[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO GERALDINE R. GENNET GENERAL COUNSEL TO THE HOUSE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. J. DENNIS HASTERT

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 13, 2007

  Mr. HASTERT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to say thank you to 
Geraldine R. Gennet who is resigning as House Counsel, after serving in 
that office for more than 12 years.
  When I was Speaker, it was my privilege to oversee the institutional 
offices which help make the U.S. House of Representatives function on a 
daily basis. The house counsel, like the Parliamentarian, legislative 
counsel, and other institutional offices, serve the House behind the 
scenes but are essential to its operations. All these offices are non-
partisan, and that tradition is important to maintain, so that no 
matter which party controls the House, its operations are viewed as 
professional and non-partisan.
  Geraldine Gennet certainly carried on that tradition. She and her 
office gave the Speaker's office and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory 
Group advice that reflected the precedents and practices of those that 
went before us, but also the appropriate legal advice to address 
today's issues and problems. It was not legal advice calculated to 
advance a political goal or agenda. Rather, Geraldine's advice 
reflected her unbiased reading of the law and her best legal judgment. 
When the House's institutional interests were at stake, her advice was 
designed to further those institutional interests and protect the 
legislative branch's central place in our constitutional structure as 
envisioned by the Founding Fathers.
  Geraldine and her staff were particularly helpful in the aftermath of 
the FBI's unprecedented raid on a congressional office last year. She 
was instrumental in negotiating with the executive branch in an effort 
to resolve the constitutional stand-off amicably. When those 
negotiations ultimately failed, she then assisted the House leadership 
in charting its course through the litigation that followed. We 
particularly relied on Geraldine and her office for advice on 
significant institutional issues of this nature, and they always did an 
excellent job. This House owes Geraldine and her staff a debt of 
gratitude.
  I wish Geraldine well in her future endeavors and thank her for her 
service to the U.S. House of Representatives.

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