[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1820-E1821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            FAREWELL REMARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE McINTYRE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 11, 2014

  Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, what a blessing it has been to serve in 
the United States Congress! Indeed, it has been a dream come true--an 
opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of the people 
back home and the communities in which we live, work, worship, retire, 
and play.
  Over the course of 18 years in Congress, we have been blessed to have 
accomplished a great deal together with the citizens of the Seventh 
Congressional District.
  This job could not have been done without the people, purpose, and 
partnerships that have been integral to our work.
  Indeed, none of this would have been possible without the strong 
support of my family--my wonderfully amazing, astute and astounding 
wife Dee, without whose wisdom, counsel, inspiration, analysis, 
steadfast partnership, and love I would have never been able to run--
much less survived--in public service; and my two sons, Joshua and 
Stephen, whose imagination, intelligence, and insight, as well as their 
proclivity for the pragmatic, practical, and positive aspects of 
politics and public service (not to mention patience with having to eat 
a lot of barbecue and chicken bog!) always kept our serious perspective 
for the future balanced with laughter and common sense.
  And I would like to extend a personal token of my appreciation to my 
wonderful staff throughout these years. These individuals have 
graciously given their very best in the service of their country and 
our district, and I am grateful for their work and their friendship. 
Indeed, through teamwork and loyalty, they have demonstrated what it 
truly means to answer the high calling of public service.
  I owe a special thanks to my colleagues here in Congress who have 
worked diligently with us, reaching across the aisle to find real 
solutions to our nation's greatest challenges and to help our great 
state to prosper.
  It has been a blessing to serve alongside these men and women who 
have devoted their lives to public service.
  Thank you especially to my friends in the Congressional Prayer Caucus 
and in the Congressional Prayer Breakfast for the friendships that have 
transcended party labels and focused on answering the call that the 
good Lord has laid upon our hearts to help the people back home and 
across the nation.
  Second, it has been the purpose which has guided our actions:
  My favorite Old Testament verse is from the Book of Proverbs (29:18 
a): ``Where there is no vision, the people perish.''
  During my 18 years here, we have sought to pursue a vision that 
offers hope to others and a bright future for our next generation.
  It was in June of 1973, as rising high school senior, that I attended 
a student leadership seminar, the Washington Workshops Congressional 
Seminar.
  I had just visited my then-freshman Congressman, Charlie Rose, and I 
meandered over to the Senate side to find the senior Senator for North 
Carolina, a white-haired gentleman who quoted Scripture as an old 
country lawyer, Sam Ervin, Jr.
  He was conducting something called the ``Watergate hearings.''
  All three national TV networks were there.
  I waited in line and stood in the back of the hearing room on the day 
that John Dean began his testimony, which was the beginning of the end 
of the Nixon White House--a day I'll never forget.
  I went home for my senior year of high school and came back to DC the 
next summer, 1974, as an intern for my Congressman. That was the summer 
that Nixon resigned.
  I decided to major in political science as I headed off to the 
University of North Carolina that August, thinking that, ``maybe 
someday I'll get to come back to this place.''
  And 22 years later, that dream came true.
  ``How could you be interested in politics?'' everyone asked. ``It's 
so dirty, so corrupt,'' they said.
  I gave them the same answer then that I gave people when I first ran 
18 years ago, that I still give today: ``If all the people with the 
right motives stay out of politics, then who's left to run our 
government?''
  ``If we who are serious about our faith and our vision don't become 
involved, then by definition, there is going to be a void.''
  We should remember that so many times the world says, ``you must be 
successful,'' but the key to success is first being faithful.
  We must be faithful to our calling--answering the call that God has 
laid upon our hearts.
  ``He who is faithful in little will be faithful in much.''

[[Page E1821]]

  If we are faithful in the opportunities we have, then God will grant 
success in His timing; after all, isn't that what really counts--how we 
are using our time during the time we have on this earth?
  Third, it has been the partnerships:
  In eastern North Carolina, we have demonstrated that public service 
is a partnership between constituents and the representative they 
entrust to speak on their behalf.
  For us, this steadfast partnership has been forged by putting policy 
over politics, issues over ideology, dialogue over dollars, and 
cooperation over campaigning.
  This partnership has transcended politics and allowed us to 
accomplish monumental tasks, such as quadrupling the number of 
veterans' clinics in our area, passing the tobacco buyout, expanding 
our military bases, establishing an economic commission to promote jobs 
and fight poverty--and ensuring that the North Carolina coast will 
continue to be an economic engine and environmental treasure.
  We also have built new fire and police stations, town halls, and 
workforce development centers; opened new farmers' markets and senior 
centers; improved airports and the Wilmington Port; and expanded 
educational and recreational opportunities for our children and youth.
  We have helped thousands of constituents from all walks of life in 
ways that have significantly impacted their lives. None of this could 
have been accomplished without the strong commitment of my family, the 
hard work of my staff, and--especially--the willingness of people 
throughout our region to put partisanship aside and work together to 
get things done for the betterment of eastern North Carolina.
  Indeed, I am grateful to all of the Democrats, Republicans, and 
Independents with whom we have successfully worked through nine general 
elections over 18 years.
  People, purpose, partnerships: if we all remember these three 
ingredients and remain faithful to our calling, then we will have the 
recipe for success.
  I close with the words of Adlai Stevenson, former UN Ambassador and 
Presidential candidate whom I quoted on the night of my first election 
in 1996, and which are a reminder of what has been a solemn and 
exciting duty:
  ``Trust the people, trust their good sense, their decency . . . their 
faith. Trust them with the facts. Trust them with the great decisions. 
And fix as our guiding star the passion to create a society . . . where 
no American is held down by race or color, by worldly condition or 
social status, from gaining what his character earns him as an American 
citizen, as a human being and as a child of God.''
  May God grant us the wisdom and the will to find the way to be moving 
always to an even better and brighter day. And by His grace, we will!

                          ____________________