mr. Ney and Ms. Millender-McDonald for allowing the Members to come to 
the floor and pay their tributes. May God bless Helen Sewell, and God 
bless America.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let me again thank Representative Curt Weldon for a 
great tribute to this outstanding woman. What a great Representative 
you are in bringing this to the floor today and to display all of the 
beautiful pictures that you have shown to us today in honor of this 
great lady.
  Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives honors Ms. Sewell on the 
occasion of her retirement and expresses its gratitude for her many 
years of service. We thank you, Ms. Sewell.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest).
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
time, and I want to thank Mr. Weldon from Pennsylvania and all those 
who have come down here this afternoon to honor just a great lady, a 
wonderful person. For as long as this building stands, Helen's Cafe 
will be an intimate part of the U.S. Capitol.
  Emerson said heroism is the quiet obedience to the secret impulse of 
character; and whenever we walked into Helen's Cafe, we had that sense. 
We could look at Helen and our stress would wash away with her smile, 
our anxiety about partisan politics or legislation or not getting 
something done would somehow become a little bit more eased.
  Her remarks at the Members leaning up against that counter talking 
about this or talking about that would be, ``Oh, Lord.'' I can still 
hear Helen saying ``Oh, Lord.'' Or if you made a comment about her 
sandwiches were too expensive, of course they were always a fraction of 
the price of what they would be anywhere else, but if you said 
something like that, ``Helen, this is a

[[Page H12195]]

little pricey, I only got a sandwich and a glass of water,'' she said 
``Oh, Lord.''
  Her stories about her family and her father and the perspective has 
been given here this afternoon. But can you imagine someone coming here 
while President Roosevelt was the President, Richard Nixon and Jack 
Kennedy were Members of Congress, and, it has already been spoken, 
World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, conflicts around the 
world with the Middle East, the Persian Gulf war, right on up to the 
present conflict in Iraq.
  Her advice to us, and we took it, was, ``You need your rest. Rest 
yourself.'' Can you hear Helen saying that? ``Rest yourself.'' Or if 
you had a sandwich and you did not want anything to drink she would go 
around and get you a glass of water. ``You have to wash that down with 
something. It is too dry. You need something to drink. You need your 
nourishment.'' How many times did we hear Helen say that? ``You need 
your nourishment. You work too hard.''
  Mr. Speaker, we still talk about Helen in Helen's Cafe. And Miss 
Helen, Pat is doing a great job. She is following your suit. She is set 
in Helen's Cafe because of your gentle, serene example.
  By the way, I have to say this through the Speaker, if you are 
heading across the Bay Bridge on that church bus and you are going to 
do what you like to do in Delaware, you have a standing invitation to 
stop at my house to play 500 rummy. Now, we might throw out a few 
pennies there, but there is a standing invitation from all of us.
  Helen, we wish you Merry Christmas, the best of holidays, and your 
character, that secret impulse that you left us, will linger here for 
all time.
  Thank you, Curt.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am just going to conclude by thanking the Members for 
being here today, our ranking members. This could not have happened 
without Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald being here and taking 
her time to give tribute, and, of course, the other Members, 
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and Congressman Gilchrest. Especially, 
of course, I want to thank Congressman Weldon of Pennsylvania for doing 
this, for giving Helen the honor that she so deserves.
  Obviously, from everything that we have heard today, I think the 
whole Nation can understand the feeling we have for Helen and how we 
miss her being here. Of course, when I conclude, I am going to ask for 
the Record to be kept open because Members are going to want to submit 
statements for the record to Helen to give her the honor she so 
deserves. So we wish Helen the best.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Dreier).
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my very good friend, the chairman of 
the House Administration Committee, for yielding me time.
  I was just crossing a television between football games, getting 
ready to watch the Redskins beat the Cowboys in just a few minutes, and 
I caught this flower arrangement here, and then started to see these 
photographs of Helen up, and I said, My gosh, what is going on down 
here? And it brought back incredible memories for me.
  As I know my colleagues on this side of the aisle know, I do not know 
if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know, this is my 25th 
year here. I have served exactly half the amount of time that the Dean 
of the House, John Dingell, has served. So I have to tell about my 
first term.
  In my first term, Helen Sewell was in an incredible ceremony that 
then Speaker Tip O'Neill presided over. She was honored in the Sam 
Rayburn Room right over there, and she was named the Employee of the 
Year for the U.S. Capitol. I do not know if it has been stated, but on 
one of the plaques we have right here out in the hallway, and we do not 
do this terribly often, we have not done it on an annual basis, and, in 
fact, after Helen Sewell received that reward, I think we went for a 
long period of time without honoring another employee of the year.
  But I listened attentively as my friend from Maryland was talking 
about Helen making sure that people had enough food and drink in them 
to be sustained through these long hours of work. I will tell you as I 
listened to that, I was thinking, a number of us have been working very 
long hours, and I will tell you I take my hat off especially to the 
staff, for there has been literally no sleep for a lot of the staff 
members who are trying to get this very important work that we are 
proceeding with completed. But Helen would be here ensuring that 
everyone was very, very healthy; and she was an inspiration to all of 
us. I heard the bit about the soap operas and all that she followed so 
attentively.
  But I thank my colleagues for recognizing Helen, because she was one 
of the first people I met when I came here a quarter century ago, and 
she could not have been any nicer to me then, and our thoughts and 
prayers are with her.
  I look forward to seeing her cross that Bay Bridge and going to play 
cards with Wayne Gilchrest. I think that should be an interesting game 
when she stops by his house. But I thank my colleagues for recognizing 
Helen, who has been a great friend to so many of us.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I am particularly pleased to join my 
colleagues in honoring Helen Sewell as she retires from the House of 
Representatives. Helen Sewell has honored our city as a longtime 
resident and the House by devoting extraordinary service under the 
particularly difficult hours and circumstances of service in the cloak 
room. Ms. Sewell's devotion to the House, to the people of the United 
States, and to the District, whom we service, has been so great that 
she was still serving at 80 years old. Her loyalty to the House and its 
work has given vital support to Members of Congress and to the 
important business of the country.
  As the House honors Ms. Sewell and wish her well, the residents of 
the District of Columbia join me in thanking Helen Sewell for dedicated 
service to the House of Representatives.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gillmor). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 633.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas 
and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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