[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 9, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H297-H298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               LONGWORTH-GARNER SPIRIT OF BIPARTISANSHIP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, first, let me associate myself 
with the gentleman from Texas and his fine remarks about the strengths 
of this country and how this country has led the world in every way and 
is the envy of the world. I thank the gentleman from Texas for his 
inspirational remarks on this House floor.
  Madam Speaker, I look forward, too, with optimism to the 116th 
Congress. I refuse to be pulled down by the vortex of negativism and 
profanity that is engulfing social media and cable television 
programming. Instead, I am

[[Page H298]]

grateful for the opportunity to work to pursue policies that improve 
our Nation.
  Madam Speaker, I spent my first two terms in Congress building 
relationships with my colleagues, in both the House and the Senate and 
in both political parties. I have done this based on my experiences 
that I had in the 1980s as a staffer on the Senate Banking Committee, 
as well as my 4 years of service in the executive branch in the 
administration of President George H.W. Bush.
  I value political leaders reasoning together to find common ground to 
tackle our Nation's policy challenges, large and small.
  In this context, I host periodic, bipartisan dinners. I call these 
the ``Longworth-Garner Dinners,'' so named for Nick Longworth from 
Cincinnati, Ohio, Speaker of the House from 1925 to his untimely death 
in 1931, and his great friend, Congressman Jack Garner from Uvalde, 
Texas, minority leader much of the time when his friend Nick was 
Speaker.
  These two men could not have been more different. Longworth was from 
a patrician family who settled in Cincinnati in the early 19th century, 
and he was married to Teddy Roosevelt's oldest daughter, Alice.
  ``Cactus Jack'' Garner was a rough-and-tumble small-town lawyer from 
Uvalde who rose to be a successful county judge and then became a 
terrifically successful Member of the U.S. House. As Garner put it, ``I 
was the heathen, and Nick was the aristocrat.''
  Longworth and Garner came to Congress at the same time in 1902. Both 
served with distinction; both rose to the top of their political 
parties; and both were terrific friends.
  When Longworth was sworn into speakership for the last time in April 
of 1929, he paid tribute to his friend, the minority leader and future 
Speaker, by saying: ``The gentleman from Texas and I entered Congress 
together 26 years ago. That he is a better man than I, in the 
estimation of his constituents, is made clear by the fact that his 
service has been continuous, whereas mine was interrupted by a vacation 
of 2 years, by no means of my own motion. During all these years, our 
friendship has been continuously abiding, and our affection, esteem, 
and respect, the one for the other, is and has been, I am proud to say, 
mutual.''

  For his part, on the untimely death of Longworth in 1931, Garner, who 
did become Speaker, said: ``He was an aristocrat; I am a plebeian. 
Perhaps . . . our different rearing intensified our interest in each 
other. I have lost one of the best friends of a lifetime, the country a 
good citizen, and the Congress a most valued legislator.''
  It was ``Cactus Jack'' and Nick who cooked up the tradition in room 
H-128 of the U.S. Capitol. Each afternoon, no matter how much fighting 
took place on the floor of the U.S. House, they retreated to H-128, 
which they nicknamed the ``Bureau of Education,'' to have a drink and 
``strike a blow for liberty.''
  Room H-128 went on to even greater fame, as longtime Speaker Sam 
Rayburn from Texas continued this tradition that he had witnessed as a 
young Member.
  The purpose of my Longworth-Garner Dinners is to get to know each 
other, to understand what our goals and objectives are for our 
constituents and how we can work effectively together on the House 
Financial Services Committee.
  Madam Speaker, I will continue the tradition of Longworth and Garner 
in the 116th Congress. I look forward to working hand-in-hand and 
shoulder-to-shoulder with my colleagues in both parties and on both 
sides of the U.S. Capitol to move this country forward and seek a 
better Nation through our partnership.

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