[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H10325-H10326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                          FAREWELL TO CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. Mr. Speaker, politics is the art of what is 
possible, what is achievable--not the measure of our differences.
  We come to this Chamber--we should--to seek common ground, to solve 
problems, to address challenges. That is what I have done over the 
course of the last 4 years: work with my colleagues from both sides of 
the aisle to improve quality of life in our country, in our 
communities, and to show the American public that this institution is 
capable of responding to its concerns and its aspirations.
  In Congress, progress is measured in small units, the way our 
Founding Fathers intended.
  On climate and the environment, we broke the ice, bringing 
Republicans and Democrats together in the Climate Solutions Caucus, the 
first meaningful bipartisan dialogue and collaboration effort on this 
subject in a generation. We also filed landmark legislation that would 
make massive investments in American infrastructure while reducing 
carbon emissions and creating clean energy jobs.
  Climate change and transportation infrastructure--twin challenges 
threatening the future of my home, Miami-Dade County. The Market Choice 
Act would make it more likely that our children and grandchildren can 
live out their years in our paradise, an area marked and blessed with 
countless natural treasures.
  On immigration, we forced the House to process and debate 
comprehensive reform for the first time in nearly a decade. While for 
many, using this subject and the many victims of a broken immigration 
system for political gain is the preference, ours was a solution that 
would secure the border, reform our asylum laws to prevent abuse, keep 
families together, and secure a future for 2 million American 
Dreamers--the young immigrants who went to school with our own children 
and today are contributing to our economy and to our communities.
  While the forces of obstruction and cowardice prevailed, this 
institution grew from the debate, and dividends will be reaped in the 
future, I have no doubt. This issue is also a special one for Miami-
Dade and south Florida. It is personal for us. We are a community of 
immigrants. We believe immigration should be legal and orderly, and we 
know immigrants made America great and will continue making it greater 
still.
  Guns--another issue that deeply divides our country. We proposed 
solutions modeled after what was achieved in Florida in the wake of the 
tragic massacre at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It 
is possible to protect gun rights for law-abiding citizens while 
keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of those who seek to harm 
others or themselves. We are reforming our criminal justice system in 
order to truly give people a second chance.
  We secured funding for Everglades restoration, for water quality 
improvements in the Florida Keys, for important infrastructure projects 
in south Florida. We honored our troops by guaranteeing them the 
resources they need and granting them the raises they have earned. We 
also invested in American children, making it easier for immigrant 
students to learn English and protecting the accountability framework 
that put all students at the center of the public education system. And 
we delivered historic tax relief for Florida workers and families while 
making American businesses more competitive.
  In our hemisphere, I have advocated for the oppressed people of Cuba, 
Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and encouraged the administration to forge 
strong relationships with leaders committed to human rights, the rule 
of law, and economic growth and prosperity in countries like Brazil, 
Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, and others.
  In the Middle East, I have worked to support and bolster the critical 
U.S.-Israel alliance while holding the terrorist mullah regime in Iran 
accountable for its countless transgressions. And further east, I have 
advocated for closer relations with important allies like Japan and 
Taiwan in the face of China's growing hostility.
  Most importantly, every day I have put my south Florida community and 
the country above any partisan or personal interest. My goal has always 
been to serve with sincerity and decency, to call it honest no matter 
who might get upset. And even if political consequences would follow, 
to focus on ideas instead of petty politics, to speak in truth instead 
of talking points, to be both direct and decorous.
  While I have learned much from this institution, it never changed me. 
I have served to the fullest every day, and I now begin a new chapter 
in my life overflowing with gratitude for this wonderful opportunity to 
serve, for the many colleagues I have come to know, for my team, for my 
family, my God, and for the community that trusted this child of 
political refugees with the privilege of representing it here in the 
Congress of the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Rodney Davis).
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from 
Florida for yielding. I know he is probably worried about what I might 
say in this final speech here on the floor tonight, but I have got to 
tell you about a friend that I met just shortly after going to a 
meeting across the street where I had the honor of becoming a mentor to 
a candidate who wanted to run for Congress.
  His name was Carlos Curbelo, and I knew we were going to get along 
well when I called him the first time on the phone and he said: ``Why 
are you my mentor?'' I said: ``Because you have Key West in the 
district you are winning in. I would like to come visit you.''
  He took my first joke well, and we hit it off and became very close 
friends. And imagine my glee when, on election night, in 2014, my 
mentee became a newly elected Member of Congress. And to see him walk 
into this institution, to see him immediately become, not just a friend 
to me and to many others, but a legislator and one of the best 
legislators I have ever had the opportunity to serve with.

  It is bittersweet for me to stand here tonight and wish him the best 
in his next endeavors. I know he will have plenty of opportunities to 
spend a great deal of time with his wife Ceci and their two lovely 
young daughters in one of the most beautiful places in the world, in 
Miami-Dade.
  But I have got a feeling this isn't going to be the last for my 
friend, Mr. Curbelo. And this speech may be the last one he delivers as 
a Member of this institution, but whether it is he comes back here or 
whatever his next step is, he knows that it is not only me who is going 
to be standing there right behind him, but so many of his colleagues 
and friends that he has met along the way and has meant so much to.
  I thank him for being a great friend. I thank him for being a member 
of the wolf pack, and I will always know him as my good friend, Chuck 
Curbelo.
  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Illinois, who indeed is a wonderful friend. Sometimes his jokes aren't 
as good, but his advice has been very good here since I started running 
for the House for the first time in 2013.
  The people of southern Illinois are blessed to be represented by Mr. 
Davis. He is a wonderful family man. He is a great friend, and even 
though I am moving on, I am very happy to know that people like Rodney 
Davis will remain a part of this institution working for his community 
and for our wonderful country.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Costello), another wonderful friend. We have shared many great 
experiences together. We have worked hard on the issues that are 
important to our communities, to our districts.
  Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank Carlos for his 
service to this country, to his constituents. He has been an exemplar 
of what it means to be a gentleman, somebody who comes in to work here 
every day in the Halls of Congress, serving the people, doing his best, 
giving it 110 percent.
  What I would like to do, if I could, is just thank those residents in 
my congressional district residing in Chester

[[Page H10326]]

County, Pennsylvania; Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Berks County, 
Pennsylvania; and Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, for the opportunity to 
serve you here in Congress for 2 terms.
  This was always, admittedly, a dream of mine, and it is something 
that I took great pride in doing. It has been a very humbling 
experience. In some respects, it has been a very rewarding experience. 
In other respects, it has been challenging and frustrating at times. 
But when you are someone who puts your name on a sign and gets elected 
to this institution, you carry with yourself a certain humbleness and a 
certain sense of purpose that every single one of the 434 Members that 
I have served with--probably more since there has been resignations and 
reelections--but everyone who I have served with in this institution 
takes their job very, very seriously, and I just hope the American 
people realize that even as we have differences here, we have a lot 
more that binds us together as Americans, and everyone is here trying 
to do their very best.

                              {time}  2045

  I would also like to, real briefly, just thank my parents, Sherry and 
Tony, for their support through the years; my wife, Christine; my 
children, Ryan and Caroline; and the many great members of my staff who 
have just done an absolutely wonderful job. I think one thing that 
every single Member of Congress can universally agree to is that the 
staff is underappreciated, undercompensated; but without them, this 
institution would not run, and we would not be able to be as effective 
as we are day in and day out.
  I would particularly like to recognize Lauryn Schothorst and Dante 
Cutrona, my chiefs of staff through the years; Kori Walter, my district 
director; Jason Carver, my constituent services director; and if I 
start naming all the other staff persons, I would probably forget one. 
But I just want each and every one of them to know how personally 
grateful I am for their service to Pennsylvania's Sixth Congressional 
District, this country, and myself.
  And for all those whom I have served with, from the bottom of my 
heart, thank you for being a friend and being an advocate for this 
country and for your constituents all across this country.
  This is a very special institution. It has been a real privilege to 
serve in it. God bless each and every one of you, and God bless 
America.
  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, 
Mr. Costello, for his kind words, and I also want to commend him for 
his great service to our country. The people of Philadelphia's suburbs 
have been blessed to have been represented over the last 4 years by a 
thoughtful, honest, decent man, someone whom I worked with very closely 
on issues like the environment, like immigration, the difficult issues, 
the controversial issues, the issues where legislators are required to 
take risks if they are going to have a positive impact.
  My final message is just extreme gratitude to this wonderful 
institution, to my community for this privilege, this opportunity. To 
my parents, Teresita and Carlos Curbelo, when they arrived in this 
country with nothing except the desire to be free and to work and 
contribute, I don't think they could have ever imagined that their son 
would be able to serve in this fine institution. Only in this wonderful 
country can we tell stories like that. Only in this wonderful country 
do these miracles happen.
  I also want to thank my wife and my two daughters--Cecilia, my wife, 
and Sylvie and Carolina, my daughters--because public service is 
difficult, especially on young families, and my wife and my daughters 
have sacrificed a lot. Of course, we have done it with the support of 
our family, my in-laws, my parents, my friends, and everyone.
  Again, to all my colleagues, I wish you the best. I will be rooting 
for you. Please continue trying to help strengthen this country, 
continue trying to do the right thing every day and serve with a 
servant's heart.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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