[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1112-H1117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN HONOR OF RAYMOND SIMS BAUM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mast). Under the Speaker's announced

[[Page H1113]]

policy of January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, this is a tough night for those of us on the 
Energy and Commerce Committee. We come to the floor tonight to pay 
honor to our staff director Ray Baum, who passed away after a valiant 
multiyear fight with cancer.
  He left this world on February 9, unexpectedly in many respects. He 
left before we were ready, but not before he filled us with love and 
grace and kindness, shared his intellect and his great humor.
  I got to know Ray in 1988. I know you don't know this is actually me 
on the right here. I had hair. I was younger. This is Ray here. We were 
both elected to the legislature.
  And I don't know about you all, but oftentimes you meet people and 
you don't remember 30 years later or whatever where you first met them. 
With Ray, I absolutely remember the minute I met him.
  Then-State Representative Bob Brogoitti from La Grande decided not to 
run and was announcing that pretty late in the process. I happened to 
be in Salem at the capitol when he brought this young attorney out of 
La Grande, Ray Baum, into the capitol and said: I am going to announce 
I am not running, and he is my guy to replace me.
  Well, Ray and I both were first-time candidates in 1988; he in La 
Grande in northeast Oregon, and I in Hood River, Sherman, Gilliam, 
Wheeler Counties and part of Wasco. We both ran in the seats that our 
fathers had held and, in different eras, both been defeated. His dad 
already had the votes to be speaker of the house, he just didn't quite 
get reelected in his seat.
  And we both won in 1988. We served together in the Oregon 
Legislature, became fast friends. The Republican leader of the house 
looked at the two of us and dubbed us the ``pablum twins'' after the 
baby food. We certainly outgrew that over time.
  But we became very good friends. We shared a lot of time together, 
legislated a lot together. We had a terrific experience. We both 
really, really were committed to public service.
  Ray was a member of the bar. From 1983 to 2003, he practiced law with 
his brother David in La Grande.
  As I said, he was elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1988 and 
served through 1997. I became majority leader when Republicans took the 
house in 1990 and served in that role until I went over to the senate. 
He followed me as the house majority leader for the '95 session.

  And then an interesting thing happened. He left the legislature, and 
Democratic Governors, knowing what a great leader he was and how well 
he got along with people, decided to appoint him to the Public Utility 
Commission in Oregon. It is a three-member commission appointed by the 
Governor, and he was the lone Republican.
  In 2003, he and the family moved to Salem. He accepted this position 
as a commissioner for the Oregon Public Utility Commission, where he 
was until 2011.
  In 2010, the Governor appointed him as chairman, as a Republican, of 
the Public Utility Commission with the other two Democrats, and they 
always kept the consumer in mind. He was always about good, fair public 
policy.
  From 2005 to 2011, he served as the State chair of the Federal-State 
Joint Board on Universal Service. From 2008 to 2010, he served as 
chairman of the National Association of Regulatory Utility 
Commissioners Telecommunications Committee. So he rose up in the ranks 
of the national organization to which he belonged.
  He was an incredible family man. Those of us who knew him knew it was 
all about his wife, Kristine, and all about their children, Rachael and 
Wyatt and Alexis and Mary and Andrew and Elizabeth. His kids and his 10 
grandchildren, they were the light of his life.

                              {time}  2030

  He had twin callings, if you will: his family life--an incredible 
father, grandfather, and husband--and public servant. He was asked 
about that all the time.
  He said about his wonderful wife, Kristine: ``She has been a great 
example of service to others. Her charity never ends. She supported me 
in my pursuit of politics and put up with my `public service 
impairment.' ''
  He was all about public service, and it showed. In the work we did on 
the Energy and Commerce Committee, I remember calling him when I became 
chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee. We 
interacted over the years on telecom policy, given his national roles.
  I said: Ray, they are going to make me chair of the Communications 
and Technology Subcommittee. I am going to need your help.
  He said: Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure. Just call me. Whatever. Yeah, that is 
fine.
  I said: No. Ray, I am going to need your help.
  He said: Well, I can come back from time to time.
  I said: No. Ray, I am going to need you here in Washington.
  He said: Oh, oh. I don't think Kristine would go for that.
  Well, their kids were out of the house at that point, and as fate 
would have it, she said: Actually, I think that would be fun. I think 
that would be a nice change.
  That shocked him. So he came back and served as a senior counsel, a 
special adviser on the Committee on Energy and Commerce and on the 
Communications and Technology Subcommittee, and he played a big role.
  Then, our mutual friend, Gordon Smith, with whom we had both served 
in the State legislature and who now is president and CEO of the 
National Association of Broadcasters, lured him away for, I think, all 
of about 9 months. And as much as he enjoyed fighting the fight for 
broadcasters, which was my background, he really loved public service.
  When I became chairman of the committee, he actually reached out to 
me and asked: Hey, you know, what are you going to do with that 
position?
  I was delighted that he had an interest in coming back to public 
service, and he loved it.
  You heard from our colleagues earlier tonight during 1 minutes, Anna 
Eshoo and Frank Pallone, the top Democrats on the committee, who loved 
Ray and still do. He was just one of those rare human beings.
  I talked about his great intellect and I talked about his friendship. 
But what I haven't talked about is what I would call his ``Rayisms,'' 
these funny little sayings that he always used that I think found their 
way into our vocabulary and speech without us even knowing. His 
constant reminder was: ``The fun never stops. The fun never stops.'' 
And he would use that along the way. Generally, when things were going 
off the rails, he would say: ``The fun never stops.'' And he would also 
say: ``Thanks for coming out today.''
  We all heard that on a regular basis. And on Fridays, he would go 
around to the staff and he would say: ``You know, you have been doing 
such a great job, why don't you take the next couple of days off?'' 
Saturday and Sunday, of course. He would say: ``Remember to come back 
in the morning.''
  He was, as I said, cursed, as he would describe it, with a public 
service impediment. He was very faithful, had deep faith, and was very 
active in the Mormon church--he and Kristine both. And he would joke 
that he was the only Mormon ever to oversee the Oregon Liquor Control 
Commission. He was a member of that, too, along the way.
  I want to share a couple of things. Before I do, let's get this 
picture off of here because I am aging in place. This is Ray with 
Senator Cory Gardner from Colorado, and he was on the Energy and 
Commerce Committee, and Anna Eshoo, and some of the great staff we have 
worked with over the years on the Communications and Technology 
Subcommittee, where he just really thrived and got a lot done. I think 
about the work that we passed in a bipartisan way to free up spectrum 
and all.
  When he was diagnosed with prostate cancer several years ago and it 
had migrated, tragically, into his bones, I forget who gave him the 
hats, but we knew he was going to lose his hair. So somebody came back 
with a different set of hats to cover up the loss of hair. Now, there 
is nothing wrong with losing your hair, I might say just as an aside, 
but he tried them all on; and I think you get the spirit of Ray: ``The 
fun never stops.''
  I want to share a couple of comments, and then I know I have got

[[Page H1114]]

some terrific colleagues here who want to share with the body and with 
our friends who are watching.
  Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted out when he learned of Ray's passing last 
week: ``Ray Baum was a kindhearted man with a deep commitment to public 
service. The whole House mourns his passing. Please keep Ray's wife, 
Kristine, and their family in your prayers.''
  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said: ``I had the pleasure to work with him 
over the past few years and was impressed by his keen intellect, 
fundamental kindness, and passion for advancing the public interest. He 
was a good man and I will miss him.''
  Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said: ``More than a colleague, Ray was 
a wonderful individual with an endearing smile.''
  Gordon Smith at the NAB said: ``In the time he spent working at NAB, 
he was to everyone a delight. We will miss his everyday greeting: `It's 
nice to have you out today!' His zest for life, his creative 
legislative mind, his infectious humor, his love for others, and his 
determined work ethic as he battled cancer, these were an inspiration 
to all.''
  We both served with a guy in Oregon named Peter Courtney. I think he 
probably holds the record for the longest-serving State legislator, a 
Democrat from outside the Salem area. And I know he holds the record 
for the longest presidency of the Oregon State Senate. He said: ``Ray 
taught me a lot about how to work with the other party; how to disagree 
and still get things done.''

  Former State Senator David Nelson from Pendleton said: ``He had a 
great sense of humor and a great mind, a quick mind. He was a consensus 
builder.''
  Don't we need more of those in this process?
  Former Union County Commissioner, Democrat John Howard, said: ``When 
he took a position on an issue, people listened. Whether they were 
Democrat or Republican, people valued his opinion.''
  People just on Facebook wrote:
  ``Ray Baum served the people of northeastern Oregon with 
distinction.''
  ``Ray was a wonderful person who set a great example.''
  ``Being blessed to have been neighbors for a number of years with Ray 
and his family, chukar hunting on the breaks of the Snake River will 
never be the same.''
  ``Ray was one of the finest persons I have ever encountered in Oregon 
politics. Top-notch selfless person.''
  One of Ray's assistants, Drew McDowell, said: ``One of my first days 
here was a very rainy morning, and Ray walks in without skipping a beat 
and says, `Sure is a nice day for a duck.' I knew right then he was the 
type of guy that could brighten up a rainy day.''
  A.T. Johnson from the Energy Subcommittee said: ``One of the last 
legislative victories came from the health team--providing FDA help for 
our soldiers and other servicemembers. When I think of Ray, I really do 
think of the happy soldier--fighting for others, fighting his own 
battle, and doing it with joy and grace.''
  Jennifer Sherman, press secretary, said: ``Ray loved returning to 
Utah to visit with his family, particularly when there was a new 
grandchild to be welcomed.''--Did I say there were 10?--``And when Ray 
returned to D.C., he made the focus of his daily walk-and-talk about 
the newest little one, to show off the latest photos''--how proud he 
was--``or to tell us what his grandkids were up to while he was hard at 
work in D.C. It was always clear that his heart was in Utah and Oregon 
with his loved ones.''
  It is hard to stand here and pay tribute, not because I don't feel 
all that for Ray, but because I probably spent most of the last 4 years 
in wonderful denial, just believing that Ray would somehow muscle 
through it and be with us.
  I would say, being chairman of the committee, I get one of those 
passes from time to time that allows a senior staffer on the floor. I 
think there were a lot of Members who, for a long time, wondered what 
district he represented because he just interacted with Members here in 
a way I have never seen, including with the leader and the Speaker.
  He would corral them. He would cajole them, work them on our issues 
and the committee's issues, and always did it with such a smile and 
such a wonderful way: big heart, big brain, incredible mentor for young 
and old alike. For young staff and old Members, he was a friend. He 
will be missed. He will not be forgotten. His imprint is all over the 
State of Oregon and, now, all around the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Shimkus), the chairman of the Environment Subcommittee.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I can't beat the chairman's long years of friendship and 
devotion and service with Ray. But we are down here to make sure that 
we remind the American people that most of us know that we are only as 
good as the people we have around us. That is why I wanted to come down 
and join my colleagues to talk about our former Republican staff 
director of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Ray Baum.
  Now, I don't have the long years that Chairman Walden has, but I do 
remember Ray coming to the city in 2011, as was noted, to be the senior 
policy adviser of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, which 
I was fortunate to serve on. Right away, I personally noticed there was 
something different, and this is before I really knew Ray very well. 
But it all made sense when you found out that he had served in elected 
office and he had been reelected.
  He served as the majority leader, and then he moved on to the public 
utilities commission. We love our staff and we love the people who 
devote everything. But we all know, as elected officials, that really 
the crucible of what we do is election and standing in front of voters 
and being held accountable and responding to them.
  So to particularly have a staff director, or what I would call a 
chief of staff, the person who is trying to keep the trains running on 
time, it is all important, but one who knows the trials and 
tribulations of serving in elected office is very, very helpful. I 
think the chairman mentioned that when he talked about Ray being on the 
floor, being able to talk to Members and people in the leadership 
alike, understanding when our colleagues were struggling.
  I think the tributes earlier this evening by Ranking Member Pallone 
and Congresswoman Eshoo also highlighted the fact that he had a great 
relationship across the aisle, which is critical in getting that 
bipartisan consensus to really move bills on the floor.
  We have been very fortunate to serve on the Energy and Commerce 
Committee. We have, I would argue, an almost unparalleled record of 
success, bipartisan, major votes, because either we work together or we 
have staff directors who are able to keep us focused on the prize, and 
that is, getting by in so that there are not hugely contentious votes 
on the floor. They are large bipartisan majorities which are not spoken 
of very much in Washington today or covered because they just are not 
newsworthy enough.
  Chairman Walden mentioned Ray's great love, which is his family and 
public service. But I think there is a third one that would call 
someone from the West Coast to Washington, D.C. I think a lot of us 
were able to observe and appreciate this relationship between the staff 
director and the chairman that went over decades: trust, loyalty, and 
support; so much that, as Ray continued to fight through this 
challenge, something that kept him going was the fact that he loved 
this institution.

  He loved his Members that he was responsible for--that is all of us 
on the committee--but he loved Chairman Greg Walden and he wanted him 
to succeed. I think that is a great tribute to remember.
  So I am here just to thank Kristine, his wife, and the children who 
were named Rachael, Wyatt, Alexis, Mary, Andrew, and Elizabeth. I want 
them to know, Mr. Speaker, that we appreciate the sacrifice they gave 
to allow Ray to be part of this institution.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his very kind and 
thoughtful remarks and his tribute to a really great public servant. I 
think he hit the nail on the head. Ray's having served and having gone 
through elections gave him that perspective. And having come from a 
rural part of America, like a lot of us do--in fact,

[[Page H1115]]

my district encompasses where he is from--it gives you a different 
perspective as well about some of the issues that sometimes get lost 
otherwise. I thank the gentleman for coming and for sharing.
  I know we have some other Members here who I think wanted to make 
some comments. I don't know who would like to go next. Maybe the 
gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), who also was a public 
utilities commissioner--if I have the right title for whatever it is in 
North Dakota--public service commissioner. The gentleman knew Ray from 
that era and got to put up with him here, as I would kindly say.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer).

                              {time}  2045

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, let me, at the outset, as Chairman Shimkus 
did, express how special it was to watch a chairman and a staff 
director work, I think I daresay, as peers, as a team. That is very 
unusual in a place where titles seem to matter more than they ought to 
and more than they do other places.
  I did have the opportunity to know Ray a little bit when I was on the 
North Dakota Public Service Commission, and he served on the Oregon 
Public Utility Commission. In fact, our terms mirrored exactly one with 
the other.
  A lot has been said about Ray's commitment to service, and I think it 
is undeniable. I think of the things he could have done and probably 
could have made a lot more money doing, but he chose, instead, to serve 
people. He serves as a testimony, frankly, in many respects. This 
opportunity we have tonight to pay tribute to Ray and his memory is a 
furtherance of his testimony, that we here, even in Washington, D.C.--
yes, even here in the swamp; yes, for all the people who watch us 
wondering if there is any decency among us, we really are a family. So 
our tribute tonight is testimony to that because it is really testimony 
to his life. He served as such a great example to all of us.
  A lot has been said about Ray's sense of humor. Until you get to know 
him, he could make you off guard a little bit every now and then. I 
always appreciated, though, that Ray had an ability to take a serious 
moment seriously, take a serious issue seriously, but never take us too 
seriously. He allowed us to sort of gain perspective because he had 
such a good perspective. Oftentimes, it was his ability to make us 
laugh and to find the humorous anecdote in a moment.
  He was always calm. We can use a lot more calm. Maybe people don't 
know this, but each of us has really big, important issues that are 
absolutely life-changing and life-affecting and the most important 
thing in the world to us. Then we bring them to the greater good, to 
the larger group, and Ray had an ability to boil it down and, again, 
put it in perspective for each of us individually as well as all of us 
collectively. That is why he was such a great leader for all of us, the 
ability to balance intellect with humor, to be funny without being 
frivolous, being respectful while also joking with us, cajoling us, as 
the chairman said, with everybody from the Speaker to the Sergeant at 
Arms, to the freshman class. He had a tremendous ability.
  So, Mr. Speaker, to Chairman Walden, Kristine, and the family, we are 
all part of your family tonight. We all are hurting, and we all are 
mourning. It is hard to sugarcoat it. This thing called death is awful, 
this awful disease called cancer. Ray had the opportunity to serve with 
us in a committee that works to try and eradicate diseases. He was very 
helpful as we worked on important legislation to do exactly that, 
things like 21st Century Cures and other healthcare legislation.
  We are all better for having known Ray. Tonight we are just a little 
bit sad about it to say the least. God bless Kristine, the kids, and 
the grandbabies. I thank the chairman for his friendship, to Ray, and 
the way that was transferred--not just transferred, but aggregated, and 
in a dynamic way for all of us, he served as such a great example.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Cramer. I appreciate his 
coming down here tonight and sharing his thoughts. I think he really 
summed it up well.
  Now the chairman of the Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection 
Subcommittee, Bob Latta, who was the vice-chair of the Communications 
and Technology Subcommittee when I chaired that. Ray was a big part of 
the Communications and Technology Subcommittee and ended up as the 
staff director. I thank Bob for coming down to share his comments 
tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).
  Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Ray Baum. I thank 
the chairman for having this tonight because I think it is very, very 
important to honor his life.
  I was recently asked when I was back home what I liked best about 
being a Member of Congress. It is always one of those questions I think 
people think about, well, you are going to think about all the things 
you do down here. It is not really about being a Member of Congress 
down here. It is about the people you get to know, the people you get 
to know at home, and it is also about the people you get to know here.
  There are a lot of times that you don't always get to meet someone 
like Ray, somebody who has that great public service instilled in him. 
You meet these thousands of people, but you always had some people that 
stand out; and that is Ray.
  If I could, I would like to quote what the chairman said in his 
release when Ray passed: ``Ray dedicated his life to public service, 
first as an elected official and then as an adviser on Capitol Hill.
  Our committee, the people of Oregon, and our country are better off 
because of Ray's selfless service. Ray will be deeply missed, but he 
will not be forgotten. The Energy and Commerce Committee will strive to 
honor Ray's legacy of decency and kindness through our work, and, more 
importantly, by following the example Ray set through the graciousness 
and honor he showed every day.''
  You heard Chairman Shimkus say the same thing.
  You have to get things done around this place, and if you are always 
going to sit in one corner and fold your arms and say, ``I am not going 
to listen to anybody else,'' it is not going to get done.
  But that was not Ray. He reached out, as the chairman mentioned and 
as Chairman Shimkus also mentioned, that it is important to reach out 
to work with people. I think that it was demonstrated by the pieces of 
legislation that we got out.
  Last year, he was an instrumental part of working with me and getting 
out the SELF DRIVE Act. We have a lot of pieces of legislation that 
come through, but the staff kept track. They said that we had over 300 
meetings with staff and with Members in getting that bill out. It was a 
bill that wasn't a Republican bill, and i wasn't a Democrat bill. It 
was a bill that everyone worked together on.

  I think it was important because Ray had a big hand in that. I sat 
through a lot of meetings, and the staff sat through a lot more than I 
did when you think about those 300. He was a guiding hand and a very 
calm hand to get that bill out.
  When you think about a piece of legislation of that magnitude, when 
that bill came up for a committee vote, and not only for the chairman's 
work, that bill went out 54-0, which is amazing for a bill of that size 
and that magnitude and what it meant.
  He was instrumental, I know when we sat down with our friends over in 
the Senate in an early meeting talking about what they would be doing, 
but he was very, very involved in it. But he was a very calming voice.
  I wasn't privileged to know Ray when he began his long and 
distinguished public career service out in Oregon, but, again, I got to 
know him through his work on the committee. One of the things that I 
think I can say is he was an incredible person to work with. He was a 
gentleman, and he took time to listen and to analyze a problem. Around 
this place, that doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes you jump out 
there first, and then you think: What am I going to say? But Ray was 
one of those individuals who really made sure that he was always 
prepared. He was ready to go forward, and he was willing to listen.

[[Page H1116]]

  I will never forget, years ago, I had a professor in college who 
said: You always remember that God gave you two ears and one mouth; if 
I have to explain that to you, you are going to have a hard time 
understanding what you have to do more of. But that was listening, and 
Ray listened.
  He always gave you a straight answer. That is always important 
because it is tough when you are working on legislation and you are 
working on something, and you have to get an answer from somebody, and 
they say: Well, let me think about that.
  But Ray wasn't that way. He would sit down with you. He would work 
with you. He would be up in my office; I would be down in his office. 
He was always there to listen. He was always giving a recommendation, 
and the end result was he was somebody who you could trust.
  I also know this, he had the respect of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee members. He also had the respect of the staff, Republicans 
and Democrats alike.
  He was kind, and he was thoughtful, too. Sometimes you hear staff say 
that there are folks around here who don't treat them very well. He 
wasn't one of those individuals.
  He is going to be missed; and it is not often that you are privileged 
to meet someone like him or to work with someone like him of his 
caliber and one who always believed in putting public service above 
self.
  To his wife and family, you are in my prayers.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Walden for this opportunity.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman both for his wonderful 
words about Ray and also his terrific record of public service here in 
this institution.
  I know we have a couple other Members who have come down tonight. I 
think this really speaks volumes about the impact that Ray had on all 
of us that so many Members of Congress are coming down tonight at this 
hour to pay tribute and to say thanks.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith). 
Morgan Griffith is a terrific member of our committee. He is the vice-
chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. I thank the 
gentleman for coming down.
  Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for giving me this 
opportunity.
  Unlike Mr. Walden, who met him back in 1988, I did not have the 
opportunity to fall within Ray's orbit until he became the staff 
director at the Energy and Commerce Committee about 13 months ago that 
I got to know him. I didn't serve on the Communications and Technology 
Subcommittee, so I never had any opportunity to work with him.
  I found him absolutely delightful to work with, extremely 
intelligent, always caring about the issues, passionate about his work, 
his honesty, and his forthrightness. You could always go and talk with 
him.
  Then I was particularly struck when it became clear that he was well 
aware of the severity of his illness and how he handled that, Mr. 
Speaker, with courage and grace.
  But knowing that the Energy and Commerce Committee would be handling 
and involved with the great issues of the day, he and I had several 
conversations about how he wanted to continue working and spending 
time, helping Chairman Walden on these issues, helping the committee, 
and helping our great country.
  So to his wife, Kristine, and their children, I thank them for 
sharing their great American husband, father, and citizen servant. We 
will all miss Ray Baum.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Morgan for those comments.
  He always maintained such a wonderful sense of humor about his own 
predicament knowing that there was a timeline. He had been given 3 to 5 
years because of the bone cancer. He went through the treatments and 
held up very, very well. But I know on more than one occasion he looked 
at me.
  I said: How are you doing, Ray?
  He said: Well, I am doing all right. But, hey, nobody has gotten out 
of here alive yet.
  He would always take the edge off. When you were feeling bad about 
him, he somehow would relieve that tension.
  Mr. GRIFFITH. He certainly did. It was remarkable and memorable. I 
will certainly always remember that great attitude and just all his 
other great attributes that we heard about tonight.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter). 
Buddy Carter is a distinguished member of our committee. He worked with 
him on a lot of different issues, healthcare, and different things. I 
thank Buddy for coming down tonight.

  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for not 
only doing this but allowing me to be a part of it.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a relatively new member of the committee, as the 
chairman is aware. I have only served on it for about 13 months now. I 
have only been in Congress for 3 years. One of the most frequent 
questions that I get asked when I go back home is: What is the most 
surprising thing that you have discovered since you have become a 
Member of Congress?
  I tell them the truth: The most surprising thing is also the most 
encouraging thing, and that is that there really are a lot of good 
people in Congress. There are a lot of people serving in Congress, a 
lot of good people who work with staff and work as staff, who are good 
people who truly want to do the right thing and who truly want to move 
this country forward.
  Yes, that is somewhat surprising. But more than anything, it is 
encouraging. Sometimes I feel like as Members that we get kind of a bad 
rap, that we are dysfunctional, that we don't get along, and that we 
are not getting anything done. I get frustrated by that.
  But I think about people like Ray Baum, and I think: If they only 
knew somebody like this, somebody who is truly dedicated, who is truly 
trying to do the right thing and to move this country forward, then 
they would understand better.
  You are not going to see that on the news. This is not going to be 
reported that, oh, we have lost one of the good guys. That is not what 
sells papers. That is not what drives up ratings. But it is what keeps 
us going.
  I really appreciate Chairman Walden's friendship with Ray and his 
earlier going over the history because that is important. I really 
appreciate the opportunity to add just a few words about, again, one of 
the good guys.
  In our lives, there are people and places that we remember. I know 
that I will always remember Ray. He helped me when I became a Member. 
It is tough being the new guy on the block, the low man on the totem 
pole, but he was a great help to me and a great help to the committee. 
We need more people like Ray Baum. We need more people like that up 
here. He was really one of the good ones.
  I thank Chairman Walden for giving me this opportunity to do this 
tonight. This is special, and I want to just offer my thoughts and 
prayers to the family and to the friends. He was indeed a good man.

                              {time}  2100

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Carter for those wonderful 
words. I know Ray had such great respect for the gentleman from Georgia 
and other colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the committee. The 
working relationships that he developed were almost unlike any other 
staffer I have ever known, because he really wasn't a staffer. It is 
kind of a funny thing. It is not like he thought of himself as a Member 
or anything. He was just Ray. He didn't let barriers keep him from 
helping people succeed.
  I just think for Oregon, my home State, he was kind of the sixth 
Congressman. The only thing he lacked was a voting card. People knew 
when Ray was speaking, he was speaking on my behalf. We could double up 
on Northwest issues, whether it was the Columbia River Treaty, rural 
telecom issues, or energy grid issues.
  It was really a twofer for the price of one. Well, maybe 1\1/2\. Ray 
had that ability to reach across the aisle, reach across any divide, 
and close the gap and make us better people.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would just say that Ray was one of those 
people, as I said in the beginning, who left before we were ready, but 
not before he filled us with love, kindness, grace, and shared his wit 
and humor--some humor better than others.

[[Page H1117]]

  It was just good to have Ray. God bless him on his journey. God bless 
Kristine, his brother and sister and their families, and his kids and 
grandkids. He touched our lives. He left us better than he found us--
this country, this State--and we are all indebted to him and so 
appreciative that we got to know him and work side by side with him.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________