[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 208 (Wednesday, December 20, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H10331-H10332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1900
THANKING MATT BRAVO
(Mr. SCALISE asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank somebody
who has been a key part of my team since I got elected into House
leadership. He is the floor director right now for the whip's office,
Mr. Matt Bravo.
Matt Bravo has been with my team and has helped us through some
critical key legislative victories, not the least of which is the Tax
Cuts and Jobs Act today, helping pass the bills through the floor and
helping us get our work done as we whip the bills to make sure we can
move the majority's agenda.
Matt has worked for years, Mr. Speaker, not just in the whip's office
for me, he has also worked for former whip and majority leader Eric
Cantor. He has worked for the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Matt Bravo has dedicated more than 10 years of his life to public
service in this institution with honor and integrity.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Matt Bravo is somebody who has the full respect of
not only our Members on the House Republican side, he is respected by
the Democratic leadership as well and is a key part of our staff and,
again, has helped us pass critical legislation. I would call him the
best floor director ever.
We are going to miss him here. Jennifer and I wish him and his wife,
Summer, and their soon-to-be growing family all the best in their
future life.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank him for the time and the public service
he has given to this House of Representatives.
[[Page H10332]]
Again, thank you, Mr. Matt Bravo, for the service you have given to
all of us.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will my friend yield?
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with everything the gentleman said. Maybe he is
not the best floor director--I have got a pretty good one myself--but
he is a very, very good floor director.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, we can maybe disagree on that like we
disagree on who has the best crabs, but we will enjoy that
disagreement.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I was going to say that one of the problems
that I have with Mr. Bravo is that he thinks that Louisiana crabs are
better than Maryland crabs, but loyalty is an important aspect of our
service.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to join my friend, Mr. Scalise, the
majority whip, and thank Matt Bravo for the leadership that he has
given on this floor, and particularly on behalf of my floor staff with
whom he has worked very closely, both when he was with Mr. Cantor, with
whom I worked very closely, and now Mr. Scalise, with whom I work
closely. We thank him for his service to this House.
Every time I rise, I say, whether it is a Democratic or a Republican
staffer who works this floor, they work with all of us, and they work
in a way that tries to facilitate the doing of the people's business.
They are not always as successful as they would like to be. It is the
fault of the Members, not of the staff. They have good plans that go
awry because the Members do not cooperate. Mr. Speaker, I would like to
tell Matt that I understand that very well.
Mr. Speaker, we want to thank Matt for the very collegial, positive,
constructive way in which he has worked with my staff, with the
leader's staff, with other staff on this side of the aisle, as well as
staff on his side of the aisle to assure that we can, to the best
extent possible, work in a constructive way on behalf of the American
people.
I am sure that Matt will be as successful in future endeavors as he
has been here, and, if so, very, very successful indeed.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority whip for yielding me time, and I
wish Matt Bravo the very best.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Democratic whip for his
kind words and for the way that our offices do work together on those
occasions. Frankly, it is most occasions where we are working together
on things. Obviously, there are times when we are not; but even in
those times, our staffs have a great working relationship and a trust
level that is really important to the House getting its business done.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Democratic leader.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I would be honored to yield to the chief
deputy whip, Mr. McHenry.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it is a special pleasure to come and speak to the career
of a great public servant, Matt Bravo.
Matt has worked here in the House for 11 years in various roles. He
started off as body guy for Leader Cantor when Leader Cantor served as
chief deputy whip. In addition to that, he has held various roles in
the whip operation, in the leader's office on the Republican side of
the aisle, as well as important work on the Energy and Commerce
Committee.
Matt Bravo has a great sense of humor, a great love for the game of
golf. He is much better at the game of golf than he is at his jokes. We
love Matt Bravo. We love teasing him. We love giving him a hard time,
but we know his true character. We know how he works intensely to see
things through, to grind out the votes to get 218 to pass our agenda.
Mr. Speaker, we know Matt will be successful in this next phase of
his career. We thank him for his friendship. We thank him for his
service to this House. On both sides of the aisle, the respect that he
has gained is immense, and we congratulate him on this next phase.
Mr. Speaker, we thank Matt for his service in the people's House, to
his government, to the United States of America's people. We will miss
him.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn't recognize
that Matt's lovely wife, Summer, is in the balcony, too, and I thank
her for the time that she lent him to us and to this great institution.
The best of luck to her family and her future with Matt.
____________________