[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 156 (Thursday, December 2, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING IKE SKELTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight with a heavy heart to pay 
tribute to someone who has been a valued adviser and a dear friend to 
me in my 10 years in this House.
  Congressman Ike Skelton has served the Fourth District of Missouri 
and the Nation with honor and integrity for 34 years. And let me just 
say that his presence will certainly be missed by me and by so many 
others.
  As a freshman member of the House Armed Services Committee in 2001, I 
looked to Ike, then our ranking member, as a mentor and a guide on so 
many critical and complex issues facing the committee. Later, as the 
chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, his commitment to our 
troops and our security truly set the standard for all of us on the 
committee. And the example he set helped to bridge the partisan, 
geographical, and personal differences that have too often plagued us 
and stood in the way of progress.

                              {time}  1940

  Ike Skelton has truly made a profound difference in advocating for 
and leading on behalf of our men and women in uniform to make sure that 
they always had the tools and the resources that they needed to do 
their job, do it well, and to come home safe.
  Of course, as much as I have admired him as a leader on national 
security, let me just say that I have also felt a very separate and 
even more personal connection to Ike as well. Ike Skelton, like me, has 
for many years lived his life with his own disability. And from those 
experiences, both of us have learned at a young age that life often 
takes a very unexpected path. That path has led us both to a career 
that neither of us could have ever imagined or expected, lying in a 
hospital bed all those years ago and contemplating what the future 
might hold for us.
  But clearly, Ike Skelton overcame his own physical challenges and 
made a difference for others. And now, as his long and inspiring career 
in Congress nears its end, I wanted to offer Chairman Ike Skelton my 
deepest and most profound gratitude for his leadership, his wisdom, and 
for his friendship.
  Ike, it has been a true honor to serve with you. I thank you for the 
decades that you have dedicated to this House. I thank you for the 
difference that you have made in fighting on behalf of our soldiers, 
our men and women in uniform, fighting for them to make sure that they 
always had what they needed to continue to serve and be effective. This 
country and this House have been a better place because of your 
service.
  Thank you, and God bless, and Godspeed.

                          ____________________