[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 196 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H10110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING CONGRESSMAN GREGG HARPER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
my colleague and friend Chairman Gregg Harper for his service to 
Mississippi's Third Congressional District in the House of 
Representatives.
  Gregg and I were elected to Congress in the same year, 2008, and we 
were friends from the start. And while he will retire at the end of 
this year, his contributions will be long remembered.
  At the beginning of the 115th Congress, Gregg was selected by the 
Speaker of the House to serve as chairman of the House Administration 
Committee. He has had vast oversight and administrative 
responsibilities in the House and other institutions.
  Perhaps most notably, Gregg worked to completely overhaul House 
policies and implement mandatory sexual harassment training for 
everyone from Members to interns. He worked to change the culture on 
the Hill, and he said: ``It has to be understood that taxpayers are not 
going to be responsible for someone's bad behavior.'' And that is Gregg 
Harper, a man of high character, always working to do the right thing.
  Gregg has also dedicated much of his congressional life to that of 
advocating for those with intellectual disabilities. Mr. Speaker, 8 
years ago, he founded the Congressional Internship Program for 
Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.
  This program partners with George Mason University's LIFE Program to 
connect students with disabilities to congressional offices for a 
semester-long internship. Students get to help office staff with 
administrative tasks, special projects, and they truly become part of 
the team.
  When Gregg started the program, just 5 congressional offices 
participated. Today, there are nearly 200 House and Senate offices that 
host student interns.
  Gregg, whose son, Livingston, has special needs, designed this 
program to not only give students exposure to Capitol Hill offices, but 
also to give Members and staffers the experience of working with 
individuals who are living with various types of disabilities.
  My office continues to participate in this program, and we have 
hosted many students from George Mason University. It has been a 
wonderful experience for me and my staff, and I encourage all my 
colleagues to join the program next Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, it will be bittersweet for me to say good-bye to my 
friend Gregg Harper, but he has left his mark on this institution, and 
his contributions will be remembered for generations to come.
  Gregg will return to Mississippi to spend more time with his wife, 
Sidney, their children, and his first grandbaby, a little boy named 
Lee. Chairman Harper is being promoted to Grandpa Harper, and I know 
that that will be his greatest role yet. I wish him the best in his 
next chapter of life.

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