[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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