[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 1, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H7838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING CONGRESSMAN IKE SKELTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TAYLOR. Number one, I want to thank Mr. Akin for allowing us to 
go into your time a little bit. As a fellow Missourian, it's obviously 
time well spent.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a Vietnamese American friend who has a limited 
use of the English language. He is also very devout. I once saw him at 
his boatyard hit his thumb with a 5-pound maul. And having a limited 
use of the English language and also being very devout, he did not use 
the kinds of words I would use in that situation. He just shouted over 
and over as he was shaking his thumb, ``No joy.'' This is a ``no joy'' 
moment.
  For those of us who have had the privilege of working with Ike, we 
want to say thank you. If you are the mother or father of a troop, a 
marine, a coastie, a sailor, you should know about Ike Skelton. You 
should know his name. In our line of work, if you do something stupid, 
you are a headline. If you do the right thing, people don't know your 
name.
  But if your child has been saved because of a mine-resistant vehicle, 
you should know Ike Skelton's name. If you are a military retiree who 
is enjoying the benefits of TRICARE for life, you should know Ike 
Skelton's name. If you are a guardsman or Reservist who is now eligible 
for TRICARE, you should know Ike Skelton's name.
  What he won't ever tell you, out of concern for his kids, and I won't 
tell you the branch, but he has two sons who are officers in the United 
States military. But what every mom and dad should know is that there 
was one more parent out there looking out for their kids, and that was 
Ike Skelton.
  So, Ike, for all of those things and for your great humility, I got 
to tell the story. Ike visited a Coast Guard buoy tender on the 
Missouri River. And given his nature, obviously he paid his respects to 
the captain, engineering officer. But then he sought out the lowest-
ranked person on that boat, a seaman apprentice. Went back to him and 
said, Hi, how are you doing? I am Ike Skelton. I am a Congressman from 
Missouri. How do you like the Coast Guard? I do. He said, Have you ever 
had a Congressman on your buoy tender before? And the kid said, No, and 
I hope to hell we never do again. They have been working my butt off 
for the past 2 weeks scraping and painting, getting this boat ready for 
you, sir.
  Now, only Ike Skelton would tell that story about himself. So now the 
rest of America knows. And I hope that seaman apprentice is listening 
tonight, and I hope he made chief one day.
  But, Ike, you have been an incredible role model. Someone who put 
together a $600 billion bill that involved the lives of airmen, 
marines, sailors, and to some extent coasties, certainly the troops in 
the field, and it passed out of your committee unanimously. That is an 
incredible feat. And all of us are grateful for your service. God bless 
you.

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