[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 94 (Thursday, June 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H4136-H4140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING JOHN DINGELL
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Barrow) is recognized
for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my friend,
Representative John Dingell, who, this month became the longest-serving
Member of Congress in our Nation's history.
Representative Dingell has taught literally thousands of Members of
Congress how to do good things for the people we represent, a legacy he
continues to build in his 30th term in the people's House.
I've had the honor to serve with Mr. Dingell on the House Energy and
Commerce Committee. As we all know, oftentimes our schedules don't
allow us to stick around for an entire committee meeting, but I always
make it a point to stay until Mr. Dingell is finished. He is such a
skilled cross-examiner that, by the time he's finished, we've heard the
only questions that are worth asking, and we've got the only answers
we're ever likely to get.
John Dingell's ability to reach across the aisle and find compromise
is the cure for what ails this place, and I only hope that thousands
more will get the opportunity to learn from the master.
I congratulate Mr. Dingell on this historic milestone and for his
over 57 years of service to our country.
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Levin).
Mr. LEVIN. Well, Mr. Dingell, there are many aspects of life that I
could comment on, for example, friendship.
Our families have known each other well over 75 years, going back to
the relationship between your father and some of my relatives. It's
been a long time. And I could talk about the friendship between
yourself and your wife, Debbie, and our family for part of that time.
I could also talk about your accomplishments, and there have been so
many. I remember when I first came, how we worked to clean up the Rouge
River; and without your efforts, I think today it would be more like it
was than it now is.
We could talk about health care and your historical role. We could
talk about broader issues of clean water and clean air. We could talk
about your devotion to the auto industry of this country and what would
have happened all these years except for your dedication. And there are
more accomplishments that I could talk about.
But instead, let me just say a few words about what struck me as you
spoke a few weeks ago--was it?--as we were celebrating your tenure. And
you spoke at some length. The rumor is that Debbie, a few times, said,
cut it a bit shorter, but you went on; and the reason I think you did
is what I want to speak about.
You began to talk about your years here, not in terms of the number
of years, but what you have seen about this institution. And I think
all of us who were there were glad that you continued to talk, because
you've been here 55 years as a Member, and you've seen the changes,
you've seen how there was a greater sense of working together in this
place.
You saw and were a key part of sure differences and, with you,
sometimes sharp questioning, but there was a greater feel of common
purpose in this unparalleled institution, and you spoke how we have
lost some of it.
So that's really what I wanted to focus on, because if anybody can
speak about the need for all of us who work here and all of us who are
Members here, if there's anybody who can remind us of how the
importance of this institution should determine how we relate to each
other, it's John Dingell.
And I must confess, as I listened to your words, I felt that there
had been something lost and that you reminded us it was vital that we
regain. And it was interesting, you didn't really want to talk about
anything else except your love for Debbie and this institution.
So you, in a sense, are Mr. Institution. And your belief in it, your
belief in our need to remind ourselves as to how we must try to work
together, how we must try to relate, how we must try to take our basic
principles--and you really have them--to use them not as a wall, but as
an opportunity to proceed.
So we owe you a lot. Your constituents owe you a lot, though you'll
deny it. But all of us, I think, owe you immensely for the years you
have served here, for your dedication, for your honesty, and for your
reminding people in this institution why it was founded.
In that sense, I think you are the exemplar of what sparked this
creation in its first place. Keep going, keep reminding, and I hope
we'll begin to follow better than we have.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Gene Green).
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Members, I rise tonight to
honor a man that I'm proud to call a good friend and a mentor, John
Dingell. Recently, John became the longest-serving Member of the
Congress, serving for 57 years, 5 months, and 26 days, surpassing the
service record of the late Senator Robert C. Byrd.
John has a storied career in the House of Representatives, and you'll
hear a lot about that tonight and already have. He has served with 11
Presidents, congressional icons like Speaker Sam Rayburn from Texas,
and had the opportunity to vote on landmark legislation like the 1964
Civil Rights Act.
He is the ultimate legislator for both Michigan and for America. He's
also played an integral part in groundbreaking legislation, like the
creation of the Medicare program, the National Environmental Policy
Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Air Act, just to name a
few.
I always think of him as chairman, though. Since 1996 I've been
fortunate to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, with
John as our committee leader for much of that time. While most
associate John's leadership on the committee with his tenacious
government watchdog activities, I saw a leader that did not fall victim
to the partisan politics that define
[[Page H4137]]
the current House, but instead epitomized what we are here to do--the
people's business.
{time} 1930
He's a true legislator. It has truly been an honor to serve with him
and learn from him, and, most importantly, to call him friend. He has a
partner in his wonderful wife, Deborah, and a friend who, like my wife,
Helen, allows us to serve our respective districts.
John, I look forward to continuing our friendship and our work
together.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts
(Mr. Markey).
Mr. MARKEY. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for holding this
Special Order. It is truly right and fitting that we honor this
legislative giant, this man who represents everything that this
institution is all about. I have served with Mr. Dingell for 37 years
on the Energy and Commerce Committee. It has been an honor every day to
serve with him.
I want to tell you two stories about Mr. Dingell. A few years ago,
the Energy and Commerce Committee was made a part of a conference
committee that was going to create something called Farmer Mac, which
was a new security that was going to be issued. Mr. Dingell and I were
not happy that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had been exempted from the
Securities and Exchange Commission jurisdiction. We were not happy.
And so I arrived a little bit late to this conference, which was an
Agriculture Committee conference with the Senate. I arrived and I sat
next to Mr. Dingell. At the time, I was the chairman of the Securities
Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Mr. Dingell had been
doing all the negotiating. He turned to me about a half hour into the
conference and just wrote out a note and passed it over to me. I read
the note, and Mr. Dingell got up and left the room. So I continued to
negotiate on behalf of Mr. Dingell and the Commerce Committee.
At the end of the day, we won everything that we were looking for.
Farmer Mac securities were going to be regulated by the Securities and
Exchange Commission. It wasn't going to be like Freddie Mac. It wasn't
going to be like Fannie Mae. And so at the end of the conference, I
just took the piece of paper and crumbled it up and threw it into the
wastepaper basket and I walked out of the conference room.
About an hour later, we were out on the House floor and Kika de le
Garza, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, came over to me and he
had the piece of paper that was crumbled. He had actually gone into the
wastepaper basket to see what was on the note that Mr. Dingell had
passed to me. And here is what the note says, as Kika de le Garza is
reading it to me. It said:
Mr. Markey, we have just won the first two out of three
issues with the Agriculture Committee. Do not give an inch to
them on the third issue.
And we did not. Chairman de le Garza looked at me and said, You
Commerce Committee guys, you're not like the other people here in the
House.
And that was John Dingell. It was an important issue. It was ensuring
that the Securities Exchange Commission would in fact monitor these
securities.
By the way, would we have not been better off all along than allowing
these agencies to escape the scrutiny which they deserved?
And so that then brings me to the second little story. The seven most
feared words ever uttered in Congress are words uttered by John Dingell
as a witness is sitting at the table waiting for questioning, and those
seven feared words are, ``I am just a poor Polish lawyer.'' Because
that's the beginning of a very bad day for a witness as Mr. Dingell
asks for explanations on detailed questions without any mercy shown to
an unprepared witness.
For me, it's an honor to be here to honor John Dingell, who is still
at the top of his game, still able to perform those same type of cross-
examinations of witnesses as they tremble, knowing that this
legislative giant is about to cross-examine.
I thank him for his service. I thank the wonderful Debbie for giving
him to us for his service here. I thank him for the honor of being able
to serve on that committee for 37 years with a legislative legend who
will go down in history.
One of the first things he wants you to know when you got on that
committee was that there was a map of the entire world--the globe--over
his head; and he just wanted us to know, as we got on the committee,
that that was the jurisdiction of the committee--the entire planet. And
that is how he acted as that giant over all those years.
It was an honor to have served with you.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I want to thank the gentleman from
Massachusetts and congratulate him on the beatification he's received
by the voters of his State as he's about to join the other body. I wish
him every success in the Senate, to which I can add that the next most
feared seven words uttered to any witness is, ``Please answer the
question 'yes' or `no.' ''
At this time, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Tonko).
Mr. TONKO. Thank you to the gentleman from the great State of
Georgia.
It's an honor to lend my voice to that of several of my colleagues as
we pay tribute to Representative John Dingell from the great State of
Michigan. I am only in my third term in the House of Representatives so
I can't profess to have known John Dingell as long as most of my
colleagues who have known this great gentleman for quite some time. But
as anyone serving in this House soon learns, it doesn't take very much
time to know John Dingell and to assess the greatness of this
individual, one who carries himself with great humility, which I
believe is his hallmark of representation.
His identity with common folks through our many conversations about
the richness of the Polish culture and the embarking upon the American
Dream of immigrants of that persuasion and of all persuasions who have
tethered that dream for the betterment of individual and family
opportunities is, I think, what drives this individual. His motivation
to be a public servant is obvious. It's well-documented by his many
years of service--57 years in this House and dating back to 1938 as a
page.
His service to this Nation through the military, all of that driven,
I believe, by the great, deep-rooted sense of opportunity that is borne
by this Nation to many of those immigrants who traveled here and then
developed that dream through generations to follow.
John Dingell is a person of greatness and a person whose
institutional memory of so many issues in this House is called upon
time and time again.
{time} 1940
As a recently appointed member to the Energy and Commerce Committee,
I marvel at the sense of involvement that he has had and his recall on
the development of so many bills, bills that speak to the protection of
our environment, making certain that the air we breathe, the water we
drink, the soil that we cultivate is there for us for a better future.
That resulted from John Dingell's passion.
His involvement in making certain that the auto industry was not only
saved, but made stronger, a great commitment by John Dingell. His
incorporation of the many acts of concern and compassion for those who
require access and affordability to quality health care, well
documented again; driven by the roots established by his dad that
enabled him to bang that gavel when we were passing the Affordable Care
Act in 2010.
So many, many stories in just a short time that I learned from this
gentleman that empower me. His direction, his instruction, his concern,
his guidance, his encouragement and his praise of any of us, routinely
done by this very, very generous man, strengthens us and gives us that
motivation to go forward. And what he has always taught us, what he has
said to me repeatedly: your word is your honor in this business.
I can't help but think what the House would be like if it were filled
with John Dingells, where there was respect for your colleagues, where
there was drive and passion to make a difference for America's great
many working families, where there was a sense of honor and respect for
this work, and where there was this attachment to the
[[Page H4138]]
American Dream that ennobles and empowers this arena. He has taught us
the nobility--with a small ``n''--of the art and science of politics.
He will forever be the measuring stick of quality service and
representation, the consummate Representative, John Dingell.
John, it's an honor to serve with you. I wish you well as you
continue to build upon your legacy. And thank you and Debbie for being
such a well-respected, much-loved couple in this town, our Nation's
Capital, Washington, D.C. God bless you, my friend.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for participating in
this evening's Special Order.
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to yield to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).
Mr. KILDEE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Let me just say that, while we are obviously here to give honor and
recognize the service of Mr. Dingell, the honor, at least from where I
stand, the honor is really all mine to be able to participate in this
moment, Mr. Speaker.
I grew up in Michigan. I was born in 1958, 3 years after Mr. Dingell
began his service in this body. I grew up in Michigan politics. And if
you come from Michigan and if you're interested in politics or
government, you know a lot about John Dingell. His name is really
synonymous not only with politics and government, but is synonymous
with all the good that comes with service in government.
We hear so much these days, of course, about the public's opinion of
the work that we do and the often cynical nature of public opinion when
it comes to government. Well, John really represents all the best in
public service and has been a role model for so many people like me,
who have had a chance to observe him and watch and learn from the great
example that he sets.
He, after 21 years in this body, was joined by my uncle, Dale Kildee,
my predecessor, who was elected to serve in the Congress in 1976. For
36 years, the two served together. So while I knew of Mr. Dingell as an
observer of politics as a young man as he and my uncle serving together
so closely and so well, I felt like in many ways John became a part,
and we became a part, of his extended family. I have often felt that
John and Debbie are so close that I can always rely and count on them
for counsel and advice and for friendship because it does feel very
much like family.
For the whole time during that period that I knew John, I didn't call
him John; I always called him Mr. Chairman or Mr. Dingell. I will never
forget the first day on January 3, just 6 months ago, when I was sworn
in Congress. I came over to shake his hand and I called him Mr.
Chairman, and he said, No, call me John; we are friends.
We represent an amazing and beautiful State. I always look at John as
a role model, as an example of somebody who, in a position of
tremendous authority within this institution, understood how to advance
the interests of the State of Michigan by balancing the very important
need to be a great and protective steward of the natural beauty and
natural assets that make Michigan such a unique place that we both love
so much, but to also be able to keep and breathe life into the great
capacity of the workforce, particularly of our great industry--and
particularly the automotive industry, which was born in our State, and
which John has been such a careful advocate for and steward on behalf
of. He has seen some difficult times and has helped to steer that
industry through tough times, and now seeing it obviously have new life
and new vitality. Much of that--a great deal of that--is attributable
directly to his perseverance and his willingness to take on a fight and
see it through to the very end.
There's no other issue more than health care that I think makes it
clear the value of perseverance and the perseverance that he had
demonstrated for so many years, term in and term out, reintroducing in
this body something that his father first brought to the Congress, and
that is the basic right of every American citizen to not ever have to
go to bed at night worrying about whether their own health would stand
between them and the long-term viability of their own family. John was
here not only to see that battle fought, but actually see it brought to
a successful conclusion.
So 6 months ago, when I walked onto this floor and realized a dream
that I had been contemplating for a very long time--to serve in what I
think is still and always will be the greatest democratic body in the
history of this planet--it was a great honor to become a Member of
Congress; but perhaps an even greater honor, to be able to call John
Dingell a colleague--not just a friend, not just a mentor, not just
somebody that I had looked up to, but a person with whom I now serve.
I was elected to succeed my own uncle. I would like to think that we
have some things in common, Mr. Dingell. And one of the things is you
were elected to represent your district to succeed your very own
father. I think that what you've demonstrated is that you obviously
have your first obligation to serve your Nation, to serve the interests
of the people that you represent, but also to do great service to the
legacy of your predecessor. I can only imagine what your father must
think, looking here and now seeing that not only have you taken up the
mantle from him, but have served so long, but more importantly so ably
in advancing the goals and the values that he embodied when he came
here, and that you were able to see them through to fruition.
So thank you so much for allowing me just a few minutes as a
freshman--with not a lot of old stories about the House, but with great
admiration for the man who has been here for so long.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for his participation. I
would note that he, like our honoree, exemplifies the truth that is
written in Proverbs: A good name is rather to be chosen than great
riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold.
At this time, I am pleased to recognize the gentlelady from Maryland
(Ms. Edwards).
Ms. EDWARDS. I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Barrow, for leading
this Special Order.
I am just so honored really to be here to celebrate and honor
somebody I call a friend, John Dingell.
I notice, as we're talking here today and as so many have approached
the podium, that everyone who approaches says: John Dingell, my friend,
my colleague, my mentor, someone I look up to, someone I respect. I
would just like to say to my good friend from Michigan that I can't
really change those words because they echo my own sentiments.
{time} 1950
I want to share with you--and so many of us have talked about the
long legislative legacy of John Dingell. As I sat here, Mr. Dingell, I
thought, well, I too, when you came into Congress, I had not been born
yet. It was about 3 years before I entered the world. When you took
that courageous vote in support of the Voting Rights Act and civil
rights, I was 6-years-old. I recall at the time living here in the
Washington metropolitan area that my father and mother used to bring us
to this Capitol almost every Sunday after church. They would bring us
and we would run up and down the east front of the Capitol. We would
picnic on the west front of the Capitol.
I am thinking today how wonderful it is to know that there was
someone who was in this institution who so valued this institution and
who, even when I was a 6-year old, John Dingell was working to protect
my rights. When I think about that, Mr. Dingell, I think of all of the
Members who lined up even before we began this Special Order and talked
about the need to work in a bipartisan way to make sure that we create
a formula for the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court would
support, that institutes and puts into place the formula for the way
that we protect our voting rights in section 5 of the Voting Rights
Act, and almost to one, including John Lewis, none of us would be here
had you not had the courage to take that vote in 1964.
So it's such an honor to serve with you and to know that while that
may have been the battle in 1964, that you are fully prepared to engage
in the battle here in 2013, and what an honor that we all have the
great privilege of being able to serve with John Dingell.
I almost think, and Mr. Kildee mentioned this, but I almost think
there is hardly anything that impacts our modern day laws that we can't
attribute to
[[Page H4139]]
the great hard work and public service of John Dingell. The fact that I
got up this morning and turned on a faucet and ran a glass of water and
was able to drink it and know that it was clean, was about John
Dingell. That I walked outside today, and even on a stuffy day like
this, knew that I could breathe air that was okay--we still have work
to do, Mr. Dingell--but to know that that clean air, and the cleaner we
make our air, is attributed to John Dingell.
I think back to my grandmother who came to live with us at a point as
she was aging--and it was actually just prior to the passage of
Medicare--and how different families' lives are now because of the
protections that they have for health care as they age and are
disabled. Those things are attributable to the great work, the
legislative legacy and the service of John Dingell.
So here we are today, and when I first came into Congress, I came in
a different kind of way. One day John Dingell pulled me aside in the
cloak room and he said, ``Come sit down, I want to talk to you, I want
to get to know you.'' And I was, frankly, afraid of him. I knew his
history, I had watched several Energy and Commerce hearings, and I knew
that he was a great friend of my predecessor--a great friend of my
predecessor.
I sat down and I talked to him, and what I gained from John Dingell
was the kind of honor and dedication that he has, and reverence that he
has, for this institution. It is unlike any that we see, and we learn
from that. So we talked, and we became friends.
Then a funny thing happened. Barack Obama was elected President of
the United States, and an inauguration was coming forward, and again
another reminder that John Dingell's 50 years of service are about this
amazing legislative work, but it is also about the people of his
district--the children, women, men, families, of his district.
There was a high school in his district--actually, I'm not quite sure
it was still in his district, but at one time he represented that high
school--and they had gotten the great gift of being able to play in the
inaugural parade for President Obama. Somehow or other things got
confused and they were staying in a hotel that was many, many miles, a
couple of hours away, from Washington, D.C., and they would have had to
get up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning to get to the staging area on
time. I represent a district just outside of Washington, D.C., in
Maryland. John Dingell reached out to me and he told me this story, and
I said, Well, maybe we can figure out something.
We found a high school out in Prince George's County, Maryland, and a
parent-teacher organization and the students. They welcomed these
students from Michigan that they didn't know at all into their high
school. They fed them pizzas and sodas and everything. So the students
were able to actually get to the inaugural parade on time.
John Dingell and I have been locked at the hand and the hip ever
since. Those students were so grateful to him. What I saw in this great
legislator is that the people of his district really did come first and
he looked out for them, and they knew that he looked out for them. Like
I said, I don't know whether he still represented them or not. I
suppose over that 57 years, the way lines get drawn, at some point or
other he did and he didn't, and he did and he didn't.
But whatever, he thought of them as his constituents and they thought
of him as their Member of Congress. I thought that that is the kind of
Member of Congress that I want to be. I think there are so many of us
who serve in this institution who really do value it and who listen,
who really listen to the message that John Dingell gave us about the
need to work together and to preserve and protect our democracy by
working in a kind of way that gives value and service to all of our
communities and to this great Nation. So for that, I want to thank John
Dingell for being such an important part of this institution and
important part of the way I have learned to become a Member of
Congress.
I want to say, just finally, on health care, when I came to the
Congress, I had had an experience of not having had health care and
getting very sick and going to an emergency room and having a lot of
bills that I couldn't pay because I didn't have health insurance. When
we gaveled in that health care bill, the Affordable Care Act, it was
John Dingell sitting as speaker pro tempore who gaveled in the
Affordable Care Act with the gavel that he used for Medicare.
Then during the course of that debate, I helped to gavel in the
debate on health care. There was one moment that John Dingell was
speaking on the floor about his father's experience and about his
experience working on health care. I was sitting in as speaker pro
tempore. Mr. Dingell, I will never forget that picture because for me
it was what we do as legislators, but it also felt very personal, and
it felt so wonderful to know that in your service you never stopped not
a single day of the 57 years to make sure that millions of Americans
like me could have health care that was quality and that was affordable
and that was accessible. So I thank you so much for your service, and I
am so honored to serve with you.
{time} 2000
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I thank the gentlelady.
At this time, I am pleased to recognize the gentlelady from New
Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter).
Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Thank you very much.
I would like to add my voice to the others here in speaking about
this wonderful man, John Dingell, who, I'm sure, is quite embarrassed
as we talk about him because he has a great deal of humility, which is
rather unusual here, so he stands out for that.
When I first won election in 2006 and came in in early 2007, I knew
about John Dingell. I had taught politics and history. I knew his great
reputation as a legislator--I knew a lot about him--but what I didn't
know about him is what I want to talk about.
When I first arrived, you heard a lot of people call him ``friend''
because he has a gift for friendship. He uses the words ``my friend''
all the time, and you believe him. He really has a gift for friendship.
So he said, Sit down here, my friend.
And I sat and I talked to the great John Dingell, and he asked me
about me instead of telling me about him. I, too, was pretty
overwhelmed at the idea that I was going to be this wonderful man's
colleague. He has taught me a lot through the years, but any time you
want a little bit of wisdom, we know you can just go sit with John
Dingell. He sits there very quietly, and people come to him. If you
just want to have a quiet chat, John Dingell is available. If you want
to remind yourself that civility exists here in this Chamber, sit next
to John Dingell because he is always civil; he is polite; he is
intelligent; he is warm; and he cares about the people.
Now, he has done a wonderful job in representing Michigan, but he has
always done a wonderful job in representing New Hampshire and every
other State in the country. Through his legislation, we are so much
better, but through his presence here, we as Members of Congress look
better, too.
So I want to thank you, John Dingell, for all that you've done for me
and for all of our colleagues and for this country. I wish you the best
of health and many more years in serving America.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. I thank the gentlelady.
Mr. Speaker, I recall the words of Thomas Carlyle. He was an advocate
of the Great Man theory of history.
Carlyle wrote: ``History is but the biography of great men.'' If
that's true, then the legislative history of this country for over half
a century has been but the biography of John Dingell.
With gratitude for the service, for the example, and for the
friendship of our honoree and with the greatest of affection for our
honoree, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), who
would like an opportunity at rebuttal.
Mr. DINGELL. I don't know whether to rebut or to agree.
I want to begin by thanking Mr. Hoyer, our leader and our whip, and
my dear friend Mr. Barrow, a wonderful, courageous gentleman from
Georgia, who has to fight very hard to remain here.
I am proud that you are my friend. Thank you.
You, Dan Kildee, bear a great family name. Your uncle was my dear
friend.
[[Page H4140]]
I am satisfied that he is going to be very, very proud of you, and I am
grateful for your friendship.
I want to thank my old friend Gene Green from Texas for his kind
words about me. He is a wonderful man. He has a wonderful wife. He is
concerned with and cares about people.
And I want to say how much the remarks of my colleague from Maryland,
Donna Edwards, meant to me.
Donna, you are a wonderful lady.
There is a story about her. I worked awfully hard to see to it that
her predecessor was able to stay here, but, by golly, she was so good
that he never stood a chance despite everything I could do to save him.
She has made me proud that she is here. She is a great lady and full of
goodness. The story she told about the kids was just a story about her
goodness, because she saw to it that these wonderful young people had a
place to stay here during the President's inauguration when they were
going to play and march in the parade.
I want to say to my old friend Sander Levin how grateful I am to him.
Our families have been friends and have a history that's interwoven
with affection and friendship going back into the 1920s when I was just
a glint in my dad's eye.
I want to also say to Mr. Markey, our colleague who is going to be
leaving us, how much we have cherished his friendship and his valuable
service on the Commerce Committee and how proud I am of his service. He
and I have had the opportunity of engaging in some fights over the
jurisdiction of the committee when they were trying to raid the
Commerce Committee, and we found--guess what?--when the fight was over,
every time that he and I were involved in it, we had more jurisdiction
than we'd had when we went into the fight.
To you, my wonderful friend Carol Shea-Porter, what a wonderful lady
you are, and how proud we are that we have a friend like you here who
cares about people and who works so hard for them, and I am proud of
the words that you have said.
To my Polish colleague, Paul Tonko from New York, we Polacks--and I
am very proud to be a Pole--are very, very concerned about loyalty and
friendship and about homes, and he certainly exemplifies that and the
goodness.
I am proud of the little things I've been able to do while I've been
here. I am prouder even still more of the people I've been able to
serve and help, and I am very grateful for the friendship of the people
of southeast Michigan. The legislature has redistricted me so many
times that they can't find a place now that they can put me that I
haven't served before. So I have a great deal to be grateful for.
My father was a wonderful public servant, and he taught me that we
here are public servants. We are not masters of the people--we are
their servants. This is reason for us to be particularly proud because
that is the highest calling of all.
So to you, my colleagues, who have so graciously and kindly made this
rather embarrassing evening possible for me, I express to you my thanks
and my gratitude for your friendship and for reminding me that there
still is the wonderful warmth of friendship and goodness in this
institution. The lovely Deborah, my wife, and I thank you for your
friendship and kindness.
To all of the other colleagues whom we are serving with now and those
with whom we have served before who are no longer with us, we are
grateful to them, and we are proud.
This is the greatest Nation in the world. We are part of the greatest
experience and the greatest experiment in the history of mankind--an
experiment in government, which gives equality and opportunity to all
of us. We are reminded that serving and saving and protecting those
people whom we serve and the values that they hold dear is a
tremendously important concern, one which we are going to have to go to
bat about again to see to it that the Voting Rights Act is extended
because the protections of the rights of our people--the greatest of
all in the right to vote--are not yet fully assured.
So, to all of my colleagues tonight who have been so gracious and
kind to me, I express to you my thanks and gratitude. It's a privilege
to serve with you. It's even a greater privilege to have you for
friends and to have you be people up to whom I can look for your
goodness and decency and concern and for the service which you so
gladly and generously give to the people of the United States and to
the people you represent in your different districts.
Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield back with great gratitude to my dear
friend from Georgia and with my thanks to all of my colleagues who have
spoken excessively kindly about me tonight.
Mr. BARROW of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
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