[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 154 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H10122-H10125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING CONGRESSMAN JOHN PETERSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it's a rare privilege for 
me to rise here tonight.
  As the senior Republican in the Pennsylvania delegation, I have 
certain opportunities and certain obligations. The one that I'm 
exercising this evening is one that I am particularly pleased to do, 
not without a certain reluctance, because I'm rising to honor a 
colleague of ours who is retiring and who has done a great deal for the 
State of Pennsylvania.
  I have known Representative John Peterson, really, since 1981. John 
Peterson came to this body in 1996, and he has served with distinction 
for the last 12 years, but when I first knew John Peterson, he was then 
a member of the State House. He had been elected in 1977. He was 
recruited by local Republicans as the obvious choice when that vacancy 
occurred, and I first knew him as one of the most energetic members of 
the State House within the district of my boss and mentor who was then 
serving in the State Senate.
  When Senator Kusse retired in 1984, again, John Peterson was the 
obvious person to succeed him into the State Senate. There, John 
Peterson became known as one of the authorities on rural health care 
and as one of the strongest advocates for transportation improvements 
in western Pennsylvania.
  So it was an obvious thing in 1996 when Congressman Bill Clinger 
decided to retire that John Peterson was an obvious but not an 
uncontested candidate for that seat. After a vigorous primary, which 
included some fairly famous names, John Peterson won the Republican 
primary, and went on to win a convincing election in the fall.
  My colleague John Peterson has made a great mark on this institution 
in 12 years.
  When he came to the House, he, rather rapidly, established himself as 
an advocate for rural issues, not only in western Pennsylvania but all 
over the country, and he has always been a prominent member of the 
Rural Caucus. Surprisingly, for a member of a delegation from one of 
the States, from a Commonwealth that was one of the original 13 
colonies, he has also been a leading member of the Western Caucus 
because of the infinity of the issues within his district with western 
concerns.
  Perhaps one of the great distinctions about John Peterson is his 
representing one of the largest districts, if not the largest district, 
east of the Mississippi. He has brought an extraordinary energy to the 
job of representing a district that runs from the Titusville area, in 
my neighborhood, all the way down to some of the farthest bedroom 
communities within our State capital area.
  John Peterson, after a term in the House, naturally gravitated to a 
higher assignment, and he was selected by our party to be a member of 
the Appropriations Committee.
  I have to tell you he has served there with extraordinary 
distinction. Early on, he has become an advocate and an expert in rural 
health care, and he has played a particularly critical role in 
increasing Medicare reimbursements for many rural health care 
providers.
  As the individual who has represented the area that covers the 
Allegheny National Forest, one of the gems of our national forest 
system, he has become a strong advocate consistently for that area and 
for its potential to be an economic driver as well as a source of 
natural beauty in the region. As a member of the Appropriations 
Committee, he has been a strong and consistent advocate of resources 
for the Allegheny National Forest and for recreation in the region.
  He has also been recognized as one of the strongest advocates of 
rural economic development, particularly in western Pennsylvania but 
particularly with a focus on job training. He has played consistently a 
critical and active role in encouraging local economic development 
organizations to develop a regional outlook and to become effective 
advocates across county lines.
  He has been a strong advocate in this Chamber of a pro-growth energy 
policy, and it was John Peterson who before most other Members of this 
body had focused on the issue, and he became a strong and consistent 
advocate of opening up new opportunities for drilling within the United 
States to reduce our energy dependence.
  It was John Peterson who repeatedly brought up within the 
Appropriations Committee, in the face of opposition from some Democrats 
and also from some Republicans, legislation to open up the Outer 
Continental Shelf for drilling, initially for natural gas but also for 
petroleum.

                              {time}  2100

  John Peterson, before most people in this Chamber saw the critical 
importance of this issue as a way of driving down prices in the United 
States, became a strong advocate of addressing this issue head-on in 
lifting the ban that had been created by both Congress and the 
executive branch on drilling.
  And I think it is a great tribute to him and, as he retires, must be 
a great source of satisfaction to see that this Congress has not 
continued that ban. This, I realize, is a controversial issue, but the 
beauty of my colleague is he's been able to engage people on both sides 
of the aisle on this issue and in a way that has even reached out to 
many people who he has initially disagreed with.
  I, myself, have never seen my colleague more engaged than on the 
issue of tolling Interstate 80. I partnered with John Peterson just 
last year when this issue came up in this body in the wake of a 
decision by leaders in Harrisburg in our State capital and by the 
Turnpike Commission to attempt to toll the length of Interstate 80 
utilizing a pilot project provision embedded in our Federal law. I had 
the privilege of seeing firsthand John Peterson's advocacy and his 
energy as he aggressively engaged both State officials and, ultimately, 
our U.S. Department of Transportation.
  I must say the fact that we have recently received a decision from 
the U.S. Department of Transportation that effectively bars the tolling 
of Interstate 80 is a great tribute to his advocacy and also his 
ability to work with people like me and others to make the case.
  John Peterson has decided this year to retire. I think that is a 
tribute to the love he bears for his family above everything else. But 
he leaves behind him a truly remarkable record as a public servant, as 
someone who's made his mark first in the State legislation, now in this 
body, someone who has always retained the vision and the inventiveness 
that comes from having been a small business man.
  It's been a great privilege to serve with John Peterson, and my 
distinguished colleague from Pennsylvania will very much be missed. 
Certainly if there were ever a solution to the energy crisis, it would 
be to tap into his

[[Page H10123]]

energy and try to channel it into others in this body.
  I know we have a couple of other members of our delegation present 
here, and I'm particularly interested to yield to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, such time as he may consume, the gentleman originally 
from western Pennsylvania but now from southeastern Pennsylvania and a 
great advocate for the State, my friend, Mr. Gerlach.
  Mr. GERLACH. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank you very 
much for the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of Congressman 
John Peterson.
  Before I do so, let me thank my distinguished colleague from 
Pennsylvania, Congressman English, for his leadership in conducting 
this special order to honor John. And it's much appreciated by all of 
us that are in the Pennsylvania delegation.
  I'm here tonight to honor my colleague, John Peterson, for his 
countless years of service to this great Nation. His strong presence 
and thoughtful contributions will be greatly missed in this Chamber.
  I've had the pleasure to know John for a long time, first serving 
with him in the Pennsylvania State Senate and for the past 6 years here 
in the House. Throughout his time in the State Senate and in the House 
of Representatives, John has been a strong and steady voice on a wide 
range of issues, notably world development, transportation, and energy. 
It's been my honor to work with John over the years in promoting the 
interests of our constituencies and the good of this Nation.
  His service has been an inspiration, and it has been my pleasure to 
witness this man in action over the years.
  Over the past 12 years, John has faithfully served the needs of the 
Fifth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. Time after time he has 
promoted the interests and the well-being of his constituency, the 
largest and most rural of all of the districts in Pennsylvania. He 
accomplished throughout this effort to allow for job creation and 
economic development strategies, improve access to quality and 
affordable health care, and enhance the quality of life for his 
constituents. This tireless devotion to the residents of the Fifth 
Congressional District is just a glimpse of his compassion and devotion 
to our country.
  As we get set to wrap up what appears to be the rest of this 
Congress, I wish John all the best as he heads home to spend time with 
his wife, Sandy, and their wonderful family.
  John, thank you for your tireless service, and you will be missed.
  Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania. I would now like to yield to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire) such time as he may consume. 
We're grateful for his presence here on the floor as well as his 
leadership.
  Mr. ALTIMRE. I thank the senior Republican from the delegation. I 
stand here as the junior Democrat from the delegation, and I do 
appreciate the opportunity to address, in a very bipartisan way, my 
appreciation for the opportunity to have served with John Peterson here 
in the House of Representatives.
  And I also want to thank the remarks from one of the former residents 
of the Fourth Congressional Districts, Congressman Gerlach, who grew up 
in Elwood City and was a star running back for Elwood City High School. 
So I was glad to hear from him as well.
  One of the joys of being elected to Congress, as all of our 
colleagues know, is you get to serve with people who you may have known 
previous to getting into Congress. And I worked at the University of 
Pittsburgh Medical Center and got to know many members of the 
Pennsylvania delegation, including Congressman English as well. And 
Congressman Peterson was somebody that I really enjoyed working with, 
somebody that I knew and liked before I got to Congress.
  So it was a pleasure and a treat for me to be able to serve for only 
one term, it looks like, because Mr. Peterson is retiring, but to get 
to serve one term with someone that I knew and somebody that I 
respected.
  And the reason I liked John Peterson was because he was somebody who 
was very interested and very active on a variety of subjects. There are 
a lot of people in this Congress who know certain subject matters very 
well, and they're experts in their fields of expertise. But John 
Peterson was somebody who seemed to know a little bit or maybe even a 
lot about a lot of different things.
  And anyone who's met with John Peterson over the years knows that if 
you engage him in a conversation, you better be ready to be there for a 
while because he's going to tell you a lot of things that you didn't 
know about that. And he's going to offer his opinion, and he's going to 
spar with you. He's going to test to see whether you know what you're 
talking about. And he's going to engage in a friendly debate because he 
wants to learn and he enjoys that kind of combative spirit in a 
friendly way as you're talking with him.
  So it was an honor for me to know him before, but it was a pleasure 
to see him in action on the House floor and get to know him in meetings 
that we had with the delegation.
  And, of course, he represents a district in central Pennsylvania, but 
often he would fly home, as Congressman English sometimes does, from 
Pittsburgh, from Washington to Pittsburgh; and many times we would sit 
in the airport and we would talk about whatever the issue of the day 
was in Congress and what the topic of conversation around the Nation 
was. And we would have our own friendly debates on these issues, and we 
would test each other.
  And I was always amazed at John Peterson's ability to demonstrate 
expertise on any subject that came up. And my colleagues know what I'm 
talking about.
  What I would say to the constituents of the Fifth District in 
Pennsylvania, those who've known John Peterson for many years, is 
you're losing a great representative. He's somebody who, as a Democrat, 
I did not always agree with, somebody who I did have differences with; 
but there's nobody in this Congress who cared more about their 
district, who cared more about this institution than John Peterson.
  And I can guarantee the people of the Fifth District in Pennsylvania, 
there is nobody who is going home with more accomplishment at the end 
of their term to take home with them in retirement than John Peterson.
  This is somebody who spent his entire career talking about energy, 
especially natural gas and oil drilling. He is somebody who talked 
continuously about the need to expand our offshore drilling for oil and 
natural gas and could tell you all of the reasons why and all of the 
history therein, and he's somebody who was successful in getting that 
done.
  We are leaving this Congress, beginning next Wednesday, where a 
moratorium that was in place for 27 years on oil and natural gas 
drilling is expiring. And the restrictions are not going to be there 
anymore, and there is nobody in this House that can take more credit 
for that than John Peterson. That is one whale of an accomplishment to 
end your career on.
  But as Congressman English talked about, he also was passionate about 
Interstate 80 across Pennsylvania. John Peterson has the biggest 
district geographically in Pennsylvania. Interstate 80 is an east-to-
west highway than ran right through his district. And he worked 
passionately to avoid the tolling of I-80 at the State level. It was a 
decision that had to be approved by the Federal Government.
  And to make a long story short, over the course of several months, he 
was successful, along with Congressman English--who deserves a lot of 
credit as well--in making sure that Interstate 80 was not tolled.
  So although John Peterson is retiring, there is nobody in this 
Congress who is going home with more accomplishments and more benefit 
to their district than John Peterson.
  So I just wanted to take a moment--and I do appreciate the 
opportunity to speak out of turn as I was in the chair--but to say the 
fondness for John Peterson was not a monopoly on the Republican side. 
We appreciated him as well, and it's not just in Pennsylvania, it's all 
of our colleagues in this Congress. We enjoyed serving with John 
Peterson. It was an honor to serve with him.
  I am a better Member of Congress for having known him, and I wish him 
the best in his retirement.
  Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania. Reclaiming my time.

[[Page H10124]]

  I would like to yield to the gentleman from Lehigh Valley, the 
distinguished Member, Mr. Dent, such time as he may consume.
  Mr. DENT. Thank you, Congressman English, for organizing this special 
order tonight in recognition of our good friend, John Peterson.
  He has been certainly an extraordinary Member of Congress, a real 
character, and just been a good friend to so many.
  John is one of those people who really makes this Congress a very 
special place. He does represent the Fifth District, as has been 
discussed tonight. I wanted to wish him and his wife, Sandy, well. This 
happens to be the anniversary of their wedding this weekend, so I wish 
both John and Sandy Peterson all the best on this anniversary weekend 
for them.
  You know, I first met John Peterson back in 1991 when I was first 
sworn in to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. John was a State 
senator, and I was just a freshman in the State House; and John was 
always very kind to me. He would take time out of his busy life to 
mentor me, to talk to me about issues, just to be a good friend. And I 
always appreciated that about John.
  And John, too, in Washington, perhaps, is best known for his advocacy 
on the issue of Outer Coaster Shelf exploration for energy. What a lot 
of people don't know, who've probably listened to John Peterson over 
the years, he talked about that issue about American exploration for 
energy when it, perhaps, wasn't as popular. But he would come down with 
charts and talk about the need to produce energy in America.
  And what a lot of people don't know about John Peterson is that he 
represents much of northwestern Pennsylvania, a very large, rural 
district. And in that district is a town called Titusville where oil 
was first discovered by Colonel Drake.
  And so John was passionate on this issue of oil and gas exploration. 
It was something that he brought to this floor. He did a lot to educate 
many of us, many Members, about the situation in this country with 
respect to natural gas, especially. John would talk about it and talk 
about the need for us to develop more of our resources and how this is 
impacting America's manufacturers, particularly Pennsylvania's 
manufacturers. And he was just passionate about it. And of course 
during this Congress, that issue of American energy exploration, the 
Outer Coastal Shelf, is one that has really taken a very high profile.
  And I know that John, because of his leadership in part, is why we 
saw the moratorium on OCS drilling lifted just recently, and I think 
that's a great accomplishment for John.
  Also, too, he was one of the more tenacious Members I have ever met, 
and I met him in Harrisburg. He would take up an issue, and there was 
no one who was more fierce for his cause than John Peterson.
  And we saw that this year with respect to the tolling, proposed 
tolling for Interstate 80. John was, as many of us know in 
Pennsylvania, rather upset about the proposal. And he just really took 
to the public airwaves and made his case. And, of course, that proposal 
was not adopted by the Federal Highway Administrator. So that was an 
issue that was one where John had taken a strong leadership position 
and came out successful, just as he did recently on the issue of Outer 
Coastal Shelf exploration.
  So John Peterson has actually had quite a good year. Such a good year 
that I have teased him at times, ``Are you sure you want to retire now? 
You're doing so well around here. This is probably not the time for you 
to leave.''

                              {time}  2115

  But John, as you know, is a dedicated public servant, a devoted 
family man, and I think he wants to spend more time with his family.
  I know I will miss him here. As I said, he's a great friend to me. 
I've known him since our legislative days in Harrisburg.
  I, again, want to thank John Peterson for his advocacy, for his 
friendship, for his leadership on behalf of the people of the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, northwestern Pennsylvania in particular, 
and also for his support and leadership for all the American people.
  Mr. ENGLISH. I want to thank the gentleman for his generous comments 
that certainly capture the spirit of our colleague, and I would like to 
finally yield to one other Member of our delegation, a gentleman whose 
name is synonymous with transportation in Pennsylvania and who has done 
an extraordinary job as an advocate for rural Pennsylvania and whose 
district has bordered that of our colleague. I'd like to yield to the 
gentleman from Altoona, Mr. Shuster.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for 
yielding to me.
  It's a great honor and privilege for me to be on the House floor 
tonight, coming to the well to talk about a very good friend, a dear 
friend, John Peterson. And I have to tell you about, we go back 12 
years, and very little known to Members of this body, but John Peterson 
ran for Congress in a primary against my brother for Congress. And many 
would say, well, how can you say, ``your dear friend'' when a guy like 
John Peterson ran hard and defeated your brother in a primary? But John 
Peterson and I and my family quickly after that primary election became 
very close and got behind John and supported him to become the 
Congressman from the Fifth District.
  But John, when I first came to Congress, was one of the first people 
to come to me and offer me advice, and I took it readily because of his 
long career in the State Senate and his years here in the House, 
listening to John and, as I said, becoming very, very good friends.
  John is one of my very close and best and dearest friends here in 
Congress, and it's because John and I share the same principles. We 
share the same values. We share a similar background, coming from a 
small business.
  John ran a grocery store in the Fifth District of Pennsylvania. He 
worked extremely hard, and as he worked his political career through 
the House and the Senate of Pennsylvania, anybody you talk to, whether 
it's here in Washington or whether it's in Harrisburg, talk about 
John's hard work and his tenacity. He's one of those guys that my 
colleague from Lehigh Valley said, you know it's John when he sinks his 
teeth into something, he doesn't let go. He fights and he fights and he 
fights, and his career has been an example of that, for the 20 years he 
served in the State legislature and the 14 years he's served here in 
Congress.
  And he is one of the hardest working Members of the House of 
Representatives. I go back to, I remember John before I came to 
Congress on television going to Russia, fighting to get the release of 
one of his constituents who was arrested because the Russians at the 
time thought he was a spy. But it was John Peterson on national 
television, in Russia, pounding and fighting to make sure that his 
constituent was released. And you know, John Peterson, with that 
tenacity, that hard work, was able to do that, and that family is 
grateful to him. The people of his district are grateful for his hard 
work and his expertise.
  I think it's been mentioned here tonight by different colleagues 
about his expertise on a number of issues, and John really understood 
the issues of rural America. In his role as the chairman of the Rural 
Caucus for a number of years, he was out there always fighting for 
those issues. Whether it was health care, whether it was education, 
economic development, John Peterson understood it as well or better 
than any Member of Congress, those issues for rural America, and he was 
a tireless advocate for those issues.
  As well as here in the last several months on the House floor, it was 
John Peterson and his knowledge and expertise on energy. John Peterson 
knew energy. Being a representative from the district that the first 
well in America in 1859 was sunk in his district, John took that issue 
and made it his own issue, and he was able to talk about that issue 
with great authority. Many of us went to John to try to understand, try 
to get the knowledge from John when it came to energy issues. Whether 
it was OCS, whether it was biomass or renewables, John Peterson knew 
those issues.
  Also, a little known fact is that John's family owns a business that 
sells furnaces, that sells heating apparatuses that use alternative 
energy. Whether it's corn, whether it's

[[Page H10125]]

wood, it's John Peterson who is up there in the weekends selling those 
products, talking to people about them because he understands them.
  John Peterson is a grassroots politician. He understands the issues 
from the grassroots up, and this Congress is better today because of 
people like John Peterson, because of John Peterson, because of his 
knowledge of the issues. He is going to be missed significantly here in 
Congress because of that aspect of his knowledge on his grassroots 
issues and rural America and energy.
  I want to make sure that I thank my colleague Mr. English for 
organizing this Special Order tonight to thank John Peterson and also 
to say thanks and congratulations to John and his wife Sandy who are 
celebrating a wedding anniversary.
  As I said, I'm going to miss John Peterson personally. I know my 
colleagues will miss him in the Pennsylvania delegation, and I believe 
that America will miss John Peterson because of his advocacy of issues 
that are so, so important to America and especially to rural America.
  So, with that, I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. Speaker, I think the remarks we've heard from the 
various Members of our delegation are a great tribute to the 
versatility and tenacity of Representative Peterson, and I think give 
everyone an appreciation, whether they are from his district or have 
never met him before, of why he's going to be missed and the large hole 
that he leaves in this institution.
  I must tell you, I have some small experience in filling John 
Peterson's shoes. When we did reapportionment in 2002, I had the 
opportunity to take over some territory from John Peterson. What I 
quickly discovered was that in terms of personal representation he had 
set the bar very, very high. There are few communities in that vast 
district that he wasn't a regular visitor to, that he wasn't accessible 
to, that he wasn't familiar with, that he didn't have a personal 
contact with local leaders in the community. That is going to be a 
challenge to his successor, and it's going to be a challenge to every 
Member of our delegation who tries to fill his role in our Pennsylvania 
leadership.
  I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to provide this 
tribute, and I thank all of the Members of our delegation for 
participating.

                          ____________________