[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 72 (Thursday, June 8, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3548-H3550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RESIGNATION AS MEMBER OF COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following 
resignation as a member of the Committee on Appropriations:


                                     House of Representatives,

                                     Washington, DC, June 8, 2006.
     Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
     Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Speaker: Please accept my resignation, effective 
     immediately, from the House Committee on Appropriations.
       It has been my great pleasure to serve on the committee 
     under the fine leadership of Chairman Jerry Lewis and 
     Chairman Bill Young.
       Thank you for your attention to this request.
           Sincerely,
                                                        Tom DeLay,
                                               Member of Congress.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Shall the resignation be 
accepted?
  The gentleman from Texas is recognized.

                              {time}  1715

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, political careers tend to end in one of three 
ways: defeat, death, or retirement. And despite the fervent and mostly 
noble exertions of my adversaries over the years, I rise today to bid 
farewell to this House under the happiest of the available options.
  I wish to begin the end of my congressional career by publicly 
thanking for the last time as their Representative the people of the 
22nd District of Texas. Everything I have ever been able to accomplish 
here I owe and dedicate to them. It has been an honor and a privilege 
to serve them here.
  Mr. Speaker, the real Speaker, he is on his way, I want to tell the 
real Speaker it has been a real honor to serve with Denny Hastert, who 
is my good friend, my most trusted partner and colleague. I want to 
take just a moment to congratulate him myself on becoming the longest 
serving Republican Speaker in history.
  What a blessing this place is, Mr. Speaker. What a castle of hope 
this building is, this institution is for the people of the world. It 
is one of those things in political life that you always know, but 
seldom notice. The schedules we are forced to keep during our days in 
Washington are not always hospitable to sitting back and reflecting on 
the historical significance of our surroundings.
  In the weeks since I announced my retirement, however, I have found 
myself doing just that. I notice things like I have not in years. I 
notice the monuments on the Mall. I notice that in Washington's 
obelisk, the Father of Our Country is represented not as an object of 
glory, but as a dutiful sentry at attention, minding his post for 
eternity.
  I notice that under Jefferson's dome, the statue of the man is 
relatively understated, while his etched words still thunder from the 
marble with the power to drive history.
  I notice that Lincoln's chair, the man who sought above all peace and 
reconciliation, keeps one of his hands in a perpetual fist. I walk 
these halls with a keener perspective. I notice now the statues of old 
and great, and in some cases almost forgotten, heroes that line the 
halls of this building, that stand in Statuary Hall.
  In these halls I have also noticed in recent weeks the number of 
tourists in the Capitol who speak no English. They are not from 
America, most of these visitors, and yet, in a certain sense, of course 
they are. They may speak Italian or Polish or Japanese, but the 
freedoms they enjoy, both here and in their own country, have been 
inspired, won and secured by the ideals and the courage and the 
compassion of the American people.
  These pilgrims come from all over the world to the House of 
Representatives to sit up in these galleries, photograph the statues, 
and stare up at the rotunda, to bear witness to the awesome feat of 
human liberty we have achieved right here.
  The dome above us, Mr. Speaker, is a light house, a star even, by 
which all of the people in the world, no matter how oppressed, how 
impoverished, how seemingly without hope can chart a course towards 
security, prosperity, and freedom.
  It is worth considering, though I will admit it is considerably 
easier to consider after you have announced your retirement, whether 
the days we lead here, the debates we wage, the work we do is always 
worthy of the elevated ideals embodied in that dome.
  I submit that we could do better, as could all people in all things 
at all times, but perhaps not in the way some might think. In preparing 
for today, I found that it is customary in speeches such as these to 
reminisce about the good old days of political harmony, and across-the-
aisle camaraderie, and to lament the bitter divisive partisan rancor 
that supposedly now weakens our democracy.
  Well, I cannot do that, because partisanship, Mr. Speaker, properly 
understood, is not a symptom of democracy's

[[Page H3549]]

weakness, but of its health and its strength, especially from the 
perspective of a political conservative.
  Liberalism, after all, whatever you may think of its merits, is a 
political philosophy and a proud one, with a great tradition in this 
country with a voracious appetite for growth. In any place, or any 
time, on any issue, what does liberalism ever seek, Mr. Speaker? More. 
More government. More taxation. More control over people's lives and 
decisions and wallets.
  If conservatives do not stand up to liberalism, no one will. And for 
a long time around here, almost no one did. Indeed, the common lament 
over the recent rise in political partisanship is often nothing more 
than a veiled complaint instead about the recent rise of political 
conservatism.
  I should add here that I do not begrudge liberals their nostalgia for 
the days of a timid, docile, and permanent Republican minority. If we 
Republicans had ever enjoyed that same luxury over the last 12 years, 
heck, I would be nostalgic too.
  Had liberals not fought us tooth and nail over tax cuts and budget 
cuts and energy and Iraq and partial birth abortion, those of us on 
this side of the aisle can only imagine all of the additional things we 
could have accomplished.
  But the fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, they did not agree with 
us. So to their credit, they stood up to us. They argued with us. And 
they did so honorably on behalf of more than 100 million people, just 
like we did against President Clinton and they did against President 
Reagan.
  Now, it goes without saying, Mr. Speaker, that by my count, our 
friends on the other side of the aisle lost every one of those 
arguments over the last 22 years, but that is besides the point. The 
point is, we disagree. On first principles, Mr. Speaker, we disagree. 
And so we debate, often loudly and often in vain, to convince our 
opponents and the American people of our point of view.
  We debate here on the House floor. We debate in committees. We debate 
on television, and on radio and on the Internet and in the newspapers; 
and then every 2 years we have a huge debate, and then in November, we 
see who won.

  That is not rancor; that is democracy. You show me a Nation without 
partisanship, and I will show you a tyranny. For all its faults, it is 
partisanship based on core principles that clarifies our debates, that 
prevents one party from straying too far from the mainstream, and that 
constantly refreshes our politics with new ideas and new leaders.
  Indeed, whatever role partisanship may have played in my own 
retirement today, or in the unfriendliness heaped upon other leaders in 
other times, Republican or Democrat, however unjust, all we can say is 
that partisanship is the worst means of settling fundamental political 
differences, except for all of the others.
  Now, politics demands compromise, and, Mr. Speaker, even the most 
partisan among us have to understand that. But we must never forget 
that compromise and bipartisanship are means, not ends, and are 
properly employed only in the service of higher principles. It is not 
the principled partisan, however obnoxious he may seem to his opponents 
who degrade our public debate, but the preening self-styled statesman 
who elevates compromise to a first principle.
  For the true statesman, Mr. Speaker, we are not defined by what they 
compromise, but what they do not. Conservatives, especially less 
enamored of government's lust for growth, must remember that our 
principles must always drive our agenda and not the other way around.
  For us conservatives, there are two such principles that can never be 
honorably compromised: human freedom and human dignity. Now, our agenda 
over the last 12 years has been an outgrowth of these first principles.
  We lowered taxes to increase freedom. We reformed welfare programs 
that however well intentioned undermined the dignity of work and 
personal responsibility and perpetuated poverty.
  We have opposed abortion, cloning and euthanasia because such 
procedures fundamentally deny the unique dignity of the human person. 
And we have supported the spread of democracy and the ongoing war 
against terror, because those policies protect and affirm the 
inalienable human right of all men and women and children to live in 
freedom.
  Conservatism is often unfairly accused of being insensitive and mean-
spirited, sometimes unfortunately, even by other conservatives. As a 
result, conservatives often attempt to soften that stereotype by 
overfunding broken programs or glossing over ruinous policies. But 
conservatism is not about feeling people's pain; it is about curing it.
  And the results since the first great conservative victory in the 
1980s speak for themselves. Millions of new jobs, new homes, and new 
businesses created, thanks to conservative economic reforms. Millions 
of families intact and enriched by the move from welfare to work. 
Hundreds of millions of people around the world liberated by a 
conservative foreign policy victory over Soviet Communism, and more 
than 50 million Iraqis and Afghanis liberated from tyranny since 
September 11, 2001.
  To all of the critics of the supposedly mean-spirited conservative 
policies that brought about these results, I say only this: 
compassionate is as compassionate does.
  Now, when I say that word, Mr. Speaker, compassionate, my thoughts 
turn to one person, my wife, Christine. Twelve years ago, Christine 
became what is called a court-appointed special advocate for abused and 
neglected children. And soon thereafter we became foster parents 
ourselves to three such children.
  Over the last 10 years, I have spent more time and energy on the 
plight and needs of abused, neglected children than on any other single 
issue. It is an issue that transcends politics, let alone partisanship, 
and one that will continue to command a disproportionate amount of my 
time as a private citizen.
  I am concerned, however, about whether it will receive the attention 
it deserves here in Washington, D.C. And because this is the last time 
I may ever command the attention of the House and of the national 
media, I will make one more plea before I go.
  The catastrophe of America's child welfare and foster care systems is 
a national outrage, a government failure, and a bipartisan 
embarrassment. Congresses, administrations, Governors and State 
legislatures of every party and ideological bent for almost 100 years 
have thrown abused and neglected children into a vicious cycle of 
violence, fear, and instability.
  Children who have already been beaten and betrayed by the people that 
are supposed to love them the most are routinely tossed from one 
temporary placement to another, often 10 to 20 times during their most 
formative, vulnerable years.
  The system we have created still includes perverse economic 
incentives that deny children permanent homes, and in some States still 
lacks meaningful child monitoring or even background checks for 
perspective foster parents. The courts charged with overseeing each 
case are overrun with unrelated duties. So the thankless, unexciting 
work of looking after foster kids is just set aside in favor of more 
glamorous cases on the docket.

                              {time}  1730

  Bureaucracies layered one on top of another consign these children to 
the perdition of government and foster care for years at a time and 
with little or no effort made to finding them permanent loving forever 
families.
  Instead, every few months these children throw their despair and 
distrust into a black plastic trash bag along with their few belongings 
and head off to the next place, the next letdown. They are abused and 
neglected long before they ever reach our abusive and neglectful foster 
care system and once in, things often only get worse.
  Children are dying, Mr. Speaker, inside and out, and it is our fault. 
There is legislation now waiting in the Senate to help expedite 
interstate placement of foster children, and within its narrow focus 
this bill will do some good on the margins of some cases. I am proud of 
what little I have been able to accomplish for these children over the 
years, but in truth, I have only moved molehills, not mountains.
  So I leave you today not by asking that one take up this cause, but 
by asking that all of you do. That you listen to the stories of these 
children and

[[Page H3550]]

the stories that they tell and study the broken system we have created 
for them and help them, for God's sake, help them.
  I ask this of Republicans and Democrats alike, not in the name of 
bipartisanship but in the name of principle, which brings me back, Mr. 
Speaker, to those memorials and those statues.
  The great Americans honored here in bronze and marble, the heroes of 
our history and the ghosts of these halls were not made great because 
of what they were but because of what they did. George Washington and 
Abraham Lincoln have almost nothing in common with Junipero Serra and 
Jack Swigert, except the choice they each made, to live, to fight and 
even to die in the service of freedom. We honor men with monuments not 
because of their greatness or even simply because of their service, but 
because of their refusal even in the face of danger or death to ever 
compromise the principles they served.
  Washington's obelisk still stands watch because democracy will always 
need a sentry. Jefferson's words will still ring because liberty will 
always need a voice. And Lincoln's left hand still stays clenched 
because tyranny will always need an enemy. And we are still here, Mr. 
Speaker, as a House and as a Nation because the torch of freedom cannot 
carry itself.
  Here on this floor, I have caught and thrown spears of every sort. 
Over the course of 22 years, I have probably worked with and against 
almost everyone in this Chamber at least once. I have scraped and 
clawed for every vote, every amendment for every word of every bill 
that I believed in my heart would protect human freedom and defend 
human dignity. I have done so at all times honorably and honestly, Mr. 
Speaker, with God as my witness and history as my judge. And if given 
the chance to do it all again, there is only one thing I would change. 
I would fight even harder.
  This place has given me so many memories, so much life. For 22 years, 
I have served the best I knew how. In this House, I have found my 
life's calling and my soul's savior. Eight years ago, I witnessed evil 
in the murder of two Capitol Hill police officers, one just outside my 
office and another, a very dear friend on my protection detail, inside 
my office itself. And 5 years ago, I witnessed unparalleled courage as 
their surviving comrades stood at their posts inside this building 
during the frantic evacuation on 9/11. They are around us every day, 
the Capitol Police force.
  I tell you, those police officers are Members' and staffs' own 
personal army of guardian angels. They are the bravest men and women 
serving under this dome, and I offer them now, one more time, my great 
respect and admiration because believe it or not, Mr. Speaker, this is 
a happy day for me, though admittedly perhaps not as happy as it is for 
some of our old friends on the other side of the aisle. But nothing, 
not this retirement, not tough losses or old wounds, can detract from 
the joy that I feel and the blessings I offer to this House and its 
Members.
  I say good-bye today, Mr. Speaker, with few regrets, no doubt. And so 
with love and gratitude for friends and foe alike, patriots all, I 
yield back the floor of our beloved House. And I exit as always, stage 
right.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the resignation is 
accepted.
  There was no objection.

                          ____________________