[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 15, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2612-H2622]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
prayer
The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick J. Conroy, offered the following
prayer:
Lord God of history, and our salvation, when former Members return to
Congress it must be similar to any American opening the Bible or their
holy book at random. By doing so, people of the Book read between the
lines, see the story of America, and rejoice.
Congress, too, holds old and familiar stories, strong exhortations,
repeated corrections, and consoling confirmation of hopes that speak
anew of love, patriotism, and light. Looking at Congress once again,
these former Members, still Your stewards, hear the praise of Psalms,
the lament of Job, and are strengthened by the sentiments of Gideon as
well as Paul, the commands of Moses and the prayers of Jesus.
As the Good Book binds people into community, You tie together the
years of Congress and make of them a prophetic voice that reverences
the past, speaks to the present, and holds promise for the future.
May all former Members be rewarded for their contributions to this
constitutional Republic and continue to work and pray that the goodness
and justice of this beloved country be proclaimed to the nations.
Quicken life, promise, and fortitude in all here gathered that we may
bring joy to the present age and long for eternal happiness, calling
upon Your holy name, now and forever.
Amen.
Pledge of Allegiance
The Hon. Barbara Kennelly led the Pledge of Allegiance as follows:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of
America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Ms. KENNELLY. The Honorable Steny Hoyer will now address us.
Mr. HOYER. ``Address us'' overstates what I'm going to do, but I'm
always so pleased to be with all of you. And I was kidding on saying
that.
I want to tell you frankly, on the Republican side, you guys look so
much better than you did when we served together, and we want all of
you back on our side of the aisle. We're voting to reelect you.
But I am so pleased to be here with all of you. I had the opportunity
to say just a few words yesterday, but I particularly wanted to be
here, and I don't
[[Page H2613]]
see my Republican Speaker here. I think some of you know that story.
Ray LaHood was presiding, and it was the nineties, '95, early '95, and
I went up to Ray. We had about--I forget exactly--199 Members at that
point in time. I went to Ray and I said, ``Ray, if you can get 20
votes, I will get 199, and we'll elect Bob Michel Speaker.'' But we
didn't do that, as you noticed historically.
But I fondly recall with you the days when we really did sit down and
work together on a lot of things in a positive way and get things done
for our country. We're not doing that as well this time, as you know.
Ray would tell you that, working in the administration, but I
particularly wanted to be here this morning.
I don't see Bob here. Is Bob coming?
Ms. MORELLA. He is coming.
Mr. HOYER. Okay. Well, he is not here.
I'm a huge fan of Bob Michel's, but I'm also a huge fan of Ray
LaHood's, and I know you're honoring Ray today, and I want to join with
you in honoring him. Not only did he serve as a staffer in the House of
Representatives, upholding what we're not upholding as much today, the
integrity and the self-respect of all the Members here, to some degree
denigrating this institution and Members--I lament that.
But Ray LaHood, as a staffer and as a Member of Congress and as a
member of the President's Cabinet, has done some extraordinary work.
Ray, I want to congratulate you and thank you for all the positive
roles you have played in moving this country forward. We're going to
miss you from the Cabinet, but we don't expect to miss you from our
lives, as so many here see. I want to wish you the very best.
Jack tells me he's now the president of a community college in New
York. I said, ``Well, are you watching what we're doing?'' He said,
``Not much.'' That's why he's got such a happy look on his face--hear
no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
Some of you were here when I came to the Congress in 1981, and some
came with me. I came 5 months after you did, Dennis, and just a few
months before Barbara came to the Congress.
So I want to say on behalf of all the leadership--hopefully on both
sides of the aisle--I know that's the case.
And remember, I'm not going to drag my leg, but do you remember John
Rousselot? Does that name ring a bell with you? Well, when I came to
the Congress, John Rousselot probably was the Member that I had the
most negative feelings about: John Birch Society, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera. Into about a year, I got to really think, John Rousselot is
not a bad guy at all.
I don't recall whether you recall, but he used to smile at all of us
as if to say, Okay, I've come over to your side and now I'm really
gonna give it to you. And he did it with such a twinkle in his eye and
such a positive. Jim Blanchard--Governor Blanchard, Ambassador
Blanchard, all things Blanchard--is shaking his head. But that was a
lesson to me, as it should be a lesson for all of us, to take people
not on which side of the aisle they're on, not which side of the
liberal-conservative range they may fall, not on some simplified
newspaper story that you read, but on, as King said, the content of
their character.
I think the more that we get to know one another, the more we
understand why this body really does over the long term work. The only
way you can get here is be elected by your neighbors, and they do
pretty well. They're not perfect, we're not perfect, but they do pretty
well, and they elect some really fine people Representatives of their
districts.
The trick is for all of us to come together and work together. Your
efforts here, I think, help in that regard. So, welcome back, and I
look forward to seeing you, not just when the former Members come back.
I see Connie all the time and Bev all the time, my colleagues from
Maryland. And I saw Jim the other day, and we had a good talk. But come
back, visit; and if I can help in any way, I want to do it, just as I
will want those who succeed me after I leave to do the same.
So, Ray, congratulations to you. Thank you very much. And, to all of
you, thank you for all you have done through the years, and thanks for
remembering and coming back and helping our institution be all that it
can be. Thank you very much.
Ms. KENNELLY. Thank you, Leader.
And now I would like to present the Honorable Connie Morella,
president of the Former Members Association.
Ms. MORELLA. First of all, I want to thank, on behalf of all of us,
Steny Hoyer for launching us this morning for this 43rd annual meeting
that we had. Steny never really saw an aisle. He saw issues and
compromise, and that's what we--the brothers and sisters who have been
here--would like to see continued.
So, thank you, Barbara. It is always a distinct privilege to be back
in this revered Chamber, and we appreciate the opportunity today to
present our annual report of the United States Association of Former
Members of Congress.
I'm going to be joined by some of our colleagues in reporting the
activities and projects of our organization, but, first of all, I would
like to ask the Clerk to call the roll.
The Clerk called the roll of the former Members of Congress, as
follows:
Mr. Alexander of Arkansas
Mr. Buechner of Missouri
Mr. Bustamante of Texas
Ms. Byron of Maryland
Mr. Carr of Michigan
Mr. Clement of Tennessee
Mr. Coyne of Pennsylvania
Mr. DioGuardi of New York
Mr. Edwards of Oklahoma
Mr. Ewing of Illinois
Mr. Frost of Texas
Mr. Gordon of Tennessee
Mr. Hertel of Michigan
Mr. Hughes of New Jersey
Mr. Johnson of Georgia
Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota
Ms. Kennelly of Connecticut
Mr. LaHood of Illinois
Mr. Michel of Illinois
Mr. Moore of Kansas
Ms. Morella of Maryland
Mr. Quinn of New York
Mr. Sarasin of Connecticut
Mr. Tanner of Tennessee
Mr. Turner of Texas
Mr. Walsh of New York
Mr. Wamp of Tennessee
Mr. Zeliff of New Hampshire
Mr. Spratt of South Carolina
Mr. Largent of Oklahoma
Mr. Blanchard of Michigan
Mr. Hochbrueckner of New York
Mr. Pressler of South Dakota
Mr. Slattery of Kansas
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you all for joining us today. Our association, as
you know, was chartered by Congress, and one requirement of that
charter is for us to report once a year to Congress about our
activities. Today, therefore, is our opportunity to demonstrate to
Congress that creating us over 40 years ago wasn't such a bad idea.
Before my colleagues and I describe our activities of the past 12
months, I want to focus on the second purpose of our meeting here this
morning, and that is to bestow our association's highest honor on a
former Member of Congress whose public service inspires us and who
deserves our recognition. When you look at Ray LaHood's public service,
you understand quickly why he was a unanimous choice and an easy choice
for our board to make.
Ray LaHood has spent his entire professional life in service to
either his community or to the country, or to both. He was a junior
high school teacher, he was a member of the Illinois State Legislature,
a congressional chief of staff, a Member of Congress, and now a member
of President Obama's Cabinet. In Congress, he served on the
Transportation Committee and on the Appropriations Committee. During
his many years in Congress, Ray LaHood's approach to legislating was
characterized by decency, reason, civility, and respect. He was a
Member more interested in solutions and debate than politicking and
scoring wins.
It is that credibility and integrity that made it easy for President
Obama to appoint him to his Cabinet regardless of party label. We are
so pleased that we can recognize his exemplary dedication via our
Distinguished Service Award.
The inscription on the award reads:
The 2013 Distinguished Service Award is presented by the
United States Association of Former Members of Congress to
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
Ray LaHood's devotion to public service has taken many
forms and has guided his entire professional life, whether as
a teacher, a congressional staff member, a Representative, or
a member of the President's Cabinet. In all these roles, he
always put country
[[Page H2614]]
above party and solutions above politics. He was the
arbitrator when a divisive debate required sensible
leadership. He would find common ground when compromise
seemed unattainable. Whether as a Member of Congress or as a
member of the Cabinet, Ray LaHood has distinguished himself
as a dedicated and exemplary public servant, and his former
colleagues from both sides of the aisle salute him.
Washington, DC, May 15, 2013.
That is the inscription.
I am reminded of a statement from Shakespeare: ``the force of his own
merit makes his way,'' and he has worked hard and deserves the
recognition we are about to give him.
Later on in our program, we expect that a former leader, Bob Michel,
will be coming here to say something about Ray LaHood, whom he loved
and felt was sort of a mentor, and they're good friends, but he hasn't
arrived yet. I do want to commence with giving the award, and then
later, when Bob comes, we will recognize him at whatever point in the
program.
So I am going to ask Secretary Ray LaHood to join me here at the dais
and accept our association's 2013 Distinguished Service Award.
Secretary LaHood, we have also a booklet for you, which is here under
this award, which I read word for word. The booklet includes letters
sent by former Members and friends for you, saying how great you are.
So, when you need that inspiration, you can just open the book and read
those words. It is a great honor to present this to you, Ray.
Congratulations to you.
Mr. LaHOOD. Thank you very much, Connie, and to the former Members.
Thank you so much to the association for this great honor that you do
to me, and I know that, when you honor one former Member, we honor all
Members. I am grateful to the association for all of the work that you
do and for all of the encouragement that you give to people on college
campuses, to young people, through the programs that you carry out year
in and year out, and for the fact that the association continues to
represent former Members and represent what is good about having served
here.
I want to say a special word of thanks to my former Illinois
colleague, Tom Ewing, for being here. Tom's district and my district
were joined together, and we used to fly to Chicago and ride together,
and he would give me a ride kind of near my district, and we worked
together on some very important issues.
I also want to thank two of the people who I came to Congress with in
the election of 1994--Zach Wamp from Tennessee and Steve Largent from
Oklahoma. As you can imagine, when our class came, there were 73
Republicans and 13 Democrats, I believe, and the most famous in our
class, God rest his soul, was Sonny Bono. We all thought that we were
pretty important. You come with a Hall of Famer like Largent and others
who were in our class, but every camera focused on Sonny. When we went
out for our photo and when we were around, we all thought we were
pretty important until Sonny showed up, and the media kind of
gravitated towards Sonny. While in our first year here, Steve was
actually inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Yes, he was a great
football player out in Seattle. So I am grateful for the two of them
coming and representing our class.
I also want to say a word about Nick Rahall, whom I thought maybe I
saw here. He might have walked in. He and I worked on some Lebanon
issues together.
Let me just say quickly that this bipartisan thing comes very
naturally to me. The district that I represented was 20 counties in
central Illinois. Nine of those counties were represented by Abraham
Lincoln for one term in this House. So it comes naturally.
One of my predecessors was Everett Dirksen, who went over to serve in
the Senate, who became minority leader, and who helped Lyndon Johnson
pass the civil rights bill. We're going to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the civil rights bill. Tom Pegram is writing a book
about that, and he did a lot of research on Everett Dirksen. Some of
you remember Dirksen. He was a fellow from central Illinois who did
work with Johnson in so many ways to pass major legislation right after
Johnson had been elected in 1964.
Then of course, Bob Michel, whom I served with as his chief of staff,
was renownedly known for his bipartisanship. During the time that
President Reagan served in the White House for 8 years, he got a lot of
credit for doing a lot of major legislation; but what people forget is
that Bob Michel was the leader for the Republican Party, which was the
minority party then, but he was able to reach across and get some
Democratic votes in order to get Reagan's agenda passed.
So this idea of bipartisanship, it's in the water in central
Illinois. It comes very naturally. It really does. When I came here, I
came with people like Steve and Zach and others. Some of our class ran
on the idea of turning this place upside down and reform and all of
that, and we came here after the Republicans had been 40 years out in
the wilderness as the majority party. I came here, really, to use the
House of Representatives as a way to solve the country's problems and
to solve the issues and problems in central Illinois. I didn't come
here to necessarily turn the place upside down. I thought the House was
a place where you could really solve problems, but it only could be
done if there were some compromise involved in what we did. That's the
way that we tried to operate, and I think it's a good lesson for people
to look at. The House really can be a place where you solve the
Nation's problems and issues in your own districts, and that's the way
I always looked at it.
I was very proud of the fact that I cochaired four bipartisan
retreats. We started out with David Skaggs and then with Charlie
Stenholm. Our first bipartisan retreat included over 200 Members, over
100 spouses, and over 150 kids. That's the first time that a
congressional kid got to meet another congressional kid or that a
spouse got to meet a spouse, and those friendships have lasted well
beyond Congress.
My friend Jack Quinn, who is here, he and I were not in the same
class, but we became friends, and we had friends on both sides of the
aisle.
Look, I'm speaking to the choir here. You all know, and that's why
you're here--you believe in the House; you believe in this
organization; you believe that this is a place where you can have
debates. But the bottom line is no problem gets solved--no issue ever
gets resolved--unless it's done with compromise, unless it's done in a
bipartisan way.
You can't name an issue, big or small, that was ever solved unless it
was bipartisanship. Not one of us in this House, not one of the 435
gets their own way, not one of us.
Big things get done when people work together, and big legislation
gets passed when people work together. That's the only way. That's the
formula. I don't care what anybody says. If you look back on the
storied history of this House any time that you served here, any issue
that you dealt with where you could have a spirited debate, people
could give great speeches. In the end, it was when people came together
across the aisle that things got done, when big issues got solved. And
it's true today.
During the time that I've had this privilege that President Obama
gave me, we've been able to pass a transportation bill and an FAA bill
in a bipartisan way. We've been able to do some things, but always in a
bipartisan way, always with compromise. There is no other way under
this system that we have. So to all of you that are gathered here and
honoring me, we honor all of you. We honor this association.
Come on, Mr. Leader. Come on up here.
I know Connie probably wants to introduce him.
They've already said a whole bunch of nice things about me, Mr.
Leader. Come on. Come on up here.
Let's hear it for our former leader.
Ms. MORELLA. I don't need to introduce this gentleman. You all know
him. But I do want to say that he does exemplify what Ray LaHood has
said about bipartisanship and drinking the waters of central Illinois.
The bipartisan spirit in which Bob Michel is held was recently
exemplified at a 90th birthday party held for him. At that birthday
party, the Democrats came in, the Republicans came in, and all the
former leaders came in. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how this
man is so respected and what he exemplifies.
As we've already given the tribute, it's up to you now to say
something. He gave a great speech.
[[Page H2615]]
Mr. LaHOOD. Say a word or two.
Mr. MICHEL. Good morning, everybody. Sorry I'm tardy. I thought we
started at 9 o'clock, and I went downstairs in the Speaker's dining
room there and I thought there would be a few of you for coffee or
something. So I apologize for my very tardy entrance.
Have we got the cart before the horse here or something? Something is
backward anyway. But I thank you folks.
You may or may not remember that Ray got his start out in Illinois
with former Congressman Tom Railsback. Some of you older folks will
remember Tom. He was in my local office there, and then during my
tenure as leader, in the last 10 years of that leadership role, I had
Ray serve as my chief of staff. And I tell you, he kept me out of all
trouble. He knew right from wrong, and he knew this institution. He
loved to see Members of both sides. I think we talked about that a
number of times, to get to know everybody on your side for sure, but
don't be afraid to cross that aisle and get to know personally as many
of the Democratic Members as you possibly can. He did a marvelous job
doing that.
So it was kind of natural when I left and retired, he ran for my seat
and won handily, and during his 14 years of service was on the
Transportation Committee and the Appropriations Committee. I thought
one of the things that Ray wanted to get done, if he possibly could--he
always sought a Democrat or two to join him--was having retreats for
the newer Members to get to know one another personally and feel
comfortable in dealing with them. That was the way, at least with any
measure of success that I might have enjoyed--it came by the fact that
you loved to visit with the Members on the other side of the aisle
whenever it was possible. Ray did that to the nth degree.
But most important I think for me is that he's got a great moral
compass and he knows right from wrong. I tell you, that's guided him
during his public service time. Those of you who have served, any
number of times there are things that come up in the office once in a
while where you're thinking, Well, I'm not altogether sure about this.
It may be good; it may not. Ray always knew the right choice to make.
That made me feel comfortable. And if I enjoyed any measure of success
as leader, boy, I owe so much to this guy.
I think that's what the President saw in Ray when he decided, after
he was elected, that he was going to have a couple of Republicans serve
in his administration. Of course, Bob Gates was Secretary of Defense,
and then he picked Ray to be his Secretary of Transportation. And with
Ray's experience and again that ability to be very sociable and
likeable, he was a great success and was a good ambassador for the
President in that position.
I think if we look back over that period of 4 years, that Bob Gates
and Hillary Clinton, yes, were very popular and well-known, and, boy, I
tell you, ranking right under them had to be Ray LaHood in his tenure
as Secretary of Transportation.
He is a guy that really pushed safety. This idea of texting and
talking while you're driving, boy, he made the case with the American
public out there, and with some of those shady bus operators, when they
were running into trouble, you know, Ray stepped right up there to bat.
So I think it's just a wonderful thing that our organization would, by
tradition, name someone of our former group to receive some special
honor and recognition. Whoever makes the decision in the group these
days, I personally thank you so much because he is my dear friend, and
I don't think we could have made a better choice then Ray.
Congratulations to you.
And since I got things backward, I was going to read the citation as
I concluded. But obviously----
Mr. LaHOOD. Connie read it.
Mr. MICHEL. Oh, she did? Thank you.
Again, he prompted me correctly.
But in conclusion, thanks everybody. It's nice to see so many of you
here.
Mr. LaHOOD. You obviously realize why Bob Michel was able to serve
for 38 years. He's just a phenomenal human being. He's loved.
We had a 90th birthday party in our hometown of Peoria a couple of
weeks ago, and over 300 people came to Bob's 90th birthday party. This
is after he had left office for more than a decade. They came because
of his service and the respect that they have for him, and we had a
great day in Peoria honoring Bob Michel.
Again, in honoring Ray LaHood, we honor all of you and we honor the
association.
Thank you all for what you've done to make this institution the great
institution that it continues to be, and hopefully the few words that
we said about how things really work and how to get things done will
resonate a little bit through the hallways here for a moment or two. I
know it won't be much more than a moment, but maybe somebody will pick
it up.
Thank you to the association. I'm deeply honored. And I thank all of
those who came this morning. God bless everybody.
Ms. MORELLA. That was a nice beginning of our annual meeting.
I'm now privileged to report to Congress about the activities of the
U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress since our last meeting
in July of 2012.
Our association is bipartisan. You've heard that over and over again,
and you know that as you see the people who are here and listen to the
words that have been spoken. It was chartered by Congress in 1983, and
the purpose of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress is to
promote public service and strengthen democracy abroad and in the
United States. About 600 former Senators and Representatives belong to
the association. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents are united in
this organization in their desire to teach about Congress and the
importance of representative democracy. We're proud to have been
chartered by Congress, and we receive no funding from Congress. All the
activities, which we're about to describe, are financed by our
membership dues, programs, specific grants and sponsors, or via our
fundraising dinner.
Our finances are sound, our projects are fully funded, and our most
recent audit by an outside accountant came back with a clean bill of
financial health. Not bad, aye?
It's been a very successful, active, rewarding year. We have
continued our work serving as a liaison between the current Congress
and legislatures overseas. We have created partnerships with highly
respected institutions in the area of democracy building and election
monitoring. We have developed new projects. We are expanding others.
And we, again, sent dozens of bipartisan teams of former Members of
Congress to teach about public service and representative democracy at
universities and high schools, both in the United States and abroad.
When this organization was created over 40 years ago, the former
Members who founded our association envisioned this organization to
take the lead in teaching about Congress and encouraging public
service. They were hoping that former Members could inspire the next
generation of America's leaders. Well, over the years we have created a
number of programs, most importantly the Congress to Campus program, to
do just that.
We continue to work with our great partner, the Stennis Center for
Public Service Leadership. We thank them for their invaluable
assistance in administering the Congress to Campus program.
I now yield to a former president of our association, Jack Buechner
of Missouri, who, along with Matt McHugh of New York, cochairs this
great program. So, Jack, if you would briefly tell us something about
it.
Mr. BUECHNER. Thank you, Connie.
I welcome this opportunity to report on this outstanding program. As
most of you know, the Congress to Campus program is the flagship
operation of the former Members. It's a domestic program, and it also
is an international program. It energizes and engages former Members
from all over to come and join bipartisan teams of former Members. We
go to colleges, universities, and even high schools across this
country, and as I said, around the world, to educate the next
generation of leaders about the value of public service.
Students benefit from the personal interaction with our association
members, whose knowledge, experience, and accessibility are unique
teaching tools. During each visit, our bipartisan teams lead classes,
meet one on one with students and faculty, speak to campus
[[Page H2616]]
media, participate in campus and community forums, and interact with
local citizenry. Institutions are encouraged to market the visit to the
entire campus community, not just to those students majoring in
political science, history, or government. Over the course of 2\1/2\
days, hundreds of students from all areas of academic studies are
exposed to the former Members' message of public service and civility.
The Congress to Campus program has always interviewed and surveyed the
former Members and the campus contact to determine how the visit was so
our program can continually improve.
This spring semester, the students are being surveyed both before and
after the visit. That way, we can provide a way to determine the impact
of the program on the students. By gathering this information, the
Congress to Campus program can make a clear evaluation on what aspects
of the program have the greatest effect, as well as provide tangible
data to help find further funding for the program.
This program has also made a number of international visits this
academic year, including two visits to the United Kingdom, one trip to
Turkey, and one to Canada. Domestically, we had an extremely busy fall
semester, coinciding with the elections. We had 13 visits across the
country. The 2012 to 2013 academic year included visits to the United
States Naval Academy, Palm Beach State College, Suffolk University,
Pepperdine University School of Law, Boston University, Penn State, and
the McGovern Center for Public Service at the University of South
Dakota.
More than 30 former Members participated during this academic year,
and I want to thank each of you who donated your time--pro bono--to
this vital program. I also want to encourage our newest former Members
and those who have not yet had the opportunity to consider doing so to
encourage a friend from across the aisle to join you. It's an excellent
opportunity to continue your public service after Congress.
You can also make a pledge to connect us with a host school, for
example your alma mater, a college in your old district, or the
university that your children or grandchildren are attending. Our staff
will then follow-up with you to make the arrangements. Sharon Witiw
runs the program and has all the information you will need.
As was mentioned earlier, we have continued our excellent partnership
with the Stennis Center for Public Service Leadership in the
administration of this program. We owe a special debt of gratitude to
Brother Rogers of the Stennis Center for his fine work. Our staffs work
very closely together to make this program such a success.
As I briefly mentioned, the Congress to Campus program has an
international outreach. On average, we send two delegations per year to
the United Kingdom for one week, with dozens of universities and
hundreds of British students studying foreign policy and the United
States. Let me tell you, as a former Republican Member of Congress,
during the height of the Iraq war, it was quite a challenge dealing
with our continental friends. And now with the advent of ``House of
Cards,'' U.S. version, and I might add the campaign with Will Ferrell,
there are a lot of interesting questions coming from students about
what it is we do and how we do it. Our former Members actually become
quasi-ambassadors on behalf of the United States. They really get to
engage with these students.
Recently, we also sent former delegation Members on Congress to
Campus visits to Turkey. And just last month, former Members Jim Kolbe,
Martin Lancaster, Lincoln Davis, and Ben Chandler spent 10 days
visiting universities all over Turkey. This great project was made
possible via a partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Federation of Turkic-
American Associations, and we thank them very much for putting an
extremely productive and, I might add, busy program together.
Just a heads-up to my colleagues: former Member participation in
these overseas trips is based on how actively you participate in the
not-as-glamorous domestic programs.
Since our last annual meeting, we have also continued our
relationship with the People to People programs. That's an organization
that provides hands-on learning opportunities for elementary, middle
school, and high school students visiting Washington, D.C. On each
visit, former Members meet and speak with students about the importance
of public service--again pro bono--their personal experiences in
Congress, and the value of character and leadership. In the spring of
2013, two speaking engagements were held in congressional panel format.
The events take place on the Hill, and not only feature a former Member
as a speaker, but also Hill staffers and interns. This gives students
the opportunity to learn what it really is like to be in the Congress
and work in the Congress. People to People visits are often in the
middle of the business day, and we are grateful to those former Members
who take time out of their busy schedules to connect with students
touring our Nation's capital. It is greatly appreciated by them and by
the association.
Finally, I want to say how grateful we are to all of those who have
made this Congress to Campus program such a success in the 36 years it
has been in existence. We want to strongly encourage you, our friends
and colleagues here, to participate in the program, either by making a
visit to a school or by recommending a school to the program. As you
know, democracy can prosper only if its citizens are both informed and
engaged. As former legislators, we have a particular opportunity and
responsibility to encourage such involvement. This program is one of
our association's best ways to give back to our community and our
Nation.
Thank you very much.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you, Jack. You're right, it's a great way for us
to share our experiences and enthusiasm with the younger group coming
into leadership.
Also, we thank Matt McHugh, your colleague, for the great job you've
done with the program.
As you may recall, friends, from our last report to Congress, the
association has put some energy and focus into this question of
bipartisanship and civility in our political discourse. We are
furthering this important work via the Common Ground Project. The
purpose of the Common Ground Project is to involve citizens in a
dialogue about the issues of the day, have a vigorous debate that's
both partisan and productive, and benefit from the experience of
respecting a different point of view.
Some of our existing undertakings already fit very nicely with this
objective, for example, the Congress to Campus program that Jack
Buechner just reported. And to give you more background about the
Common Ground Project, I invite my colleague from Oklahoma, former
Member Mickey Edwards, to share a report.
Thank you, Mickey.
Mr. EDWARDS. Thank you, Connie.
Now, Pete wrote this talk, and so I want to ad lib a little bit and
say that, well, first of all, because it mentions my book, and I didn't
put that in there.
But I had the opportunity very recently to give a speech at Bradley
University, and I was so proud to start out my talk by saying how
honored I was to be in the home of Bob Michel and Ray LaHood. And it
just meant so much to me to be able to share that with them.
One quick comment to pick up on what Steny had said. One of the
things I mentioned in my book is that every place you go to hear a
speech, there's a lectern, except in this place, where there's a
separate lectern for Republicans and Democrats. So I would paraphrase
Ronald Reagan about tearing down this wall. Let's have one lectern,
instead of dividing us into separate teams.
Everything we do at the Former Members Association is done in a
bipartisan manner. Our leadership is comprised equally of Republicans
and Democrats, our delegations are led by bipartisan teams of former
Members of Congress, and our projects involve both Republicans and
Democrats equally. We truly are a bipartisan organization where Members
from across the political aisle come together for a common purpose.
We have found that, for a number of reasons, this type of bipartisan
interaction has become more and more difficult for current Members,
which is a great concern, I know, to every one of us. After we leave
the Chamber today, we will participate in a full-day conference hosted
by Senator John
[[Page H2617]]
Breaux, where we'll attempt to analyze some of the factors that go into
today's dysfunctional political discourse.
This development has many causes, some of which are beyond the
control of today's Members. Our association, therefore, has created the
Common Ground Project, with the purpose of finding ways in which
Democrats and Republicans can work together.
We decided to put some thought and effort into a structured program
that could serve to foster a more civil and productive political
discourse in this country. We hope to reconnect America's voters with
their political process and encourage a respectful and productive
debate on the many issues that we face.
Mostly, we achieve this outreach by working together with some of the
many reputable and like-minded organizations across the country that
are putting their energy and resources into this important topic. One
such organization is the Concord Coalition, and we've had a number of
events where former Members come together with either the public or
with a university student audience to work our way through the Concord
Coalition's excellent budget simulation.
Another example is our collaboration with the National Institute for
Civil Discourse in Arizona. Together, our two organizations connected a
bipartisan group of former Members with a bipartisan group of current
Members to have a dialogue about what some of the causes might be that
have led to a less civil and, therefore, less productive political
climate.
We discussed the role of the media, the influence of campaign
fundraising, the realities of our primaries. This was a very good
discussion, and our goal is to continue this type of interaction, while
expanding the number of participating Members. The next step in the
partnership with the Institute for Civil Discourse is to identify
congressional committees where there may be an opportunity for across-
the-aisle collaboration and interaction. I think we call that getting
back to the regular order.
And our most prominent example of how the Common Ground Project can
reconnect citizens with Congress is our partnership with the National
Archives. This is now our third year of putting programming together at
the Archives, where we invite a large audience to discuss with a
bipartisan group of former Members the issues of the day.
We had such an event right after the November election to look at the
role of money and the role of media in the elections. We had another
one at the National Archives in the spring, based on my own book, ``The
Parties Versus the People,'' where we talked about the hold that party
politics has on our system of government; and we're hosting one tonight
examining the interaction between Congress and the White House.
We can learn a lot from each other, and that is certainly what the
Common Ground Project is all about. So on behalf of the organization, I
invite my colleagues to become an active participant in this important
dialogue, and I hope we will continue to have many opportunities to
reengage the public when it comes to their representative government.
Thank you.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you, Mickey. We very much value your
participation.
And by the way, it's a great book, very provocative. I really thought
you highlighted some of the very important aspects of what's going on
in today's politics and what we need to do about it or think about. And
I'm saying that without any cut in royalties.
But a great example of how powerful and productive bipartisanship can
be is our annual Congressional Charity Golf Classic. It's chaired by
our immediate past president, Dennis Hertel, and by fellow board
member, Ken Kramer of Colorado.
I'm now going to yield the floor to Dennis Hertel of Michigan to give
us a brief report about the Charity Golf Classic, which has been so
successful.
Dennis.
Mr. HERTEL. I want to thank Madam President Connie for all that
you're doing for the organization.
And I want to talk about the golf tournament, but the first thing I
want to reassure everybody about this tournament is you don't have to
be Tiger Woods to play. And I'm probably the best example of somebody
who's not really a golfer participating all these years in this
tournament.
It goes back 35 years. Remember, we used to play out at Andrews Air
Force Base. And Bob Michel, our great leader, I remember when Bob
Michel beat us on this floor in 1981, and we still all liked him on
this side of the aisle. Bob Michel and Tip O'Neill were there for our
tournament; and it was a very quiet tournament, a private tournament at
Andrews Air Force base.
And then, because they changed the rules here in the House, and all
the rest, to attract current Members, but mostly, as our other
endeavors to do something for others, we established this charitable
tournament 6 years ago to help the wounded warriors.
And with Zach Wamp and others, we used to meet in Zach's office, as
cochair. We got more active Members, current Members to play. And this
year we've got over 20 current Members signed up. Our problem, our
former Members: we only have a handful, so we really need more of you
to participate in this to go forward.
It's going to be July 22 at the Army-Navy Country Club, so we've gone
up as far as where we're playing the tournament. And they've just
redone the entire club, and it's fantastic. The courses are new, and
the clubhouse is brand new. It really is beautiful.
During each of our past tournaments, we've had dozens of current and
former Members from both sides of the aisle come together, and they
have met with dozens of wounded warriors, many of whom give ball-
striking demonstrations or play in our foursomes, and they're just
tremendous young people.
They have even had double amputees included in their numbers who hit
further and straighter than a lot of our Members, certainly much better
than I. And it's an incredibly humbling, rewarding, and memorable
experience to spend a day in the presence of these inspiring men and
women.
Last year we had two outstanding current Member honorary chairs: Joe
Baca of California and Ander Crenshaw of Florida. And I want to thank
them, as well as Ken Kramer, our association's cochair, for all they've
done to make our tournament such a success.
I want to thank Joe Baca, who didn't return for the 113th Congress,
for how much he did as far as his energy in getting Members to play and
to go forward with our tournament.
Now we have Congressman Mike McIntyre of North Carolina as our
Democratic cochair, who's just been tremendous in being a fusion to get
current Members to play.
And we're so fortunate to have Jimmy Duncan from Tennessee, who a lot
of us served with in the Congress, to be our Republican cochair.
There's just no better invaluable supporter than Jimmy Duncan getting
current Members to play.
I want to thank our sponsors for their generous contributions, and
particular thanks to DSUSA and the PGA for being such steadfast and
important partners. And PGA wants to take it up another level and get
more professionals to play with us and to participate and to become a
greater sponsor.
It's really an honor for us to help our Nation's heroes in this small
way. Again, the next tournament is July 22. This tournament can only be
successful if our Members, both current and former, give it their time
and attention. Please let us know if you can play. We would really like
to see you July 22.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you, Dennis.
Ms. KENNELLY. The Chair recognizes the distinguished Speaker of the
House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).
Mr. BOEHNER. Good morning. Tanner is giving me this look like, Hey,
it's just Boehner. Leave him alone.
Let me say on behalf of all of my colleagues, welcome. Thank you for
your years of service here in this institution. Let me congratulate Ray
LaHood on being this year's Distinguished Service Award winner. I'm not
sure I would have given it to him, but you all did. Just teasing.
But, listen, I'm trying to keep this institution focused on a couple
of simple things. One is growing the economy. You all know the economy
is not growing the way it should be. It's not creating jobs as fast as
it should be, and wages aren't going up as quickly.
[[Page H2618]]
And so there's a lot of things that I think we need to continue to do
to get our economy going again. But having said that, there are always
other things that crop up around here.
You're all familiar with Benghazi, and now the Justice Department's
investigation of the Associated Press, and then the IRS of all things.
So in spite of trying to keep the institution focused on what the
American people are most interested in, we end up also having to do our
other responsibility, which is providing oversight of the executive
branch, and we will do that.
In addition to that, I continue to believe and continue to work to
make this a more open and fairer process for all the Members. If you
look over the last couple of years, the minority has gotten more than
its fair share of amendments. If committee chairs and others can't
defend their product, it's not up to me to protect them. So I'm a big
believer that people ought to have their shot. I think my colleagues on
the other side of the aisle would agree that I've been more than fair
in terms of what comes to the floor and how it's to be considered.
So, opening up the process, I believe, is very important because the
more open process there is on the floor, the more work that the
committees have to do to reach across the aisle and build bipartisan
support for whatever proposal they have. Over time, I think this will
break down some of the scar tissue that's built up over the years
around here and be good for the institution.
So, I'm just here to say good morning and it's nice to see all of
you.
Spratt, how are you? You're looking good. Don't have more hair than
last time I saw you, though.
But really, it's nice to see all of you, and welcome back. Thank you.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for sharing those words with us,
particularly understanding the number of issues that are appearing
before you, the little things that you mention.
I also wanted to thank Dennis for what he's done, too, with the golf
tournament and for his leadership. We're honored that we, as an
association, can play a small role in the rehabilitation of these
amazing men and women who are the wounded warriors.
So as we continue, in addition to the domestic programs we have just
described, our association also has a very active and far-reaching
international focus. We conduct programs that are focused on Europe and
Asia, and we bring current Members of Congress together with their
peers in legislatures overseas.
Ms. KENNELLY. The Chair recognizes our leader, Nancy Pelosi.
Ms. MORELLA. This is an abundance of riches, isn't it?
Ms. PELOSI. Thank you, Madam Chair. I certainly did not want to take
the floor from our distinguished colleague, Connie Morella. It's so
wonderful to see you. Maybe good news for you, I've lost my voice. I
know it will be good news for the Speaker, but we'll see later in the
day.
I join him in welcoming you back to the Capitol. I hope it is always
a source of joy to you to set foot on this floor, this place our
Founders decided was the marketplace of ideas, where we would compete
in the marketplace of ideas and find common ground to go forth. Your
legacy is an important one to us. As I look around and see all of you,
I see contributions that you have made over the years that we still
benefit from.
It's an honor to be here with Bob Michel. I think he enjoyed the job
of minority leader more than I do. What do you think, Bob? What do you
think? We were all there to celebrate his birthday recently. It was
a bipartisan fiesta, wasn't it? That was just a couple months ago we
celebrated a landmark birthday. Happy birthday again.
But all of you, I heard what the Speaker said about this openness on
the floor, and I thought that was really good news, because we've been
trying to get a budget to the floor for a very long time but without
much success to allow our budget to come to the floor. So I'm going to
take the words that I just heard to Chris Van Hollen and tell him that
happy days are here again and that our amendment will be made in order
in the Rules Committee.
Martin, Governor, Bob, all of you, we all are on a first-name basis.
Last night, rightfully all of you honored the distinguished Secretary,
Mr. LaHood. He has done a remarkable, remarkable job. We couldn't be
prouder of him as a legislator and as a Secretary in the Cabinet even
if he had been a Democrat. He's just absolutely wonderful. We love him,
and he brings bipartisanship to all of what we do. And that's really
what is, I think, not to get to a partisan place, Madam Chair, but is
on the ballot in the next election: bipartisanship. It's something that
is the most popular concept in politics. People would vote for that in
overwhelming numbers; and hopefully, in this election, whatever the
outcome is, bipartisanship will prevail.
I always say to people that you can win an election, that's up to the
public, but the idea has to prevail, and that is what we're striving to
do here. That's what we hope the election will impact. It already did
have an impact in the last election with immigration. All of a sudden,
it became an issue near and dear to the hearts of so many more people
in the Congress who never had an interest in it before, because when
the people spoke in such a big way, especially Hispanics, it became a
priority for many more people in the Congress.
So, again, when all of you were here, we worked in a very, very civil
and respectful way. We hope that we can return to that. But that
doesn't diminish the contribution that you made in so many ways
regarding the substance, the values, and the ethics that make our
country so great.
So it really is a joy to see each and every one of you. I hope your
lives are very happy. You certainly look well. There seems to be a good
life after Congress, but it brings us such pride to see so many of you
come back to continue this bonding. Thank you. It's an honor to see
you.
Madam Speaker, how does it feel up there? It feels good, huh? It
feels good. Welcome, Barbara. Thank you all very much for being here.
Ms. MORELLA. We are very honored that our minority leader chose to
join us again to greet us as well as the Speaker of the House and Steny
Hoyer.
So let's continue on with our program. We were talking about programs
that focus on Europe and Asia and bringing current Members of Congress
together with their peers and legislatures overseas, which actually
helps in terms of what we discussed with people knowing each other and
therefore finding it easier to work together noting that they have
common objectives.
We work with the Department of State to talk about representative
democracy with audiences overseas. We partner with former
parliamentarians from other countries for democracy-strengthening
initiatives. This is a very active outreach to emerging democracies. My
colleague from Texas, Martin Frost, instituted the so-called Frost-
Solomon Task Force when he was in Congress, and many of the
legislative-strengthening projects that we conduct are actually modeled
on his good work.
It is now a pleasure to yield the floor to our friend from Texas,
Martin Frost.
Mr. FROST. Thank you, Connie. Since we have to be off the floor at
9:30, I'm going to truncate these remarks a little bit.
A number of years ago, we created the International Election Monitors
Institute under the leadership of then-president Jack Buechner. It is a
joint project of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress,
the Association of Former Members of the European Parliament, and the
Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. In addition to
conducting multiple workshops for former legislators to train them for
election-monitoring missions, this group sent delegations to monitor
elections in places such as Morocco, Ukraine, and--our most ambitious
undertaking--Iraq. The original intent of the International Election
Monitors Institute was to train former legislators and prepare them for
the task of observing an election. We have since broadened and expanded
this to focus and are now incorporated as the Global Democracy
Institute, again in partnership with our colleagues from Ottawa and
Brussels. Former legislators from all political walks of life can be a
tremendous asset to these organizations that seek to strengthen
democracy across the globe.
In addition to that, this organization has undertaken a number of
trips. I
[[Page H2619]]
had the privilege, along with Connie and some other people in this
room, to take part in an exchange in China last year. This was one of a
series of those. I know that we're going to be doing that again. I
encourage you to take part in these. They are educational. For some
reason, the people in China think that former Members of Congress still
have some influence, so they treat us very well. It is interesting to
learn about the evolution of their particular democratic process. It's
slow, but I think it's important that we continue to show interest. I
think it's very helpful for our country.
We have participated in a variety of projects in Turkey and in the
United Kingdom, as well as in Nigeria. I just think that when you're
asked as a former Member to take part in one of these trips, try and
find some time to do it. You will find that you have a lot to offer to
emerging democracies to talk about how our system works. I think it's
very good for us as a country and an association that we continue this
work.
Connie, you've got a couple of other speakers. I'm going to yield
back the balance of my time and again thank you for what you've done
for the association.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you.
I am now going to yield time to my colleague from Maryland, Beverly
Byron, to report on some of the other activities of the association.
Ms. BYRON. Thank you, Connie. Let me thank Martin for his interest in
furthering the U.S. Association of Former Members in the world.
Another important international undertaking which involves the Former
Members is our new Middle East fellowship program. Now in its third
year, it brings young professionals from the Middle East and from North
Africa to Washington for a 1-month immersion program. It is chaired by
former Members Scott Klug and Larry LaRocco, and I want to thank them
for their leadership in this program.
In the spring of 2009, the Former Members began a partnership with
Legacy International, a Virginia-based NGO, which has been in existence
for 30 years, for the Middle East Legislative Fellows Program.
Initiated by the Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs, the LFP hosted young professionals from Egypt, Libya,
and Tunisia this spring. Previous delegations have included young
professionals from Kuwait, Morocco, and Oman. Our guests are in the
D.C. area for a month-long fellowship working in congressional offices
and NGOs.
The program is designed to promote a positive relationship between
the U.S. and the gulf states, which, in light of the Arab Spring, is
now more vital than ever. The fellows--candidates with strong
leadership skills who represent the top talent in their fields in their
countries--have an opportunity to gain practical experience and direct
interaction with the U.S. Government and its officials. This is an
invaluable opportunity on both sides. For one who has hosted a dinner
each year for a number of the individuals, they are very, very sharp,
they're bright, they're articulate; and we will be looking to them in
the future to be leaders of their country.
Our association connects the fellows with former Members who work
together. The former Members act as a kind of mentor of the young men
and young women through one-on-one meetings, roundtable discussions,
and by attending program discussions and events. The former Members
have a great opportunity to expand their understanding of where we are.
In an exciting extension to the LFP, at the conclusion of each
program, a team of former Members completes the exchange by then
leading a delegation to the region to conduct workshops and gain
firsthand experience of that area. The goal of this program is to seek
a better understanding between the cultures and establish an avenue of
dialogue between nations. LFP is an unprecedented opportunity to
augment a constructive political and cultural discourse between the
U.S. and the Middle East. I am pleased that our association is part of
this new, vital program; and every time has been a wonderful
opportunity to meet with the young people that come.
Thank you.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you, Bev, for your leadership and your active
involvement in this great program. As a former Ambassador, I am acutely
aware of the power of personal interaction and people making a
difference to bridge the cultural divide. This is, indeed, a great
program for our association.
Not all of our programs focus exclusively on former Members, as you
may already have discerned. As was mentioned earlier, we have a number
of projects that benefit from former-Member leadership but involve
primarily current Members and their peers overseas. We call these
programs Congressional Study Groups, and our focus is on Germany,
Turkey, Japan, and Europe as a whole. To give you more background about
the Congressional Study Groups, I invite former Member Bart Gordon of
Tennessee to the dais.
Bart, maybe you will give us a synopsis.
Mr. GORDON. Thank you, Connie, for those kind words, but, more
importantly, thank you for the grace that you show as you lead us. You
continue to be our ambassador to the world.
Ms. MORELLA. You're so political, Bart.
Mr. GORDON. No, no. You know that's true. We all know that's true
here.
Let me first say, as I look around and see everyone, many of you I
spent all of my 26 years with, and some a part of that. It's sort of a
kaleidoscope of memories that just wash over you. I think almost every
one of us sat down together somewhere on the floor and talked about
business or what was going on at home. Fortunately, Jim Walsh and I are
next-door neighbors in our offices. I'm glad to see my Tennesseans
again. We don't get to see each other enough, but it's like we were
just here and again like that conversation just continues. This is, I
think, one more real benefit of the association, and I'm glad to have a
chance to join that.
Pete, many thanks to you for assembling the really excellent staff
that you have. They have just a little bitty office, but they really
churn out lots and lots of good work. A part of that good work is the
Congressional Study Groups.
We have Congressional Study Groups on Germany, Japan, Turkey, and
Europe, the flagship international programs of the Former Members of
Congress. The study groups are independent, bipartisan legislative
exchanges for current Members of Congress and their senior staff and
serve as educational forums and invaluable tools for international
dialogue with the goal of creating better understanding and cooperation
between the United States and its most important strategic and economic
allies.
The Congressional Study Group on Germany celebrates its 30th
anniversary this year and remains one of the largest and most active
parliamentary exchange programs between the United States Congress and
the legislative branch of another country.
With your permission, Madam President, I'm going to ask that the
remainder of my remarks be made part of the Record--since we're
supposed to be out of here at 9:30--and just say that these are very
good programs.
Our world is becoming smaller. We do need allies around the world.
And I think by making parliamentarians of other countries and the
United States come together, it really is forming great ties that will
benefit us.
The other thing, I don't think you can be around here and not be a
bit of a junky--political junky, that is. These programs are for the
active Members, but there are a number of programs here in the United
States and Washington that allow parliamentarians and others to come
together and discuss the issues of the day, which I think that you will
find very interesting and I hope that you will have a chance to
participate in those.
It gives me great pleasure to report on the work of The Congressional
Study Groups on Germany, Japan, Turkey and Europe, the flagship
international programs of FMC. The Study Groups are independent,
bipartisan legislative exchanges for current Members of Congress and
their senior staff and serve as educational forums and invaluable tools
for international dialogue with the goal of creating better
understanding and cooperation between the United States and its most
important strategic and economic partners.
[[Page H2620]]
The Congressional Study Group on Germany celebrates its 30th
anniversary this year and remains one of the largest and most active
parliamentary exchange programs between the U.S. Congress and the
legislative branch of another country. In the 113th Congress,
Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio and Representative Charlie Dent of
Pennsylvania lead the Study Group on Germany in the House, following on
two successful years of service by Representative Phil Gingrey of
Georgia and Representative Russ Carnahan of Missouri. In the Senate,
Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New
Hampshire serve as Co-Chairs.
The Study Group's programming consists of periodic roundtable
discussions on Capitol Hill for Members of Congress featuring visiting
dignitaries from Germany or U.S. government officials. In addition,
Annual Seminars are conducted abroad and at home, as well as Study
Tours geared toward senior Congressional staff. This year, the 30th
Annual Congress-Bundestag Seminar brought together a record nine
Members of Congress with their counterparts in Berlin and Munich for
in-depth, substantive discussions, including a meeting with Chancellor
Angela Merkel.
This 30th anniversary of the Seminar was particularly special as FMC
awarded its first ever International Statesmanship Award to Hans-Ulrich
Klose, Chair of the Bundestag's U.S.-German Parliamentary Friendship
Group, ``for his longstanding service to strengthening the U.S.-German
relationship and in appreciation of his leadership championing The
Congressional Study Group on Germany.'' Thank you again, Mr. Klose.
A few highlights from the Study Group's domestic programming include:
a German parliamentarian at the start of discussions for a
transatlantic free trade agreement last June; the Vice-Chancellor of
Germany; a roundtable with international journalists providing a unique
analysis of the November 2012 elections; the Editor-in-Chief of leading
European broadcaster ZDF; and the State Secretary from the German
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Since its establishment, The Congressional Study Group on Germany has
received financial support from The German Marshall Fund of the United
States, and we are grateful to Craig Kennedy and Maia Comeau. The
Association also receives additional funding from a group of
organizations making up the Study Group's Business Advisory Council.
The Study Group's current Business Advisory Council members are Airbus
Americas, Allianz, BASF, Daimler, Deutsche Telekom, DHL Americas, Eli
Lilly and Company, Fresenius, Lufthansa, RGIT, and Volkswagen.
Also celebrating a milestone anniversary is the Association's
Congressional Study Group on Japan, founded in 1993. In the House of
Representatives, Congressman Jim McDermott of Washington and
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia continue to serve
as Co-Chairs in the 113th Congress. In the Senate, Senator Lisa
Murkowski of Alaska serves as the Republican Co-Chair, and Senator
Mazie Hirono of Hawaii--the first Japanese immigrant to serve in the
Senate. The Study Group would also like to extend special
acknowledgement to its Honorary Co-Chairs, former Speakers Dennis
Hastert and Tom Foley, who remain active in our programming.
Since its inception, The Congressional Study Group on Japan has been
funded by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, and the Association
would like to extend a special thanks to the Paige Cottingham-Streater
and Margaret Mihori.
This year, the Study Group also launched a strategic partnership with
the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA. Thanks to the support of President
Junko Chano, Director Takahiro Nanri, and Senior Fellow Daniel Bob, The
Congressional Study Group of Japan has undergone significant
revitalization.
The Congressional Study Group on Japan is also grateful for the
support of the Japanese business community here in Washington, DC,
represented by the Study Group's Business Advisory Council. The nine
companies of the 2013 Council are The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ,
Japan Railways-JR Central, Hitachi, Honda, Marubeni, Mitsubishi,
Mitsui, Sojitz, and Toyota Motor North America.
With this expanded and diversified funding base, the Study Group has
been able to increase both the quality and quantity of its programming.
Already in the 113th Congress, the Study Group has convened eight
events, with plans for many more. Featured speakers have included a
senior councilor to the new Prime Minister; Ambassador Demetrios
Marantis, then Deputy U.S. Trade Representative; a delegation from the
American Chamber of Commerce of Japan; and the Chairman of the Japanese
Diet's Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Congressional Study Group on Japan was also honored to convene a
roundtable discussion at the home of Ambassador Sasae earlier this
year. Seventeen current Members of Congress participated--including 8
freshman Members--which constitutes the largest delegation from
Congress to the Embassy in recent memory, and shows promise for the
future strategic U.S.-Japan alliance.
The Congressional Study Group on Turkey was founded in 2005,
supported by generous grants from TEPAV, the Economic Policy Research
Foundation of Turkey. Since the Arab Spring, there has been increasing
interest in bilateral relations with one of our strongest allies in an
often unstable region.
In the 113th Congress, Representative Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and
Representative Gerald Connolly (D-VA) continue leading the Study Group,
and I am happy to share that the past Co-Chairs, Virginia Foxx of North
Carolina and Steve Cohen of Tennessee, also remain active.
Similar to our other Study Groups, Turkey's programming consists of
periodic roundtable discussions on Capitol Hill for Members of Congress
featuring visiting dignitaries from Turkey, U.S. government officials
and other experts. A recent highlight from this year was our roundtable
discussion with the Turkish Minister for EU Affairs and Chief
Negotiator for EU Accession. The Study Group also convened programs on
the ``Southern Energy Corridor'' and Secretary Kerry's first official
visit to Turkey.
Additionally, last month, Former Members Jim Kolbe of Arizona, Martin
Lancaster of North Carolina, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, and Ben
Chandler of Kentucky travelled to Turkey with FMC's ``Congress to
Campus'' program to meet with Turkish high school and university
students to discuss the U.S. presidential system, federalism, and the
U.S. political process, as well as reforming the Turkish Constitution.
FMC is grateful to The Mid-Atlantic Federation for Turkic-American
Associations who helped to organize and fund the trip.
The Congressional Study Group on Turkey looks forward to organizing a
Study Tour for Members of Congress to Turkey in the coming programming
year.
At the end of 2011, the Association established the Congressional
Study Group on Europe, which serves as an outreach to the broader
transatlantic relationship. Programming focuses not just on Brussels
and the European Union, but capitals throughout Europe.
Together, Representative Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska and
Representative Peter Welch of Vermont chair the Study Group in the
113th Congress. These gentlemen follow the successful leadership of the
inaugural co-chairs, now-former Congressman Ben Chandler of Kentucky
and Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, who has joined the
leadership of The Congressional Study Group on Germany.
The Study Group continues to work closely with European-focused
caucuses and embassies to provide Capitol Hill programming. Program
highlights from the past year include a Senior Fellow of the European
Council on Foreign Relations, discussing Franco-German relations; a
delegation from the EU Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee, led by the Committee Chairwoman; and Ambassador Miriam
Sapiro, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, who addressed the proposed
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership just days after it was
announced at the State of the Union.
Finally, this year marks the second year of the Association's
Diplomatic Advisory Council. Initially envisioned as a sister program
to The Congressional Study Group on Europe, the Diplomatic Advisory
Council now has nearly 25 Ambassadors who advise and participate in all
of our programming. Their interest and commitment to multilateral
dialogue is a valued addition to The Congressional Study Groups.
As former Members of Congress, we are proud to bring the important
services provided The Congressional Study Groups to our colleagues
still in office and are proud to play an active role in our continued
international outreach.
Ms. MORELLA. I want you to know he has a very extensive report to
give on the congressional study groups because they've been very, very
active, And they involve current Members of Congress. So you current
Members of Congress who may be watching, please link up with the
congressional study groups and you'll have some great opportunities to
continue to work overseas.
I appreciate his abbreviating his report in deference to the time.
Right now I just want to mention to you--and again, I'm going to be
very brief--that we have the Statesmanship Award Dinner. This is one of
our major ways of raising money. So to tell you something about that as
part of our overall number of activities is our colleague, Jim Walsh.
Mr. WALSH. Thank you, Connie. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to
tell you this is the last report of the morning prior to our election,
which I
[[Page H2621]]
suspect will go very swiftly and without controversy.
I'd like to thank Connie for her gracious leadership. I'd also like
to thank Lou Frey for the remarkable job that he does organizing us and
keeping the ducks in a row as we work on this fundraiser, which is
really key to our success every year.
On March 19, the association was proud to host its 16th annual
Statesmanship Award Dinner, with almost 500 guests in attendance. For
the 16th dinner, we decided to continue the very successful expansion
we initiated last year. In addition to our traditional Statesmanship
Award, we created two additional award categories: the Civic
Statesmanship Award and the Corporate Statesmanship Award.
We continued to present the dinner under the theme of ``A Salute to
Service,'' and all four of our honorees very clearly fit into that
category of outstanding public service. The focal point of the evening
was the presentation of the Statesmanship Award, which recognizes a
former or current Member of Congress for their devotion to public
service. We were very pleased to recognize the leadership throughout
their careers of Senator Sam Nunn and Senator Dick Lugar as our
Statesmanship Honorees for their outstanding political careers, service
to our country, and bipartisan accomplishments that have made the world
a safer place.
The Civic Statesmanship Award honors a person or a nonprofit for
having made significant improvement to our society. The 2013 recipient
was award-winning actor Gary Sinise and the Gary Sinise Foundation. Mr.
Sinise does so much to help wounded warriors and first responders, and
we were very pleased to honor him at the dinner.
The Corporate Statesmanship Award recognizes outstanding corporate
citizenship, and we chose Margery Kraus, founder and chief executive
officer of APCO Worldwide. Not only has she established a culture of
corporate philanthropy with APCO, but she is also one of the driving
forces behind the Close Up Foundation--which many of you dealt with
when you served here--which brings youngsters from across the country
to D.C. to learn about their government.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Pulitzer Prize-
winning columnist Colbert I. King, who was our master of ceremonies and
did a fantastic job for the event and lent wonderful grace to the
event.
The evening is a wonderful way to showcase our association and
recognize outstanding public service. In addition, the dinner is our
financial lifeline. All the programs you've heard about are self-
financed by your association. Not a single taxpayer dollar is
appropriated for this organization and for the many projects that we
conduct. Therefore, success of the fundraising dinner translates
directly into success for the association.
The evening is a lot of fun, and it's also of great importance to the
organization. I hope that all former Members currently in attendance
can be counted upon when Lou Frey picks up the phone next summer and
gives you a call to help recruit you for our dinner.
Thank you very much.
Ms. MORELLA. Thank you, Jim.
All the programs that we have described of course require both
leadership and staff to implement, and I want to say openly and very
enthusiastically our association is blessed to have top people in both
categories.
I want to take this opportunity to thank our board of directors--30
former Members divided equally between parties--for their advice and
their counsel. We really appreciate it.
The membership is going to vote on new board members in just a
moment. You might notice that this year's slate is larger than in past
years. That's because at our most recent board meeting we voted to
increase the number of directors so that we have open slots available
for newer former Members.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn't thank the other members of the
association's executive committee: our vice president, Barbara
Kennelly, who eventually will be president. You notice we'll have two
women, president and vice president, et cetera. Just a point of
observation.
Our vice president, Barbara Kennelly; our treasurer, Jim Walsh; our
secretary, Bill Delahunt; our past president, Dennis Hertel, who has
given me a lot of advice and counsel through the year--you've all made
the association a stronger and better organization than it's ever been.
Thank you all.
Now, to administer these programs, it takes a staff of dedicated and
enthusiastic professionals. I've often felt, to paraphrase the 23rd
Psalm: my rod and my staff, they comfort me and prepare the papers for
me in the presence of my constituents. And boy, this staff has really
done that--small staff, a lot of work.
Rachel Haas has joined our association as office manager just 6
months ago. Already we can't imagine what we ever did without her. Just
stand. We're not going to have applause for everybody. Hold your
applause. I just want them to stand.
Andrew Shoenig, who is our international programs officer, does such
a terrific job implementing all the Capitol Hill events that you've
heard about. He started as an intern and has now been with us full-time
for over a year.
Sharon Witiw, she is our member services manager. She takes
exceptionally good care of our 600 association members and all their
various requests, needs, and inquiries. She is also in charge of the
Congress to Campus program.
We have Meltem Ercan, who is our international programs manager, with
particular focus on the wonderful Turkey program that you've heard
about and will read about. She served for many years as the head of
protocol at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
Sabine Schleidt is our international programs director. She oversees
all the current Member programs, which is so impressive and important.
I'm very impressed with the kind of work that she has done in her
outreach. In less than 2 years, she has created two international
outreaches that are already a big success: the Congressional Study
Group on Europe; and the Diplomatic Advisory Group, which has about 25
to 30 Ambassadors from the region who are part of it.
Peter Weichlein is the chief executive officer, 14 years with the
Association, 10 years in top positions, and he works so darn hard.
So I'd like you to give a round of applause to the staff. But before
you do that, I want to add somebody else who is such a great
communications expert, Dava Guerin. She has taken on the role of our
communications director. She tells our story, connects us with the
media, all at a ridiculously low rate.
I want to thank Dava, and I want to thank all the staff.
Now will you give them a round of applause. I wish we had more time
for me to tell you more about what they do, but you will get to know
them as you get more involved with the association.
Now, every year at our annual meeting, we ask the membership to elect
new officers and board members. In the past we've done so in a separate
business meeting of the membership, but it occurred to us that there is
no better place for holding a vote than the Chamber of the House of
Representatives. I therefore now read you the names of the candidates
for officers and board members. They're all running unopposed. I would
have never known what that was like ever, but I do now. I therefore ask
for a simple ``yea'' or ``nay'' as I present to you the list of
candidates as a slate. I'm going to do it quickly because, again, in
the interest of time.
For the association's board of directors, the candidates are:
Russ Carnahan of Missouri
Bob Carr of Michigan
Bob Clement of Tennessee
Jim Courter of New Jersey
Lou Frey of Florida
Bart Gordon of Tennessee
Dennis Hertel of Michigan
Jim Jones of Oklahoma
Scott Klug of Wisconsin
Ron Sarasin of Connecticut
Olympia Snowe of Maine
Cliff Stearns of Florida
Steve LaTourette of Ohio.
All in favor of these 13 former Members to our board of directors
please say ``yea.'' All opposed? Hearing no objection, the slate has
been elected by the membership.
Next, we will elect our executive committee. Barbara Kennelly, Dennis
Hertel, and I are finishing the first year of our 2-year term and are
therefore not up for election. The candidates for a 1-year term on our
executive committee are Jim Walsh of New York for treasurer and Bill
Delahunt of Massachusetts for secretary. All in favor of
[[Page H2622]]
electing these two former Members to a 1-year term on our executive
committee, please say ``yea.'' All opposed? Hearing no opposition, the
slate has been elected by the membership. Thank you.
It is my sad duty to inform the Congress of those former and current
Members who have passed away since our last report. I ask all of you,
including the visitors in the gallery, to rise as I read the names; and
at the end of the list, we will pay our respect to their memory with a
moment of silence. We honor these men and women for their service to
our country. They are:
Jack Brooks of Texas
Cardiss Collins of Illinois
David Cornwell of Indiana
John Durkin of New Hampshire
Mervyn Dymally of California
Joseph Early of Massachusetts
Bob Edgar of Pennsylvania
Robert Gammage of Texas
Sam Gibbons of Florida
James Grover of New York
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Ed Koch of New York
Peter N. Kyros of Maine
George McGovern of South Dakota
David O'Brien Martin of New York
Charlie Rose of North Carolina
William Royer of California
Warren B. Rudman of New Hampshire
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
Sam Steiger of Arizona
Donald Tewes of Wisconsin
Richard Tonry of Louisiana
Charlie Wilson of Ohio
We will have a moment of silence.
Thank you.
It's sad to have lost those Members, but they live on in our memory
and love.
That concludes the 43rd report to Congress by the U.S. Association of
Former Members of Congress. We thank the Congress, the Speaker, and the
minority leader for giving us the opportunity to return to this revered
Chamber and to report on our association's activities. We look forward
to another active and productive year.
Thank you.
Ms. KENNELLY. The Chair terminates the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 9:32 a.m.
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