[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 172 (Friday, October 2, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H5662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                          HONORING ROD LINDSAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to memorialize and remember 
a friend that I first got to know when I got into the elective office 
realm. His name is Rod Lindsay, a gentleman from Shasta County.
  Early on, when I was a brand-new legislator and I didn't know a lot 
of people in other parts of our vast district that we have in rural 
northern California, it could be a little intimidating to get out and 
learn these new places and meet new people. And so for that brand-new 
legislator, this man here was one that embraced me fairly early on and 
wanted me to be successful in that interaction that we had.
  Mr. Rod Lindsay was many things, but during our overlap of time, he 
was mayor of Shasta Lake and I was a board member of Shasta Lake for 
several terms. More than that, he was a community leader that everybody 
knew and gravitated towards.
  Rod's heritage goes back as a member of the Miwok Nation Tribe in 
more central California. Northern California is very rich and steeped 
in Native American culture and history.

  Rod was one to always help make sure that that culture was part of 
the proceedings, part of what was going on in our communities for 
different community events. Rod would lead prayer. Rod would lead 
dance. Rod would lead in many ways that helped make sure the culture of 
northern California had diversity.
  We lost Rod recently, on August 27, after many years of service and 
many years of leading. I always thought of Rod as kind of everybody's 
elder, as kind of a Tribal elder for everybody in that Shasta Lake 
area.
  Rod did so much to help his community as an elected official, but 
also as an advocate for education, advocating for children for over 40 
years, including as an executive director of a group known as LIFE, 
which is Local Indians For Education. He served on that until he passed 
away.
  Rod was a friend to many, a friend to me, a leader who just cared so 
much about his community, his friends, his neighbors, his family, and 
making things right for Tribes in northern California, as well.
  You don't get many people like this in your lifetime in your path 
that you cross, but I was proud to have walked that path and common 
ground with Rod Lindsay.
  I appreciate the time to be able to commemorate him here and 
acknowledge him. Indeed, a beautiful ceremony was had for him in his 
community just a few days ago, with a great outpouring of love and of 
shared stories and participation by local Tribes in northern California 
to have that heritage celebrated, as well.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the time that I was able to share with 
you about him here today.


                        Honoring Bruce Sessions

  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate a man who was 
known as a voice in not only Butte County, where he had lived 
previously, but a voice of mainstream media, he called himself, Bruce 
Sessions. This was a surprise to me. I just got word of his passing 
last night.
  Anybody in Butte County who listens to the radio knows who he is. 
Bruce spent many years on KRIJ radio, broadcasting from Paradise, 
California, and then he was a news director at KNVR in Chico. But 
finally, he was hired, where he really came into his own, on KPAY 
radio, in 1991, as a talk show host.
  All those afternoons Bruce hosted the KPAY Liveline. For 10 years, he 
hosted that show, a 3-hour show each afternoon. And for me, way before 
I got into the political realm, I was listening to it out in the fields 
as I drove the tractor and helped plant a crop or harvest a crop or 
irrigate in between.
  Bruce was the voice of the Liveline all those afternoons bringing 
largely conservative radio content to all of us in a several-county 
area there, and doing it with a lot of fun and doing it with a lot of 
humor--and a lot of self-deprecation, too.
  Bruce was quite humorous, but also very pointed and very direct, too. 
When I finally became an elected official, you would find yourself on 
the end of: ``Are you doing it right? Are you doing what you said you 
would do?'' So I appreciate that about him.
  Before being in Butte County, before moving to Magalia, California, 
Bruce spent 8 years as a reporter for radio stations down in the Las 
Vegas area. I can see Bruce fitting in pretty good down in Las Vegas, 
as well.
  Bruce Sessions, indeed, was a treasure for our area, and I always 
enjoyed him at community events and political events, where he would 
bring that wry humor and his Navy humor, because he did spend many 
years in the U.S. Navy.
  One of Bruce's sayings as he signed off was, ``Always keep a zero 
bubble,'' keep yourself level.
  So, when Bruce finally retired from doing the talk show host every 
day for those 3 hours, he backed off a little bit, but decided to still 
keep his fingers on the pulse, so he would have a twice-daily feature 
on KPAY radio called ``Tidbits from the B.S. Notebook,'' being his 
initials. But there you get that wry humor again because that might 
have a double meaning. Bruce would talk about the news events of the 
day in that format and just still keep that voice out there, keep that 
lively way of looking at things for those listeners in Butte County.
  I always enjoyed Bruce and his commentary and his discussion on the 
radio. It kind of helped me to understand things about life and about 
politics, as well, from a guy who had been around the block and was 
paying attention to a lot of things while I was paying attention to 
farming.
  Madam Speaker, I will miss Bruce. I thank him for his service.
  To his family, to those who go on, we all appreciated Bruce in Butte 
County, by and large. Maybe not so much on the other side of the 
political spectrum, but that is okay. We accept Bruce for who he was. 
But I enjoyed Bruce, and I am grateful to have been a friend and a 
listener for those many years in Butte County.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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