[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 104 (Monday, July 13, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8014-H8021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THE GRATITUDE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE
SERVICE OF M. POPE BARROW, JR.
Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I send to the desk a resolution and ask
unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 635
Whereas M. Pope Barrow, Jr., was appointed to the Office of
the Legislative Counsel of the House of Representatives in
1968;
Whereas M. Pope Barrow, Jr., has provided 40 years of
service to the House as a member of the Office of the
Legislative Counsel under eight successive Speakers;
Whereas M. Pope Barrow, Jr., has served as the Legislative
Counsel for 12 years, following his service as the Deputy
Legislative Counsel for 4 years;
Whereas M. Pope Barrow, Jr., has been the principal drafter
over the past 30 years of Federal laws that protect the
environment, preserve public lands and waterways, and promote
the production and efficient use of energy resources;
Whereas M. Pope Barrow, Jr., has provided exemplary
leadership in undertaking significant programs to modernize
the operations of the Office of the Legislative Counsel and
the House; and
Whereas M. Pope Barrow, Jr., has provided steady guidance
in continuing the professional, nonpartisan service to which
the Office of the Legislative Counsel is dedicated: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives expresses its
gratitude to--
(1) M. Pope Barrow, Jr., for his 40 years of service to the
House; and
(2) the Office of the Legislative Counsel for its more than
90 years of assistance in the drafting of legislation
considered by the House.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan is recognized
for 1 hour.
Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I yield 30 minutes for purposes of debate
only to my good friend, the distinguished gentleman from California
(Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).
Madam Speaker, I yield to myself 4 minutes.
Madam Speaker, this a great institution in which we all take great
pride in serving. And it is that because of the great Constitution, but
also because of the Members who have served here over so many years.
And we can be proud of
[[Page H8015]]
those who have served as elected Members. Beyond those Members who have
been elected, there are large numbers of people who have served here by
appointment as essentially servants of the House, or perhaps more
better said, as public servants.
None of those has been more distinguished than the resolution honors.
I am very proud to handle this time and to have the privilege of
honoring a dear friend. I am also very proud and very happy that we are
able to send him off with the dignity, respect and the affection that
his long and distinguished service has done.
One of the things that enables us to be very proud of people like
Pope Barrow is the dedication, the decency and the integrity that they
bring to their job. In the case of Pope Barrow, he has done this with
extraordinary dedication. But beyond that, he has also done it with
extraordinary ability, indeed, remarkable ability. One of the things I
like to chuckle about is the way that he and the people who have worked
for him have made it possible for the House to serve well and Members
of this House to serve well, by giving us the best possible legal
advice on the handling and the construction of legislation.
From his first day of nearly 40 years of service at the Office of
Legislative Counsel, Pope Barrow has been an outstanding public
servant. He served first as a law assistant and then more latterly in
higher and higher positions until he served as Legislative Counsel. He
has served this country, this Chamber and all of the Members of this
body with great distinction and wholly selflessly.
I have worked together with him, as have most of the Members,
throughout my years in Congress. He worked on the complicated and
arduous Clean Air Act amendments. At that time, I promised him that no
longer would we ever allow this legislation to be opened up to public
consideration. And those of you who remember the 1990 Clean Air Act
will understand how he would thank me profusely for that commitment.
All of us, including myself, have much relied on his expertise in
energy, in the environment and public lands. He has been impartial. He
has been nonpartisan. He has shown extraordinary judgment. And he has
expressed in his deeds an extraordinary sense of duty that has proven
to be invaluable to this Chamber. These qualities are reflected in the
high regard in which he is held by Members and staff all across the
political spectrum and all during his long period of service.
If you speak to the attorneys and staff in the Office of the
Legislative Counsel, you will see the impact of Pope's leadership and
guidance. He has set high standards in the Office while supporting the
attorneys and the staff in their professional and personal pursuits.
This balance has set a positive, proactive tone at the Legislative
Counsel and has served us all, the Congress and the public at large,
extraordinarily well.
I remember years ago, when Pope and I were young, perhaps we were as
young as 50, members of my staff would run back and forth to the Office
of the Legislative Counsel to drop off drafting requests.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. DINGELL. I yield myself 2 additional minutes, Madam Speaker.
Today, in no small part of because of the extraordinary leadership of
Pope, the Office of Legislative Counsel has been modernized. The
dedicated and hard-working staff members of the Legislative Counsel are
able to utilize technology to provide the critically important service
upon which we all rely.
I want to wish him well, on my own behalf and on behalf of my wife,
Deborah, as well as the entire body of the House, as he retires to
spend more time with his children, Isabel, Pope and Rebecca, and to
express to him our good wishes for happiness and to give him a chance
to spend more time with the family which he treasures. Perhaps
retirement will allow him more time to kayak white-water rivers and to
sail across seas. I will surely miss Pope, and I will wish him well on
behalf of myself and all of us.
I want to also congratulate Sandy Strokoff on her appointment as
Legislative Counsel, and I look forward to working with her in the
future.
I reserve the balance of my time, and I ask unanimous consent, Madam
Speaker, that my good friend, the distinguished gentleman from Georgia
(Mr. Barrow) may control the remaining time on this side.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 635 expressing the
gratitude of the House of Representatives for the service of M. Pope
Barrow, Jr. In 1970, as a student at Georgetown Law School, I had the
opportunity to take a class from a colleague of Mr. Barrow's who was
then working in the Legislative Counsel's Office. It was to teach those
of us who were law students what the legislative process was really all
about, how you made an idea a law. I recall at the time marveling at
the command of the rules and the use of the English language that was
presented by that Office, and how they were an integral part of the
workings of the House of Representatives.
Later when I came to the House of Representatives the first time in
1979, I made it a practice for my office to regularly consult with the
Legislative Counsel's Office to ensure that we, in fact, were doing
what ought to be done in order to make legislation a reality on this
floor. And although a member of the minority party for all 10 years of
my first service in this House, I never despaired of the possibility
that I might actually pass legislation. So we wanted to make sure that
it was done in the right way, and the work of the Legislative Counsel's
Office was always extraordinary. Their ability to continue to work
tremendous hours is something to behold.
I would also say that they always acted in a nonpartisan way, so that
those of us on the minority side, and then during my return here to the
House, my first 2 years on the majority side, which I might say I did
enjoy that short period of time, and now once again on the minority, I
never noticed a change in the attitude of anybody in the Legislative
Counsel's Office with respect to the professional job they did to help
those of us who are elected by our constituents to ensure that we get
the people's work done in this House.
So, therefore, I am pleased to rise to honor a longstanding member of
this Institution's support staff, or Legislative Counsel, Pope Barrow.
The House Office of the Legislative Counsel is, as I mentioned, a
significant resource and an absolute contributor to the effective
execution of a Member's legislative efforts, contributing nonpartisan
service to bring important policy objectives to fruition.
{time} 1815
I can recall some of the most disappointing moments on the floor of
the House when Members have turned to me as we were discussing
legislation and I have pointed out what certain words are and they say,
don't worry about it; the courts will decide. That's an abrogation of
our responsibility under the Constitution. And as one who has had the
opportunity to actually see the product of legislation effectively
impact the law, that is, as a trial attorney, you know that a word, a
phrase, a misplaced comma, an incorrect grammatical presentation can
make all the difference in the world in terms of a decision, a real-
life decision with litigants before the court. We also know that it
impacts the lives of many individuals as they are the beneficiaries of
government services or government programs, so it is important for us
to attempt to get it right, and Barrow has been one of those people who
has dedicated his life to ensure that we do that.
In his various capacities with the Office of Legislative Counsel, he
has continued his family's legacy of service to the United States
Congress. That legacy, which I understand includes three former Members
of the House of Representatives and one Member of the U.S. Senate, is
further enriched by the alternate and complementary role that Pope
Barrow has served as legislative counsel. He has dutifully served the
House of Representatives, guided by the principle that his service
might necessarily be equally diligent, regardless of the petitioning
partisan, aiming
[[Page H8016]]
to minimize the enormous cost to society of having law out there that
nobody understands. Those are words to live by in this House.
For his many years of service to this body and his commitment to
drafting a body of legislation that is intelligible and coherent, I
extend my sincere thanks to Pope Barrow, and I would urge a unanimous
vote in support of this resolution.
At this time, I reserve the balance of my time.
General Leave
Mr. BARROW. Resuming our time, Madam Speaker, at the outset, I would
like to ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days
to revise and extend their remarks in the Record on this resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
There are a lot of lives that you can live in the law. You can live
the life of the fighter, the champion on the white horse, the
litigator, the trial lawyer. You can live the life of the counselor,
the deal maker, the advisor, the person who helps to plot his client's
course through uncertain waters. There are a lot of lives you can live
in the law.
If you are going to be a deal maker though, if you are going to be a
counselor, I venture to say that there are very few callings in the
world that can call upon as much in the services of the personal lawyer
as serving as counsel to a legislative body. In this country, the
greatest calling of that sort would be to serve as counsel to the House
of Representatives in the U.S. Congress. The biggest deals in the
country are made in this Chamber. Certainly this Chamber possesses the
body, unlike any court, to trample upon, to barge in upon, to stumble
upon, to mess up, settled bodies of law that have slowly emerged and
evolved over decades and in other institutions. And short of only the
Constitution of the United States, there is nothing to stop a body such
as this in messing up in all kinds of ways. And so it's essential that
the advice that we have be the best, the best counsel, in order to make
sure that the laws we make, that we plan for the future, are fully
informed and have the best counsel behind them.
You know, if the Hollywood mogul said that an oral contract ain't
worth the paper it's written on, or as a client of mine once said, if
it can't be read, it hadn't been said, then it is essential that the
deals, the understanding, the undertakings that are made by Members of
this body that are oral, that are over a handshake, they have to be
reduced to writing, and those writings have to be clear. They have to
be understandable. They have to be able to be read and interpreted by
all of the parties, as Mr. Lungren so ably said, who have to interpret
and rely upon their counsel.
Over the last 50 years, I venture to say, if Carlisle is right, he is
the one who said there is no such thing as history; there's just the
great man theory of government. There is no history. It's just the
biography of great men. If that's true, then if you subscribe to the
lawyer theory of history, then there is no history of law beyond the
biography of great lawyers.
In the last 50 years, I'd venture to say the legislative record of
this government is probably in the personal biography of Mr. John
Dingell. Over the last 40 years, the legislative record of this
Congress has been the professional biography of Middleton Pope Barrow
who, more than any other, has guided this House in the undertakings it
has made by giving them the language to embody the deals and the
understandings that are made here in this body.
A fellow named Charles Black once said, the prima materia of all
tragedy is the failure to recognize kinship. If that is true in
relations between country and relations between people, it's also true
in the law. Not to understand what we do and its kinship to what the
courts are doing, the regulatory agencies are doing, the States are
doing, what this government has done in prior years, in prior
Congresses, the failure to recognize that kinship can lead to all kinds
of trouble.
I think it's a matter of personal regard, a great personal matter of
personal pride for me that I recognize a different kind of kinship with
the gentleman we honor today with this resolution, because we have a
kinship of a much more basic and prosaic kind. His father's father's
father and my father's father's father are one and the same man, the
first of this name, Middleton Pope Barrow, and I am very proud to claim
kinship with the gentleman we honor today. I am kind of reminded,
though, of old Ambrose Bierce's definition of genealogy. Genealogy is
the study of one's descent from ancestors who did not necessarily care
to know their own.
Well, I do care to know my own. I care to know the descendants of a
common ancestor, Mr. Pope Barrow. It's not for me to say how well our
district is represented in this House of Representatives, but I think I
speak for every member of my family in saying that we feel extremely
well represented by the services that Middleton Pope Barrow has
rendered this House over the last four decades. We wish you God speed,
and God bless in all of your undertakings.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I continue to reserve.
Mr. BARROW. I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Hastings).
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. I thank you very much, my good friend from
Georgia. ``Wordsmithology'' must run in the family, Pope, as I listened
to John offer his congratulatory remarks from a cousin.
Madam Speaker, I rise to offer my sincere gratitude and appreciation
for Pope Barrow, who, on today, announced his resignation as the sixth
legislative counsel for the House of Representatives. Pope has rendered
a great service to his country throughout his 40-year career, working
his way from a law assistant in 1968 to his current position, which he
obtained by appointment by then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich in
1997.
I don't know how many bills he's drafted since 1968. He probably
doesn't know either, but I can tell you that a great many of our
Nation's laws on matters from clean air to taxes, to war powers, to
crime, owe much of their language to him. Although his may not be a
household name, all of our lives in this great country have been and
continue to be impacted by his efforts.
As an aside, I came in direct contact with Pope in seeking additional
space for his good offices, and thanks to Speaker Pelosi and her staff,
we had a modicum of success. And I said to Pope today, I knew the need
for space because, as a young lawyer, I worked in cramped quarters, and
I certainly felt that the people who do the people's business here in
drafting legislation deserved appropriate space. And I would hope that
we continue those efforts to make sure that they are comfortable.
Madam Speaker, it's hard not to understand Pope's commendable
dedication to congressional work; indeed, it runs in his family.
Several of his relatives have served in the House and Senate, going
back to the early 19th century when his great, great, great
grandfather, Wilson Lumpkin, served the State of Georgia as a
Representative, Senator and Governor. And of course, Pope's cousin, is
the gentleman from Georgia's 12th Congressional District, my good
friend, John Barrow.
Pope and his staff's steadfast commitment to impartiality,
practicality, and parsimony in the drafting of laws have been of great
benefit to me over the years, and I am sure that all of our colleagues
in the House feel the same. I, as they, have always been able to count
on the Office of the Legislative Counsel to ably assist us and our
staffs in carefully drafting policies to minimize confusion and
maximize the benefits of intended legislation. I looked, during his
tenure, to his staff and his staff's guidance, and they never
disappointed.
Madam Speaker, while the House of Representatives is losing a devoted
member of our body, one who will be sorely missed, I have a sneaking
suspicion that while Pope pursues his passion for white-water kayaking,
and I heard the Dean of the House say and traveling seas and other
activities, his thoughts may only occasionally turn to us here.
Nevertheless, I hope that he will visit us often and soon.
[[Page H8017]]
We thank Pope for his service and wish him all the best in the next
chapter of his life. He leaves an iconic legacy for his successor, whom
I compliment, along with our colleague, Ms. Sandra Strokoff. And I urge
the passage of this legislation for a gentleman who may have labored in
the shadows of this institution but cast a long shadow of his own over
the legislation that many of us have provided for our constituents.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good luck, Pope.
Mr. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I would yield to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) such time as he may consume.
Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, let me express my appreciation to my
colleagues, Mr. Lungren, Mr. Barrow, the very thoughtful remarks of my
Rules Committee colleague, the gentleman from Ft. Lauderdale, Mr.
Hastings.
I simply want to chime in and say that four decades of extraordinary
service to this institution is, frankly, quite rare. I see the Dean of
the House sitting here, and we all know he's been here a little more
than a decade beyond that. But it still is extraordinary when we have
someone who has taken on what is one of the least recognized, but what
is clearly one of the most important, responsibilities in this
institution. Bringing the office into the 21st century has been
something that has been made possible because of that four decades of
experience.
Members have the task of trying to put together legislative packages,
and often work, as we all know, is done very late at night. Often, many
changes are made which are challenged on both sides, but the
professionalism that has been shown by Mr. Barrow and the entire office
is something that I can say, as a minority member of the House
Committee on Rules, does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
We are going to have challenging days ahead, and I believe that that
four decades of work has laid the groundwork for what I know will be
continued professionalism as we deal with these many challenges.
Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the
distinguished gentleman from California, the chairman of the Energy and
Commerce Committee, Mr. Waxman.
Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the tremendous
contributions Pope Barrow has made to the House of Representatives and
to the country in his service with the Office of Legislative Counsel.
If you watch the floor debate long enough, you will hear Members of
Congress correctly noting that hardworking staff never get enough
credit around here. Well, there is another group of professionals that
often get even less credit for their good work, and that's the staff at
the Office of the Legislative Counsel.
Pope Barrow exemplifies the finest characteristics of the men and
women who actually draft much of the legislation that becomes law:
hardworking, good-natured, and committed to professional standards.
Pope has had a hand in crafting virtually every major energy and
environmental initiative that has moved through the Committee on Energy
and Commerce in over three decades of my service in the Congress. From
clean air to safe drinking water, Pope has worked to draft the laws
that the American people count on Congress to get right. He's also
worked on laws that are less in the public spotlight, such as laws that
regulate our energy markets, laws that require white-water releases
from hydroelectric projects.
No matter what the subject of his work, Pope has demonstrated a rare
and invaluable ability to refine complicated concepts into
comprehensible law.
{time} 1830
Pope also has an unusual way of handling the pressures of the job.
When Congress was considering the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, he
would leave the office to kayak down the Potomac River where it gets
steep, forceful and challenging through the narrow Mather Gorge at
Great Falls just outside of Washington, D.C. I guess he thought, if he
could survive that, he could survive anything John Dingell and I might
throw at him.
Moving major legislation is a huge undertaking. It can take months of
negotiation. Tensions can get high working under tight deadlines with
major consequences at stake. Throughout these times, Pope kept an even
keel, and could lighten the mood with a wacky but amazingly apt
comparison or metaphor. It made him a pleasure to work with and a
legend around here. In that spirit, I'd call Pope the Clark Kent of
legislative drafters--mild mannered but delivering a superhuman effort
and performance.
Pope displayed immense dedication to his work even up to the very end
of his tenure. This spring, when we marked up the energy bill, Pope
worked hard to help the committee meet the goal of reporting the bill
by the Memorial Day recess. He would work late into the night, but
would come in even earlier in the morning.
With Pope's retirement, the House is losing an extraordinary public
servant. I know it will be odd for me to look down at the counsel's
table during our next energy or environmental markup and not see Pope
Barrow there. His contributions have been many, and his presence will
be sorely missed.
I want to join all of those in wishing him the best in his next
adventures.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Madam Speaker, we've talked about the professionalism, the dedication
of Mr. Barrow. I'd just like to relate a particular incident that came
to my attention. It was the day after the House office buildings were
shut down because of the anthrax attack. At that time, the Committee on
Resources was still in business, bringing bills to the floor for
consideration.
So how did they do this?
Well, the only way the committee was able to bring its legislation
forward was through the efforts of Pope Barrow, who was working from a
dark corner in a conference room in the GAO building, using two
BlackBerrys, an aged laptop and the phone. He was able to produce the
necessary legislative materials, and the House was able to continue its
work but only because of his ingenuity and resourcefulness. It is that
kind of dedication, when he could have used any excuse not to be able
to perform his job at that time, that has marked his tenure as the
legislative counsel, and for that, we thank him profusely.
Madam Speaker, I have no more speakers on my side, so if the
gentleman has no more on his side, I will be happy to yield back the
balance of my time while urging support of this resolution.
Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, I would like to note for the record that
colleagues of ours who want very much to be here to express, in person,
their congratulations and best wishes to Pope Barrow on this occasion
cannot be here because of conflicts that make it impossible for them to
come.
Chairman Markey of Massachusetts sends his regards. Chairman Rangel
of New York sends his regards. Chairman Slaughter of New York also
sends her regards. All planned on coming here to pay tribute in person
to the life and work of Pope Barrow, but conflicts in their meeting
schedules make it impossible for them to come, and so I merely wish to
note for the record their support of this resolution.
Having no other speakers on our side, Madam Speaker, I will wrap up
on a personal note.
The poet Robert Frost wrote a short poem that says an awful lot. It
is entitled ``Devotion,'' and it goes something like this:
``The heart can think of no devotion greater than being shore to
ocean--holding the curve of one position, counting an endless
repetition.''
When I think of his 40 years of service to this House--20 Congresses,
of the gun having to start on legislation that has been on the table
for years, having to be started over and over again with new Members
coming, all the folks coming and bringing the same ideas back to the
table and new ideas emerging throughout all of that. I can't think of
any greater devotion than being able to hold the point of serving as
counsel to this body.
More to the point, it is not for lack of something better to do that
someone like Pope Barrow serves in this body for 40 years. It is
because of his devotion to the work of this House and the unique
opportunity that he has as counsel to this House and that he has
[[Page H8018]]
had of serving as counselor to the folks who are making the biggest and
most important deals in the country. It is that devotion that we
recognize today and certainly not for a lack of anything better to do
or that which is more productive in other spheres. So that is the
spirit in which I hope we will all acknowledge his service as one of
great devotion to our country. With that, it is with a great deal of
pride of association--not accomplishment but of association--that I
urge the support of this resolution.
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the
many proud Americans who have dedicated their professional lives to the
House of Representatives: Mr. Pope Barrow.
Pope retires today after more than 40 years of service to Congress--
longer than most Members--and a decade as the House's Legislative
Counsel.
In this capacity, Pope has drafted legislation that has affected
every American: from the air that we breathe, to the food that we eat,
to the public lands that belong to all of us.
He has always done so with the utmost impartiality, and with the
closest attention to ensuring that the laws that we pass here perform
as Congress intends.
It is through these consistent efforts that Pope has earned the trust
of his staff, staff from other offices, and Members of Congress.
Pope Barrow's service in the Congress has benefitted all Americans,
but I would particularly like to recognize his work on behalf of San
Franciscans.
Working with me and many other Members of Congress, Pope Barrow was
relentless in his determination to create a viable Presidio Trust for
the successful future of America's premier urban national park. He
worked countless hours to craft the right language that would ensure
bipartisan support and ultimately, passage into law.
May the Presidio long stand as a tribute to Pope's decades of service
in the House!
As we honor Pope, we must also recognize his children, Isabel, Pope
Jr., and Rebecca, who have also sacrificed so that he could serve along
with us.
I would also like to note that Pope comes from a family with many who
have dedicated their lives to public service. Pope's great-great-great
grandfather served in the House, Senate, and as a Governor from
Georgia. His great grandfather also served in the Senate. And today,
Pope's cousin, Congressman John Barrow, is a distinguished member of
this body.
Madam Speaker, Pope Barrow represents the many among us who toil in
relative obscurity, but proudly serve our country, as staff in the
House of Representatives.
In saluting Pope today, we recognize all of his colleagues who work
extremely long hours, and who consistently rise to the call of duty and
exceed expectations.
I know Pope intends to pursue his diverse interests: sailing,
gardening, and travel. On behalf of the entire House of
Representatives, we thank him and honor him for his lifetime of
service.
Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, it's been said before on similar
occasions, but bears repeating today: This institution simply could not
function without the assistance of the many gifted professional
staffers who serve us--and serve our country--here in the House of
Representatives.
I rise today to honor the service of one such individual, Pope
Barrow, whose talents and tireless dedication have improved countless
pieces of legislation during his 41 years as a legislative counsel in
the House.
Often, Members of Congress are described by the media as ``law
makers.'' Well, Pope Barrow is a ``law writer''--and one of the very
best ever to serve in that capacity, going all the way back to the days
when laws were written by hand, with pens, on parchment. He's that
good.
You know, it's not easy--in fact, it's darned hard--to translate the
complex and often confusing ideas we come up with around here into
clear, concise legislative language that accurately reflects the will
of the Congress. But that's precisely the work Pope Barrow dreamed of
doing when he came to Washington in 1968, fresh out of Harvard Law
School, to start his new job in the Office of the Legislative Counsel.
It was an impressive office to be sure, but young Pope Barrow began
at the very bottom of the ladder as a Law Assistant. Over time, he
moved steadily up the ranks, first to Assistant Counsel, then to Deputy
Legislative Counsel, until in 1997 he was appointed ``The'' Legislative
Counsel to the House.
That's when Pope Barrow's work first came to my attention--because a
short time later I became chairman of the Education and Workforce
Committee. Pope and his top-notch team in the Office of Legislative
Counsel were invaluable to me and my staff during those years. Their
assistance helped ensure that our bills were properly prepared and
ready on time at each stage of the legislative process. They willingly
lent their expertise from the early development of a rough concept to
the consideration and final passage of a bill and its eventual
signature into law.
Pope's work was always completed in a professional and timely manner
no matter how challenging the circumstances. Indeed, Pope and his team
continued assisting my committee even during evacuations of the Capitol
complex on September 11, 2001, and the deadly anthrax attack several
weeks later.
Pope was also instrumental in modernizing the Office of the
Legislative Counsel to make it more efficient and effective; he worked
tirelessly to upgrade the computer programs used to produce legislative
documents, and to make all information available in a user friendly
electronic medium.
Madam Speaker, much of what I've just said emphasizes why Pope
Barrow's service has mattered to the House. But the best explanation
I've ever heard of why the work of the House Legislative Counsel
matters to the American people came from Pope Barrow himself. So let me
take a moment and share with all of my colleagues here today something
Pope said several years ago:
If there is one thing that we can do here, it is to
minimize the enormous cost to society of having laws out
there that nobody understands, with everybody having to feud
and fight over what it's supposed to do and what it means;
and with agencies struggling to put out regulations when they
don't really know what the underlying statutes are supposed
to mean. Then people have to puzzle over it and fight over it
and courts have to litigate it. It is really much better to
get the bills written clearly in the first place.
Now I'm sure that Pope Barrow would be the first to tell you that far
too often Congress misses that target, sometimes by a country mile. But
what he won't tell you is that when our legislation is confusing or
seems contradictory, it's almost always in spite of--not because of--
the outstanding efforts of Pope Barrow and the dedicated professionals
who serve under him.
Madam Speaker, at a time when fewer Americans than ever before spend
an entire career working in one place--for the same employer--the
United States House of Representatives has benefited greatly from Pope
Barrow's commitment to serve here for more than four decades.
Over the past 41 years he has left an indelible mark on laws that
have kept our country safe and touched the lives of Americans in ways
far too numerous to list. That's a legacy of which Pope Barrow and his
family should be truly proud--and for which those of us who serve in
the House of Representatives are deeply grateful.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor
the career of Mr. Pope Barrow, a man with a distinguished record of
service in the House Office of the Legislative Counsel. After more than
40 years, we gather here to celebrate Pope's career and wish him well
in retirement.
Pope joined Legislative Counsel in 1968 as a Law Assistant after
graduating from Harvard Law School. Over the years he advanced within
the Office, working as Assistant Counsel and Deputy Legislative
Counsel. In 1993, then Speaker Newt Gingrich appointed Pope as the
sixth Legislative Counsel, where he continued under Speaker Hastert and
our current Speaker.
Drawing on his broad legislative experience, Pope has led the House
Office of the Legislative Counsel in fulfilling, and exceeding its
mission to provide impartial and confidential assistance in legislative
drafting. Legislative Counsel has consistently provided dedicated
service to the Committee on Education and Labor. Whether we required
help drafting a bill or amendment, Pope and his staff has always
conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism.
For almost 40 years, Pope Barrow has worked with tireless dedication
drafting legislation and providing impartial advice and analysis on
numerous issues. During his tenure as Legislative Counsel he has
remained actively involved in legislative activities, demonstrating
time and again, his commitment to the House. In fact, he himself
undertook the drafting of the recently passed Head Start bill when one
of his staff attorneys faced a family emergency. Without such efforts,
our Committee would not have been able to have put forth such high
quality of legislation.
The achievements of the House Office of the Legislative Counsel under
the leadership of Pope are numerous. His presence and expertise will be
sorely missed, but I have no doubt that the Office will continue its
record or high quality work.
Madam Speaker, I commend the many years of service of Mr. Barrow and
wish him nothing but the best in retirement.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I want to take a minute to pay tribute
to Pope Barrow.
Mr. Barrow heads the Office of the Legislative Counsel, an office
that advises and assists Members to effect a ``clear, faithful, and
[[Page H8019]]
coherent expression of legislative policies.'' While it's optional to
use the services provided by Legislative Counsel, most members have
learned over the years that it's worth the time to cooperate with the
experts. The office provides legal assistance in connection with
virtually every bill, resolution, amendment, and conference report
introduced or offered in the House or one of its committees.
Pope has led the operation since 1999 after joining the office back
in 1968. He has worked on legislation in a variety of different fields
including: taxation; foreign affairs; war powers; pensions;
environmental law; public land law; and energy law. Even after being
appointed to the top job he continued to work on energy law in addition
to his management responsibilities.
The son of a United States Marine, Pope was born in Savannah, Georgia
in 1942 near Parris Island, South Carolina. He grew up on a farm near
here, in Maryland. He attended Yale College and then Harvard Law School
before beginning his distinguished career in the House of
Representatives.
In recent years, Pope has worked very closely with the Rules
Committee, the committee that I have the privilege to chair. Pope is a
true professional, nonpartisan, neutral, and serving both parties
equally. Over the years, he has provided drafting assistance to Members
representing all political viewpoints and it is a credit to his
reputation that he and his staff always managed to maintain
confidentiality with each client.
The pressures of the legislative agenda have only grown over the
years since Pope was appointed Legislative Counsel.
But in that time he has guided his staff of 45 attorneys and 16
support staff through some of the most taxing legislative sessions,
producing literally tens of thousands of professionally drafted
documents each year. His expertise, willingness to be part of the
solution, and lively spirit will be sorely missed in this House.
Today, the Rules Committee and the Congress is losing one of its
greatest resources. We wish Mr. Barrow all the best in his life after
he leaves behind the hectic amendment deadlines and late night drafting
and moves on to new challenges. In fact, Pope recently sailed across
the Atlantic in 21 days--not bad for an attorney--and we hope he now
finds time to sail across the Pacific.
Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, I join with my colleagues in paying
tribute to the service of Mr. Pope Barrow to the House of
Representatives in the Office of Legislative Counsel. It is with regret
that I learned recently that Pope has announced his retirement after a
career of stellar service to this body.
Serving 40 years with the Office of Legislative Counsel, Pope has
held a number of positions of increasing responsibility including
Counsel, Senior Counsel, Deputy Legislative Counsel and lastly
Legislative Counsel. His service to the House has been exemplary and
the legislation passed by this House is better because of his efforts.
For many years, Pope was the go to guy in the Legislative Counsel's
office on natural resource legislation. As a 33-year member of the
Natural Resources Committee, I and my staff have called upon Pope
numerous times to draft important and complex natural resource
legislation. I am grateful for Pope's efforts in drafting legislation
that led to the designation in my home State of West Virginia of the
Gauley River National Recreation Area and the Bluestone Wild and Scenic
River.
Madam Speaker, I know that my colleagues will be able to elaborate on
Pope's legislative efforts but I want to make note of Pope's skills
outside the legislative workplace. Some of my colleagues may not be
aware that Pope is an accomplished kayaker. On more than one occasion
when I was in my district I would run into Pope who was in West
Virginia to kayak the beautiful and challenging whitewater found in my
State. But Members did not have to go to West Virginia to find Pope on
the water. He is a well-known fixture on the local kayaking scene and
could often be found challenging the whitewater rapids of the Great
Falls of the Potomac River.
Madam Speaker, while I have noted Pope's legislative and kayaking
prowess, I would be remiss if I did not mention his greatest attribute;
he is genuinely a nice guy. Fair and level-headed, he is proof that
nice guys do not always finish last.
On behalf of myself and the many Natural Resources Committee staff
that Pope has worked with, I want to wish Pope all the best in his
retirement and thank him again for the many services he has provided
Members and staff over the years.
Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker I rise today to pay tribute to the hard
working individuals in the Office of the House Legislative Counsel, and
to applaud their work on behalf of the House of Representatives.
This marks an historic day in the Office of the Legislative Counsel,
as we celebrate the retirement of Mr. Pope Barrow, after decades of
hard work, and welcome the leadership of the new Legislative Counsel,
Ms. Sandy Strokoff.
Members of the House of Representatives have a long relationship with
the Office of the Legislative Counsel. We rely on their technical
expertise, historical knowledge, and attention to detail as we work on
legislation to better our country.
Their body of work, and their devotion to making the laws that the
people of this country live under intelligible and coherent, contribute
greatly to our lawful society.
My Committee in particular, the Ways and Means Committee, quite
possibly has had the longest relationship with the Office. Many of you
may not know that over 90 years ago, when the Office of the Legislative
Counsel first opened, the dedicated attorneys in that office drafted
revenue provisions exclusively.
Over the years, the Office has grown and hired attorneys with an
extremely extensive and expansive breadth of knowledge in almost any
area you can imagine. I think every Member and staffer in this body
would agree that it is impossible to overestimate our reliance on their
judgment and professionalism as we do our jobs.
Pope Barrow first joined the Office of the Legislative Counsel in
1968. A quick calculation will show that his tenure has spanned almost
half the existence of the office--a testament to his commitment and
dedication to his position and this body.
Mr. Barrow rose up the ranks in the Office of the Legislative
Counsel, starting as a Law Assistant, followed by promotions to
Assistant Counsel, Deputy Legislative counsel, and finally, in August
1997, attaining the position of Legislative Counsel.
Forty-one years after he first joined, I congratulate Mr. Barrow on
his lifetime of achievements, not just in the legislative world, but
also in his commitment to preserving and enjoying our Nation's
whitewater rivers. I wish him the best in his retirement, and I hope he
can continue to satisfy his adventurous spirit for years to come.
In this transition, I would also like to take the opportunity to
congratulate Ms. Sandy Strokoff on her historic appointment as House
Legislative Counsel. Ms. Strokoff is the first woman to attain this
position, which is quite fitting during these exciting times filled
with so many ``firsts'' for this great Nation of ours.
Ms. Strokoff also presents a long history with the Office of the
Legislative Counsel. She first joined the Office in 1975 as Assistant
Counsel, rising to Senior Counsel in 2000, and today, achieving the
title of House Legislative Counsel.
Over the years, she has built a vast portfolio of legislative
experience, but in particular, her expertise in international trade
matters has been invaluable to me and my Committee Members.
I would like to congratulate Ms. Strokoff on her achievement, and let
her know that I look forward to the work I and my staff will do with
her office in the future.
Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise to join in
celebrating the career of Pope Barrow, who is stepping down as House
Legislative Counsel.
I have served in this House since 1976, and I have known and worked
closely with Pope Barrow throughout my 33 years in this body.
Pope is a true professional--for the last 40 years he has been the
House's very own Pontiff of Paper, performing miracles in translating
Members' ideas and concepts into well-crafted bills, amendments, and
resolutions. He began his career in the Office of Legislative Counsel
in 1968, and in 1997 he was appointed to serve as the Sixth House
Legislative Counsel since that office was first created in 1918. Today,
Pope Barrow leaves his post as head of the Office, and I and many other
Members and staff who have worked with him over the years will miss
him.
Over the years, Pope has assisted hundreds of Members and their
staffs in the drafting of a wide range of legislation. He helped to
draft the War Powers Act; he drafted education laws, tax laws, and
pension laws. But, it is really in the field of Energy and
Environmental law that Pope has made his mark.
Pope helped draft the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the
Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Superfund law, the Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act, various amendments to the Federal Power Act.
He has worked on each and every omnibus energy bill of the last three
decades, including the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Energy Policy Act
of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. In
intervening years, he has worked on other smaller energy bills that are
too numerous to mention.
Pope Barrow has also spent years drafting public lands, mining, parks
and recreation laws. He was, for example, the principal draftsman of
the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, which passed under
former Representatives Mo Udall and Phil Burton's leadership. He
drafted the Alaskan Lands Act with Mo Udall and former Representative
John Seiberling.
[[Page H8020]]
Just a few days ago, Pope stood on the floor of this House as we took
up the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security bill. Like so
many other energy and environmental bills before it, this was a bill
drafted in part by Pope Barrow, and the other attorneys he has trained
and mentored. But, Pope and his colleagues also drafted many of the
amendments offered to the bill by the bill's opponents. For that is the
duty of the lawyers that this House has chosen to serve as our
legislative scriveners. They must serve all of the Members of this
House, regardless of party and regardless of position. They must
maintain the confidentiality of their contacts with various Member and
Committee offices. They must remain neutral as to issues of legislative
policy.
Pope and his colleagues in the Office of Legislative Counsel are
truly a national treasure. They work very hard to make sure that the
bills, resolutions and amendments that we offer are as clearly written,
as understandable, and as reflective of legislative intent as is
humanly possible. He and his colleagues work long hours, nights, and
sometimes weekends, and for some very demanding clients. They truly are
public servants. We simply could not do our job around here without
their assistance.
When I think of a markup in the Energy and Commerce Committee, or in
the Natural Resources Committee, I think of Pope Barrow sitting down at
the Counsel's table, ready to assist the Members as we work our way
through whatever legislation is before us. Pope, we will miss you down
at your usual spot in the counsel's chair.
But we also know that Pope Barrow does have interests outside of the
office. Over the years, Pope has been an active whitewater kayaker who
has paddled rapids across the country and all around the world. While
he still kayaks, Pope reports that it has been years since he has run
the Class V waterfalls at Great Falls on the Potomac.
Pope is also an avid sailor, who has sailed up and down the East
Coast from Nova Scotia to Key West, and who has sailed across the
Atlantic and all around the Mediterranean. In fact, on one ill-fated
sailing expedition back in the 1970s, Pope and his father capsized
their boat off the coast of Florida in a bad storm and spent several
hours in the ocean before floating ashore.
Pope, we salute your service to this House of Representatives. We
thank you for all that you have done for the hundreds of Members and
thousands of staffers you have done work for. We wish you all the best
as you leave this People's House to enjoy your retirement. Please keep
an eye on the weather reports for squalls, check those river gauges,
and keep both your paddling gear ready for the river and your sailboat
ready for sea. Best wishes to you and to your family as you embark on
the next chapter of your life.
Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor
retiring Legislative Counsel M. Pope Barrow, Jr., a true public servant
who has dedicated over forty years to the House of Representatives.
Pope Barrow has worked in the House Office of Legislative Counsel
since 1968, beginning as a Law Assistant and serving in the Office
until his appointment as the sixth Legislative Counsel in 1997. The
House Office of Legislative Counsel plays a critical, often behind-the-
scenes, role in the legislative process. The Office is responsible for
ensuring that legislation is drafted in a clear, intelligible, and
coherent manner that accurately reflects Members' or Committees'
legislative objectives. Pope Barrow has ably served the Office of
Legislative Counsel and the House of Representatives throughout his
forty-plus year career on Capitol Hill.
During his distinguished career in the Office of Legislative Counsel,
Pope has drafted important legislation dealing with energy and
environmental issues, foreign assistance, criminal law, and pension
reform, among many other issues. In addition to drafting key pieces of
legislation, in his role as Legislative Counsel Pope has been
responsible for modernizing and implementing significant improvements
to the operations of the Office.
Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate Pope Barrow on his 40-
plus years of dedicated public service, and wish him all the best in
his retirement. We know that Pope is an avid whitewater enthusiast and
river conservationist. He has explored whitewater rivers throughout the
United States and internationally, and was recognized for his
conservation efforts with the River Conservationist of the Year award
in 1987. We hope he will continue these endeavors in retirement. We
wish Pope and his family well. Please join me in honoring him on this
special occasion.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, it is my honor today to highlight
the career of Pope Barrow, Legislative Counsel of the United States
House of Representatives, who retires after over 40 years of service to
this body.
In honoring Pope Barrow, a man who has spent his career making sense
of our words and intent, I can best encapsulate the meaning and value
of his service with Pope's own words: ``Our intended role has always
been the same, which is the role of trying to create a body of
legislation that is intelligible and coherent and administrable by
agencies and that can be interpreted by the courts and give people
clear guidance on what rules they have to live by in the Federal law.
That's our goal. It's a simple one.'' And throughout his 40 years of
service, Pope has achieved this goal time and time again.
Pope joined the legislative counsel's office as a Law Assistant upon
graduation from Harvard Law School in 1968, quickly rising to Assistant
Counsel in 1969, and then to Deputy Legislative Counsel in 1993. In
1997, Speaker Newt Gingrich appointed Pope to be the head of the office
responsible for the management of the House legislative counsels. This
is a position he has continued under Speakers Hastert and Pelosi.
During his tenure as Legislative Counsel, Pope has undertaken a
significant program of modernization and improvements in the operations
of the Office and has skillfully enlisted the help of all personnel in
this endeavor.
Pope has been involved in most major energy and environmental
legislation considered by the Energy and Commerce Committee during his
tenure with Legislative Counsel. Throughout my years with the Energy
and Commerce Committee, Pope has worked on more bills and amendments
for me than I can count. Highlighted pieces of legislation include the
Barton/Clement amendment on nuclear relicensing which was included in
the Energy Policy Act of 1992; the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990;
and the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Under Pope's leadership, the House
Legislative Counsel was responsible for all drafting throughout the
EPACT 2005 conference. Pope is the consummate professional, once
describing the work of the Legislative Counsel by explaining: ``We are
impartial, like an umpire. You call it as you see it. You don't try to
give one side an advantage over another side. You try to do as good a
drafting job for the majority as you do for the minority and vice
versa, and try to put as much thought and energy and work into each
one.''
Pope has continued his excellent, impartial service to all regardless
of which party controlled Congress. My staff has checked, and even
though Pope descends from a family that has included two U.S.
Representatives, two U.S. Senators, and one Governor--all from
Georgia--and is cousins with current U.S. Representative John Barrow
from Georgia's 12th District--Pope is responsible for more pieces of
legislation becoming law than all of them combined.
In addition to being the father of three, Isabel, Pope, and Rebecca,
Pope is an avid whitewater enthusiast, kayaker, and sailor, who has
explored whitewater rivers throughout the United States, Canada,
Mexico, Costa Rica, and Chile. In 1987, Pope received the River
Conservationist of the Year Award. He is co-author of Rivers at Risk
and the editor of Nationwide Whitewater Inventory.
As an avid whitewater kayaker, Pope Barrow knows that a fork in the
river is a choice between two courses, and with his retirement he is
choosing his next adventure. On behalf of all of us who have benefited
from Pope's excellent counsel, his dedication to the rule of law, and
his enthusiasm for collaborating with Members and staff alike, I thank
him for his more than 40 years of service and wish him the best of
luck.
Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who, as
Legislative Counsel, has truly been an unsung hero of the Congress.
Pope Barrow has loyally, diligently and selflessly served the U.S.
House of Representatives and the American people for nearly forty years
in a role that brought him no public accolades but the deep
appreciation of Members of this great Chamber.
As Legislative Counsel, Pope has carried out the often thankless task
of turning ideas for bills and amendments into statutory text, and he
has done so with an unfailing dedication to the office's commitment to
serving as a non-partisan resource in a task where politics is the name
of the game.
Legislative Counsel's key role in the process is to quickly and
accurately turn the ideas of legislators and staff into statutory text.
As my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee will attest, this
challenge is especially acute in the world of tax, as a single missed
word or incorrect cross-reference can turn into a multi-billion dollar
tax loophole.
The difficulty of accurately drafting bills and amendments, often on
tight timelines, is daunting, to say the least. Mr. Barrow performed
this task with unwavering diligence, commanding the respect of his
fellow colleagues and the appreciation of Members and staff over the
years, all while keeping the confidences necessary to be trusted by
Republicans and Democrats working on opposite sides of the same issue.
Though he often flew
[[Page H8021]]
under the radar, his tireless efforts and years of service have not
gone unnoticed. I am pleased to rise today to thank him for that.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the U.S. Congress, I thank Pope Barrow
for his exemplary years of hard work and dedication to making democracy
work. I wish him nothing but the best in his retirement.
Congratulations and best of luck.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I just want to take a brief moment to
commend Pope Barrow on his service to the House.
He has been a witness to history--serving through a succession of
speakers, passage of landmark legislation, and unprecedented political
change. But he and his team have served as a steady hand throughout.
The professionals in the Legislative Counsel's office are truly
instrumental to the function of the House and our legislative process.
They participate from the initial concept, through multiple rewrites
and phone calls, until we have something that hopefully respects the
law and the Constitution.
At times we are in a rush, pushed and pulled by the demand of policy
and politics to move hastily. Under Mr. Barrow's able leadership,
however, he and his team always guided and assisted us with a steady
hand, providing timely, professional, and nonpartisan advice.
Madam Speaker, I simply want to express my gratitude to him for his
service, and express my thanks to everyone in the Legislative Counsel's
office for their work.
Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise to join in
celebrating the career of Pope Barrow, who is stepping down as House
Legislative Counsel.
I have served in this House since 1976, and I have known and worked
closely with Pope Barrow throughout my 33 years in this body.
Pope is a true professional--for the last 40 years he has been the
House's very own Pontiff of Paper, performing miracles in translating
Members' ideas and concepts into well-crafted bills, amendments, and
resolutions. He began his career in the Office of Legislative Counsel
in 1968, and in 1997 he was appointed to serve as the Sixth House
Legislative Counsel since that office was first created in 1918. Today,
Pope Barrow leaves his post as head of the Office, and I and many other
Members and staff who have worked with him over the years will miss
him.
Over the years, Pope has assisted hundreds of Members and their
staffs in the drafting of a wide range of legislation. He helped to
draft the War Powers Act; he drafted education laws, tax laws, and
pension laws. But, it is really in the field of Energy and
Environmental law that Pope has made his mark.
Pope helped draft the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the
Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Superfund law, the Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act, various amendments to the Federal Power Act.
He has worked on each and every omnibus energy bill of the last three
decades, including the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Energy Policy Act
of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. In
intervening years, he has worked on other smaller energy bills that are
too numerous to mention.
Pope Barrow has also spent years drafting public lands, mining, parks
and recreation laws. He was, for example, the principal draftsman of
the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, which passed under
former Representatives Mo Udall and Phil Burton's leadership. He
drafted the Alaskan Lands Act with Mo Udall and former Representative
John Seiberling.
Just a few days ago, Pope stood on the floor of this House as we took
up the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security bill. Like so
many other energy and environmental bills before it, this was a bill
drafted in part by Pope Barrow, and the other attorneys he has trained
and mentored. But, Pope and his colleagues also drafted many of the
amendments offered to the bill by the bill's opponents. For that is the
duty of the lawyers that this House has chosen to serve as our
legislative scriveners. They must serve all of the Members of this
House, regardless of party and regardless of position. They must
maintain the confidentiality of their contacts with various Member and
Committee offices. They must remain neutral as to issues of legislative
policy.
Pope and his colleagues in the Office of Legislative Counsel are
truly a national treasure. They work very hard to make sure that the
bills, resolutions and amendments that we offer are as clearly written,
as understandable, and as reflective of legislative intent as is
humanly possible. He and his colleagues work long hours, nights, and
sometimes weekends, and for some very demanding clients. They truly are
public servants. We simply could not do our job around here without
their assistance.
When I think of a markup in the Energy and Commerce Committee, or in
the Natural Resources Committee, I think of Pope Barrow sitting down at
the Counsel's table, ready to assist the Members as we work our way
through whatever legislation is before us. Pope, we will miss you down
at your usual spot in the counsel's chair.
But we also know that Pope Barrow does have interests outside of the
office. Over the years, Pope has been an active whitewater kayaker who
has paddled rapids across the country and all around the world. While
he still kayaks, Pope reports that it has been years since he has run
the Class V waterfalls at Great Falls on the Potomac.
Pope is also an avid sailor, who has sailed up and down the East
Coast from Nova Scotia to Key West, and who has sailed across the
Atlantic and all around the Mediterranean. In fact, on one ill-fated
sailing expedition back in the 1970s, Pope and his father capsized
their boat off the coast of Florida in a bad storm and spent several
hours in the ocean before floating ashore.
Pope, we salute your service to this House of Representatives. We
thank you for all that you have done for the hundreds of Members and
thousands of staffers you have done work for. We wish you all the best
as you leave this People's House to enjoy your retirement. Please keep
an eye on the weather reports for squalls, check those river gauges,
and keep both your paddling gear ready for the river and your sailboat
ready for sea. Best wishes to you and to your family as you embark on
the next chapter of your life.
Mr. BARROW. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the resolution is adopted
and a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.
There was no objection.
____________________